Brands Fail to Inspire Loyalty in Men
National survey finds women are more loyal to brands than men
Loyalty is a theme that permeates throughout our society, from the personal lives of everyday people, to the pages of celebrity magazines as high profile relationships regularly fall apart, and politicians losing the loyalty of the electorate and their peers, to Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson struggling to maintain the loyalty of his star striker. Brands too are fighting a constant battle to maintain the loyalty amongst consumers in the frugal society that has emerged from the recession – today it is much harder to build brand loyalty as customers swap brands easily, chasing the best deals.
Some of the loyalty dynamics at play in the relationship between brands and Britain’s consumers have been uncovered by a recent survey by customer insight and loyalty specialist The Logic Group and Ipsos MORI which show that disloyalty isn’t just a quality confined to the nation’s footballers; male consumers too are apparently less loyal to brands than women.
Of all the women who were asked in the survey of more than 2,000 consumers, 67% said they are members of at least one loyalty scheme; a significantly higher proportion than the 57% of men that are members of at least one loyalty scheme.
Women were also found to be significantly more likely than men to say they are loyal to the following organisations or places:
• Supermarkets (68% vs. 59% of men)
• Department stores (32% vs. 21% of men)
• Clothes shops (36% vs. 24% of men)
• Restaurants/coffee shops (35% vs. 30% of men)
Perhaps unsurprisingly men are significantly more likely than women to say they are loyal to bars/pubs/clubs (28% vs. 20% of women). Women are also more satisfied than men with the benefits shopping and retail loyalty schemes offer to them (71% vs. 62% of men).
Women are more likely than men to agree that:
• Since the recession started, loyalty schemes have had more influence on what I’ve chosen to spend money on (19% vs. 15% of men)
• Since the recession started, I have taken advantage more of the benefits provided by loyalty schemes (20% vs. 15% of men)
• I trust companies who run loyalty schemes to keep my personal information safe (51% vs. 44% of men)
• I always remember to use loyalty cards (54% vs. 40% of men)
Women are also more likely than men to say ‘Offers that are relevant to me’ will encourage them to spend more with a business or organisation (51% vs. 44% of men).
Anamaria Chiuzan, customer insight and loyalty specialist for The Logic Group comments: “When it comes to brand loyalty men and women clearly have very different drivers and motivations. The challenge for brands is to capture these differences in their loyalty messages and programmes, ensuring that they offer the right deals and messages at an individual level. British consumers are incredibly diverse and a one size fits all approach will do nothing to increase feelings of loyalty amongst both men and women. Loyalty is about the customer experience underpinning engagement with a brand. A series of factors determine how that experience should be defined: age, sex, lifestyle etc. Loyalty succeeds when the brand messages are tailored to build an experience that resonates with different customer types.”
