After recently spending 45 minutes looking for parking at the Philadelphia International Airport, Diana Smith took to Twitter.
Tagging the airport’s account, she relayed her experience, writing in part, “I know renovations are coming but parking needs some solutions.”
Smith, 55, of Collegeville, Pennsylvania, has found social media to be the most efficient way to get problems resolved, connect with customer service representatives, and provide feedback.
“I’m looking to get their attention, and have my matter resolved quickly,” she said. “And have them know how I feel quickly.”
An increasing number of people are using social media to air their complaints, sometimes with the motivation to get “revenge” on a company, organization, or agency, according to a national study of consumer behavior. Customer problems with goods and services are at an all-time high, doubling since 2020. Problems with government agencies, such as the DMV, IRS, and transit authorities, have increased the most, tripling since 2020, according to the National Customer Rage Survey, an independent survey of 1,000 people across the country.
About half of those surveyed used social media, an online chat, or email to complain, compared to 5% just three years ago, and those digital options have overtaken the telephone as the primary complaint channel since early 2020, the last time the survey was conducted.
And not everyone is as nice as Smith: The percentage of people who said that they wanted “revenge” tripled to 9% since 2020, the survey found.
One vengeful behavior could be “social media shaming,” said Scott Broetzmann, president and CEO of Alexandria, Virginia-based Customer Care Measurement & Consulting, which conducts the Rage Survey with the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University.
“The motivation for a lot of the postings aren’t necessarily built around the negative emotion of revenge,” he said. Sometimes, customers simply “wanted to alert other people, so other people don’t have the same bad experience.”
Jose F. Moreno, The Philadelphia Inquirer
A delayed traveler uses his phone at the Philadelphia International Airport.
Generational divides
For some millennials and Gen Z-ers, posting about a negative experience may simply be a product of habit, said Evan Urbania, CEO of Chatterblast, a Philadelphia-based digital communications agency.
If Urbania, for example, got a cold burger at a chain restaurant, the 43-year-old said he’d most likely “forgive them and move on.”
“Some digital natives are more likely to post a picture of a sad face, tag the burger, tag the account,” he added.
And when some companies outsource or completely digitize customer service, or make it more difficult to reach a human on the phone, older generations also get ticked off. They may be more on edge when they do reach a person, Urbania said, or go to social media when they’ve reached their last straw.
“I will reserve social media for a last resort,” said Roy Kessel, 58, of Chicago, who took to Twitter earlier this year after a negative experience at a Philadelphia hotel. “That’s not my first step. … That’s the point where I’ve spent an hour on this and I’ve gotten no response.”
Changing customer service
Companies and agencies are juggling the best way to move forward. Customers who complain digitally are generally more satisfied than those who call on the phone, according to the Rage Survey, and digital customer service is cheaper for companies than staffing a call center, Broetzmann said.
Yet, people also want empathy, an unscripted answer to their problems, and the ability to vent their anger, according to the survey, and those are three things that are difficult to get through a screen.
“It’s challenging for many companies and for consumers to figure out how to create authentic experiences of service in a digital environment,” Broetzmann said.
For the first time in 20 years, the most recent Rage Survey also measured customer “uncivility,” which it defines as “the phenomenon of rude, discourteous and disrespectful customer behavior stemming from socio-political conflicts between customers and companies/organizations.”
The importance of being heard
Smith, the Collegeville woman, first used social media for customer service about five years ago.
Her washing machine, which was under warranty, needed to be repaired, she said, but she couldn’t get in touch with anyone at the national company from which she bought it.
“People on the phone, people on email, no one was getting back to me. I tweeted, and they got right back to me,” Smith said. “My issue that had taken a month was resolved in a week.”
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Rage-tweeting a new way to handle bad service
VGstockstudio // Shutterstock
The COVID-19 pandemic changed our shopping habits, shifting the ways consumers interact and engage with brands. Apparel, personal care products, and books saw the most dramatic fluctuations in spending among American consumers. As the pandemic recedes, many of these trends are here to stay, and companies are grappling with how best to upgrade and optimize their customer experiences.
To better understand changing customer behavior, Ruby compiled a list of seven customer trends gaining traction as businesses emerge from the pandemic to better understand changing customer behavior. Customer trends were compiled from various sources, including Forbes, Salesforce's State of the Connected Customer report, and Deloitte.
