Reshaping tap water's brand image in the new media era: decision-support analysis based on social media and sustainable development priorities

In the new media environment, tap water utilities face increased challenges such as limited brand visibility, insufficient public engagement and difficulties in effectively communicating sustainability-related values. To some extent, these issues hinder the formation of public trust and weaken public policy communication effectiveness. This study identifies the key public demands involved in reshaping tap water utilities' brand image under the new media context and systematically analyses their relative priorities. To this end, we employ Quality Function Deployment (QFD) to model the structural relationships between public brand demands and managerial responses and integrate G1 and entropy weighting methods within a decision-support framework to construct a combined subjective–objective weighting mechanism for prioritising multi-dimensional brand demand indicators. Using expert evaluation data from China's urban tap water sector, we develop a brand image demand system comprising 14 indicators. The results reveal that the top five indicators account for a dominant share of the combined weights, with new media visibility, corporate social responsibility and public welfare image, sustainability-oriented image, user satisfaction and interactive engagement occupying relatively high priority positions. Among them, demands related to public value articulation and information visibility have particularly strong significance. The findings indicate that tap water utilities should prioritise enhancing brand accessibility and systematically communicate responsibility and sustainability initiatives to strengthen public perception and trust in the new media environment. Overall, this study provides a structured, priority-based decision-support framework for public utility brand governance and policy communication.