of Americans say they are more likely to buy products and services
from a business if they know it's a cooperative.
It also found that three of four consumers believe co-ops have the
best interests of consumers in mind, run their businesses in a
trustworthy manner, and are committed to the highest quality
service. Co-ops outscored investor-owned corporations on eight of
ten positive business attributes. "This survey demonstrates the
tremendous advantage cooperatives have in the marketplace if they
identify themselves as co-ops," said Paul Hazen, president and CEO
of the National Cooperative Business Association. "The .coop web
address is a key tool in identifying your business as a co-op. Every
time a consumer goes to a .coop web site, and every time they see a
.coop web address in marketing materials, they'll know that business
is a co-op. And that translates into more business and more
satisfied members."
The national survey found that more than two in three consumers say knowing a
business is a co-op makes them more likely to patronize a food
co-op, a credit union, and utility cooperatives, and buy food
products from a farmer-owned cooperative. Other market research
demonstrates that the .coop address, in particular, is a net plus
among Internet users regarding the likelihood that they'll visit,
return to, and refer others to a .coop web site, trust information
on that site, and buy products or services online. Internet users
also demonstrate greater trust in web sites that are known to be
restricted for use only by credible and respected entities. For
example, .edu and .gov, both restricted web addresses, scored
highest on user trust. Meanwhile, less than half of users said
they’re likely to trust information on web sites using domains associated
primarily with for-profit businesses, such as .com, .net and .biz.
"Our own market research on web addresses, in tandem with the recent
national consumer survey results on public attitudes toward
cooperatives demonstrate that if consumers can identify co-ops
through their web address, the advantages are significant," said
Hazen.
Hans-Peter Oswald
https://www.domainregistry.de/...