New study reveals imperative consumer expectations during a brand crisis

With more than half of consumers (54%) reporting they use social media more than six times a day, information (whether real or fake) can spread in an instant. This environment has created a breeding ground for “bad actors” to spread misinformation and disinformation about brands, often causing irreversible damage. Unfortunately, brands are unprepared for the fallout these unprecedented threats pose to their brand value. Crisp’s “Crisis Impact Report: How Consumers React To A Brand Crisis,” released today, reveals imperative consumer expectations during a brand crisis against the backdrop of an increasingly weaponized social media landscape.

To further understand the effect of a crisis on brand value and the importance of a strategic response to maintain customer loyalty, Crisp, the leading provider of Social Media Safety, surveyed 2,000 consumers from the U.S. and U.K., about how they expect brands to respond in the wake of a crisis. The report reinforces how important it is for brands to be the first to know and the first to act. And, when they do, it is critical for brands to have the right actionable intelligence given the increasing amount of misinformation and disinformation on the wider web.

“Our survey data clearly demonstrates what consumers expect from brands during a crisis. However, the weaponization of communications on social media through things like deepfakes and troll farms, makes it difficult for brands to act on those expectations,” said Emma Monks, VP of Crisis Intelligence at Crisp. “With this current landscape of misinformation and disinformation, it’s challenging for brands to even know what’s real or what’s fake, leaving them in a difficult position when it comes to executing an appropriate response that consumers want to hear.”

Key findings from the report include:

• Rapid response is invaluable in a crisis situation: More than half (53%) of consumers expect a brand’s response within an hour of a crisis and one in three (34%) expect a response within 30 minutes.
• Leadership must connect accurately and authentically to consumers during a crisis: 59% of consumers want brand responses to a crisis to come from the CEO.
• An intelligent response is the difference between consumer loyalty and losing revenue: 90% of consumers say they are likely to shop with a brand that responds well to a crisis, while 66% are unlikely to continue shopping with a brand that responds poorly to a crisis. That means two-thirds of brand revenue is on the line.

“When responding to a crisis, brands need to be the first to know, so that they can be the first to act,” said Adam Hildreth, CEO of Crisp. “However, they also need an effective combination of artificial and human intelligence to make sure they’re getting the right context to inform the next best action to take. By doing this, brands not only can exceed the consumer expectations outlined in our report, they can also drive stronger brand loyalty.”

For more information and to review the full report, see here.