NEW YORK, Oct. 17, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today the New York-based Luxury Institute released its innovative 2018 Emotionally Intelligent Brand Index, featuring annual rankings and ratings for leading luxury men’s fashion brands by affluent U.S. consumers. The Emotionally Intelligent Brand Index methodology was developed using 10 years of proprietary, quantitative and qualitative research with affluent consumers, front-line associates, managers and executives, Columbia University faculty, and neuroscience experts. The survey distills the critical components of brand equity according to luxury consumers in the 21st century.
According to the nationally representative sample of 1,200 U.S. affluent consumers, Ermenegildo Zegna is overall the most emotionally intelligent brand followed closely by Hermès and Brooks Brothers. Zegna earns an EIBI score of 7.16 out of a maximum possible score of 10, and is the most consistent of the brands tested, delivering both strong product and service expertise, and high levels of emotional intelligence. Ermenegildo Zegna is the top-rated brand in terms of overall expertise delivering the best customer experience and ranking second in terms of the quality of merchandise offered. On the emotional intelligence side, Zegna is the most trustworthy men’s fashion brand and ranks second for being generous and kind in its business dealings.
Hermès ranks second with an overall EIBI score of 7.05 and is the top-rated brand for the quality of men’s fashion merchandise offered. Brooks Brothers ranks third overall and is the top-rated brand in terms of listening to customers and understanding needs (empathy) as well as for being generous and kind.
Ralph Lauren is the brand with which affluent consumers are most familiar, have purchased in the past 12 months, and are likely to purchase in the next 12 months. Ralph Lauren fails to rank in the top 10 in product quality and customer service experience, yet it breaks into the top 10 in emotional intelligence elements. The brand is also the one most recommended to others, especially those over the age of 45, based primarily on quality and price.
“If we conducted a test where we took off the labels from luxury men’s products and asked luxury consumers to identify the maker, could most consumers identify the brand instantly and correctly most of the time? We think not,” said Milton Pedraza, Luxury Institute and EIX CEO. “While the luxury men’s category is inundated with very high-quality products, and decent customer service, those attributes are simply not enough to be successful in today’s luxury industry. Just as with individuals, if a brand today cannot deliver more than expertise and deeply lacks emotional intelligence, or simply has an emotional intelligence deficit that is clear to clients, it is at a distinct disadvantage in the probability of long-term success, or even survival. Millennials, Gen-Xers and Baby Boomers are all unforgiving when a brand stands for nothing more than high quality product and service. The luxury men’s brands category will need to de-commoditize itself through what matters most to all luxury consumers today: emotional intelligence,” said Pedraza.
The EIBI survey also provides rated brands with their full, detailed scores by demographic customer segments, as well as the ratings of their competitive set. Brands rated and ranked are in alphabetical order:
- Bally
- Brooks Brothers
- Burberry
- Dior Homme
- Dolce & Gabbana
- Ermenegildo Zegna
- Ferragamo
- Giorgio Armani
- Givenchy
- Gucci
- Hermès
- Hugo Boss
- Louis Vuitton
- Prada
- Ralph Lauren
- Saint Laurent
- Tom Ford
- Tommy Bahama
- Versace
The EIBI survey is an extension of the Luxcelerate high-performance client relationship system pioneered by Luxury Institute 10 years ago using advanced neuroscience, high performance science, and tech science. Luxcelerate helps to transform the brand’s executives, managers and front-line teams into emotionally intelligent, high-performance relationship builders. By optimizing high humanity with high performance, Luxcelerate has dramatically improved customer data collection, conversion, retention rates and profitability for small, medium and large brands across the world. For case studies and testimonials please visit www.luxuryinstitute.com.
The Institute surveyed a nationally representative sample of over 1,200 responders with a minimum of $150K annual household income across several brand categories most consumed by affluent consumers.
The complete 2018 U.S. Luxury Men’s Fashion Emotionally Intelligent Brand Index is available for purchase. For more information please visit www.LuxuryInstitute.com or contact Luxury Institute CEO Milton Pedraza (mpedraza@luxuryinstitute.com).
Contact
Katherine Sousa
ksousa@luxuryinstitute.com