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 Research carried out by YouGov and commissioned by SunGard Availability Services has looked at differences in downtime tolerance of different generations of UK consumers.
According to the survey, the over 55s are far less tolerant of unavailable products and services than younger generations. The 18-24 generation are the most accepting when it comes to coping when products are not on the shelves or websites experience problems.
The research shows that when faced with an unavailable product or service the over 55s do not consider the reasons behind the problem; 1 in 2 simply put it down to the service provider having poor customer service. Further, a similar proportion of over 55s will complain to both the provider and their own friends and family, or will switch providers altogether if they can’t quickly get the product they want. More younger people, however, immediately recognise when a company is experiencing technology problems and only 35 percent said that they would complain or switch.
Keith Tilley, managing director UK and executive vice president Europe, SunGard Availability Services, said: “Older customers are an unseen threat to companies that don’t put real effort into being constantly available. In today’s ‘always on’ culture you might think that young consumers are generally more demanding, however it’s clear that they are far more understanding and tolerant when things don’t work or products are unavailable than their elders.”
Overall, UK adults are becoming increasingly unwilling to put up with poor service and availability. Faced with a service being unavailable for 24 hours (such as a website, call centre, mobile phone or email system), almost 4 in 10 (39 percent) respondents would look to permanently leave that supplier - this compares to only 24 percent that said they would switch provider in a similar survey in 2006. A further one third of people (33 percent) would complain to the provider and tell family and friends about the problems they have encountered.
Research was conducted by YouGov. Total sample size was 2,589 UK adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 25th - 27th November 2008.
www.sungard.co.uk
•Date:22nd Dec 2008• Region: UK •Type: Article •Topic: BC statistics
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