Singapore – Over half (56%) of consumers in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region say they will stop doing business with brands they do not trust, according to a report by customer engagement platform Twilio.
Twilio’s report highlights the importance of brand trust. It covers customers’ communication and channel preferences and highlights how these can influence trust.
With the rise of deepfakes in APAC, more consumers are finding it difficult to differentiate between trustworthy sources and scams. It has affected how consumers trust brands.
Consumers are more likely to trust brands that use branded communications, such as messages with verification badges. In APAC, 68% of consumers will trust a brand’s communication which includes verification badges. Meanwhile, 57% of consumers say they find branded text messages more trustworthy.
According to the report, 55% of consumers would trust brands more if they use two-factor authentication while 54% demand quick response time. 43% of APAC consumers expect brands to respond within an hour, but only 31% of consumers report that they are satisfied with the brands’ response time.
Consumers also expect brands to communicate with them on their preferred channels. 86% of consumers expect brands to use their preferred channels, yet only 48% of brands actually do so. This presents an opportunity for businesses to improve their customer engagement.
Among consumers’ top preferred channels for businesses are email (81%), text messaging (SMS/MMS) (46%), and social messaging apps such as Facebook Messenger and Instagram (31%).
“In today’s discerning market, trust has become the cornerstone of customer-brand relationships. With tools like branded communications at their fingertips, businesses now have the unprecedented opportunity to build trust, strengthen brand recognition and deliver personalised experiences at scale. As richer communication channels emerge, the opportunities for deeper customer engagement will only grow,” Robert Woolfrey, vice president for Asia-Pacific and Japan communications at Twilio, said.
