Loyalty compared in Latin America, US & Canada
Latin American consumers contacting consumer affairs departments are substantially younger than in the US and Canada, according to a study by The Center For Client Retention.
The 'Connecting to the Americas Benchmarking Study' surveyed some 16,000 consumers who had contacted the consumer affairs departments of 14 prestigious US-based consumer product companies, and found that slightly less than half of the consumers in Latin America were less than 35 years old, compared to approximately 15% for both the US and Canada.
"While this finding might be surprising, it is consistent with the age demography of Latinos living in the US at 27 years old, compared to the average age for US consumers being 40, and Canadians at 39.5," explained the centre's president, Richard Shapiro.
As a result, Shapiro recommends that companies that are promoting their brands in these newly emerging markets should welcome their new consumers to their brand families: "By telling consumers that you are grateful that they have selected your brand, it will communicate appreciation and instill a feeling that the company truly values their business."
Brand loyalty for consumers in Latin America still needs to be created, as opposed to consumers in the US and Canada for whom - in general - relationships with the brands simply need to be maintained or expanded.
Among the study's other key findings:
- Approximately 75% of the respondents from Latin America engage in social media sites, compared to slightly fewer than 60% in the US and Canada;
- Nearly two-thirds of the consumers had shared their comments about the interaction, with 85% being either positive or neutral in nature;
- Although the overall satisfaction for respondents in Latin America was somewhat less than for US or Canadian consumers, consumers from Latin America were at least serviced by local contact centres;
- Each country has unique cultural and language differences which present additional challenges over and above responding to the consumers' basic question or concern.
- The overall satisfaction for email-initiated responses was slightly lower than for those consumers who had initiated their contacts via the telephone for the US, Canadian and Latin American markets.
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