In the massage therapy profession, there are intangible qualities that both massage therapists and consumers come to depend on, like credibility and respectability, and although measuring those intangibles can be difficult, it's not impossible. Zogby Analytics, a firm well-known for their independent, third-party research, conducted two online surveys in September-October 2018 to gauge how massage therapy organizations and large companies were viewed by both adults who had a massage in the past year and massage therapy professionals.

For the third straight year, AMTA is the number one choice of both consumers and massage therapy professionals, particularly on topics such as respectability, credibility, trust and networking.

AMTA—the largest non-profit professional association serving massage therapists—was the most trusted name in the massage therapy profession by a ratio of 6 to 1, and consumers also preferred their massage therapist be an AMTA member by a nearly 4 to 1 ratio when compared to the for-profit Associated Bodywork & Massage Professionals (ABMP). AMTA was also recognized by massage consumers as the professional organization providing the most comprehensive information and resources focused on helping them choose a qualified massage therapist. Massage consumers also prefer their massage therapist be insured by AMTA 3 to 1 over ABMP.

A separate survey of massage therapists found that massage professionals chose AMTA by a ratio of 6 to 1 when comparing views of respectability among affiliated organizations, including ABMP and Massage Magazine Insurance plus (MMIP). In terms of credibility, AMTA was favored over ABMP by a ratio of 5 to 1. The massage therapists surveyed also named AMTA the most trusted name in massage therapy, and when searching for information about massage therapy, they favored AMTA by 62 percent—a strong majority.

Zogby also looked at other aspects of the massage therapy profession and found that 50 percent of practicing massage therapists surveyed believe AMTA offers the best access to networking opportunities, compared to just three percent who say the same thing about ABMP. Massage therapist survey participants also have a positive overall impression of AMTA, with 89 percent of those who are not currently AMTA members feeling this way.

Read more results here.