Retail TouchPoints: Are Consumers At a Tipping Point Over Irrelevant Online Content?
Through a special arrangement, presented here for discussion is a summary of a current article from the Retail TouchPoints website.
Consumers no longer have patience for batch-and-blast marketing campaigns and irrelevant online content, according to new research released by Harris Interactive and Janrain. Overall, 74 percent of consumers said they get frustrated when ads, offers and promotions are not aligned with their interests.
Other findings:
- Sixty-seven percent would leave the site if asked for donations from a political party that they dislike the most;
- Fifty-seven percent would leave the site if they were married and shown ads for a dating service;
- Half would leave the site if shown a recommendation to purchase underwear that is for the opposite gender.
For the 2013 Personal Experience Study, Harris Interactive surveyed 2,091 U.S. consumers aged 18 and older. Of this sample, 57 percent of respondents indicated that they would share personal information on a website if they would receive a better experience in return. Results also confirmed that consumers want an open dialogue with brands and retailers: 77 percent of respondents said they would trust businesses more if they explained how personal data is used.
Further supporting consumers' desire for personalized web experiences, survey respondents said they would take the following actions in order to receive more relevant online content:
- Give up social networks for a week (28 percent);
- Not eat chocolate for a month (25 percent);
- Not use their smartphones for a day (21 percent); and
- Use only a landline phone for a full week (17 percent).
"These results align perfectly with additional market research indicating that consumers have reached the tipping point when it comes to being shown content that isn't relevant to them," said Larry Drebes, CEO of Janrain. "It's a wake up call for brands to fix this problem or risk losing customers and prospects."