At least 69% of people in India believe it is important for brands to take care of their employees and customers and they should not take advantage of the crisis to maximise profits, a new survey revealed on Tuesday.

According to research conducted by Qualtrics, an experience management company, 50% of the respondents said their trust in the brands they regularly engaged with, has increased.

The findings showed that peoples' trust in the government increased by 72% during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The study also revealed how Indians want brands to communicate with them.

WhatsApp came out on top as the most preferred communication channel (63%), followed by Facebook (58%), and online media (55%). 

Bottom of the list was TikTok (18%), Print media (23%) and Radio (24%).

"Our study in India reveals consumers trust brands more, when brands focused on the well-being of customers, the well-being of employees, and not taking advantage of the crisis to maximise profits," Lisa Khatri, Brand Experience and Research Lead for Qualtrics in APJ, said in a statement.

When respondents were asked what behaviours increase trust during the crisis, taking care of employees was the top-ranked attribute (37%), followed by not taking advantage of maximising profits during a crisis (36%), and taking care of customers (32%).

What respondents found less impactful were providing new products (10%), having an established track record of responding well in times of crisis (17%) and statements about strong moral principles such as integrity (19%).

When it comes to brand communications, Indians are more interested in the operational impact of COVID-19 compared to sales and promotional marketing.

The top three messages respondents wanted to hear were how the business is responding to the crisis (75%), the impact on the distribution (48%), and information on products and services (48%).