EVER-CHANGING EXPECTATIONS

EVER-CHANGING EXPECTATIONS AND TECHNOLOGY INTRIGUEvENTER Digital disruption is reinventing consumer expectations. Factors driving this disruption include ‘always on’ connectivity, pervasive social media, the rapid rise of voice recognition and artificial intelligence, and increasingly interactive user experiences across the entire customer lifecycle and across all channels. Consumers expect their experience to “automagically” adapt whenever they engage physically, digitally and emotionally. And now advanced computing techniques can harness expanding volumes of personal data (e.g. search, social, geo-tagged sensors, payments, shopping carts, speech) to create the magic behind new hyper-personalized experiences. Insights from the 2017 Accenture Digital Consumer Survey of 26,000 consumers in 26 countries reveal four key findings about today’s dynamic digital consumers and their technology intrigue:Artificial Intelligence (AI) is taking a central role in consumers’ livesEngaging experiences are spurring demand for smartphones New access models are emergingConsumers want to be more engaged in managing their datavvDYNAMIC DIGITAL CONSUMERSEVER-CHANGING EXPECTATIONS AND TECHNOLOGY INTRIGUEVariable strokeOutlined pathsVariable strokeOutlined pathsVariable strokeOutlined pathsVariable strokeOutlined pathsHYPER- PERSONALIZATIONBUILDING TRUSTAI CENTRALNEW ACCESS MODELSWHAT NOW? ARTIFICIALINTELLIGENCE (AI) IS TAKING A CENTRAL ROLE IN CONSUMERS’ LIVESvvHYPER- PERSONALIZATIONBUILDING TRUSTAI CENTRALNEW ACCESS MODELSWHAT NOW? Consumers now routinely use AI-driven features such as digital voice assistants. An impressive 84 percent of 14-to-17 year olds currently use or are interested in using the voice-enabled digital assistant in their smartphone. And, interest is not limited to younger generations. About one-third of consumers in every age group are interested in these features. Currently, stand-alone, digital voice-enabled assistants are more exclusively in the hands of early adopters, but a strong majority of early adopters are using them on a daily basis. Such pervasive usage should lead to advocacy and is a positive signal for this category as it represents a much more enthusiastic adoption pattern than many new product categories recently released.Furthermore, consumers are increasingly comfortable interacting with AI-enabled capabilities. 50 percent of all consumers interact with their service providers through live chats or mobile messaging apps on a monthly basis, and 85 percent of those say it feels like it’s easier to get in touch through these methods. These live chats and messaging apps are increasingly supported by AI-driven chatbots. While just a few short years ago many customers resisted chatbots and other computerized customer service features, now 62 percent are comfortable with an AI application responding to their query. Consumers see big benefits over human advisers too: It’s available any time; it’s less biased; and, it’s faster to engage. In fact, consumers appear to be readily accepting AI-enabled capabilities as long as they get their objective accomplished. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) IS TAKING A CENTRAL ROLE IN CONSUMERS’ LIVESvvHYPER- PERSONALIZATIONBUILDING TRUSTAI CENTRALNEW ACCESS MODELSWHAT NOW? Current use and interest per age group for embedded voice-enabled digital assistants in smartphones and PCs/laptopsAre you currently using embedded voice-enabled digital assistants?14–17 years old 18–34 years old35–55 years old55+ years oldYes, just startedNo, but I am interestedNo, and I’m not interested31%14%23%7%20%13%15%8%33%35%32%35%16%38%30%50%Yes, regularlyvvHYPER- PERSONALIZATIONBUILDING TRUSTAI CENTRALNEW ACCESS MODELSWHAT NOW?Sample: 25,996 respondentsHigh-usage countries (x-age groups)Low-usage countries (x-age groups)USA 46%India 55%China 55%Canada 27%Germany 28% 84%68%68%65%64%Available anytimefaster to engageLess biasedFaster to provide serviceCommunicate more politelyBenefits of interacting with computer based applications rather than human advisorsPercentage of respondents selecting “Completely Agree” or “Agree”Sample: 25,996 respondentsvvHYPER- PERSONALIZATIONBUILDING TRUSTAI CENTRALNEW ACCESS MODELSWHAT NOW? UAE 39% of populationUK 29% of populationUSA 29% of populationBrazil 50 MconsumersSingapore35% of populationChina294 MconsumersIndia153 MconsumersThe growing acceptance of AI-enabled functionality is one significant indicator that today’s dynamic digital consumers are ready for far-reaching hyper-personalized services. But truly understanding consumer readiness for hyper-personalized services is a more complex algorithm than what is expressed just by interest. Readiness is influenced by attributes such as connectivity, the density of personalized data the consumer generates, how much consumers trust providers and how enthusiastic they are toward services they currently use. By analyzing survey data across these factors Accenture created the