Shopping is now a digital-first experience for many, rather than a brick-and-mortar experience, according to a Salesforce report surveying consumers and business buyers. The report found that features such as shopping online, contactless payments, and reaching customers through social media, including influencers, are now standard pillars of building customer experiences.
Additionally, it is no longer enough for a brand to offer a quality, affordable product or service. Customers are more invested than ever in a company's ethics and ability to interact with those values transparently and authentically.
Though many of these changes may be overwhelming to consumers—and to companies—used to traditional methods of commerce, the good news is that they are also a lucrative opportunity. These shifts in consumer trends allow brands to be more effective than ever in their advertising, sales, and communications.
VGstockstudio // Shutterstock
The COVID-19 pandemic changed our shopping habits, shifting the ways consumers interact and engage with brands. Apparel, personal care products, and books saw the most dramatic fluctuations in spending among American consumers. As the pandemic recedes, many of these trends are here to stay, and companies are grappling with how best to upgrade and optimize their customer experiences.
To better understand changing customer behavior, Ruby compiled a list of seven customer trends gaining traction as businesses emerge from the pandemic to better understand changing customer behavior. Customer trends were compiled from various sources, including Forbes, Salesforce's State of the Connected Customer report, and Deloitte.
Shopping is now a digital-first experience for many, rather than a brick-and-mortar experience, according to a Salesforce report surveying consumers and business buyers. The report found that features such as shopping online, contactless payments, and reaching customers through social media, including influencers, are now standard pillars of building customer experiences.
Additionally, it is no longer enough for a brand to offer a quality, affordable product or service. Customers are more invested than ever in a company's ethics and ability to interact with those values transparently and authentically.
Though many of these changes may be overwhelming to consumers—and to companies—used to traditional methods of commerce, the good news is that they are also a lucrative opportunity. These shifts in consumer trends allow brands to be more effective than ever in their advertising, sales, and communications.
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Rage-tweeting a new way to handle bad service
GaudiLab // Shutterstock
It is no longer enough for companies to just provide a quality product or service, according to Salesforce's State of the Connected Customer report. An overwhelming 86% of consumer survey respondents say that a seamless, enjoyable customer experience is equally as important when choosing which brand to buy. Doing so creates a consumer-brand bond and instills a company's reputation with legitimacy, which can net long-term customer loyalty. Some of the hallmarks of good customer experience include purchasing options on multiple platforms, accessible help services, and personalization—all of which combine to make a frictionless purchase and keep customers coming back time and time again.
GaudiLab // Shutterstock
It is no longer enough for companies to just provide a quality product or service, according to Salesforce's State of the Connected Customer report. An overwhelming 86% of consumer survey respondents say that a seamless, enjoyable customer experience is equally as important when choosing which brand to buy. Doing so creates a consumer-brand bond and instills a company's reputation with legitimacy, which can net long-term customer loyalty. Some of the hallmarks of good customer experience include purchasing options on multiple platforms, accessible help services, and personalization—all of which combine to make a frictionless purchase and keep customers coming back time and time again.
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Rage-tweeting a new way to handle bad service
Ground Picture // Shutterstock
Omnichannel refers to user experiences that connect a customer's touchpoints, including brick-and-mortar, social media, web, and phone apps. The Bank of America, for example, allows customers to make and settle payments using any combination of channels that works for them. Companies hoping to provide omnichannel options should conduct thorough consumer research and analytics to gauge which payment and engagement platforms best serve consumer needs.
Ground Picture // Shutterstock
Omnichannel refers to user experiences that connect a customer's touchpoints, including brick-and-mortar, social media, web, and phone apps. The Bank of America, for example, allows customers to make and settle payments using any combination of channels that works for them. Companies hoping to provide omnichannel options should conduct thorough consumer research and analytics to gauge which payment and engagement platforms best serve consumer needs.
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Rage-tweeting a new way to handle bad service
mavo // Shutterstock
Over the past year, 71% of Salesforce survey respondents said they switched from their previously favored brands to new ones. The proliferation of consumer data collection and analytics allows brands to tempt customers with targeted product advertising and dynamic pricing suited to their specific needs. Companies hoping to retain their consumer base and attract new customers should prioritize conversion-optimized product sorting, personalized product recommendations, bundling offers, and coupons.
mavo // Shutterstock
Over the past year, 71% of Salesforce survey respondents said they switched from their previously favored brands to new ones. The proliferation of consumer data collection and analytics allows brands to tempt customers with targeted product advertising and dynamic pricing suited to their specific needs. Companies hoping to retain their consumer base and attract new customers should prioritize conversion-optimized product sorting, personalized product recommendations, bundling offers, and coupons.
