In today’s digital world, consumer behaviours have undergone significant changes, primarily due to the pervasive influence of digital media. As technology such as Big Data, Internet of Things, AI, etc. continues to advance and digital platforms become increasingly integrated into everyday life, consumers have adopted new habits and preferences that shape their interactions with brands and influence their purchasing decisions. In this blog, I will introduce the current trends in digital consumer behaviours that can revolutionise the modern marketing strategy.
1. Omnichannel Buying Experience
“Customers now prefer an omnichannel shopping experience which means they engage with online channels for information and even purchases before going to physical stores to collect their orders. The convenience and enjoyment are key to creating a seamless buying journey.”
With the advent of digital media, consumers are empowered to shop across various channels and platforms according to their preferences and convenience. This shift has prompted marketers to focus on providing an omnichannel buying experience, where seamless shopping journeys are facilitated regardless of the channel or touchpoint.
The integration of physical stores and online platforms can result in an increase of 80% in in-store visits, 67% of buyers prefer to make purchases online and collect their items at physical stores. According to WARC, people gravitate towards omnichannel buying particularly due to the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. After the pandemic, our finances have been severely impacted, making us more careful when buying non-essential products. Instead of directly visiting stores and making quick purchases like before, we now conduct more thorough research and compare prices to find perfect deals on the Internet, all of which are facilitated by online channels.
The ease and convenience of the omnichannel shopping experience
One of the biggest motivations for engaging in the click-and-mortar channel lies in convenience, compared to traditional offline or online shopping. Nowadays, people tend to search for information and make purchases on the Internet for many practical benefits including the ease of information searching, accessibility, availability, and other types of convenience. Social media and search engines make it easy to find relevant information and allow customers to access on-demand or even real-time answers to their questions. Undoubtedly, this saves them both time and effort compared to past methods such as asking sales assistants in stores. This is why 81% of consumers go online to find information about products and brands nowadays.
The entertainment and enjoyment of omnichannel buying
A study on consumer behaviours in the omnichannel environment shows online experience and in-store shopping provide consumers with a sense of pleasure, excitement, and happiness. Digital platforms have transformed consumer behaviours, making shopping more than just a transactional activity.
For instance, consumers often engage in online shopping not only for personal goals but also for social reasons. This includes buying products to share with friends or seeking recommendations from online communities, testimonials, or social media groups. The social aspect of shopping adds an entertaining dimension to the entire journey.
Yet, consumers expect the brand’s consistency, not the amount of channels it employs in the journey. With the current digitisation of brand identity, brands should be careful when crafting their omnichannel customer journey to avoid confusing consumers with the instability of performance.
Read more: Redefine and Understand Brand Identity in the Digital Age
2. Consumer Behaviours towards User-generated Content
“User-generated content is the king of kings. Online customers now prefer to make their buying decisions based on online reviews and testimonials. A balance between positive and negative remarks is recommended to optimise the outcome.”
Today, content is king, but user-generated content is the king of kings. Digital users today are motivated to engage with UGC for tons of reasons. It is found that reviews and opinions voluntarily shared by other consumers are perceived as trustworthy sources of information about product quality and performance. As billions of people shop online nowadays, reading other customers’ feelings helps them make informed buying decisions and reduces certainty about their choices.
Besides, another study in digital behaviours back in 2010 found that user-generated content can even provide opportunities for online social interaction. This means that online users read testimonials not only for their buying decisions but also for engaging with other like-minded individuals.
Regarding the massive impact of UGC on digital consumer behaviours, a study on content marketing figures that customer reviews, which is a common type of UGC, considerably influence people’s attitudes towards a brand. Moreover, the credibility of the UGC source is huge, as consumers are more likely to trust and act upon information from sources they perceive as trustworthy. Believe it or not, a survey by Everyone Social shows 93% of customers take user-generated content into account when buying something.
Surprisingly, digital consumers nowadays are even more convinced to engage with brands whose user testimonials display both positive and negative remarks. Consumers place a higher value on the authenticity of the reviews and prefer to read honest, non-commercial evaluations of companies. Hence, it signals a new way for brands to take advantage of user testimonials on their websites or social media. User-generated content is key to building your trust.
3. Consumer Attitudes towards Online Advertising
“The longer exposure people have to digital adverts, the more likely they will have positive attitudes towards the brands. Yet, permission marketing remains critical in the context of data privacy concerns today.”
Online advertising has gradually replaced traditional advertising over the last decades thanks to its capability of personalising advertising messages. According to Statista, digital ad spending will reach around US$696 billion in 2024, accounting for approx. 62% of the total advertising budget. Undoubtedly, digital advertising has done very well in improving a brand’s online presence, driving a new record of sales for companies on a global scale.
The effectiveness of online advertising reaches the extent that it can shape digital consumer behaviours and attitudes towards the brand just by showing up in front of their screens for a while. I’m referring to ‘mere exposure’ in which online users develop a preference for a brand that approaches them frequently with online adverts. Research shows the longer exposure people have to digital adverts, the more likely they will visit these advertised websites.
