'Trust Capital' is the key, IHG Trends Report finds

The 2015 Trends Report is the third in a series of reports focusing on consumer insights impacting on the hospitality industry and business in general. These studies involved the interviewing of nearly 40,000 travellers in nine countries: the UK, the US, Germany, China, Australia, Russia, India, Brazil, and the UAE, and includes observations from third-party research. The needs, attitudes, values and desires that travellers have and/or want were all analysed along with insights impacting on the hospitality industry and business in general, with trust coming out as the top key factor.

Richard Solomons, CEO of IHG, said: "As we look around us, there are so many shifts taking place. In a digital, 24/7 world, where personalisation is increasing and consumers have a new definition of value, the trust that people have in both brands and the organisation behind them is more important than ever.

"Our research has shown that building 'Trust Capital' plays a critical role in delivering sustainable, high-quality revenue growth. To build trust, organisations must ensure that they adopt a trust agenda, focus on personalisation whilst being aware of the boundaries and develop a deep understanding of how guest needs are changing by demographic and by geography.

"For IHG, maintaining our focus in these areas will help us to continue to build genuine guest loyalty and rewarding relationships between our guests and our brands, now and into the future."

Sustainable growth

In 2013, IHG published The New Kinship Economy, which concentrated on the move from brand experiences to brand relationships in the hospitality sector. The 2014 report, Creating Moments of Trust - the key to building successful brand relationships in the Kinship Economy, found that winning brands were those that managed the intersection of globalisation, localisation and personalisation.

This year, as the report continues to build on past findings, trust - referred to as Trust Capital - is found to be at the heart of delivering sustainable growth. It is Trust Capital that creates value for the organisation and helps protect the business when credibility is at stake.

Consumers have evolved their definition of brand value, with trust being the core of any brand relationship. The dimensions of brand value are the functional, emotional and social benefits the consumer derives from the brand experience in terms of costs (money, time and effort). If trust in a brand is high, the perceived value is increased; if low, the value is decreased. The report discusses how Trust Capital affects brand decisions, detailed in the IHG Blueprint for building Trust Capital.

While personalisation was found to be critical in connecting with consumers, it leads to more options, in turn leading to more complexity, then increasing uncertainty in decision making. But while consumers want more options, they also want their lives simplified. And it is trust that reduces uncertainty and makes decision making easier.

Important insights

The report also provides some important insights into our changing world that are having a direct impact on the way consumers build Trust Capital. One key trend is that consumers are getting older and younger all at the same time, but not in all the same places. The demographic picture shows a large group of Boomers (born 1946 to 1964) and a large group of Millennials (born 1982 to 2000).

These two groups have very different mindsets, world views, different desires when travelling, and different approaches to brands and trust. The real opportunity for brands is strategically managing both of these groups at the same time.

Social responsibility was also identified as one way to build Trust Capital, with trust building as an organisation lived up to its promises with concrete action.

View IHG's 2015 Trends Report.