Consumers have little patience with brands that market poorly to them, according to “The Emotional Shopping Experience,” a study released this week by operations experience platform parcelLab, conducted with YouGov PLC.
Of the shoppers polled, 49% were incorrectly marketed to by a brand within the last six months. Of those, 88% acted against the brand:
42% immediately unsubscribed to all of the brand’s marketing content, 24% blocked all content from the brand on social media and 22% decided not to purchase from the brand again. Their main complaints were being retargeted to with the same item they had just purchased (43%), receiving materials that were not age-appropriate (28%) or not being targeted with products for the gender they identified with (28%).
“More than two out of ten (22%) of the U.S. consumers who were incorrectly marketed to shared they were shown like-items to something they disliked, and more importantly, had even provided the company with direct feedback stating that,” states Tobias Buxhoidt, co-founder and CEO of parcelLab.
Consumers are mostly positive — 57% are emotionally invested in the online shopping experience. But it depends on the product category.
Of those to claim an emotional response, 47% list clothing/apparel as drawing the strongest reaction. This is followed by food and drink (38%), beauty and wellness (33%) and consumer electronics (29%).
But only 9% feel emotionally tied to gifting for their children and 2% tied to Valentine’s Day and wedding celebrations.
Yet 62% of U.S. consumers have made impulse purchases in the last six months. Of those, 43% were celebrating when purchasing, and 34% experienced feelings of happiness or excitement.
That said, consumers say the post-purchase journey is the most emotional part of the experience, and 63% are invested in the fulfillment, shipping, delivery and returns process. And 57% will choose to purchase from one brand over another if it offers free shipping and returns.
YouGov surveyed 1,185 U.S. consumers who have shopped online January 13-14, 2022.
