Chunkier.
You may have noticed that today’s edition of theCustomer QT has fewer entries than normal. That’s partially due to the nature of this week’s important news items but it’s also reflective of some of the feedback we’ve been getting. Here’s to shorter and meatier. Please let us know if this still tastes great AND is less filling.
Happy skimming!
Most customer data at the app layer is not safe
Quick-Take: Currently, less than a quarter (24 percent) use techniques that protect data in the applications they control. For the next 12 months, however, nearly all respondents (96 percent) plan on adding things like encryption, data masking, security audit logging, and tokenization.
Studies Most Likely to Be Wrong Are Read the Most
Quick-Take: Studies that can’t be verified and may be untrue are much more likely to be cited in the media because they tend to be more interesting, researchers report. They looked at studies in top psychology, economic and nature/science journals and found that only 39% of 100 psychology papers were successfully replicated. The replication rates were 61% for 18 economic studies, and 62% among 21 nature/science studies. But papers whose findings couldn’t be replicated later on got a lot of attention at the time they were released: They were cited 153 times more often than those whose findings could be repeated.
Making The Choice: Safety or Privacy?
Quick-Take: 48% of Americans admit to valuing privacy and safety equally and less than 15% combined fall on either extreme end of the spectrum. This makes it clear that most of us would prefer to not make any big tradeoffs, but if that’s not an option then what do people feel is a worthy exchange? 68% of people said they’re willing to trade off their privacy in general, but the specifics break down like this:
- Safety – 56%
- Better Quality of Life – 46%
- Access To Technology – 31%
- Convenience – 31%
People’s priorities are in the right place, but how closely does the reality of the situation line up? All-in-all, people feel moderately safer (29%) with modern tech; 81% think smart home surveillance keeps us safer and 68% think that surveillance in businesses keeps people safer. That said, most of us don’t feel we have any control over what data about us is collected, who sees it, or how it’s used. A concerning 86% of people feel they have no control over the way their data is used and 84% think they can’t control who is able to collect that data in the first place. Not only that, but 61% think the sort of large institutions interested in data collection take it too far.
Little BNPL Brand Loyalty
Quick-Take: Users of ‘buy now pay later services’ expect to use their BNPL accounts more frequently in future but they have very little brand loyalty, with around 70 per cent of people saying they would rather switch BNPL providers than switch to a store that has a relationship with their existing provider. Based on its research, Macquarie expects that global spend using BNPL will grow from its current level of around A$800 billion to $3.8 trillion by 2030 – a more than four-fold increase.
Customer Service Helps People Seek Connections
Quick-Take: In a December 2020 study of 2,000 adults in the U.S., Genesys found that one in six consumers have called customer service just to hear another voice. Companies have spent years optimizing for more efficient customer interactions. Yet in the rush to digitally transform, experiences have become less human. According to the Genesys survey, 67% of consumers rate empathetic customer service experiences over speedy resolutions. This finding challenges the customer service industry’s widely held measurement standard that quick resolution is paramount. Additionally, characteristics of empathy were rated the highest for customer service interactions, with consumers wanting customer service representatives to: listen (88%), understand their needs (86%), and value their time (85%).
Starbucks Seeks ‘Puppuccino’ Trademark
Quick-Take: Long known for giving free whipped cream to canine owners as a pet treat, Starbucks Corp. earlier this month submitted an application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to trademark the term “Puppuccino.” According to the application, the term would apply to milk-based beverages, whipped cream and pet bandanas.
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Photo by John Cameron on Unsplash.
