Value of BBB® Accreditation research
Since 2017, the International Association of Better Businesses Bureaus has conducted bi-annual research of its Accredited Businesses, called the Value of Accreditation survey.
This summary highlights our most recent data collection from February 6 to March 15, 2024. We received over 13,000 survey responses from BBB® Accredited Businesses anonymously sharing their perspectives about their business challenges, their BBB Accreditation and the services provided by Better Business Bureaus. We worked with a questionnaire consisting of nine main core questions asked of all participants. The questions asked in 2024 were mostly consistent with previous years.
About 70% of the local Better Business Bureaus in the United States and Canada volunteered to participate in this round of the research. We used Survey Monkey as our survey software and invited almost 270,000 BBB Accredited Businesses to participate (i.e., about 75% of the total). No incentives were offered for participation, up to three invites were sent, and our response rate was about 5% with a margin of error of less than +/- 1% at a 95% confidence level. Our responses, summarized next, are consistent with previous rounds of this survey research and fairly represent the population of all BBB Accredited Businesses.
Response summary
Business challenges
We asked a question about the types of challenges that BBB Accredited Businesses face in today's business climate. At the top of the list, we see “managing increasing costs,” with 47% of respondents selecting it. This answer was also the number one response selected in the 2022 survey. In the number two spot, we see “growing the business.” This answer was the number four response selected in the previous survey. In the number three spot, we see "hiring and retaining employees." This response is down slightly from the number two spot in the last survey. This answer was more frequently selected by longtime Accredited Businesses. At number four, we see "effectively marketing the business." This answer was more frequently selected by younger Accredited Businesses.
Value
We asked about how much Accredited Businesses value 10 BBB products and services. The responses are summarized in the chart below. We had an option for BBB ratings, and it received the highest responses. The overwhelming majority of respondents (92%) indicated that BBB ratings were either a good value or an outstanding value. The Accredited Business seal, customer reviews, and complaint resolution services all ranked among the highest, in that order.
Reasons for BBB Accreditation
We also asked why BBB Accredited Businesses were Accredited. We offered nine reasons and asked the respondents to select their top three with an “other” open-ended option available for completion. The responses are summarized in the chart below.
Impact of Accreditation
We also asked six related questions about how Accreditation impacts BBB Accredited Businesses. The responses are summarized in the chart below. The highest-rated statement, at 87%, was that BBB Accreditation helps businesses gain credibility.
The statement for Accreditation being something they would recommend was rated at 80%. The item regarding Accreditation being a good value was also rated well, at 77%.
We found that 72% of respondents agreed that BBB is a helpful business resource. At 67% selected was the statement that Accreditation has positively impacted their businesses.
