Study: Shoppers cheat on brands, even during holidays

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While most consumers would admit that they have favorite merchants, that favoritism doesn’t mean an auto-buy, especially if they can get a better deal elsewhere. That’s the takeaway from new ICLP data, which finds that more than half (59%) of shoppers say they would buy more if retailers understood their specific circumstances/needs better.

“ICLP’s recent study represents ground-breaking work in understanding the key components of brand loyalty,” said Professor Rogge, one of the authors of the report. “Our analyses suggested that the same seven basic types of relationships emerged for both brand and close relationships. In fact, a majority of respondents approached their relationships with favorite brands in a very similar manner to how they approached their close relationships. Therefore, developing a strong and devoted relationship with a brand might not be so different from developing a strong and caring bond with another person, suggesting that people might buy with their hearts. This is exciting work, as it not only allows us to better understand and track the various types of brand loyalty, but it will also provide retailers with critical insights into targeting the needs and desires of specific classes of consumers in order to promote greater loyalty.”

Other interesting findings from the report include:

• 96% would recommend a retailer to friends/family
• 74% would buy more if rewards were better/more tailored to them
• 60% would buy more if ‘treated with respect’
• 53% would buy more if retailers ‘communicated better’ with them

“As part of the strategy to attain the most loyal customer base, retailers need to use data and insights to identify the types of relationships they currently have with their customers,” said Phil Seward, Regional Director, Americas at ICLP. “However, as shown by our research, just like in their human relationships, people can fall in and out of love with brands, and devoted relationships can easily slip to ‘liking’ or worse, ’empty’. Retailers must think about where they want to take these relationships and how they can influence them, generating deeper emotional connections by giving customers what they really want and need on a consistent basis: communication, reward, recognition and a sense of trust, ultimately having a positive impact on the bottom line.”

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kristina Knight-1
Kristina Knight, Journalist , BA
Content Writer & Editor
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Kristina Knight is a freelance writer with more than 15 years of experience writing on varied topics. Kristina’s focus for the past 10 years has been the small business, online marketing, and banking sectors, however, she keeps things interesting by writing about her experiences as an adoptive mom, parenting, and education issues. Kristina’s work has appeared with BizReport.com, NBC News, Soaps.com, DisasterNewsNetwork, and many more publications.