Trust Research Advisory, global copyrights owner of the 61-attribute Brand Trust Matrix, recently conducted a primary research to research the trust held in brands and personalities across 16 India cities. The results of this study are published in The Brand Trust Report, India Study -2013, the third report in its series. Humans have been using trust as a strategic survival strategy for millennia and gaining the trust of fellow humans is the basis of social engagement, cooperation, coordination, companionship and leadership. A deeper analysis of the trust held in human personalities, specifically women, is considerably enlightening . However, this study only covers the sub-categories of Business, Entertainment, Social/Spiritual and Sports among Personalities and it does not consider any personality involved in active politics.

Some findings from a scrutiny of  the Personalities category are as follows. The overall number of personalities has increased from 22 last year to 35 this year, and there were 4 women listed last year and 10 ranked this year. This year women have been represented in each sub-category of Business, Entertainment, Social/Spiritual and Sports. Kiran Bedi has been ranked the Most Trusted Woman Personality in both years and Mother Teresa is the 2nd Most Trusted Woman Personality in the country this year. Three of the four women listed last year gained a significant of 337ranks each in this years’ ranking.

An examination of the above is indicative of two important aspects. Firstly that in the crowded and noisy brand environment Indian’s are seeking reassurances from human relationships and turning to humans for their trust reinforcements. Secondly and more obviously, the importance of women in the Indian context is becoming more evident with three women represented in sub-categories of Entertainment, Social/Spiritual and Sports and one represented in Business.

Launching the report, N. Chandramouli,CEO, Trust Research Advisory observed, “Women are being looked up to in every aspect of social and business life and this is a sign of a maturing audience. The fact that Tina Ambani is the only businesswoman in the list comes as a surprise, especially since India has so many woman entrepreneurs who have contributed enormously to Indian businesses. For women-in-business to seep into the trust-consciousness of Indians, it is necessary for them to communicate with their personal Vision, Values and Culture in mind, keeping the imagery of brand they represent independent of their own personality.”

Trust Research Advisory (TRA), apart of the Comniscient Group, is a company dedicated to understanding and simplifying concepts related to Trust. TRA was conceived in 2008 to decipher, analyze and measure Brand Trust, to make it universally understood and easily applied. The organization’s focus areas include Research, Publishing, Trust Training, and Licensing. Committed to create metrics for efficient resource allocation for brands spends, TRA owns the global copyrights for the Brand Trust matrix. TRA launches The Brand Trust Report in the beginning of every year and the current issue is the third in the series.

The Brand Trust Report, India Study, 2013 (ISBN: 978-81-920823-4-9), is the result of a primary research based on the proprietary 61-component Trust Matrix, created after several hundred hours of research with sociologists, communication experts and behavioural scientists. This year’s research was conducted among 2505influencer-respondents across 16 cities, and generated nearly 3 million data points and 19000 brands, making it the most intensive study on Brand Trust across the globe.

Some of this year’s category ranks are as follows. After being ranked 2nd in the Areated Soft DrinksCategory for two years in a row, Coca-Cola takes the position of India’s MostTrusted Aerated Soft Drinks brand, albeit with only a 2% lead over the 2ndranked Pepsi. Nano rides in as India’s Most Trusted four-wheeler car brand and among Consumer Products, Tide beats Surf Excel while Nirma surges ahead ofHindustan Unilever as the latter slips significantly. HCC is India’s Most Trusted Infrastructure brand, DLF leads in Real Estate and, in education, IITis more trusted than Oxford University and IIM. Dabur, the Ayurveda leader, also leads the Healthcare Super Category of 36 brands. The mosquito repellent, AllOut, has been a leader three consecutive years and has noticeable lead of120% over the next ranked, GoodKnight. The category of Internet has 25 brandsthis year and though Google leads Facebook this year also, it is only by aminiscule 3% margin.

Anna Hazare is the Most Trusted Personality in India, and has risen in trust ranks from 106th last year 87ththis year leading a list of 35 personalities from Cinema, Spiritual, Sports, Social and Business. In the same list, Aamir Khan ranks 2nd (up from his fifth rank last year) and Salman Khan slips to 3rd, within a small 2% gap of each other. Being Human, Salman Khan’s Foundation, however, maintains its rank as the Most Trusted NGO in India. Most brands in the Technology Category have gained trust ranks this year with Apple being listed as the Most TrustedTechnology brand. Indigo Airlines is this year’s Most Trusted Airline as Air India slips to second position.