Dive Brief:
- Nearly all consumers — 93% — say authentic engagement builds trust, while 85% say they would be willing to pay more for brands they perceive as authentic, according to a survey of 1,600 U.S. and UK consumers released Wednesday by CX platform Emplifi.
- Consumers say honest and truthful communication signifies authenticity, as well as keeping promises, feeling genuine and relatable, and behaving consistently over time.
- Just over half of consumers say they will stop buying from a brand after they are faced with an inauthentic experience. More than one-third say they would switch to a competing brand.
Dive Insight:
Authenticity is important throughout the customer journey, but it is vital to customer service. More than 8 in 10 respondents say customer service interactions should feel authentic, the Emplifi survey found.
Consumers say a quick response time, flexibility in communication channels, and a human tone matters in providing an authentic customer support interaction.
Maintaining responsive, supportive customer service is often a matter of the company’s intent, according to Brad Jashinsky, director analyst at Gartner. Brands can offer great customer service while implementing tools like AI, but they must keep their focus on the customer.
“When customer service is focused on efficiency instead of long-term customer value, that's where you run into challenges,” Jashinsky told CX Dive. “When you're making decisions, whether it's to automate or to offshore, and you're doing that because you're trying to save money, that's where you start to see a bottoming out of authenticity.”
Transparency can help AI-led experiences feel authentic, according to Jashinsky. Letting customers know they’re speaking to an AI agent, as well as letting them switch to live support if they prefer, makes it feel like the brand is supporting their needs, not trying to save money.
Dairy Queen’s rollout of AI-powered drive-thrus got this right, according to Jashinsky. The restaurant he visited had a sign informing customers that they’re speaking with a robot and that they just need to say “speak with a team member” to reach a human.
