American consumers put credit unions atop the list of financial services providers they're likely to recommend, and by a healthy margin, according to a new report from Forrester Research.
The research and advisory firm said a net 73% of the 4,600 respondents in its latest North American Technographics Customer Experience Online Survey said they would be likely to recommend a credit union, 29% above the industry average.
By contrast, only a net 24% said they would recommend Bank of America and only 27% felt that way about Washington Mutual or CitiBank, the survey taken in late 2009 found.
SunTrust Bank was well above the industry average, at 71% considered likely to recommend. Wachovia Bank came in at 52% and U.S. Bancorp at 51%.
The researchers subtracted the percentage of those unlikely to recommend companies from those who were to generate a net recommendation score.
Retailers overall led the survey at 71% net likely to recommend, compared with 52% for airlines, 44% for banking providers and 40% for utility providers.
Barnes & Noble topped the overall list at a net 86% likely to recommend. At the bottom of the list was Internet service from Charter Communications and credit cards from HSBC at 15% and 16% net likely to recommend, respectively, Forrester said.
"Our research shows a high correlation between customer experience and the likelihood of consumers to recommend a company," concluded the report.
--mrapport@cutimes.com
