If you can’t wait more than two seconds for that Youtube video to load, six seconds for an app to install or longer than an hour for a brand to reply to your Twitter complaint, you’re not alone. In fact, the majority of people expect immediacy and ease as standard from the brands they interact with, and the services they provide. Learn about how we’re applying our research into consumer behaviour to find out ordinary people have turned into a total divas.
The mainstreaming of diva behaviour is in full swing, and here at Canvas8 we’ve explored it through our macro behaviour Great Expectations. As part of Second Home’s 2017 Be Better programme, we presented this behaviour to a group of Canvas8 and Second Home members; drawing comparisons between the modern consumer and Mariah Carey. And although we may not all start ordering boxes of puppies to our dressing rooms, our expectations of brands show no sign of easing up.
The consumer isn’t entirely to blame for this shift towards this ‘I want it now’ culture; the ubiquity of technology and the rise in on-demand services has left patience in short supply, greatening our expectations from brands to step up and fulfil these complex, ever changing needs. “The need for instant gratification is not new,” says Narayan Janakiraman, assistant marketing professor at the University of Texas. “But our expectation of ‘instant’ has become faster, and as a result, our patience is thinner.”
We can now sell our houses at the touch of a button, access our personal media files without even being connected to the internet, or decide what products make the menu at Starbucks. And we’re putting the pressure on brands to be able to cope with our growing demands and expectations that we see as standard – and if they don’t, we’ll Tweet in outrage in the hopes of receiving compensation. Efficiency is everything, and compromise has become a dirty word for the consumers that aren’t willing to wait – especially when there are multiple alternatives. If brands want remain in high esteem with their customers, it looks like there’s no other way but to embrace these diva-esque tendancies...
Hannah Callaghan is an account executive at Canvas8, which specialises in behavioural insights and consumer research. When she’s not helping clients navigate the deepest layers of the Canvas8 Library, she’s probably binge-watching RuPaul’s Drag Race or befriending other people’s dogs.
