TRA Research, a consumer-insights organization, conducted a research using TRA’s proprietary 61-Attribute Brand Trust Matrix for the two main contesting political ‘brands’ in the elections, Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi. A detailed analysis of the data revealed the dominant Brand Trust Behaviours of these personalities that most influenced the voters. The fieldwork was conducted face-to-face among 2315 consumer-influencers across 16 cities across India between 12th December 2018 and 15th March 2019. TRA’s Brand Trust Matrix studies trust influences based on 61 intangible brand attributes, which converge into 10 Brand Behaviours and 3 Archetypes.
Comparing these two election candidates the four dominant Brand Trust Behaviours that influenced voters this election were Commanding Respect, Demonstrated Sincerity, Enthusiasm and Altruism. With overall Brand Trust of Narendra Modi nearly twice that of Rahul Gandhi in these 16 cities, he also led in all the 10 Brand Trust Behaviours by a significant margin.
N. Chandramouli, CEO, TRA Research said on the finding, “Our study is a completely apolitical one. Our intent is only to understand the voter’s mindsets. When voters vote, they place their trust on the party and leader that they vote for, and winning an election is all about gaining citizen’s trust. To understand voter behaviour, it is essential to understand their subliminal influences, an aspect which TRA has been studying for over 10 years now. A voter’s pattern is not easy to decipher and for any party to sustain or regain the voter trust, they must research the underlying messages that create voter trust for their ‘brand’.” The organization also comes out with TRA’s Brand Trust Report since 2011.
Studying the Brand Trust Behaviours that voted in Narendra Modi, it was seen that he scored highest on ‘Commanding Respect’, nearly 4 times that of the Congress leader. Scoring second highest on ‘Demonstrated Sincerity’, the winning PM scored nearly 10 times that of Rahul Gandhi. In ‘Altruism’, the BJP leader’s third highest Brand Trust Behaviour, he scored nearly 9 times that of the Congress Party leader. In ‘Enthusiasm’, Narendra Modi was 4 times that of Rahul Gandhi.
Voter’s Brand Trust Behaviour Scores based on TRA’s Brand Trust Matrix
| TRA’s Brand Trust Behaviour | NARENDRA MODI | RAHUL GANDHI | |
| Non-threatening ambience | 12.4 | 4.1 | |
| Empathy | 28.9 | 14.4 | |
| Perceived Competence | 49.2 | 5.0 | |
| Enthusiasm | 96.5 | 25.2 | |
| Accepting Responsibility | 72.6 | 0 | |
| Demonstrated Sincerity | 154.3 | 15.0 | |
| Commanding Respect | 383.4 | 91.3 | |
| Outward Appearance | 34.7 | 5.0 | |
| Shared Interest | 49.2 | 5.0 | |
| Altruism | 107.4 | 12.6 |
