The latest intelligence from the Pew Internet Project, the 2012 "Digital Differences" report, finds that one in five American adults surveyed don’t use the Internet, with almost 50% citing irrelevance as the main reason.

The survey, which polled of 2,260 adults aged 18 and older conducted in July-August, 2011, further reveals that 10% of respondents who don't use the Internet have no interest in doing so in the future, although 20% say they have enough technological know-how to do so.

The self-identified Luddites flagged by Pew included, primarily, senior citizens, Spanish-speaking respondents, adults with less than a high school education, and those with under $30,000 annual income. At the same time, the rise of mobile has narrowed the digital divide between white Americans and minorities.Continue reading...

It doesn’t seem that long ago that marketers kept pretty busy trying to lure consumers in at younger ages in order to keep them onboard for the rest of their lives. Once an (insert product here) user, always an (insert product here) user.

But money—or lack of it—has a way of changing things. Forbes reports that brand loyalty is seriously on the downswing in America, which is bad news for marketers. The source: a new study by Ernst & Young of more than 25,000 people in 34 different markets worldwide resulted in the new info that brand loyalty is only just below 40% across all of those markets but is at a lowly 25% in the States.

The way Ernst & Young put it makes it sound as if the American consumer has had a bad accident: “Customer behavior has changed beyond recognition.” However you phrase it, marketers have some adjusting to do.

Two things that are key to purchase decisions and scored high in the study, Forbes notes, are price (89%) and quality (82%). Forbes also points out that another study by Ask Your Target Market, which “asked 2,000 consumers to rank in order of importance the factors which affect why they love a given brand,” had price and quality at the top of the rankings.Continue reading...

McDonald's announced a cross-country "listening tour" last August, a local market effort to get feedback in local markets about its nutritional messaging.

Above, watch a recent session led by Dr. Cynthia Goody, McDonald's USA director of nutrition, who spoke with a group of parents, educators, PTA members and local community organization members in the greater Washington, D.C. area about the company's commitment to improved nutrition choices and children's well-being. And yes, Ronald was there.

The video was released as new research indicates that McDonald's customers were the "unhappiest" with their health last month out of the eight top U.S. fast food chains.Continue reading...

Customer loyalty is increasingly a marker for success, especially as brands compete for market share and look for ways to grow and maintain a loyal customer base. Given the influence of social media, engendering loyalty becomes all the more important for brands because they can be impacted by positive recommendations or negative comments shared among consumers.

That makes a new research report, the 2012 Temkin Loyalty Ratings, particularly interesting. Based on a survey of 10,000 U.S. consumers in January 2012, the research examines consumer loyalty to 206 large companies across 18 industries.

The Loyalty Ratings survey took into account three components of loyalty:

- Likelihood of consumers to recommend companies

- Reluctance of consumers to switch business away from companies

- Willingness of consumers to purchase additional products and services from companies.

The top three industries in terms of loyalty were grocery chains, retailers, and fast food chains. Last in the ratings were TV service providers and Internet service providers. Banks and credit card issuers appear in six of the bottom nine spots in the ratings.Continue reading...

Everybody loves a deal, particularly in such tough economic times. Smartphone owners of the world have given themselves another channel toward savings as mobile deals are starting to pop up — and new research shows that consumers tend to follow those deals more when they come during a shopping expedition than they follow brand loyalty.

Not shockingly, the survey (from AisleBuyer) of more than 1,000 shoppers shows that the group that is most ready to throw brand loyalty to the side are between the ages of 25 and 34, the site notes. A whopping 82 percent of them would do it in a heartbeat if they get a good offer for a competing brand on their mobile device.Continue reading...

A new study from Accenture reveals that 66% of consumers changed brand loyalty in 2011 due to dissatisfaction with customer service, even as satisfaction with overall services provided increased.

The Accenture Global Consumer Survey polled 10,000 people in 27 countries on ten issues about service expectations, purchasing intentions, loyalty, satisfaction and switching.Continue reading...

Luxury brands aren't the only segment targeting the "1 percent," the uber-rich slice of the population that has been taking a lot of heat from the so-called 99 percenters. It is these wealthiest consumers, occupying rarefied air, who vote with their checkbooks, so their preferences are closely considered and carry a lot of clout.

So what is the high net worth consumer looking for? First and foremost, superior quality, according to "Luxury Branding and Marketing: A Global Comparison of Wealthy Consumers in Top Markets," a study just released by Luxury Institute. The survey analyzed wealthy consumers with a minimum annual income of $150,000 or the local currency equivalent in China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

A broad majority (73 percent) of wealthy consumers think superior quality is the most important attribute that defines a luxury brand, followed by craftsmanship (65 percent) and design (54 percent). But increasingly, customer service is becoming a key consideration (47 percent). Customer service is even more important to Chinese consumers, who say that service has improved (63 percent).Continue reading...

Market research group Lab42 asked a question branding and marketing pros ask all the time: Is anyone even paying attention to advertising?

The three forms of advertising Lab42 focused on were online banner ads, ads in free phone apps, and ads in music streaming apps.

Some of the findings are expected (pop-ups are annoying!) while others are surprising (31 percent of respondents claimed to never fast-forward through commercials in DVR-ed programming). The survey findings in an eye-catching visual graphic:Continue reading...