The given finding suggests a focus on utilising data-driven advertising to ensure that ads are displayed to relevant audiences more often and engagingly. Personally, I highly recommend the use of native advertising to make the advert less intrusive to the online user experience as digital customers have become more tech-savvy and willing to ignore the interruption of traditional advertising techniques.
Personalised Advertising and Privacy Concerns
Personalised online advertising, in which the brand tailors its message to individuals based on their unique characteristics, has been widely used to enhance communication effectiveness. It is proven that 71% of online customers love to see and engage with adverts that resonate with what we are concerned about. As a result, customers tend to have more favourable attitudes towards these brands and find their products more desirable.
Yet, companies also need to be aware of the ‘data privacy paradox’ that I have mentioned in the previous blog about customer insights of data privacy. The paradox depicts how online consumers nowadays freely share their personal information in exchange for personalised digital offerings even though they remain worried about the firms’ data policies.
In fact, personalised adverts will be perceived as a threat to those who highly value their digital data. In other words, individuals with high levels of privacy concerns may feel anxious and insecure when exposed to personalized ads, leading to negative responses such as irritation, negative thoughts, or avoidance. Overall, this highlights the need for businesses to communicate to online consumers how their data will be collected, used, and protected. Permission Marketing remains the best solution to this problem.
Read my last blog to understand: The rise of Permission Marketing as a solution to data privacy concerns
4. The Rise of Social Media Engagement
The advent of Web 2.0 has facilitated interactive, 2-way communication on social media sites. This empowers consumers to have freedom, and gain more control over their conversations with brands. There are around 5 billion social media users nowadays, with the average number of platforms used is 6. Hence, it will be a significant mistake if we, as brilliant marketers, overlook how customers behave on these platforms and engage with them on a deeper level.
Customers are not inactive anymore. They are brands’ content creators!
In today’s digital age, customers have evolved from being passive recipients of brand messages to active participants in shaping brand conversations, particularly on social media platforms. A study on brand-consumer interaction figures that online users engage in content creation on social media for 2 reasons: information seeking and self-expression. Those who use social media to self-educate and absorb news tend to interact with brand content such as asking about product features as this helps them improve their knowledge. Meanwhile, customers who want to gain their reputation and recognition as thought leaders also love producing brand-related content.
Overall, social media is never a monologue where users only consume information provided by brands. It is a platform for brands to foster an intimate relationship with their customers through 2-way interactions, resulting in more positive attitudes and word-of-mouth intents.
Social media marketing can shape consumers’ perceptions of brand personality
As social media platforms provide people with different forms of brand-related content, they create opportunities for customers to engage directly with brands and form connections. It is believed that online interactions create a sense of closeness and intimacy, leading to the attribution of human characteristics to the brand such as trustworthiness, and friendliness, to name a few.
This perception of brand personality influences consumers’ attitudes towards the brand, affecting their preferences, trust, and loyalty. A study on social media marketing concludes that when consumers perceive a brand as friendly or trustworthy, they are more likely to develop positive attitudes towards it. Hence, I highly recommend that brands should pay more attention to developing more relevant, high-quality, and targeted content that can trigger people’s willingness to absorb it. Brands that consistently provide engaging and interactive content can enhance consumer preference and foster positive perceptions of brand personality, ultimately influencing consumer attitudes towards the brand.
Brand Community is key to bolstering loyalty
Brand communities are too good to be overlooked. People participate in online communities to enhance their self-identity and become part of specific social groups. 76% of Internet users nowadays attend at least one community on social media platforms. It is because they want to interact and engage with other like-minded individuals who share similar interests or preferences.
Besides, customers as mentioned earlier nowadays go online to fulfil specific needs such as information seeking and self-expression, it presents a huge opportunity for companies to engage with them by building social communities serving these needs. In other words, by understanding the motivations and incentives that drive consumer behaviours in these communities, businesses can effectively leverage them to build stronger relationships and foster loyalty among their customers.
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Academic sources for this blog:
Ai-Zhong, H., Cai, Y., Cai, L., and Zhang, Y. (2021) Conversation, storytelling, or consumer interaction and participation? The impact of brand-owned social media content marketing on consumers’ brand perceptions and attitudes. Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing. 15(3), pp.419-440.
Kumar, Ajay, and Anil Kumar Kashyap (2018) Leveraging Utilitarian Perspective of Online Shopping to Motivate Online Shoppers. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 46(3), pp. 247–63.
Li Mo, X., Zhang, Y., Lin, Z., and Peng, Z. (2023) Consumers’ Attitudes towards Online Advertising: A Model of Personalization, Informativeness, Privacy Concern and Flow Experience. Sustainability. 15(5), p.4090.
Shin, S., Shin, H.H., and Gim, J. (2023) How positive do testimonials on a restaurant website need to be? Impact of positivity of testimonial reviews on customers’ decision-making. International Journal of Hospitality Management. 108, p.103382.
WARC (2023) What we know about omnichannel shoppers. WARC. [online]. Available at:
https://www.warc.com/content/article/bestprac/what-we-know-about-omnichannel-shoppers/en-gb/110022
Sy Chu
As an analytical and creative marketing enthusiast skilled in customer analysis, content research and brand management, my passion is help businesses gain insights into their brand and marketing strategies to drive impactful outcome to their success.