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Are you "delighted" by your credit card company?
If not, you might want to take a look at the latest study by Brand Keys, a New York-based consultancy that researches customer loyalty trends and advises companies about brand-building strategies.
The study measured consumers' preferences and loyalties to nearly 600 brands and found that "delight" continued to define consumers' brand expectations and drive consumer brand loyalty.
One of the 83 categories was credit cards. And which credit card company most delighted its customers?
The win marked the 16th in a row for the company, which also broke into the top 20 brands for "creating customer delight" at No. 8.
Discover, for its part, wasn't shy about crowing.
In a press statement, executives said that the long string of wins showed the brand's "true strength," and that trying to exceed consumers' expectations was one reason the brand has such loyal customers.
Brand Keys President Robert Passikoff also complimented the company.
"Discover's 16th win in a row -- for as long as we’ve been conducting the Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Engagement Index -- is proof of the value of a brand that makes it their business to understand consumer expectations, and successfully deliver against them," he said.
The other brands that made the top-20 list were Apple (which took spots No. 1 and 2 for tablets and smartphones), Amazon, Kindle, Facebook, Hyundai, Samsung, YouTube, Google, Call of Duty, Mary Kay, McDonald's, Haagen-Dazs, Patron, Grey Goose, Crest Whitestrips, Walgreens, Clairol and AT&T.
The study was based primarily on telephone and in-person interviews with 49,000 consumers, 18 to 65 years old, who self-selected the categories and brands they used. A small percentage of consumers evaluated brands online.
"Of one thing you can be sure," Brand Keys said. "Consumers do not look for commodities in their search for delight."
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