â–¶ Conduct Unbecoming: Most Americans were disappointed in how the nation’s businesses conducted themselves in 2010, with 61% saying corporate America failed to meet their expectations, and only 5% saying that businesses exceeded their expectations, according to a survey conducted by StrategyOne, a Daniel J. Edelman research firm. Some of their responses:
• When asked to grade how well corporate America did in 2010, 82% assigned a grade of C or lower and 40% assigned a grade of D or F. Just 17% gave corporate America an A or a B for its 2010 performance.
• The survey also asked what corporate behaviors were important to improve in 2011; 88% said it was extremely or very important to conduct business in an ethical manner in 2011, and 87% said it was a top priority to do business in an honest and moral way.
• Other priorities for companies from the consumer perspective include delivering high-quality products and services (85%), demonstrating good governance (84%), paying back any bailout money loaned to them as quickly as possible (83%) and making fewer mistakes and errors (82%).
• And as the nation struggles with the economy, 88% of consumers said corporations recovered from the recession better than American families, and 85% thought corporations had better prospects for the coming year than American families did.
Source: StrategyOne
â–¶ Consumers’ High Green IQ: Eco-consumers are as committed as ever to shopping organic in 2011, but they’re skeptical about the explosion of all-natural product labels, according to a recent survey by Mambo Sprouts Marketing, which specializes in natural and organic product marketing and promotions. Consumers are both increasingly interested in organics and holding organic brands to higher standards:
• Health and natural consumers were not confident that products labeled “natural” truly held up to the word. One in three (34%) were either “not very” or “not at all” confident in current natural labeling.
• Two in three (65%) were very interested in a uniform standard to certify natural products—including ingredients and processes—that are labeled as natural.
• Natural and organic consumers were most likely to prefer natural labeling certification by an independent, nonprofit organization (33%) and/or by a government standard (27%). Respondents were less interested in industry/company supported standards (23%) or retailer certification (18%).
• The outlook for organics remains strong. Store brand/private label organics are now mainstream, with virtually all (96%) consumers buying these products; this year 57% plan to maintain current spend levels on organics, and four in 10 (39%) will increase their spend.
Source: Mambo Sprouts Marketing
â–¶ Customer Service Slow on Social: Market research and customer insight, CRM and customer service teams are trailing behind marketing, communications and even IT departments when it comes to setting social media strategies within companies, according to a Harvard Business Review study.
• While more than half of companies are using social media, only about a quarter of users say they could identify where their most valuable customers are “talking” about them. And less than one-quarter (23%) are using any form of social media analytics tools, with only 5% using some form of customer sentiment analysis.”
• 40% of respondents cited their most pressing challenges as understanding the potential of social media to make a difference to their business, and measuring the effectiveness of social media activities. When asked to rank the top three benefits of using social media, just 20% pointed to “better understanding of consumer perceptions of brands,” while 19% said “improved insights about our target market.”
Source: Harvard Business Review
â–¶ Internet Income Divide: Analysis of several recent surveys conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Projects finds stark differences in Internet use behavior between higher- and lower-income households. Some 95% of Americans who live in households earning $75,000 or more a year use the Internet at least occasionally, compared with 70% of those living in households earning less than $75,000. Findings include:
• Of those 95% of higher-income Internet users, 99% use the Web at home, compared with 93% of the Internet users in lower brackets.
• The relatively affluent are also more likely than those in lower-income households to own a variety of information and communications gear: 79% of those living in households earning $75,000 or more own laptops, compared with 47% of those living in less well-off homes; 70% of those living in higher-income households own iPods or other MP3 players, compared with 42% of those less well off.
• The most noticeable difference in online engagement between various income groups relates to their intensity of use. Some 86% of Internet users in higher-income households go online daily, compared with 54% in the lowest income bracket. Moreover, on any given day the more well-to-do Web users are more likely get online news, conduct online research for a product or service and go online to search for maps or directions.
• About 80% of online Americans in the higher income bracket get news on the Internet, compared with 60% of the Web users earning less than $30,000 per year. PRN
Source: Pew Research Center