Despite product recalls, consumers maintain brand loyalty for Tylenol: Study

Despite Tylenol's product recalls and plant closure, the company still outpaces Advil in brand loyalty among consumers, according to a research study released today.

The study showed that consumer evaluate brands and build loyalty to them in the same way they instinctively perceive and judge other people – in terms of warmth and competence – and these judgments are highly predictive of brand purchase intent and loyalty.  Warmth includes traits like friendliness, helpfulness, sincerity, trustworthiness and honesty; competence is reflected by traits such as intelligence, skill, creativity, efficiency and effectiveness. 

The study was conducted by The Relational Capital Group and Drs. Susan T. Fiske and Nicolas O. Kervyn, renowned researchers on warmth and competence at Princeton University.  The study evaluated the impact of warmth and competence perceptions on purchase intent and loyalty toward eight national brands – McDonalds, Burger King, BP, Shell, Tropicana, Minute Maid, Tylenol and Advil.

"Our study revealed that consumers still maintain strong purchase intent and brand loyalty for Tylenol, despite its recent production and availability issues," said Chris Malone, Chief Advisory Officer of The Relational Capital Group.

Specific findings from the study include the following:

• Consumers remain strongly interested in purchasing the Tylenol brand, with purchase intent slightly exceeding that for Advil.  (76% versus 75% positive purchase intent in the next 30 days) 
• Brand loyalty for Tylenol also continues to be strong, slightly exceeding that for Advil (67% versus 65% positive brand preference and loyalty)
• Consumers also rated Tylenol and Advil to perform equally well on warmth and competence dimensions that were shown to impact brand purchase and loyalty, such as;
  • "delivers a consistent experience"
  • "is honest and trustworthy"
  • "acts with your best interests in mind"
  • "is popular and recommended"

"We've found strong statistical correlation between consumers' perceptions of each brand's warmth and competence and their intent to purchase and remain loyal to that brand," said Dr. Fiske. 

"We believe that Tylenol's long track record of reliability has generated a deep reservoir of goodwill toward the brand and that its recent production issues have been interpreted by consumers as a temporary lapse in competence, rather than a shortfall of warm intentions towards them," added Malone.

SOURCE The Relational Capital Group