Personalisation and loyalty are key to the success of brands on the high street, according to new research out today, commissioned by Tangent Snowball. However, they are also the largest threat to brands if they over-step the mark, with just under half of respondents stating they don’t want to be addressed on a first-name basis.
Beware 0f over-personalisation
The research, which investigated the relationship we hold with different sectors of the high street and the future of the high street as a whole, revealed a huge difference between the sexes, including:
- Women are less happy to be addressed on a first name basis than men – 47.5% of women : 41.1% of men
- Men are more likely to be swayed by TV adverts and SMS messages – just under 50% of men (48.2%) reported that TV and SMS influence their purchases compared to 41.1% of women
- Women are more likely to be swayed by promotional emails – 47% of women stated that promotional emails drove them to purchase, compared to just 36.8% of men
The research also revealed some surprising results when it comes to those born in the 1990s:
- Card-based loyalty schemes are fundamental to a personalised service in their eyes – more than half of 18-24-year-old respondents (56.14%) stated that they felt card-based loyalty programmes were vital to a personalised service. This was more than any other age group
- TV adverts more likely to sway them – despite viewing content on more devices, more 18-24-year-olds reported TV adverts play a part in their decision to buy something (40.35%) than any other format, including online adverts (29.82%).
“No sector is immune; all of them need to make sure that they’re not being overly familiar with consumers and are actually delivering the service, experience and loyalty programme that is expected of them.
“The challenge will be to know where to draw the line, which requires constant discussion with consumers, something that not many brands seem suitably set up to do without over-stepping the mark.”