Manufactured Home Builder

Rating Methodology

What Is the America’s Most Trusted® Study?

The America’s Most Trusted® study focuses on evaluating brands that offer products or services to consumers in their homes, particularly in the residential new home industry. Instead of attempting to survey every brand, the study specifically targets the largest and most impactful brands in this sector.

How Does the Survey Work?

Conducted throughout the year, the America’s Most Trusted® survey aims to gather consumer opinions while minimizing biases that might arise from external events or trends. This year-long approach helps capture a more accurate snapshot of consumer sentiments.

Participants are surveyed based on specific criteria, such as whether they are actively considering a purchase in a relevant category—like buying a home, faucet, HVAC. Only those who express familiarity with a brand are invited to share their opinions on its trustworthiness, ensuring that the study reflects genuine consumer insights.

The Importance of Brand Awareness

An essential component of the study is brand awareness. Participants are first asked to identify brands they recognize. Only those who are familiar with a brand proceed to answer questions about it. This criterion ensures that only brands with sufficient public recognition are included in the final trust rankings.

Sampling Methodology

The study employs a non-probability sampling design, relying on online panels to recruit participants. Online panels are organizations that have an established relationship with consumers who agree to complete opinion surveys. Lifestory randomly ask consumers questions that identify consumers shopping for a specific product. Qualified consumers complete an online survey in which they are asked a set of questions about specific product brands.

The number of people completing a survey is referred to as the sample size. Each of the America’s Most Trusted studies seek to obtain a sample size that is large enough to be representative. The sample size is also designed to collect a large number of consumer opinions to minimize error and to assure the study results reflect the majority of consumers sentiment about a brand.

Calculating Trust Scores

At the heart of the America’s Most Trusted® study is the Net Trust Quotient Score. Participants evaluate brands based on their trustworthiness through a series of targeted questions. The responses are then categorized into three groups:

• Advocates: Consumers who express strong trust in the brand.

• Neutrals: Those who trust the brand but do not consider it superior to others.

• Antagonists: Consumers with little to no trust in the brand.

These evaluations are quantified using a statistical method called a z-score, which standardizes the responses, allowing for easy comparison across brands. The results are ultimately transformed into T scores, which are more intuitive for understanding how each brand ranks relative to the mean score of all brands surveyed.

The study does not use third-party reviews, editorial committees, or industry professionals to determine the most trusted brands.

Additional information about the study can be found on the survey methodology page of this website.