The Research Behind the Best Buy Award

The ICERTIAS Best Buy Award recognises products and services that consumers feel deliver the best value for money in their everyday lives. At its core, the program identifies the option in a given category that offers the most attractive balance between price and perceived quality in a specific country and time period. Everything in the methodology is built around this value for money focus.

The Best Buy Award is a signal of how consumers experience the relationship between price and quality. It is not a sustainability, environmental or ESG label and it is not designed to say anything about environmental or social performance.

 

Scope of Research and Categories Covered

To understand where consumers see genuine value, ICERTIAS runs nationwide surveys across a broad range of markets and categories. Research includes everyday areas such as groceries, personal care, home products, retail and telecommunications, as well as more complex service sectors like banking and insurance. In many countries the studies span hundreds of product and service categories, which allows a detailed comparison of perceived value for money within and across industries.

For mass market categories the surveys address a broad cross section of the general population. For more specialised or professional categories such as construction or agriculture the research focuses on respondents with relevant experience or expertise in that field. This flexible approach helps ensure that the people who answer questions actually know and use the products and services being evaluated.

 

The DEEPMA Approach

The Best Buy Award is based on the DEEPMA methodology, Deep Mind Awareness, which ICERTIAS developed in collaboration with expert partners. DEEPMA is designed to go beyond simple brand recall. Instead of asking which name comes to mind first, respondents are encouraged to stop and think about their real experiences.

The method asks them to reflect on what they have bought, what they use, how satisfied they were and whether the price they paid felt fair in relation to the quality they received. This helps reduce the influence of advertising pressure or habit and increases the weight of personal and shared experience when people name the brands, products or services that deliver the best value.

 

Open Ended Questioning and Unprompted Answers

To keep the results as authentic as possible, ICERTIAS uses open ended questions. The central question is formulated in simple language, for example: based on your personal experience, or the experience of people close to you, which product or service in this category offers the best value for money on the market in your country.

Respondents are free to name any brand they wish. They do not see predefined brand lists and they are not led toward specific options. The outcome is a natural, unprompted reflection of what people themselves perceive as the strongest price quality combination in each category.

 

What the Best Buy Award Does Not Measure

A key part of the design is what the Best Buy Award does not measure. In all Best Buy Award surveys, respondents are explicitly instructed to focus on price and perceived quality when answering. They are not asked to assess environmental impact, climate aspects, social responsibility, labour conditions, human rights, corporate governance or any other element related to sustainability. Those topics are outside the scope of this program by intention.

As a result, the Best Buy Award does not evaluate, verify or certify any environmental, climate or social performance of products, services, brands or companies. It is not presented or operated as a sustainability label, an eco label or an ESG label. The fact that a product, service or brand holds a Best Buy Award means that consumers in that market and category see it as offering excellent value for money, not that it is greener or more socially responsible than alternatives.

 

Research Standards and Regulatory Context

All ICERTIAS research for the Best Buy Award follows the ICC ESOMAR International Code on Market, Opinion and Social Research and Data Analytics. This provides a framework for professional standards, respondent protection and responsible data handling. It also supports compliance with modern consumer protection rules in the European Union, including requirements around environmental and social claims.

Within that framework the Best Buy Award is positioned clearly and narrowly as a value for money and perceived quality indicator. It is not an environmental claim and not a sustainability label in itself. This clarity is important both for consumers who see the mark and for companies that use it in their communication.

 

How Companies May Use the Best Buy Award

Companies that are licensed to use the ICERTIAS Best Buy Award mark receive detailed guidelines on how it should be presented. They may use the mark to inform consumers that their product or service has been recognised in an ICERTIAS survey as offering the best value for money in a defined category, country and period.

They are expected to describe the award in that context, as a consumer based recognition of price quality performance. They are not permitted to use the Best Buy Award as proof of environmental superiority, climate neutrality, reduced environmental footprint, social responsibility or ESG compliance.

If a company wishes to make such claims, it must rely on separate evidence or certifications that specifically address those topics, in line with applicable EU and national law, and not on the Best Buy Award itself.

 

Oversight and Protection Against Misuse

ICERTIAS monitors how its mark is used in the market and reserves the right to suspend or withdraw the licence where the Best Buy Award is presented in a way that could mislead consumers. This includes any use that implies that the award by itself proves environmental or social excellence or that connects the mark to unsubstantiated green or social claims. This oversight is part of ICERTIAS’ broader commitment to transparent communication, fair competition and respect for consumer rights.

 

Internal Process Behind Each Award

Behind each published Best Buy Award result stands a structured internal process. Categories and markets are defined, samples and questionnaires are designed using DEEPMA principles, fieldwork is conducted and data are cleaned and checked for quality.

Results are then analysed to identify the leaders in perceived value for money. Before any award is communicated publicly or any licence is granted for use of the mark, ICERTIAS carries out an internal validation and compliance review. Only after this process is completed do brands receive the right to use the Best Buy Award logo in their communication.

 

A Clear Promise To Consumers And Brands

In summary, the ICERTIAS Best Buy Award offers a clear and simple message to the market. It tells consumers which brands, according to people like them, deliver the best balance of price and quality in a specific category. It does not claim to rate environmental or social impact. In a landscape where sustainability messages are increasingly regulated, this narrow and transparent focus allows the Best Buy Award to provide useful guidance to consumers and a credible, responsible recognition for brands that truly stand out on value for money.

 

The Seven-Step Best Buy Award Process: