Emotions Win: What Customers Expect in the Age of AI ” “delight me at every turn;” “make technology transparent;” and, “speak in one voice.” When EQ Really Counts: According to Invocas research, when making a complicated or stressful purchase, 25 percent of all respondents most value a salespersons ability to respond to their emotions at the right time; 31 percent of millennials singled out that attribute as most important. Just 18 percent of all respondents said a reps understanding of the product is most important. 6 Emotions Win: What Customers Expect in the Age of AI &Many companies are taking a more automated approach to the customer experience, using AI to communicate with their customers. Invoca found nearly 7 in 10 consumers believe brands will mostly use AI for communications ve years from now. But the convenience of AI may not win over the appeal of connecting with other people. In anticipation of this change, consumers overwhelmingly still believe that human-to-human interaction serves up better EQ. As tech companies build AI tools, and as brands implement them, its crucial they tap into the magic and revenue opportunity of human conversations. AI and the Battle for Human Connection Do human hearts or robot minds offer the best EQ? 80 % Human rep in person 24 % Voice assistant 49 % Human rep on the phone 22 % Chatbot 7 Emotions Win: What Customers Expect in the Age of AI &Brands can build rapport with their customers by empowering their reps with the insights to deliver a blend of helpful information and empathy for stressed-out consumers. Going back to the Experience Index, Adobe found consumers are highly likely to appreciate personal service, but a gap is growing between generations who expect that personalized service to come entirely from a human vs. machine The most positive brand experiences occur in the travel category, which typically offers advanced personalization compared to other sectors. Even if brands have a decent understanding of what the consumer expects, theyre not enabled to deliver on those expectations in a comprehensive way. This is because consumers rarely express dissatisfaction until theyve been disappointed and then brands spend time reacting to the disappointed few instead of thinking more broadly about creating a great experience.” Adam Justis, Director of Product Marketing, Adobe Experience Cloud “ # 8 Emotions Win: What Customers Expect in the Age of AI &Millennials and Gen Z Getting in Touch with Tech AI technology can improve the way brands and consumers interact. Broadly, 69 percent of all respondents believe AI will handle the majority of brand-based communications in the next ve years, according to Invocas data. And nearly half of respondents believe AI will likely gain EQ by then. Young adults have stronger faith in the technology. More respondents under 35 54 percent believe AI will likely gain EQ vs. just 45 percent over age 35. Younger consumers are also more likely than their older counterparts to believe AI can be in tune with their emotions. Seniors Rebu the Robots: 21 % of those 55 years and older expect AI to take over a brands communications 40 % of respondents under 35 years old expect AI to take over a brands communications 37 % of respondents aged 35-54 expect AI to take over a brands communications Older respondents are more skeptical about the inuence of AI. I believe its probable voice AI can offer me a sense of EQ: 29 % of respondents under 35 years old 27 % of respondents 35-54 years old 15 % of respondents 55 and older 9 Emotions Win: What Customers Expect in the Age of AI &Findings from Adobes Experience Index found that older generations want brands to deliver personal service, and prefer that it comes from a human vs. a machine. Meanwhile, the younger generation is less concerned about personal service, with about half agreeing that a machine is an acceptable stand-in for a human. This gap is due to the higher expectations that Baby Boomers have as well as brands inability to meet those expectations. Gen Z has lower expectations likely because they havent experienced as many interactions with businesses yet. It is an indicator on how quickly expectations are rising.” Tamara Gaffney, Principal Analyst, Adobe Experience Index at Adobe. “ 64 % Gen Z (18-24 yrs.) 50 % 72 % Millennials (25-34 yrs.) 52 % 77 % Gen X (35-49 yrs.) 50 % 87 % Young Boomers (50-64 yrs.) 52 % 86 % Older/Retired (65+ yrs.) 61 % Agree that businesses should provide personal service Prefer to interact with a human rather than a machine *graphical data by Adobe 10 Emotions Win: What Customers Expect in the Age of AI &11 The future of voice AI should entail a combination of human and automated support an industry report found 54 percent of consumers today said they prefer this approach. Other views on AI represent mixed feelings about the technology. According to Invocas ndings, most consumers envision AI making shopping faster (61 percent), but more frustrating (51 percent) and less personal (61 percent). Only 40 percent believe it will make communication easier. Demographic Points: Women are more skeptical than men of AIs ability to replace human conversations. 