Survey: The top brand with U.S. consumers is…

Companies that are partially or entirely devoted to retailing dominate a new list of top brands among U.S. consumers.



According to a new study from Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Apple is the top brand with U.S. consumers. Following are Amazon and Walmart. Other retailers in the top 10 list include Netflix, Costco and Chick-Fil-A.



But the survey also showed that Walmart and Apple rank first and third among America's least favorite brands, indicating that "brand love" can be volatile and turn quickly negative.



When consumers were asked what were the most important factors in their choices, those who picked Apple most often said: "I feel smart, like I made a good decision" (41%). This emotionally driven response outranked quality (38%) or "is cutting edge" (33%).



For those who picked Amazon, the same factor -- "I feel smart, like I made a good decision" (42%) ranked just behind convenience (52%), but ahead of detailed product information (38%) and easy returns (30%). In the case of Walmart: "I feel smart, like I made a good decision" (75%) outweighed all other factors, even value for money (72%), convenience (47%) and low prices (44%).



In addition, BCG compiled a list of top 25 up-and-coming brands including Chinese e-commerce platform Alibaba. Other up-and-comers that have some participation in the retail sector or are involved in digital customer engagement include peer-to-peer vacation rental business Airbnb; video streaming service Hulu; SnapChat and Uber.