12 Mar 10 Which Industry has the Most Disgruntled Customers?

Don’t know the answer? Read this article to find out.

Better Business Bureau (BBB) has recently revealed that in 2009, the industry that drew most consumer complaints was cell phone industry. In the year in question, BBB received 1 million consumer complains, which is a 9.7% increase over the complaint volume of 2008.

BBB is a symbol of trust for business on the Internet, and many consumers use this service to research business in 2009. In total, users used the service of BBB 65 million times in 2009 to ensure that the business they are dealing with is trustworthy.

Leading the number of complaints against, the cell phone industry received 37, 477 complaints in 2009, which is an increase of 2.1% over the volume of complaints received in 2008 against this industry. At number two was cable and satellite TV industry with 32,616 complaints and number 3 slot was taken by banks with 29,920 complaints.

In terms of percentage change in number of complaints banking industry rule the roost with 42.3% more complaints over the last year.

There are industries like collection agencies, auto dealers- new cars, and furniture-retail that saw decline in the number of complaints. See the picture for more detail.

Tags: 1 Million, Auto Cars, Auto Dealers, Banking Industry, Banks, Bbb, Better Business Bureau, Business Internet, Cell Phone Industry, Collection Agencies, Consumer Complaints, Consumers, Decline, Furniture Retail, Million Times, New Cars, Number 3, Percentage Change, Research Business, Rule The Roost, Satellite Tv Industry

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21 Feb 10 Social Media Got Small Business Acceptance

Social media is increasingly being used by Small businesses as found in a Small Business Success Index study. It was found that the low cost of attracting and retaining the target audience using social media was the impetus behind the doubling down of the adoption rate. Social media adoption grew by 24% in compared to 2008 when it was 12%.

Key findings

Positive Indicators

45% hope to reap rewards (profit) from social media spending in next 12 months
57% have built online network using LinkedIn or similar websites.
61% uses social media to identify and attract new customers.
75% small businesses surveyed had a company profile page on any social networking sites.

Things that make them scowl

6% of survey participants said that use of social media has hurt them
17% of them said using social media left the companies vulnerable to consumers’ criticism.
50% thinks it takes more time than expected.

These findings (See image for complete detail) indicate that to be successful in the new socially-connected economy, the company has to be caring. “Meet deadline and bottom line” oriented company will have a hard time persuading its customers. The concerns that small business owners that participated in the survey talked about had more to do with their business and its operation and less to do with the nature of social media. They will grow and get accepted, if only they accept this fact and make required changes in their businesses.

Tags: 12 Months, Adoption Rate, Bottom Line, Company Profile, Consumers, Economy, Hard Time, Impetus, Nature, New Businesses, Oriented Company, Rewards, Small Business Owners, Small Business Success, Small Businesses, Social Networking Sites, Survey Participants, Target Audience

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18 Feb 10 Americans Trust Their Cola Advertisers

Soft-drink advertisements are more trustworthy than either pharmaceutical advertising company or financial service company, as told by 34 percent of Americans adults (18 or above) during a study conducted by Harris Interactive. The second preferred group of advertisers was fast food companies, and on the third place were pharmaceutical company. The least trustworthy group of advertisers, as seen by American consumers, is financial services companies.

Only 13% of the US 18 and above adults think that financial services companies are any trustworthy with their ad campaigns. 40% of the US adults between 35 and 44 trust soft-drink advertisements, but only 10% among them trust advertising shown by financial services companies.

Can we read this cue as breaking of “financial security” myth shown by financial institutions?

We must remember that this is the age-group that has to pay for their kids’ education. For complete report, see the image below.

Tags: Ad Campaigns, Advertisements, Advertisers, Advertising Company, Age Group, American Consumers, Americans Trust, Cue, Fast Food, Financial Institutions, Financial Security, Financial Services Companies, Food Companies, Harris Interactive, Kids Education, Myth, Pharmaceutical Advertising, Pharmaceutical Company, Preferred Group, Soft Drink

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12 Mar 10 Which Industry has the Most Disgruntled Customers?

18 Feb 10 Americans Trust Their Cola Advertisers

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