Latest Cisco AppDynamics App Attention Index Reveals Brands Have Only One Shot to Win Over Customers

Cisco AppDynamics today released the latest report in its App Attention Index research series, revealing consumer reliance on applications and digital services has soared since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The global study, which examined the digital behaviors of more than 13,000 global consumers, also identified consumers now have a zero-tolerance policy for poor application experience and automatically place blame on the application and brand, no matter where a performance issue stems from.

Consumers blame the brand when the application experience fails

Since the start of 2020, consumers have experienced a sudden and total reliance on digital services, altering how they engage with brands, consume goods and services, and make purchasing decisions. In fact, the research shows that people are using 30 percent¹ more applications today than they did before the pandemic.

The research highlights that because of their increasing reliance and use of digital services, 76 percent² of consumers say their expectations of digital services have increased since the start of 2020. Alarmingly for brands, when expectations aren’t met, 60 percent³ of consumers will now automatically blame the application and the brand no matter where the issue actually lives. Whether it’s within the application itself - such as pages loading slowly, downtime, or security failures; or external factors like internet connectivity, slow payment gateways or technical issues with third party services - to the consumer there is no distinction and they will now place responsibility firmly on the brand.

• 72 percent⁴ of people believe it’s the responsibility of the brand to ensure that the digital service or application works perfectly.
• 92 percent⁵ say they expect digital services to have reliable, consistent performance.

Loyalty lies with brands that invest in application experience

Consumers have not only come to rely on applications and digital services to function in everyday life, but they also used them to facilitate social interactions in the absence of traditional ways of connecting in person. The research found that the majority of consumers (85%)⁶ say that digital services have become a critical part of daily life, with 84 percent⁷ stating those services helped them get through the pandemic in a positive way. Additionally, consumers are now loyal to brands based on how significantly they invested in digital services during the pandemic.