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Half of European Consumers Distrust American Companies

GMI Poll finds international consumers' anti-American sentiment, as a result of recent foreign policy, negatively impacts U.S. multinational companies closely branded as American

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Seattle, Washington -- December 27, 2004 - American multinational companies will need to mount a valiant effort to distance themselves from the image of the U.S. federal government and its unpopular foreign policies in the New Year or risk continued brand erosion and ongoing boycotting by European and Canadian consumers, according to independent market research solutions company GMI, Inc.

The GMI Poll conducted an 8,000 international consumer survey on America's image abroad, U.S. foreign policy and American multinational brands on Dec. 10 through 12 (representative samples of 1,000 consumers in each of eight countries: Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Russia, United Kingdom and United States). The study found that 1/3 of the 8,000 international consumers stated that American foreign policy, including the war on terror and the war in Iraq, most influenced their image of America; only 17% indicated that American movies and music most influenced their image. Furthermore, 79% of European and Canadian consumers distrust the American government, 50% distrust American companies, and 39% distrust the American people.

When European and Canadian consumers were asked to characterize the American government and President Bush, they were most often described as arrogant and self-centered; UN Secretary General Kofi Annan was characterized as conventional and reserved. With this in mind, when consumers were asked to characterize American multinational brands, the data revealed select American multinational company's - AOL, Exxon Mobil and Starbucks - were viewed very much like the American government and President Bush: arrogant, intrusive and self-centered.

According to the study, these multinational American companies were also among the top brands most likely to be boycotted; in keeping with polls from the past three months, GMI Poll found that 20% of European and Canadian consumers reported that they consciously avoid American products because of recent American foreign policy and military action.

"Some American brands become closely connected to their country of origin and are quintessentially American. They represent the American lifestyle, innovation, power, leadership and foreign policy. Unfortunately, current American foreign policy is viewed by international consumers as a significant negative, when it used to be a positive," explains , COO and chief pollster at GMI. He adds that an example of a company that has managed to build its brand with a generally international image is Visa.

"Visa has managed to disconnect itself and its brand from its country of origin," comments Dr. Eggers. Eggers added that because Visa has managed to distance itself from Brand USA, the anti-American sentiments abroad are much less likely to affect Visa's revenues.

According to the GMI Poll data, only 17% of the consumers identified as boycotting American brands thought that Visa was extremely American; only 15% said they would boycott Visa and 54% reported using Visa at least once or more in the previous month. In comparison, 64% of consumers surveyed thought American Express was extremely American; 48% said they would definitely boycott it and only 2% reported using it at least once or more in the past month.

Allyson Stewart-Allen, an American based in Europe for the past 17 years and co-author of best-selling business book Working with Americans (© 2002 Financial Times Prentice Hall), says the problem rests with some American companies almost operating under the "you're different therefore you're wrong" methodology.

"American companies are accused of aggressiveness and arrogance because they insist on imposing the American way of doing things on their international markets; they are inflexible. They show limited respect or concern for non-U.S. cultures," she explains.

GMI Poll found that 61% of French consumers and 58% of Germans consumers felt negatively towards American multinational companies. Additionally, 47% of European and Canadian consumers had a negative perception on how Americans do business, which according to Stewart-Allen, could also account for some of the loss in trust in American companies.

"American companies' livelihoods depend on trust. It's extremely important. You almost never get a second chance once that trust is lost," says Stewart-Allen while reviewing the GMI Poll results. According to Stewart-Allen, winning trust derives from consistency, reliability, good value for money, honesty and openness. U.S. companies are well-placed to do this, and their track records in international markets attest to that. However, trust in some companies has been eroded by their close association with America's current unpopular foreign policies, she adds.

GMI Poll found that 68% of European and Canadian consumers have had a negative change in their view of America as a result of the U.S. war on terror and the war in Iraq; 47% believe the United States' war in Iraq was an attempt to control oil supplies and 15% believe it was apart of the global war on terrorism. This negative perception of America is further eroded by the 62% of European and Canadian consumers that think United States foreign policy is guided by self-interests and empire building. Only 17% think the Bush administration's foreign policies are guided by the defense of freedom and democracy.

Stewart-Allen adds that for the New Year, American companies need to distance themselves from being American. She concludes that "U.S. companies abroad now need to focus on adding yet more value and repositioning their brands to consumers in the intensely competitive global village in which they compete, and the more aligned they are with those customers - regardless of their U.S.-created DNA - they'll win. American companies need to focus on alignment with international markets and embrace their market differences and idiosyncrasies."

Other key GMI Poll data include: 87% of German, 84% of French, and 71% of British consumers have a negative feelings towards President Bush; 73% of European and Canadian consumers think the United States might attack another country within the next four years; and British, French, and German consumers feel each others country's cultural values most resemble their own country's cultural values - not American values.

The recently completed survey is the seventh GMI Poll conducted over the past several months. GMI Poll questions are designed to solicit opinions on numerous topical issues and critical global events. GMI surveys use highly profiled double opt-in panels from more than 500 global sources to help achieve 97% accuracy in their statistical results.

About GMI Poll

GMI Poll quickly and accurately gathers international opinions about topical issues and critical global events, with real-time results available in as little as 24 hours. GMI Poll is the only survey that polls global opinions in real time, online, and with statistically accurate results.

About GMI

GMI (Global Market Insite, Inc.) is the only company that provides comprehensive integrated solutions for global market intelligence for both market research firms and corporate market research departments at Global 2000 companies. Solutions include Net-MR®, a suite of software tools to manage and automate research throughout the project lifecycle, desktop analysis tools, 24x7x365 service bureau capabilities, and one of the world’s largest, highly profiled, double opt-in managed panels, spanning across 200 countries. In addition, GMI offers high-value, real-time enterprise feedback solutions for customer, partner and employee programs. Founded in 1999 with world headquartersin Seattle, Wash., GMI has operations on five continents.