Study: Publix, Chick-fil-A and Residence Inn lead in consumer emotion ratings

A trio of beloved companies are doing a great job of providing customers with a positive emotional experience, according to a new survey.

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These are America’s most loved companies…

For the past five years, customer experience research firm Temkin Group has monitored the strong emotions — from upset to delighted and everything in between — that companies evoke among their customer base.

This year, Temkin surveyed 294 companies across 20 industries and asked 10,000 people one simple question: “Thinking of your most recent interactions with each of these companies, how did you feel about those interactions?”

The companies that came out with the highest marks include grocer Publix, quick service restaurant Chick-fil-A and extended stay hotel Residence Inn 

Just a notch below those three with very strong showings were H-E-B, True Value, Kroger, Save-a-Lot, Wawa Food Market, QVC and Amazon.

Why measure a hard-to-quantify metric like consumer emotion? Because emotion is the #1 driver of customer loyalty, according to Temkin.

Further insights from the study include:

• Americans love their supermarkets and fast-food joints. They don’t have a lot of love for health plans, TV service providers and Internet providers.
• Industry leaders who outpaced others in their fields included Amazon, Residence Inn, Florida Power & Light, TXU Energy, National Car Rental and Alabama Power Company.
• Industry laggards who were at the bottom of their respective fields include: Fujitsu, Motel 6, Super 8, Chrysler, Volkswagen, Commonwealth Edison and Citibank.
• Volkswagen, Fujitsu, Commonwealth Edison, BMW, GM, Health Net and JetBlue saw the biggest dips in customer emotional response between 2015 and 2016.
• Most improved honors between 2015 and 2016 go to Coventry Health Care, True Value, Con Edison of NY, Consumers Energy Company, Dominion Virginia Power and Fox Rent A Car.
  

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