••• loyalty research
Millennials want their loyalty programs to be fun
A survey by Cincinnati-based Colloquy shows that 34 percent of Millennials said the word that best describes their participation in a customer reward program is “fun,” compared to 26 percent of the general population (18 to 65 years and over). Additionally, 66 percent of the general population said “economical” is the word that best describes their loyalty program participation, versus 56 percent of Millennials. Sixty-three percent of Millennials said they joined a loyalty program within the past year versus 55 percent of the general population. Twenty-five percent of Millennials said they joined a program because it offered access to members-only events, compared to 16 percent of the general population and 40 percent of Millennials said they joined for access to members-only sales, products and services, versus 33 percent of the general population. The survey also shows that about half (49 percent) of Millennials stopped using a loyalty program after receiving irrelevant communications, compared to 37 percent of the general population. Moreover, a little more than one-quarter of Millennials (27 percent) continued their participation in a loyalty program because it featured a competitive game, or a social element such as badges, leaderboards or communities. By comparison, just 7 percent of Baby Boomers stayed with a program for those reasons, representing a gap of 74 percent.
••• the business of research
Not sold on passive data
Research conducted by GfK, Nuremberg, Germany, and the Institute for International Research, New York, shows about two-thirds of market research professionals say they will not be using passive data two years from now. When asked what will be the single most important source of data for insights creation two years from now, 30 percent of clients and 27 percent of suppliers chose “consumer-specific data collected passively,” while 29 percent of both clients and suppliers said “custom surveys in any mode.” When asked how much passive measurement they are doing now and expect to do, 68 percent of clients and 69 percent of suppliers said they are doing none today and do not expect to start in the next two years. About one-quarter of each group said they are doing no passive measurement today but expect to be doing some two years from now. When asked what the “biggest gap” in the research industry is today, 20 percent of suppliers and 15 percent of clients cited data quality. “Integrating information from different sources to tell a story” was the most frequent choice among both groups, with the percentage for clients (31 percent) being higher than for suppliers (23 percent).