Commentary

Brands To Consumers - Can You Trust Me Now?

Brands still need to overcome an "enormous" level of skepticism when it comes to earning consumer trust. Some 80% of consumers between the ages of 20 and 40 who participated in a recent Accenture Interactive study believe that total privacy remains a thing of the past, and 87% believe adequate safeguards are not in place to protect their personal information. I didn't participate in the study of 2,012 consumers in the United States and the United Kingdom, but belong to this group of thinkers.

Some 49% said they would not object to having their buying behavior tracked if it would result in relevant offers from brands and suppliers. Nearly two-thirds of respondents admit that when they are physically in a store, they would welcome text messages from that retailer alerting them to offers matching their buying preferences -- but of course, the retailer would need to have the technology connecting the browsing and purchase history of individual consumers.

Consumers have become "increasingly cautious" about the use of their personal information. About 70% of survey participants said they believe businesses are not transparent about how they use their information.

About 64% are still concerned about Web sites tracking their behavior, but 56% of consumers still input their credit card information on a purchase by purchase basis as opposed to having the details stored online to safeguard their information.

Privacy is not the sole factor for not buying online. When asked to rank the factors that would make them most likely to complete the purchase of products and services, 61% want better competitive pricing; 36% would like superior products; 35% want superior customer service; 31%, loyalty programs; 26%, relevant promotions; 6%, advertising campaigns.

Another study reveals that women are more skeptical of advertising messages than men, per an Insights in Marketing study. About 29% versus 34%, respectively, believe what marketers say about their products and services. Only 22% of women trust advertisers versus 30% of men. Millennial men ages 18 to 35 have the highest level of trust at 42%. The females in the Gen X age group follow, at 27%.

Overall in the Insights in Marketing study, 57% of women and 56% of men said they learn about products and services from advertising -- but only 31% and 35%, respectively, said they purchase products based on advertising.

The Accenture consumer survey was conducted by Coleman Parkes in March and April of 2014. Participants were split equally between males and females. The survey recorded income, ethnicity and socio-demographics.

1 comment about "Brands To Consumers - Can You Trust Me Now?".
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  1. willy rave from transoil, June 6, 2014 at 11:38 a.m.

    Satisfying consumers’ needs is the main task of the economy. Consuming reduction is an indicator for serious processes in economy. That means that people are not sure about the future, prices to high and they don’t what to spend salaries as well as to take payday loans. Tension emerges as a result.

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