Motista, a company for Predictive Emotional Connection Intelligence solutions for acquisition and growth, announced the results of a retail study that compares the behavior – spend levels, lifetime value, and willingness to recommend brands – of customers who feel emotionally connected to a brand vs. consumers who are merely satisfied.
In this new report, “Leveraging the Value of Emotional Connection for Retailers,” Motista collected data from 2016 – 2018 from more than 100,000 customers of more than 100 retailers across multiple sectors. The report reveals customers who feel an emotional connection to a brand are far more valuable to retailers, in some cases spending twice as much, than customers who rate themselves as satisfied with the brand (CSAT). Additionally, these emotionally connected customers have a 306 percent higher lifetime value (LTV), stay with a brand for an average of 5.1 years vs. 3.4 years, and will recommend brands at a much higher rate (71 percent vs. 45 percent). Comparative findings based on sector include:
| Spend with Preferred Brand | Satisfied Customers | Emotionally Connected | Emotional Connection Lift |
| Apparel | $275 | $699 | 2.5x |
| Department Stores | $285 | $555 | 2x |
| Discount Big Box Stores | $760 | $1,192 | 1.6x |
| Footwear Retail | $104 | $211 | 2x |
| Home Goods | $362 | $733 | 2x |
| Luxury Goods | $699 | $1,423 | 2x |
| Office Supplies | $298 | $400 | 1.3x |
In addition to higher spending, strong emotional connection also translate into greater share of wallet and longer tenures for retailers. As a result, emotional connection has an impact on customer lifetime value when compared to the satisfied customer metric:
| With Preferred Brand | Satisfied Customers | Emotionally Connected | Emotional Connection Lift |
| Annual Spend | $275 | $699 | 2.5x |
| Tenure | 3.4 years | 5.1 years | 1.5x |
“While most marketers agree that activating emotional connection is important, it remains a largely untapped opportunity for driving growth. But this study shows emotional connection can be identified, measured, and quantified, and used to drive customer acquisition, increase share of wallet, achieve higher lifetime value, build stronger loyalty, and influence brand advocacy,” explained Michael Mathias, president of Motista.
To review the entire report, “Leveraging the Value of Emotional Connection for Retailers,” as well as see the emotional connection score and ranking of leading retailers, please click here.
Source: Motista
