Loyalty is on the rise among Australians
Increased loyalty to spouse, country and doctor top list
July 5, 2010
From spouses to coffee shops, loyalty is making a comeback, according to the Ipsos Australian Loyalty study.
This research study delved into consumers' views about loyalty across 35 categories, looking at what makes them loyal and who they are loyal to, and asking them to compare today with how they felt two years ago.
In almost all cases, the respondents said there were more loyal than two years ago.
Australian Loyalty, Spouse before Country...
Topping the loyalty list was spouse, partner or significant other, with 88 per cent Australians saying they are more loyal than they were two years ago.
This was followed closely by increased loyalty to their country (86 per cent) and their family doctor (80 per cent).
Ipsos Head of Loyalty, Brett Tucker commented: "It was interesting to find that despite Australians identifying loyalty to their country as the second highest rated category, the people leading the nation came at the bottom of the list with only 31 per cent of Aussies having higher loyalty to the federal leader and 18 per cent to the state leader."
It's Sunday... shall we go shopping or to church?
Consumer loyalty is alive and well. Despite the changes in the economic climate, Australians have said that they are more loyal to the brand of car they drive (76 per cent), their coffee shop (67 per cent), as well as their financial institution (65 per cent).
When trying to win the hearts (and wallets) of your customers, don't write off Gen Y
On most items relating to the concept of Loyalty, from "Loyalty to employer" to "Loyalty not being an old-fashioned concept", Gen Y was significantly more positive.
Tucker added: "This was a shocking finding as most of us in the Loyalty business believed Gen Y generally had an inflated sense of entitlement so we expected their loyalty scores to be lowest. In fact, they were most favourable to the concept of loyalty and stated more loyalty to brands and employer than Gen X and in many cases Baby Boomers. It may come as a surprise to some that Gen Y is the most likely to remain loyal to their employer even if they are offered a higher paying job elsewhere."
When it came to age, on average, consumers aged 18-24 showed more increased loyalty than those aged 45-54 with Gen Y being more loyal to the 'fun stuff' like retail outlets and places where they eat out. Gen Y on average, are more loyalty consumers than Gen X.
In addition, of the Australians that are employed, over half (55 per cent) of employees indicated they would remain loyal to their workplace if they got an offer to work at another company for 10 per cent more in their pay cheque.
Almost half (45 per cent) of Australians do not believe organisations do a good job of encouraging loyalty to strengthen relationships with customers.
Likewise, 47 per cent of Australians say organisations do not do a good job of properly recognising and rewarding those customers who were loyal to them.
Loyalty is a two way street
Loyalty begins with organisations and customers want to see that organisations are making an effort to make the experience more engaging.
"Loyalty is not simply about asking for consumers to be loyal, as 84 per cent of consumers state they would only show loyalty to organisations that are loyal to," continued Tucker.
And when looking to reward consumers, respondents highlighted that rewards do not necessarily have to be complicated. Points on frequent shopper card and instant cash rewards at the checkout counter were the types of rewards customers enjoyed whereas preferential treatment was the least popular.
60 per cent of respondents felt loyalty was not 'an old fashioned concept' and that it is still relevant in today's society.
For more information on the survey click here.
For further information contact:
Brett Tucker
Ipsos Loyalty
T: 02 9900 5100
E: brett.tucker@ipsos.com
About the survey
This 2010 Ipsos Australian Loyalty Study ran was fielded 14-17 May 2010. The sample included 1022 Australians aged 18 years and older and was conducted using the Ipsos online panel MyView.
About Ipsos
Ipsos is the second largest global survey-based market research company, owned and managed by research professionals that assess market potential and interpret market trends for over 5,000 worldwide clients to develop and test emergent or existing products or services, build brands, test advertising and study audience responses to various media, and, measure public opinion on issues and reputation. With over 9,100 employees working in wholly owned operations in 64 countries, Ipsos conducts advertising, customer loyalty, marketing, media, and public affairs research.