‘Useful’ brands preferred to ‘interesting’ ones

According to the Digital Dopamine report by Razorfish — which gathered views from 1,680 online individuals in the UK, US, Brazil and China — over half of consumers in the UK and US, and 69% in China say they “do anything they can to avoid seeing ads”.

However, findings showed that consumers are more open to advertising when it is part of a value exchange: 70% of respondents in the US and UK, and 77% in China, said they would be happy to view advertising in order to access free content online.

While there is also a high value placed on loyalty, with 92% of Brazilians and 72% of Americans agreeing that it’s important for brands to reward you for being a loyal customer, the report claims that “people are looking for more from brands than simply discounts and coupons”. Over 80% of consumers in the US and 95% of consumers in Brazil say it’s important for brands to make their lives easier.

Useful brands were found to be especially preferable to interesting ones in China ( 88% said they preferred useful brands over brands that are interesting) and the US ( 86%), while Brazil ( 81%) and the UK ( 79%) were slightly more open to interesting brands.

“Make yourself useful. Brands need to offer their customers services beyond core products and add some real value to peoples’ lives, if they are not already,” the report said.

“Consumers are more likely to stick with a brand if they feel it makes their lives easier.”