Report Says Customer Emotions Key Driver of Business Predictability for Brands

A new study by Forrester Consulting finds that the way customers think and feel about a brand predicts why they act - powerful information that brands can use to better predict business outcomes. The study, How Customers Think, Feel, And Act: The Paradigm Of Business Outcomes, found that "feeling" is 1.5x stronger in influencing customer buying decisions and loyalty, more than any other factor measured in the study.

Some key results from the study include:

• There is a disconnect between how brands perceive customer behavior and how customers actually feel: While over half of brands believe they understand how their customers think and feel, only 38% strongly agree they know why one customer chooses their brand while another does not, despite realizing how their business benefits from this knowledge.
• Small data is better at translating Customer Truth (how they think, feel, and act): 52% of brands agree that small data is better than big data at helping brands understand the why behind a customer's actions, but nearly half of brands agree they don't have enough small data insights on their customers.
• Customers will seek out and pay for personal brand connection: 91% of brands believe customers want convenient and highly personalized experiences with a brand and 93% agree that consumers are more likely to spend money with a brand they feel connected to. To accomplish this, brands must know their Customer Truth to understand why customers act and create this connection.