30 % AI will reduce accuracy 23 % 56 % make tasks more frustrating 47 % 65 % make experiences less personal 56 % Women think. Men think. Younger consumers Older consumers 43 % of respondents under 35 said theyd nd AI-powered experiences less frustrating than human interactions 62 % of people 55 or older said AI-powered experiences would be more frustrating than human interactionsvs. 19 % Believes voice-based AI offers a sense of EQ Northeast 20 % Believes voice-based AI offers a sense of EQ West 27 % Believes voice-based AI offers a sense of EQ South Emotions Win: What Customers Expect in the Age of AI &Developments in AI technology may shift consumers views within a few years, however. Researchers believe AI will turn a signicant corner in 2020 as a business technology and create better outcomes for retailers, in particular. In the past we had to learn the language of our machines, but in the future machines will be learning our language machines will be learning to read faces, and to interpret the expressions on that face as well. Due to advanced neural networks, we have more accurate facial analysis than weve had in the past. Neural networks can help spot patterns: if we can read customers faces, we can better understand how theyre feelingand that leads to better knowledge about their level of satisfaction with a product or service. Brands need to be ahead of the innovation, making sure they are using every competitive advantage to improve the customer experience. However, there are major security issues these technologies bring up, which must be addressed before the release of these technologies to the broader public.” “ 12 Blake Morgan, Customer Experience Futurist Emotions Win: What Customers Expect in the Age of AI &13 While every industry needs help when it comes to EQ, Invocas research found some must play catch-up more than others. Brand EQ by Industry Consumers think businesses in these industries demonstrate. Healthcare Home Services Finance Insurance Telecoms Travel Efcient interaction 30 % 38 % 36 % 40 % 37 % 46 % Support 40 % 36 % 40 % 43 % 40 % 36 % Personalization 33 % 35 % 24 % 35 % Problem-solving 37 % 40 % 33 % Adaptability 17 % 26 % 21 % 19 % 19 % 23 % Even-temper 21 % 21 % 18 % 17 % 20 % 14 % Empathy 24 % 15 % 18 % 15 % 15 % 13 % Emotions Win: What Customers Expect in the Age of AI & 36 % 41 % 41 % 30 % 32 %14 Companies meet consumers emotional needs most of or all of the time: In person 68 % 65 % 65 % 56 % 58 % 56 % Phone 64 % 61 % 60 % 59 % 55 % 56 % Email 41 % 40 % 37 % 37 % 28 % 35 % Chat 38 % 32 % 30 % 27 % 28 % 27 % In their interactions with companies across industries, consumers report more emotionally intelligent experiences when talking with a rep in person or on the phone compared to chat and email. A personal touch goes a long way, and in every case, in-person and phone interactions performed better than email and chat, often by up to 30 percent. The direct connection of one-on-one conversations, supplemented by communicative signals like tone of voice, bring an incredibly important layer to sales conversations. Financial services, per Adobes Experience Index, offer the best customer care, with 73 percent of consumers characterizing their brand interactions in this category as “good.” Retail (69 percent) and travel (63 percent) also rated respectfully, while media entertainment (59 percent) scored lowest. Healthcare Home Services Finance Insurance Telecoms Travel Emotions Win: What Customers Expect in the Age of AI &Finance Financial decisions are ubiquitous and often highly fraught 69 percent of consumers told Invoca that making a nancial purchase is somewhat to extremely stressful. And whether theyre taking out a mortgage, funding college or saving for retirement, people want to deal with a rep who demonstrates EQ. Luckily, nancial representatives rank on the high end of both support and problem-solving. Notably, consumers who earn higher salaries arent more relaxed about money. People who make $100,000 or more annually are more stressed, overall, about nancial services purchases (47 percent) than those who make less than $50,000 (41 percent). Travel Since Travelocity and Priceline launched online a little more than 20 years ago, booking ights and hotel stays has shifted from a travel agents task to a self-service chore. Digital channels havent made setting up travel completely enjoyable 53 percent of consumers said travel purchases are somewhat or extremely stressful. In fact, while consumers said their experiences with travel brands rank highest for efciency, there is a trade-off: they rank travel reps lowest for adaptability, even-temper and empathy. Travel reps also rank lowest in meeting consumers emotional needs via phone and in person. Consumers who are stressed, overall, about financial services purchases 47 % + $100 / yr 41 % > $50K / yr 53 % of consumers said travel purchases are somewhat or extremely stressful 15 Emotions Win: What Customers Expect in the Age of AI &