Millennials Boost Airline, Cruise Line And Sharing Economy Brands

With a rising disposable income and a desire for luxury, millennials are giving a boost to travel brands—most notably airlines and cruise lines—according to new research from The Harris Poll’s 29th annual EquiTrend Study, which measures brand health over time. The study also shows that millennials are behind the momentum for developing category sharing economy brands. Harris Poll’s study reveals the strongest brands across the media, travel, financial, automotive, entertainment, retail, restaurant, technology, household and nonprofit industries based on consumer response.

While equity among travel brands is stable overall, Harris Poll’s research shows that airline brand equity increased 4 points among millennials compared to the previous year, while cruise lines increased 3 points. Hotels saw a slight increase (+1.3) among millennials. Since brand equity tends to resist movement, the equity gains and declines among travel categories is significant.

“When we consider where millennials are in their lives, we can understand why they are having such a positive impact on brand health in the travel industry,” said Joan Sinopoli, vice president of brand solutions at The Harris Poll. “The oldest millennials are approaching 40 years old with their prime earnings years still ahead of them. They have the disposable income to indulge their desire to experience the world while exploring their aspirations for luxury.”

The EquiTrend Brand Equity Index is comprised of three factors—Familiarity, Quality and Purchase Consideration—that result in a brand equity rating for each brand. Brands ranking highest in equity receive the Harris Poll EquiTrend “Brand of the Year” award for their respective categories. This year, more than 100,000 U.S. consumers assessed more than 4,000 brands (including 100 travel brands) across more than 450 categories. The full Harris Poll EquiTrend Brands of the Year list can be found at http://www.theharrispoll.com/equitrend-rankings/2017.

To view full category lists CLICK HERE.

Other Key Findings

Additional travel findings include:

•     Across all travel categories, premium and luxury hotels lead in brand equity. Luxury hotels have a slight lead in Quality scores, but premium hotels are more familiar and more easily considered on most business or leisure budgets. Economy hotels lag across all three equity factors – Familiarity, Quality and Purchase Consideration.
•     Nine of the top ten travel brands are hotel brands. Narrowly surpassing Marriott Hotels and Hilton Hotels & Resorts, J.W. Marriott has the highest brand equity rating among all travel brands.
•     In the fragmented Online Travel Service category, first time honoree TripAdvisor stands alone as a high quality, high familiarity brand.
•     Enterprise, maintaining its Rental Car Brand of the Year for the fourth consecutive year, has a firm lead among other rental car brands, and it is the only brand with positive connection while enjoying the highest net momentum.