Consumers Rule the Roost, reveals new Pitney Bowes whitepaper
Hatfield, UK (PRWEB UK) 3 December 2013 -- A whitepaper entitled ‘Recommendations’, launched today by customer communications experts, Pitney Bowes, has revealed the most influential types of recommendations when it comes to consumers’ purchase decisions.
International research carried out for the whitepaper, overwhelmingly revealed that the most persuasive medium is word of mouth; whether it be via conversations, email or letters, two thirds (62%) of British consumers admitted to being influenced in to a purchase by word of mouth.
Following word of mouth, consumer reviews on websites such as TripAdvisor came out second; with 39% admitting that content on such sites has persuaded them to make a purchase. The findings, which were echoed in Germany and the USA, reveal just how much power consumers hold over how brands are perceived, with only around a fifth of purchase decisions being influenced by authored reviews in newspapers (23%), magazines (19%) and other published guides (18%).
Colin Forrest, Head of Marketing for UK and ROI at Pitney Bowes said, “Purchase decisions are obviously influenced by a number of factors, but it’s important to recognise just how influential fellow consumers are in the purchase process of others.
“Consumer perceptions can quickly change - customer churn is part and parcel of every industry - and if companies are to maximise their position within their sector, they must make switching to them an attractive prospect. Doing so does not only requires an attractive price and product offering, it also requires a simple switching process – the easier it is to switch, the more customers you will attract.”
Pitney Bowes has a dedicated customer portal designed to encourage and support businesses to switch over to Pitney Bowes’s SMART meters, which can facilitate substantial savings on SMEs’ postal costs.
The full findings of the research are available in Pitney Bowes’s whitepaper, ‘Recommendations, available at http://pressroom.pitneybowes.co.uk/recommended-route/.
Survey methodology: 1,000 consumers polled in the UK, the USA, France, Germany and India respectively.
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For more information, interviews or an image, please contact Jessica Hilton, James Harris or Gill Alexander at Lucre Public Relations on 0208 741 5900 or pitneybowes(at)lucre(dot)co.uk
About Pitney Bowes
Pitney Bowes provides technology solutions for small, mid-size and large firms that help them connect with customers to build loyalty and grow revenue. Many of the company’s solutions are delivered on open platforms to best organize, analyze and apply both public and proprietary data to two-way customer communications. Pitney Bowes includes direct mail, transactional mail and call center communications in its solution mix along with digital channel messaging for the Web, email and mobile applications. Pitney Bowes: Every connection is a new opportunity™. http://www.pb.com.
James Harris, Pitney Bowes Limited, +44 2087415900, [email protected]
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