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Rage-tweeting a new way to handle bad service
Black Salmon // Shutterstock
More and more consumers are looking beyond the quality and price of products offered to also consider their personal compatibility with the brand, especially when it comes to matching environmental values. Sixty-eight percent of respondents want to make sure their money is going to a company that works to solve societal issues, and 78% of purchasing decisions are influenced specifically by a company's environmental ethics, according to the Salesforce survey. The top reported consumer environmental concerns are how a company handles recycling, single-use plastics, and carbon emissions.
Black Salmon // Shutterstock
More and more consumers are looking beyond the quality and price of products offered to also consider their personal compatibility with the brand, especially when it comes to matching environmental values. Sixty-eight percent of respondents want to make sure their money is going to a company that works to solve societal issues, and 78% of purchasing decisions are influenced specifically by a company's environmental ethics, according to the Salesforce survey. The top reported consumer environmental concerns are how a company handles recycling, single-use plastics, and carbon emissions.
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Rage-tweeting a new way to handle bad service
Tero Vesalainen // Shutterstock
It is vital for a customer to feel like the brand they're shopping with offers personalized content that matches their interests, needs, and personality. Companies can accomplish this through hyper-personalization, using data and analytics to customize the products, deals, and communication channels through which they engage with customers, thus optimizing each customer's experience. Cadbury, known for its dairy milk chocolate, used customer insights to create personalized video ads posted to consumers' social media channels and achieved 65% click-through rates. Using hyper-personalization methods can increase consumer loyalty to a brand and how much a customer is willing to spend during a purchase.
Tero Vesalainen // Shutterstock
It is vital for a customer to feel like the brand they're shopping with offers personalized content that matches their interests, needs, and personality. Companies can accomplish this through hyper-personalization, using data and analytics to customize the products, deals, and communication channels through which they engage with customers, thus optimizing each customer's experience. Cadbury, known for its dairy milk chocolate, used customer insights to create personalized video ads posted to consumers' social media channels and achieved 65% click-through rates. Using hyper-personalization methods can increase consumer loyalty to a brand and how much a customer is willing to spend during a purchase.
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Rage-tweeting a new way to handle bad service
Alex from the Rock // Shutterstock
Artificial intelligence is becoming an increasingly valuable tool for companies to expand their reach and give better and faster client results. Examples of AI implementation in customer experiences include chatbots, agent assist, self-service, and smart speakers that can help with shopping lists and finding deals. Salesforce survey respondents reported feeling more comfortable with brands using their data with transparency to improve their experience. Using AI offers several company benefits, with Learn Hub reporting that it "improves lead generation, streamlines workflows, facilitates customer service, prevents employee burnout, (and) saves costs."
Alex from the Rock // Shutterstock
Artificial intelligence is becoming an increasingly valuable tool for companies to expand their reach and give better and faster client results. Examples of AI implementation in customer experiences include chatbots, agent assist, self-service, and smart speakers that can help with shopping lists and finding deals. Salesforce survey respondents reported feeling more comfortable with brands using their data with transparency to improve their experience. Using AI offers several company benefits, with Learn Hub reporting that it "improves lead generation, streamlines workflows, facilitates customer service, prevents employee burnout, (and) saves costs."
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Rage-tweeting a new way to handle bad service
Branislav Nenin // Shutterstock
When customers encounter hiccups while engaging with a brand, it's crucial that they have an easily accessible outlet for questions—preferably one that offers human interaction. These can include live chat functions, customer service phone lines, and emails. Chatting with representatives via "conversational commerce" channels allows for natural, authentic dialogue that builds consumer trust in a brand. Additionally, it is beneficial to a company to interact with customers while resolving negative experiences and highlighting wins and developments.
This story originally appeared on Ruby and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio.
Branislav Nenin // Shutterstock
When customers encounter hiccups while engaging with a brand, it's crucial that they have an easily accessible outlet for questions—preferably one that offers human interaction. These can include live chat functions, customer service phone lines, and emails. Chatting with representatives via "conversational commerce" channels allows for natural, authentic dialogue that builds consumer trust in a brand. Additionally, it is beneficial to a company to interact with customers while resolving negative experiences and highlighting wins and developments.
This story originally appeared on Ruby and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio.
