UK Consumers Lead in Prioritising Corporate Social Responsibility

A new study from cloud-based experience leader, InMoment, uncovered five trends, including one that reveals UK consumers are outshining their global peers in making social responsibility a priority when choosing which brands to support.

The 2019 UK CX Trends study found that 42% of consumers say that brands’ support of environmental, social or political causes is becoming more or much more important to their purchasing decisions.

This is notable as previous research found UK consumers already rank corporate social responsibility much higher than US or Australian consumers. Just 36% of US consumers and 18% of Australian consumers said this factor is becoming more or much more important in their decisions.

In addition to the trend mentioned above, the 2019 study revealed four additional trends, as well as important takeaways, to help brands move beyond mistakes and realize the massive opportunities found well-executed customer experience.

The five trends include:

1. Lurking vs. Listening. Brands prioritise mining digital data, social posts, and reviews over having direct conversations with consumers about important issues. However, most customers (73 percent) say asking them directly is the best way to get to the most essential insights.
2. Dismissing the Human Factor. Customers say the most important thing brands can do to improve their experience is provide better service through their employees.
3. Neglecting Non-buyers. Seventy-two percent of customers who leave a website without buying are there to browse, compare or research, but that isn’t necessarily the bad news. Most brands aren’t even thinking about how to create experiences to engage these pre-customers for the long-term.
4. Definition of Loyalty Diverges. Customers say one of the most important ways they show loyalty is by providing both positive and negative feedback. It’s difficult for most brands (and many metrics) to treat constructive criticism as a gift and not a scourge.
5. Consumers Care. Corporate social responsibility is increasingly important for both customers and employees. Forty-two percent of UK consumers believe it is becoming more or much more important for brands to embrace those causes.

The study did not include Indian consumers and employees.