British shoppers will spend with "deserving" brands - study

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
May 17, 2021

UK shoppers are increasingly choosing to spend their money with brands depending on how much they think those brands deserve their patronage, a new study shows.

The Karmarama Human Insight study said shoppers are more concerned than ever about the way businesses treat their staff, suppliers and customers. They also want to see brands responding quickly but sensitively to social needs and backing up their words with actions.

The study, reported by Campaign, was based on research conducted only last month and also found that online conversations around the brands that ‘deserve’ consumers’ money have reached an average of 60% more than pre-pandemic.

Some 64% of consumers think how deserving a brand is of their service is important to the customer experience.

Almost three-quarters feel it’s important brands communicate what they’re doing to help society and people rather than just talking about what they’re selling. That’s up from 61% last summer. And 69% judge a brand based on how closely what it says aligns with what it does. 

As far as staff treatment is concerned, 81% say they’ll spend more with companies that have a good record on this front, up from 61% in July. And 76% are more likely to buy if they see authentic brand engagement with the issues caused by Covid. The figure was only 66% last summer.