Airship: Consumers Are More Willing to Share Personal Info With Brands This Year
A new global report of more than 11,000 consumers from 10 countries published by mobile app experience company Airship shows that consumers worldwide are more willing this year than in 2022 to share all types of information with brands in exchange for personalized interactions and special incentives. Findings from The Mobile Consumer 2023, conducted in partnership with Sapio Research, also show that consumers want control over brand interactions and will provide information to get app-enabled conveniences and personalized experiences that simplify their lives. The research helps brands better understand evolving consumer preferences, behaviors, and expectations in accelerating value creation.
Of the 15 different types of information Airship tracked year-over-year, email addresses are the most freely shared by consumers with brands, chosen by 86% of respondents, up from 77% in 2022. In second place was “interests relevant to a brand” at 78%, up from 67% last year, displacing “name,” which fell to third place at 77%. Rounding out the top five types of information are the “communication preferences” of consumers in fourth place at 70%, and what consumers “have browsed on a brand’s app or website” in fifth place at 66%.
Among the other types of personal information tracked by the research are demographic information, mobile number for text messages, postal address, in-store location, and what consumers value socially.
Related Article: Airship Launches No-Code App Experience Editor
But while email addresses are shared the most with brands, 79% of consumers ignore or delete marketing emails from brands they love at least half the time or more, the research shows. And younger generations, led by Gen Z, are less likely than Gen X and boomers to unsubscribe, delete emails, or pursue traditional methods of avoiding commercial email. Instead, they are much more likely to say that they do not often check their email, use a secondary email account that they rarely check, and use either fake email addresses or anonymous ones—such as signing in via Apple.
On a worldwide basis, the top three types of personalization that consumers find to be most useful are “recommendations and offers based on past behavior or purchases” at 41%, “interests and preferences supplied to the brand” at 40%, and “content and offers targeted to their current location” at 34%.
CCW Digital: For Consumers, CX and Other Pain Points Worsen
Only 4% of consumers felt that customer experiences improved during the past year, while 57% felt they had gotten worse, according to the findings from a survey conducted by CCW Digital, the global online group and research hub for the customer contact community.
Presented during Customer Contact Week in Las Vegas in late June, the findings also reveal that personalization, speed, convenience, empathy, and channel accommodation are major pain points as companies struggle to deliver highly personalized experiences. Long wait times remain a significant frustration, as 66% of consumers reported extended wait or hold times when interacting with companies.
Moreover, only 11% of consumers feel that agents are better at detecting and responding to customer challenges, despite the growing emphasis on agent excellence. And companies are becoming increasingly restrictive, as 58% of consumers have faced difficulty receiving a refund or make-good despite more than 60% of agents saying they are willing to go “above and beyond” for customers.
“The findings of our study send a clear message to C-suite executives: It’s time to refocus on customer-centricity and prioritize delivering exceptional, personalized experiences that align with customer values,” says Mario Matulich, president of Customer Management Practice, the parent organization of CCW Digital. “What makes the lack of improvement so concerning is that customer experiences are already weak. Consumers are not faulting brands for failing to move from good to great, but rather for allowing inefficient, impersonal experiences to persist at a time when customer-centricity should be a driving force.”
Organizations will strengthen customer loyalty and satisfaction by addressing the CX issues raised by the study, Matulich added, or risk falling behind in an increasingly competitive market.
Qualtrics: Consumers Remain Wary of AI Involvement in Confidential Matters
While the majority of consumers recognize that AI technology is here to stay, they are most resistant to AI when it involves aspects of their lives that rely on confidentiality, reveals new research from experience management firm Qualtrics.
Consumers least like AI to be involved in legal, financial, and medical matters, even if the use of AI was disclosed. Older people are especially resistant, with more than half of the 55-and-older group saying they would never be comfortable interacting with AI in those three areas.
In comparison, people are generally comfortable with the idea of talking to customer service chatbots for their customer service needs. And with AI-powered chatbots, 41% of consumers believe the technology can provide faster customer service than human representatives.
Related Article: New Research from Qualtrics Shows CX Quality Impacts Stock Performance
Yet speed alone is not always enough to win over customers. Nearly half of people who said they would switch to a company with faster customer service said knowing it was AI-powered service would make them think twice about switching, and 20% said it would prevent them from switching altogether.
Consumers are also not confident in the accuracy of AI-powered customer service when compared with human reps, and people do not believe chatbots can respond to emotions appropriately. An empathetic agent has more impact on overall customer satisfaction than speed of service, the Qualtrics research says.
Consumers are also concerned about the privacy of their personal information when interacting with an AI-powered chatbot. Almost 60% of consumers are at least somewhat concerned, compared to less than 10% who are not concerned at all.
Author Information
Alex is responsible for writing about trends and changes that are impacting the customer experience market. He had served as Principal Editor at Village Intelligence, a Los Angeles-based consultancy on technology impacting healthcare and healthcare-related industries. Alex was also Associate Director for Content Management at Omdia and Informa Tech, where he produced white papers, executive summaries, market insights, blogs, and other key content assets. His areas of coverage spanned the sectors grouped under the technology vertical, including semiconductors, smart technologies, enterprise & IT, media, displays, mobile, power, healthcare, China research, industrial and IoT, automotive, and transformative technologies.
At IHS Markit, he was Managing Editor of the company’s flagship IHS Quarterly, covering aerospace & defense, economics & country risk, chemicals, oil & gas, and other IHS verticals. He was Principal Editor of analyst output at iSuppli Corp. and Managing Editor of Market Watch, a fortnightly newsletter highlighting significant analyst report findings for pitching to the media. He started his career in writing as an Editor-Reporter for The Associated Press.
