‘Local’ and ‘ethical’ are two of the strongest brands driving customer loyalty, according to a new report.
Almost half of shoppers will go out of their way to support new and local businesses in their community, while one in three consumers will give their money to those businesses with a social and ethical business behaviour.
The findings come from a consumer loyalty report published by O2 and the Global Future Forum, which asked over 1,000 shoppers to evaluate their feelings toward brands.
Two-thirds said they feel that size has little impact on the reliability, consistency or quality of the products they buy, and 80% rated ‘the human touch’ as the quality above all others that makes them loyal to a particular brand.
“Small businesses have an inherent head start in building customer loyalty,” said Peter Rampling, head of small business marketing at O2. “Although price is important, other factors matter more where local business can really compete.
“We know how important human relationships are and by virtue of their size and access to the community, small businesses can readily build strong individual relationships and through these deliver a great human experience that goes beyond quality of service to keep customers coming back.”
The report also found that consumers by and large believe they show less loyalty to products and services than they did 30 or 40 years ago; however, only less than a quarter believe the concept is out of date.
