HelloWorld Study Demonstrates the Value of Engagement on Purchase Behavior

PLEASANT RIDGE, MI--(Marketwired - Apr 20, 2015) - HelloWorld, a leading digital marketing solutions company, today announced the results of new study that measures the impact of engagement on consumers' purchasing decisions. The study surveyed over 5,000 consumers across six categories on purchase behavior and level of engagement with a self-identified favorite brand. Among its most compelling findings, the study shows that even the most loyal consumers (those who purchase their favorite brand most or all of the time) buy more at higher levels of engagement. Overall, the study found a 14% increase in this group of consumers when they scored high on engagement compared to those who scored low.

Additional key findings within brand categories include:

• 21% increase in shopping visits at consumers' favorite retailers as engagement increases
• 33% decrease in occasional diners among favorite restaurant brands as engagement increases from low to high ranges
• 96% of highly engaged CPG loyalty program members buy their favorite brands most or all of the time

"Engagement has been and will continue to be a hot topic among marketers who want to build stronger relationships with their consumers," said Matt Kates, VP of Strategic Services at HelloWorld. "But up until now, it's been difficult to quantify the impact of engagement on purchase. Our research confirms the critical role that engagement plays in consumer purchase behavior. Even the most loyal consumers purchase more of their favorite brands when better engaged."

The study also reveals the link between engagement, loyalty program membership and purchase, highlighting the importance of converting loyal consumers at all levels of engagement to program members. The study shows that share of requirements is at its highest when loyalty program membership and higher brand engagement overlap. But share of requirements, even among those who scored low in brand engagement, can increase by almost 20% when consumers participate in loyalty programs.

"Highly engaged consumers are incredibly valuable to brands on multiple levels -- driving increased share of requirements and providing a receptive audience for loyalty initiatives," said Michela Baxter, Sr. Loyalty Director at HelloWorld. "The Engagement Score study shows just how important increasing consumer engagement and converting brand loyalists to loyalty program members is to a brand's bottom line."

The research is based on a methodology developed by HelloWorld that is designed to quantify a consumer's level of engagement with a brand. Known as the Engagement Score, the brand health metric can help marketers measure the return on engagement strategies and identify high value consumers to target to maximize growth.

For additional details and specific findings on this study, download the HelloWorld Engagement Score Whitepaper.

About HelloWorld
HelloWorld is a digital marketing solutions company working with the world's leading brands across all industry verticals. The company offers a powerful combination of native platform technology and marketing strategy to brands looking to accelerate growth and deepen customer impact. HelloWorld creates brand-consumer interactions through promotional campaigns to spark interest, loyalty programs to retain and reward, and mobile messaging to continue the conversation. HelloWorld is one of the largest independent digital solution providers, with offices in Detroit, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Nashville, Phoenix and Seattle. HelloWorld's technology is behind local, national and global campaigns for clients such as Coca-Cola, Microsoft, the Gap and Procter & Gamble. For more information, please visit helloworld.com.