PEN-L message, Consumers send 'warning sign' to US brands

Consumers send 'warning sign' to US brands

Patrick Barrett
Tuesday May 11,
Guardian

Declining respect for American cultural values exacerbated by the crisis in Iraq is having a potentially disastrous effect on the image of US brands such as McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Nike and Microsoft, a new worldwide study of consumer attitudes has found.

The number of people who like and use US branded products has fallen significantly over the past year, while brands perceived to be non-American have remained relatively stable.

According to NOP World, which carried out the survey, a mixture of America's controversial involvement in Iraq, its handling of the "war against terrorism", corporate scandals such as WorldCom and its failure to sign up to the Kyoto environmental agreement, have all had a profoundly negative affect on the perception of US culture and its major brands.

Tom Miller, the managing director of NOP World, said worsening attitudes to the county's products could damage US business.

"It's not like there's a massive boycott," said Miller. "Instead, it seems to be an erosion of support. It's not falling off the face of the earth, but it is clearly a warning sign for brands."

NOP found the popularity and consumption of US products had declined for the first time since the research programme was launched in 1998.

Until 2002, NOP found that brands such as McDonald's and Coca-Cola were notching up healthy annual growth in terms of use and familiarity in international markets.

However, last year NOP discovered that the growth in popularity of all major consumer brands - including those from Europe and Asia - had stalled. Over the past 12 months the positive trend has gone into reverse, with US products hardest hit.

NOP found that the number of non-American consumers who "trust" Coca-Cola had fallen from 55% to 52%, while McDonald's rating had slipped from 36% to 33%, Nike's from 56% to 53% and Microsoft had fallen from 45% to 39%.

When people were asked about brands associated with "honesty", Coca-Cola was found to have declined from 18% to 15%, McDonald's from 19% to 14%, Nike from 14% to 11% and Microsoft from 18% to 12%.

The total number of consumers worldwide who "use" US brands was found to have fallen from 30% to 27%, while non-American brands remained stable at 24%.

Full at: http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,14173,1214114,00.html

Jayson Funke