2/12/2015 Lifestory Research Reports: Ashton Woods Homes Recognized by Home Shoppers as... NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., Jan. 21, 2014 /PRNews…

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Lifestory Research Reports: Ashton Woods Homes Recognizedby Home Shoppers as Most Trusted Builder in America forSecond Consecutive Year

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NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., Jan. 21, 2014 /PRNewswire/ Trust is the new measure by which consumersevaluate home builders, according to groundbreaking national research of more than 40,000 newhomeshoppers who identified Ashton Wood Homes as the Most Trusted Builder in America for the second consecutiveyear.

Lifestory Research releases the 2014 Most Trusted Builder in America Study, recognizing Ashton Woods Homes with top honorsfor the second consecutive year. (PRNewsFoto/Lifestory Research)

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2/12/2015 Lifestory Research Reports: Ashton Woods Homes Recognized by Home Shoppers as... NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., Jan. 21, 2014 /PRNews…

http://www.prnewswire.com/newsreleases/lifestoryresearchreportsashtonwoodshomesrecognizedbyhomeshoppersasmosttrustedbuilderin… 2/4

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"In our second year of performing the Lifestory Research Most Trusted Builder in America Study , we onceagain identified that three of four customers believe trust is paramount in choosing a home builder," said LifestoryResearch President and CEO Eric Snider. "We find that the trust held by a customer toward a home builder playsa central role among home shoppers as they seek to reduce uncertainty in the highrisk decision of purchasing anew home."

The Lifestory Research Most Trusted Builder in America Study tracks 133 home builder brands in the top 27housing markets in the United States. To qualify for inclusion in the national ranking of the Lifestory Research2014 Most Trusted Builder in America Study , builders had to be among the top 20 builder brands in the UnitedStates. A top 20 builder brand is a single builder brand being built in multiple markets with total revenuesexceeding $500 million in sales.

Ashton Woods Homes is one of the nation's largest builders, selling homes in Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, Houston,Orlando, Phoenix, Raleigh, San Antonio and Tampa. As the Lifestory Research 2014 Most Trusted Builder inAmerica, Ashton Woods produced a Net Trust Quotient Score of 113.2, followed in order by (2) Meritage Homes,(3) David Weekley Homes, (4) Toll Brothers, (5) Taylor Morrison, (6) Standard Pacific Homes, (7) Shea Homes,(8) Drees Homes, (9) Ryan Homes–NVR, (10) Khovnanian (11) Highland Homes of Texas, (12) M/I Homes, (13)Richmond American Homes, (14) Lennar Homes, (15) Ryland Homes, (16) Pulte Homes, (17) D.R. Horton, (18)Beazer Homes, (19) Centex, and (20) KB Home.

The study, in its second year, evaluates attitudes from tens of thousands of consumers who are actively in theprocess of shopping for a new home in one of the top 27 housing markets in the United States. Trust ismeasured through the Lifestory Research Net Trust Quotient Score. This score is based on the fundamentalperspective that every organization's customer can be divided into three categories: "advocates," who feel asignificant trust toward a given brand; "neutrals," who trust a specific brand, but do not see a specific brand asstanding on the shoulders of other brands in regards to trust; and "antagonists," who are skeptics with little, ifany, trust in a specific brand.

The most effective way to gauge the trust of a brand is to take the percentage of customers who are trustadvocates and subtract the percentage of people who are distrusters. Scores are standardized with 100 beingequal to the overall average. Scores can array above and below the 100 point average. Each Net Trust QuotientScore represents the net value of a brand on trust. A brand with a high positive score is an indication that thebrand is trusted by a large portion of the target market. Conversely, a low score is an indication that the brand isnot trusted by the consumer marketplace.

To qualify to participate in the study, participants must have met all of the following criteria: Household located inthe metro area of one of the 27 markets in the study (see link for list of markets), a household income in excessof $50,000, between the ages of 25 and 69, actively shopping for a home during the last 90 days, and withintentions of owning their next home (versus renting).

Detailed information about the study can be found at www.lifestoryresearch.com/2014MostTrustedBuilder(http://www.lifestoryresearch.com/2014MostTrustedBuilder)

About Lifestory Research

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Headquartered in Newport Beach, Calif., Lifestory Research is a full service consumer research firm dedicated tohelping clients evaluate their brand and strengthen their understanding of their customers and employees. TheLifestory Research team has designed and executed qualitative, quantitative and observational solutions whileadhering to a clientfocused ethic built on being easy to work with and delivering bestinclass insight. Thecompany's core competency is measuring attitudes and behaviors to accurately explain and predict bottom lineimpact of a client's actions. Offerings include market entry studies, segmentation studies, product developmentstudies, branding studies, customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction research, pricing strategy andadvertising studies. Lifestory's client base spans private education, real estate, energy, financial services,medical providers and notforprofit organizations. www.lifestoryresearch.com (http://www.lifestoryresearch.com/)

No advertising or other promotional use can be made of the information in this release without the express priorwritten consent of Lifestory Research.

Lifestory Research 2014 Most Trusted Builder in America Study

Trust Rank Builder Name Index Score#1 Ashton Woods Homes 113.22 Meritage Homes 112.83 David Weekley Homes 111.84 Toll Brothers 109.45 Taylor Morrison 109.16 Standard Pacific Homes 108.77 Shea Homes 106.28 Drees Homes 105.39 Ryan Homes (NVR) 105.210 Khovnanian 101.611 Highland Homes 101.312 M/I Homes 96.513 Richmond American Homes 96.214 Lennar Homes 93.915 Ryland Homes 93.216 Pulte Homes 92.817 D.R. Horton 92.618 Beazer Homes 86.519 Centex Homes 82.320 KB Home 78.6

Source: Lifestory Research 2014 Most Trusted Builder in America Study

Charts and graphs extracted from this press release must be accompanied by a statement identifying LifestoryResearch as the publisher and the Lifestory Research Most Trusted Builder in America Study as the source. No advertising or other promotional use can be made of the information in this release or Lifestory Researchsurvey results without the express prior written consent of Lifestory Research.

SOURCE Lifestory Research

RELATED LINKShttp://www.lifestoryresearch.com (http://www.lifestoryresearch.com)

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