I keep seeing all of these commercials for products advertising that they have X number of awards from JD Power & Associates.

Who is this JD Power and why should I trust his associates?

I went to JDPower.com to try and figure that out. Turns out it is a marketing information company that does research, tracking, forecasting and consulting. They specialize in auto companies but have also expanded into other markets.

What weight does one of these awards have? It seems to me that this may be a rating that is lauded by the company but not valued by the typical consumer. Like many industry awards, most consumers don’t know what these awards mean, how a company goes about winning such an award, or what value is brought to a transaction when you work with an awarded company.

Am I right? I’d love to hear your thoughts on JD Power and other industry awards and their relevance to a purchase decision.