How do you ensure stickiness of your brand among consumers?

MUMBAI, INDIA: A new study commissioned by CA Technologies and conducted by Zogby Analytics has found that mobile and desktop applications have become the new battleground for brand loyalty.

The study titled, Software: the New Battleground for Brand Loyalty, said that consumers in India no longer view applications as nice-to-have novelties but as a primary way to interact with brands and an integral component of brand loyalty, which in turn translates into customer loyalty.

The survey identified four key characteristics that have the biggest impact on consumer experience in India.

Applications: The study highlighted how applications have become a crucial meeting point between consumers and organizations. According to the survey, 47.2 percent of Indian consumers are using applications to pay taxes. The opportunities presented by the application economy are most apparent with 44.8 percent are most likely to use applications to renew passports, 47.2 percent of consumers would be willing to pay taxes through applications and 44.5 percent said they would prefer using applications to renew their driver license.

Easy to use features: Seventy two percent of consumers ranked easy to use features and applications that perform tasks with little difficulty’ as the most important factors contributing to brand loyalty

Security: Of the users who had a fair or poor experience, 23 percent said that they would leave a brand forever because of security-related issues.

Social media: Thirty seven percent of respondents said recommendations by social media about an application play a key role in the consumer’s decision to follow the brand.

Sunil Manglore, Managing Director, CA Technologies, said, “The decision makers need to pay attention to the app gap—the divide between their own goals for application development and what the consumer demands. This divide demonstrates how industries have yet to fully leverage the application economy and the pressing need to bridge the gap.”

“Businesses need to shift the way they approach application development as it is no longer enough to release apps with basic functionality and limited features. Applications have to fire up instantly and quickly to present options for solving consumers’ problems and work intuitively throughout the entire experience”, he added.