BRAND TRUST IN THE AGE OF INFORMATION OVERLOAD: INTUIT MAILCHIMP’S NEW STUDY REVEALS HOW BRANDS CAN BUILD TRUST AND CONNECT WITH CONSCIOUS CONSUMERS

• Brand trust is the lead characteristic that influences purchases, closely followed by free delivery and discount codes 
• Deals Down Under: nearly half of Aussies seek out discount codes before buying anything and 22% wait for a saving before spending over $190 
• Turn-offs for Aussie shoppers include: brands sending 3+ emails a week, unsubstantiated claims and talking politics
• Discount sweet-spot revealed as 15% 

SYDNEY, Tuesday 11 June 2024 - Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq: INTU), the global financial technology platform that makes Intuit TurboTax, Credit Karma, QuickBooks, and Mailchimp, today released a new report, “Brand Trust In the Age of Information Overload”, which focuses on the evolving relationship between brand and customer, consumer spending motivations, and how businesses can best connect with customers in today’s climate. Sourced from a survey of 10,000 consumers across nine countries—including 1,000 in Australia—the results revealed that brand trust and connection (46%) is a top factor that drives sales with Australian shoppers. 

The report also identified other primary characteristics consumers look for when making purchasing decisions: free delivery (47%), regular discount codes and rewards (45%), excellent customer service (41%), free returns (38%) and quick shipping (38%). The results differed across the generations surveyed. For those aged over 65 the key purchase drivers were trust (60%) and excellent customer service (55%); while those aged 18 to 24 were also led by trust (40%), they were driven by other characteristics such as discounts (39%) and environmental impact (36%). Personalised marketing is especially well-received among 18-to-34 year-olds, too: Over half of this group in Australia (61% for 18-to-24s and 64% for 25-to-34s) believe that the future of personalisation means they won’t be searching for products and services, but the right products and services will be coming to them. 

“As businesses continue to grapple with a challenging economic environment, it’s never been more important for Australian brands to build trust and engage with their customers. When brands deliver personalised messaging and targeted product recommendations, they demonstrate that they understand their customers on a deeper level—and our data says consumers increasingly see these kinds of tailor-made brand interactions as the future," said Adam Anger, Chief Sales Officer at Intuit Mailchimp. “By embracing authenticity, transparency, and advanced personalisation, marketers can forge the kinds of deep relationships that transcend passing trends.”

While the report underlines a handful of insight-informed tactics to roll out, it also pinpoints marketing mishaps to avoid. Some of the top reasons that lead Australian consumers to unsubscribe from brand emails include repetitive or unimaginative emails (49%),  unsubstantiated claims about brand purpose (43%), not being able to view an email properly on their device (43%) and biassed/partisan commentary on social or political issues (35%). Findings also reveal the quantity threshold: Australian consumers will unsubscribe if a brand sends more than three emails per week, the lowest number of all countries surveyed.  

Despite trust coming out top, nearly a third (34%) of shoppers have started trusting in brands less amidst the rise of misinformation. So, with trust on the decline but its importance ever-paramount, what can brands do to instil this from the outset, and maintain it?

Marketers can build trust and drive sales with these data-led marketing tactics:

1. Focus on quality service: A proven track record of excellent customer service ranks highly as a driver for both purchases and engagement. This ranked higher in importance for older generations, with over half (55%) of those aged over 65 versus one in three aged 18 to 24 saying it was a primary purchasing factor. 
2. Ask for data and provide value: While four in five shoppers need to be assured by brands that they’re using their data responsibly, nearly half (43%) are happy to share it with brands they trust. However, more than three-fifths (62%) want to see more value and greater personalisation in exchange for sharing data, and only just over a third (35%) feel they’re currently seeing the value of doing so. So while personalisation has some way to go it’s encouraging to hear that more than one in three mention it’s currently stopping them from “missing out on products” and that they are being shared information “they’re genuinely interested in”.

3. Galvanise brand advocates: The report revealed word-of-mouth recommendations via friends and family are the most trusted endorsements (55%), followed by customer testimonials and reviews (33%) - both much higher than content creators and influencers (10%). These findings underline the real value of brand advocates—true unbiased, unpaid fans. Not only will the brand benefit from the fan’s repeat purchases but also from their authentic following’s purchases (and perhaps advocacy) too. A marketing-savvy way to harness this push power and incentivise and reward can be through recommend-a-friend schemes. It’s worth underlining that a key way to restore brand trust when lost is through customer testimonials, as well (41%).

4. Communicate transparently: For Australian consumers, the primary way to rebuild brand trust when lost is through transparency of company actions (62%). Notably, in the face of inflation, 53% stayed loyal to a brand that raised its prices transparently. 

6. Live up to brand promise: The report reveals the most important factor that significantly impacts purchasing decisions for shoppers is “a company with values to match my own” (36%), so spending time on brand-building content to underline company ethics can quite literally pay off. Findings show that on the whole, customers care more about sustainability than affordability. 26% said they were more inclined to buy from a brand that has a positive impact on the environment, versus 16% who said they were more inclined to buy from a brand that is affordable but less sustainable. 
7. Leverage smart discount strategies: Discount codes are an unequivocal sales driver. Nearly half of Australian consumers (49%) will look for a discount code before making any online purchase and nearly a quarter (22%) will delay purchases over $190 until they can get money off. But while discount codes support customer purchases and engagement, they eat away at a company’s profit. The Mailchimp report reveals the discount sweet spot for Australian shoppers: 15%. This is the lowest site-wide discount that would entice shoppers to click through to the website to explore potential purchases.

Adam continues: “It’s crucial for marketers to align with Australian customers’  evolving preferences and needs, shaping strategies that foster enduring relationships. Brands dedicated to understanding their customers and maintaining brand integrity are poised to not only earn trust but reap rewards.”