• by Philip Rosenstein , Staff Writer, January 12, 2016

GOP primary leader Donald J. Trump has enthralled a large section of the Republican electorate with his fears of immigrants and ultra-radical Islamists flooding into the country, alongside a rejection of common decency or what he dubs “political correctness.”

As such, he has significantly damaged the “Trump” brand, particularly among high-income earners -- the main consumers of his hotels, country clubs and residences.

BAV Consulting gathered data, first reported on by Politico, shows plummeting brand reputation, which inevitably reflects on Trump the candidate, as well as on his family and his company’s robust portfolio.

According to Politico, among high-income consumers (over $100,000/year), the Trump brand found itself in the 97th and 95th percentile of brands studied, in 2005 and 2010 respectively, when measured for the trait “glamorous.”

The same was measured just last month, when the brand fell through the floor to the 67th percentile.

Trump’s success in business was and is a major impetus for his meteoric rise in the GOP primary.

Republican primary voters shun electability, which dampens support for candidates like Gov. Chris Christie or Gov. John Kasich and offers an opportunity to Trump or Sen. Ted Cruz. Just 6% of respondents in a NYT/CBS News poll conducted in December said they cared most about the candidate being able to win a general election.

In contrast, 43% of GOP respondents said they wanted a candidate who had experience mostly in business, compared to 13% who wanted experience in politics and government. Over 50% of GOP respondents said they were “very confident” of Trump’s ability to make good decisions regarding the economy.

Many of Trump supporters are of a different demographic than Trump customers. His business acumen, paired with unapologetic rhetoric, has appealed to a swath of the GOP, but alienates much of his customer base.

It looks as though Trump is passed the point of no return as far as conserving the overall public reputation of his brand, unless, of course, he becomes President of the United States.

An unsuccessful Trump campaign could be a huge miscalculation as far as post-election life for the Trump brand goes. He has offended Muslims, immigrants of all cloths, marginalized establishment Republicans and damaged his name.

Politico points out that the financial ramifications on the Trump brand could be significant. As a privately held company, however, the damage does not legally need to be disclosed.

The Trump brand will be regarded differently whatever the electoral outcome. As the GOP front-runner told Chuck Todd on “Meet the Press” over the weekend, when asked if he would leave the race after a loss in Iowa: “I’m not leaving. No, I’m not leaving.”