As conventional loyalty programmes continue to drop out of favour due to their inability to drum up the type of engagement entrepreneurs crave, there’s a disconnect between consumers and executives on what drives psychological engagement.
According to Capgemini, that surveyed 9,000 consumers and 500 executives, 80% of executives believe that their brand understands desires and the needs of their consumers. Just 15% of the consumers surveyed agreed with this statement.
It’s apparent that consumers are falling with 28 percent of respondents without redeeming 54% of devotion and point being now inactive, abandoning strategies. 1 key cause of this trend is that the perceived “attempt to purchase consumer loyalty through financial rewards only”.
Consumers emphasized honesty and trust. Although engagement is not the whole picture, as ‘logical’ variables like brand values still play a valuable part.
The Capgemini study shows just how important emotional engagement can be for brands. 82 percent of consumers rated as having emotional engagement would purchase from the brands. This compared to just 38% of customers with emotional engagement. 81% of engaged customers said they were likely to promote the new.
Personalisation and reciprocation
“Consumers are immune to trade established loyalty programs of the past, therefore a merchant’s engagement with consumers needs to shift from being transactional to more emotional and purposeful,” Kees Jacobs, Consumer Goods & Retail Lead, Insights & Data Global Practice in Capgemini said.
“Decoding human emotions will probably guarantee that brands have a better understanding of their customers resulting in building deep-seeded involvement and long-term loyalty together. With a potential earnings increase of 5% up for grabs, and weak emotional connections prepared to be exploited from the competition, no merchant can afford to ignore this fact.”
Thus, what are emotionally engaged consumers searching for? According to the research, the keys are a sense of reciprocation and personalisation. 86% expect this devotion to reciprocated in connections, although 81% claimed to love giving back to a brand through promoting it to their circle. 75% want distinguished shopping experiences online, with 73 percent desiring this in store.
The report sets out four key components of creating engagement. Respect customers by encouraging trust honesty and integrity. Reciprocate and build a connection with consumers. Make a bid to recognise people who do participate with your brand and want they care about. Last, when the connection was created, then comes the opportunity to offer “timely, meaningful rewards” that concentrate on boosting long-term relationships.
