The right price often makes the difference between a sale and a switch; in fact, across five different product or service attributes analyzed (price, service agreement, selection, feature or quality), offering the best price held the most persuasive power to motivate consumers to swap devotion to a brand, service provider or retailer.
 
Of the respondents who said they were not completely loyal, four in 10 (41%) said that getting a better price would encourage them to switch brands, service providers or retailers.

While price was the major switch incentive for more than half of North Americans (61%) and Europeans (54%), price and quality held equal sway in Asia-Pacific and Middle East/Africa, with roughly one-third of respondents each in both countries. Twenty-eight percent of Latin Americans, 22 percent of Europeans and 20 percent of North Americans also cited quality as a reason to change their allegiances.
 
"While a good price may initially offer consumers enough motivation to change allegiance to a new product, it won't keep consumers for long if the product doesn't deliver on its promise," said Julie Currie, senior vice president Global Loyalty, Nielsen. "Getting the price/value equation right, having products in stock, and offering a satisfying shopping experience are vital ways to build long-lasting customer loyalty."
 
Beyond price and quality, 19 percent of respondents from Asia-Pacific and 18 percent from Latin America looked for a better service agreement, exceeding the global average (15%). Range or assortment was also most influential in Asia-Pacific (13%), compared to respondents in Europe (8%), North America (7%), Latin America (7%) and Middle East/Africa (5%). Globally, respondents found improved features (8%) the least influential in driving them to betray a brand, service provider or retailer.



Other findings include:

• Are loyal customers worth more?
• Loyalty program prevalence and patronage go hand in hand.
• Loyalty program benefits that matter most.

For more detail and insight, download Nielsen's Global Loyalty Sentiment report.
 
About the Nielsen Global Survey
 
The Nielsen Global Survey of Loyalty Sentiment was conducted between Feb. 18 and March 8, 2013 and polled more than 29,000 online consumers in 58 countries throughout Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and North America. The sample has quotas based on age and sex for each country based on their Internet users, and is weighted to be representative of Internet consumers and has a maximum margin of error of ±0.6%. This Nielsen survey is based on the behavior of respondents with online access only. Internet penetration rates vary by country. Nielsen uses a minimum reporting standard of 60 percent Internet penetration or 10 million online population for survey inclusion. The Nielsen Global Survey, which includes the Global Consumer Confidence Index, was established in 2005.