Belonging, Authenticity, and CX

Ease, Effectiveness, and Emotion have been identified as the foundation of customer experience (CX) as highlighted by Forrester Research. Each has a significant impact on how people perceive their interactions with a brand. However, what was once a hallmark has become the price of admission. If experiences are not easy, effective, or positive, customers will find alternatives. The next step on the path to customer loyalty is to elevate experiences beyond the basics to help consumers feel that they are part of something special.

This year’s Bond Loyalty Report, which is the world’s longest standing and largest loyalty data set, has highlighted elevation as an important differentiator within customer experience. Loyalty program members expect to have experiences that recognize them for their status, make them feel valued, prioritized, and part of a community. When they do, it can deepen their relationship with a brand, inspiring advocacy and leading to true, emotional loyalty.

The Human Need for Emotional Connection

Psychologist Abraham Maslow^[i] famously theorized that humans have a hierarchy of needs that must be met before they can achieve their full potential. After physiological and safety needs are achieved, love and belonging are the next higher order needs that motivate human beings.

Humans crave belonging, particularly now. The pandemic years were marked by isolation—both mandated and self-imposed. Those experiences shaped us, making us more selective about how we spend our time and our money. Those experiences also stoked our craving for connection. Brands that offered a sense of community thrived. Zoom increased its usage 2900% during the pandemic by giving users a chance to stay in touch with loved ones, colleagues, and customers.

Netflix Party invited friends for digital dates to watch shows, and people came together in vast numbers to support those in need, whether the need was due to the health crisis, food insecurity, natural disaster, tragedy, or social injustice.

Today, there are more millennials earning and spending than any other generation[iv], with Gen Z following close behind. Both generations are highly values-driven groups. This comes out in their commitment to sustainability, corporate social responsibility, diversity, equity, and inclusion, and their engagement with communities of like-minded peers. Although they prioritize products and services that fulfill their expectations, they are drawn to brands with purpose and transparency—brands that feel like a fit with their own identity.

Human Frontline vs AI

The drive for connection has underscored the power of human interactions at a time when AI use is growing rapidly. In fact, it may be the very prevalence of technology that makes human support feel unique, customized, and often, welcome. As brands look to AI to manage their processes, it's important to understand the areas in which humans excel. Humans can be spontaneous; they can ‘read the room’ by responding to non-verbal cues; they can personalize communication in a natural and tone-appropriate way, show empathy, and build trust.

Our research has shown the positive impact that human brand representatives have on customers because of what they can do, and how they make customers feel. Although AI may seem almost magical in its vast and instant access to information, humans have a few tricks up their sleeves. For example, they can provide a hands-on demonstration of a complex process, product or service; offer advice based on their own experiences; navigate emotional minefields like an empathetic ninja and switch gears on the fly to flow with a customer’s spontaneous needs, sense of humour, and non sequiturs. Humans were born ready to build connection to people by relating to them, sharing their own emotions, and seeing themselves in others.  

People Power

Frontline team members have a clear impact on customer experience; however, their role as a brand ambassador may be underappreciated. To a consumer, the person on the phone or in front of them is ‘the brand.’ Not only does this give the employee the responsibility to provide a pleasant experience, but it also makes them the personification of the brand. When their interaction is positive, customers may feel reassured that their perception of the brand has been confirmed.

Numerous studies have explored the impact of belonging on happiness, health, and productivity. In the consumer world, a sense of belonging grows when a customer feels their brand experience is authentic, when the representative brings the brand to life. In “The impact of collective brand personification on happiness and brand loyalty” [v], authors Dominique Braxton and Loraine Lau-Gesk identify “brand authenticity as a driver of belongingness.” When a customer experiences brand authenticity though a representative, they often feel more connected to the brand, which leads to a new level of contentment that surpasses mere ‘satisfaction’. This positive association with the brand has the power to draw them back, again and again.

Authenticity is Most Authentic When It’s Authentic

When representatives embody the values of a brand, this comes out in the way that they communicate and through the experience that they provide. There is a marked difference between having a question answered by an employee who dutifully reports the facts, and a team member who glows with the opportunity to share their knowledge and perspective. This kind of authentic brand advocacy is powerful and validates the customer’s instinct about the brand. It helps them feel that they have been heard and that they can trust what they are hearing back, confirming that they are in the right place, talking to the right person—that they belong.

Bond’s rDriver (relevant Driver) model is our framework for understanding how to drive loyalty to a client’s program. We measure 36 drivers of loyalty that roll up into these seven driver buckets: Communications, Safety, Know Me, Learning, Time, Financial, and Access. Access focuses on unlocking experiences and opportunities that customers wouldn’t have otherwise. This gives clients the knowledge to identify opportunities to differentiate.

This year, two Access drivers rose in rankings over the year before[vi]– ‘Reps make me feel special/recognized’ (+2 ranks), ‘Has community of members’ (+2 ranks).

Customers want reps to make them feel special… yet only 10% of Canadians  have experienced this. There is room to grow, especially given the impact on business outcomes. Those programs whose reps do make customers feel special/recognized, see a 6.4X lift on ‘loyal to program’ and 5.1x lift on ‘stay’ (likelihood to continue doing business with the brand). Choosing the right brand ambassadors, and empowering them to deliver authentic experiences, will have a significant impact on customer relationships.

Conclusion

Our research shows that brands are doing a good job of being easy to interact with, and that customers see effectiveness and emotion as the price of entry—achieving what they need to do and being treated in a friendly and helpful manner. Elevation is the greatest opportunity for differentiation. When brands can forge authentic connections, surpass customer expectations, help them feel special, and give them a sense of belonging, they will be able to elevate their experiences to earn their customers’ business and their true loyalty.

[i] Maslow, A. H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), 370–396.

[ii] Zoom Revenue and Usage Statistics, 2024, Business of Apps, Mansoor Iqbal, May 24, 2024

[iv] Millennials now outnumber boomers in Canada, February 21, 2024, Statistics Canada and US Population Share by Generation, Statista.

[v] The impact of collective brand personification on happiness and brand loyalty, Dominique Braxton & Loraine Lau-Gesk, July 24, 2020, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 54, No. 10, 2020

[vi] The Bond Loyalty Report