RICE™ 2.0 · PILLAR C

Connection

Trust and relationship

Connection is the depth of trust a buyer extends to the brand before a transaction - whether the brand is treated as a credible operator, whether its claims are substantiated, and whether a relationship exists after the first purchase.

Connection is what makes a price defensible. Two brands with identical Reach and Impact convert differently because one is trusted with a larger commitment. It is the pillar that carries renewal, referral and advocacy.

Get the Connection assessment →See all four pillars

Scoring model

Four weighted dimensions. Weights inside a pillar always total 100.

Claim substantiation

30%

Is every material claim backed by an artefact a buyer can verify?

Evidence: Claim-by-claim evidence register; unsupported claims scored as defects, not as copy issues.

Operator credibility

25%

Can a buyer identify who operates the business and how to reach them?

Evidence: Entity, contact and accountability surfaces; absence of these caps the dimension.

Answer integrity

25%

Does the brand-owned assistant represent the brand accurately, including what it does not sell?

Evidence: Scripted adversarial questioning of the brand assistant; false-denial and fabrication both score as failures.

Post-purchase relationship

20%

Is there a defined, real path after the first order?

Evidence: Certification, community and support routes; empty states count as absence.

Score bands

80-100Trusted operatorClaims verifiable, assistant accurate. Price premium is defensible.

60-79CredibleOne weak dimension. Usually answer integrity or post-purchase depth.

40-59ThinClaims outrun evidence. Reduce claims before adding them.

0-39UnverifiableA buyer cannot confirm the operator exists. Nothing else matters first.

What you receive

—Connection scorecard with the claim register and verdict per claim
—Brand assistant integrity transcript, including false-denial cases
—Operator credibility surface audit with the missing artefacts named
—Post-purchase path map linking certification, community and support

COVERING PACKAGE

Brand Authority Audit

$2,490per-use

The same audit covers the Connection pillar; claim register and assistant transcript are included.

Billing cycles are limited to per-use, hourly, daily, weekly and monthly. No annual or quarterly terms exist on this platform.

Open the package →

Feeds into Connection

Impact pillar →Standards →

Connection feeds forward

Equity pillar →Academy →

Questions on Connection

Why does a false denial count against the brand?

Because a brand-owned assistant that denies its own product teaches the buyer, and the retrieval layer, that the product does not exist.

Is Connection a reputation score?

No. It is a substantiation and relationship score. Sentiment is not an input.

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