How close is too close? While personalisation can be key to a brand’s success on the high street, new research reveals that it can simultaneously also be its downfall, with almost half of consumers saying that they do not want to be addressed on a first-name basis.
The research, commissioned by Tangent Snowball, revealed that 47.5% of women do not want brands to target them with their first-names, while men are slightly more forgiving with a little over 41% put off by a brand making an effort to distinguish John from Steve.
In terms of driving purchase, men were found to be more likely to be swayed by TV adverts and SMS messages (48.2% compared to 41.1% of women), women are more likely to be swayed by promotional emails (47% compared to 36.8% of men).
The research also revealed some surprising results when it comes to those born in the 1990s.
56.1% of 18-24 year olds said that card-based loyalty programmes were vital to a personalised service – higher than any other age group – while 40.4% said that TV adverts play a part in their decision to buy something, more than any other format. 29.8% said the same for online adverts.
“Personalisation has been one of the biggest buzzwords in the industry over the past decade, but our research shows that, in fact, personalisation is a huge risk for brands,” said Steve Grout, CEO of Tangent Snowball.
“No sector is immune; all of them need to make sure that they’re not being overly familiar with consumers and are actually delivering the service, experience and loyalty programme that is expected of them.
“The challenge will be to know where to draw the line, which requires constant discussion with consumers, something that not many brands seem suitably set-up to do without over-stepping the mark.”
