3 Communication Trends for the fall of 2023
Consumer behavior is rapidly undergoing changes in the modern financial landscape. Here's some of the most important trends lined up for you:
AI-powered customer support
With the meteoric rise of AI language models such as ChatGPT and BING AI since the start of this year, it's no surprise consumer opinion is rapidly changing towards it as well. About 86% of consumers now approve of brands using AI, and this number is poised to keep rising (Haan, 2023).
One of the most notable developments has been concerning customer support. Over 60% of consumers have said to accept the use of AI-powered customer support. This is particularly interesting when you take the time to consider that about 48% of customers are willing to pay more for higher-quality customer service, and fast response times are something none is willing to compromise on (Haan, 2023).
This is especially useful if staying up-to-date on sudden industry developments is of the utmost importance to your customer base. AI can prove to be a useful ally in gathering and responding to real-time industry developments.
This won't mean that human-powered customer support will become redundant. A sizeable portion of the market (about 40%) prefers human interaction. Empathy plays a central role in this preference because AI as it is right now is still lacking a sense of nuance when it comes to more complex issues (Haan, 2023).
Personalised customer experience
The numbers don't lie, personalization is on the rise as an ever-increasing must-have for companies to include in their communication. The ability to cater to the specific pains and desires of customers proves to be a huge strategic advantage.
Nowadays, 50% of customers are willing to share personal information for a more personalized experience. This comes on the condition that they'll only decide to share their personal information if they get a tangible benefit for it in return. Think of the Dutch supermarket chain Albert Heijn, who have given customers the ability to share personal information for weekly personalised discounts (Haan, 2023).
The result of such personalizations is that 46% of customers tend to buy more, a sizeable opportunity to play into for consumer-centric companies (Haan, 2023).
On the flip side, 10% of consumers are unyielding when it comes to sharing their personal information for these ends. Additionally, it's good to keep in mind that not every form of personalization gets received well. Some tactics like virtual cart reminders tend to score low (12%) in appreciation, so be mindful of how it may be perceived by your customer base (Haan, 2023).
Ethical- and value-based consuming
In an ever-increasing transparent digital landscape, consumers find that ethical approaches to business play a key role in their behavior. If a company doesn't align with their personal ethics and values, 61% of consumers say it negatively affects their loyalty to given companies (Haan, 2023).
This is no surprise considering consumer trust lies at an all-time low. Public scandals and bad reviews have made people wary of just aligning themselves with any company, and they instead opt-in to associate themselves with companies that communicate the same values as they have.
A sense of belonging plays a huge role in this development. People increasingly associate the brands they buy from with a certain lifestyle and sense of identity. If your brands' values align with those of your customer base, you'll foster a strong sense of trust and belonging (Sustainability & Consumer Behaviour 2022, n.d.).
Made by Joshua Geelen
Footnotes
Delivering a personalized customer experience: 6 ways to get started. (n.d.). https://survicate.com/customer-experience/personalized-customer-experience/
Haan, K. (2023, 21 september). Top customer experience trends in 2023. Forbes Advisor. https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/customer-experience-trends/
Sustainability & Consumer Behaviour 2022. (n.d.). Deloitte United Kingdom. https://www2.deloitte.com/uk/en/pages/consumer-business/articles/sustainable-consumer.html