Smartphone-owning Millennials (19-33) are more likely to expect brands to have a mobile-friendly website or app (55%) than they are to expect brands to have a social media presence (39%), according to recent survey results from Annalect.
The study, which examined respondents’ attitudes to technology and its use by brands, also finds that many expect brands to offer mobile payments.
While smartphone-owning Millennials’ expectations for brands’ technology use ranged from product customization (37%) to the creation of engaging in digital content (41%), it’s worth noting that 44% want brands to still maintain some form of human interaction.
Nevertheless, a brand’s use of technology can be a competitive differentiator. Indeed, asked to choose whether the technology being used by a brand or the brand’s name would be more important when making a product or service purchase, 52% chose the brands’ use of technology.
Interestingly, though, that majority was due to males’ clear choice for technology (53%) over brand name (42%), with females opting for brand name (53%) over technology use (47%).
Among the various positive perceptions associated with brands’ technology use:
- 39% agreed that they remain loyal to brands that are up-to-date with tech;
- 39% agreed that tech adds value to a brand; and
- 33% agreed that they are more likely to recommend a brand if it’s tech-savvy.
Finally, technology can be used as a method for discovering brands. Some 55% of respondents said that app stores have helped them discover brands, while 47% noted that someone else following, liking, pinning, or tweeting info on social media had helped introduce them to a brand.