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HOW TO BUILD CONSUMER RELATIONSHIPS
“Transparency is key” Drapers(2020), consumer relationships rely upon them trusting the brand they are buying from and this can only come from transparency as stated
by the CEO of online brand ASOS in Drapers online magazine. This can be reinforced by a PR Respondent from a major high street brand who acknowledged that their brand has “always been transparent” especially when it comes to sourcing and that the information “doesn’t take long to
find out” which would
be beneficial to ensure consumers are comfortable and begin to trust the brand as whole. This ensures a whole audience of sustainable consumers and also means that the brand will receive positive PR on social media and other platforms when
consumers research into their code of ethics.
An important case study when looking into how consumers trust can be built is how Amazon has managed to improve its consumer relationship during the pandemic. As
a response to negative press they received, the millennial focus group expressed how they had seen “Some really lengthy adverts” focusing on Amazon staff. They were said to have been including their staff in the adverts which the millennials agreed was “quite clever.” It could be questioned whether Amazon would have still made adverts if
it wasn’t for the negative press it had received earlier in the year.
A brand which counteracts this is Body Shop who
Respondent 5 from the millennial focus group expressed that they would always trust and support as a positive brand due
to their stance on animal testing. The transparency that the brand exude helps to gain the trust of their target consumer.
Contradicting the view that transparency is key when building consumer relationships is the view that Dr Szmigin expressed which was “If a high street brand does something bad that is not good for them” however she also explained that it doesn’t necessarily mean that consumers
will stop shopping there. This is reiterated by the millennial focus group as with respondent 3 stating that “If I want something I’ll go and get it to be honest.”
FIGURE 7
FIGURE 6