Trust Leads to Brand Loyalty

Trust is not something you commonly associate with technology companies, but often times, these companies think about the concept more than anything. Brand loyalty leads to sustained growth and profit, and loyalty is built by trust in a company. We have faith in companies for a variety of reasons, and we may trust in certain areas of a company but not in others. So, do you trust any tech companies in any areas of your tech life, or do you simply tolerate them because they provide a service you need?

I tend to think of trust in a company as broken down in to several categories, and I believe several companies check several boxes of trust but not all of them. To start, the first category I tend to view as a facet of trust would be protection of my data. For me, it is pretty much a no-brainer that Facebook does not have my trust in this category; recent events have shown that they probably don't deserve it right now. Of course I still use their services, but it is with the attitude of "oh well". In addition, I tend to cast a nervous eye towards Google with my data, but I am so heavily invested in their ecosystem that I do not even care anymore. On the other hand, while I know they still collect a lot of personal data, I tend to view Apple and Amazon more favorably. Because their business is not based primarily on ad-revenue, I think we tend to view these companies as slightly more secure with our information.

My second metric for trust is built around the idea of commitment to product; by this, I mean that if I spend my money on a product or product category, I expect the company to continue supporting the product line. Even in this category, I tend to break it down in to product types. Not surprisingly, Microsoft is at the bottom of my list in general. I have been burned by them many times including Zune, Microsoft Band, Groove Music, and Windows Phone; oddly, enough I am huge Xbox fan and have complete trust in them to continually deliver on that front. While I love every bit of their hardware, I am very leery of Google on the software front. As anyone who has ever used Voice, Hangouts, Reader, or Allo will tell you, they are not afraid to just cut support and call it a day. Oddly enough, Apple is top of the list again for me. Sometimes to a fault, Apple tends to continue keeping products and services alive for a long time before calling it quits.

In addition to commitment to products, I expect companies to continue updating products and services if they are going to keep them active, and that is where I believe Apple falls very short of the mark. For example, they are still selling the iPad Mini, Mac Mini, and Mac Pro as active items at premium Apple pricing; the problem is they haven't been updated in years.

My last important metric for trust in a company is the reliability of the product; this category encompasses more than just the big tech companies. For instance, while I no longer own any of their products and believe they are slightly overrated, Apple tends to be excellent for creating reliable products. I have seen iPhone 4's still working this year, and you will seldom see their services inoperable. This is also where my love for Google products comes from. I know they do not directly manufacture the products, but my old Nexus as well as my new Pixel 2 have always worked without issue. In addition, I have never had a single issue with Play Music, Messages, Maps, YouTube, Blogger, et cetera; they may not have been originally created by Google, but they certainly keep them running. I would even throw Samsung some praise for this because even though the last Note was an utter failure, they have a near cult following due to their excellence of design and product quality.

There are many ways to define success in both the personal world as well as the realm of technology; these are just some of the metrics I believe held define an individual's trust in a technology company. As Facebook learned, trust and brand loyalty can be lost in seconds so companies desperately attempt to build a brand loyalty, and as much as it pains me to say, nobody builds a loyalty quite like Apple. While I may be completely immersed in the Google ecosystem, I can readily admit that Apple checks many boxes that lead to true trust from a consumer.