IHG® Trends Report Challenges Brands to Build ‘Trust Capital’

InterContinental® Hotels Group (IHG) today launched its 2015 Trends Report, Trust Capital: The new business imperative in the Kinship Economy, which identifies the growing importance for companies to build both brand and organisational trust. IHG is publishing its report during the World Economic Forum (WEF), in Davos, which highlights the erosion of trust in public and private sector institutions as one of its key trends.

Many companies focus on the 3Cs of organisational wealth: Financial Capital, Intellectual Capital and Human Capital. Today, corporations must add a fourth ‘C’: generating, gathering and growing Trust Capital which represents the confidence consumers have in the credibility, integrity, leadership and responsibility of an organisation and its brands.
IHG’s 2015 Trends Report focuses on how organisations can build Trust Capital, unveiling a blueprint that organisations can follow to build trust with different demographics and across different geographies.

This insight is based on a series of related studies spanning a three-year period and involving nearly 40,000 interviews with international travellers worldwide. It is the third in a series of reports focusing on consumer insights impacting the hospitality industry and business in general. In 2013, IHG published ‘The New Kinship Economy’, which highlighted a transition 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’ built on this work and suggested that to win guest loyalty in the future, hotels need to deliver a global, local and personalised experience.

Richard Solomons, Chief Executive Officer, 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 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.”