Why Do Consumers Break up with Brands?

The customer is king and as such can be hard on any brand that doesn't fulfil his or her expectations to the fullest. According to a new report by SAP Hybris, customers worldwide have several reasons to turn their backs on brands. The top no go for brands is using data consumers confided in them without their knowledge or permission. 80 percent of respondents worldwide said this was the number one reason to divorce.

"Now that brands are able to collect data about consumers, how they use that data becomes critical," the report concludes. An unresponsive customer service is the second most acute reason customers terminate their relations with a brand (71 percent).

There is other brand behavior that might not lead to consumers shunning the brand altogether, but which still is seen as annoying. The top two spots have to do with a marketing and sales overkill: 60 and 50 percent of consumers respectively are either bothered by too many direct marketing calls or too frequent sales emails.

This chart was first published by our partner website FIPP.