Marigold Releases Its 2024 Global Consumer Trends Index

The 2024 Global Consumer Trends Index is an annual research study designed to provide brands with consumer data and insights critical to developing effective relationship marketing strategies. For the 2024 iteration, Marigold, in conjunction with Econsultancy, surveyed a total of 10,394 consumers from the following regions: Australia and New Zealand, the Benelux Region, Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

The survey was conducted from September to November 2023. The breakout of respondents was:

Gen Z (ages 18–26): 1,602 respondents (15.4%)

Millennials/Gen Y (ages 27–42): 4,174 respondents (40.2%)

Gen X (ages 43–58): 2,362 respondents (22.7%)

Baby Boomers (ages 59–77): 2,256 respondents (21.7%)

Key themes & statistics

• Email tops marketing channels in purchase frequency.

50% of consumers have made a purchase from an email in the past year, compared with 48% for social media advertisements, 43% for social media posts, 24% for SMS/MMS messages, and 21% for banner advertisements.

• Economic considerations are influencing consumer behavior, but consumers still seek more than just the lowest price.

50% of consumers feel pessimistic about the economic outlook. Nonetheless, sizable numbers of consumers rank product/service quality (69%), convenience (59%) and excellent customer service (45%) as factors more important than price when it comes to making a purchase decision.

• Brand loyalty is immensely valuable. Brands need to satisfy consumer desires in several key areas to maintain it.

—63% of consumers will pay more to shop with the brands they’re loyal to.

— More than 70% of consumers cite the following as either important or critically important to maintaining their loyalty: customer service/support, offers/promotions, data privacy policies, product/service quality, options and availability.

• From the characteristics of favored brands to the types of offers consumers like, the need for personalization is widespread.

— 85% of consumers say their favorite brand treats them like an individual.

— 84% of consumers think personalized birthday offers are “cool,” while 80% think the same about product recommendations based on past purchases.

— 78% of consumers said they are likely to engage with a personalized offer tailored to their interests.

• The demand for loyalty programs continues to grow.

• 39% of consumers are more likely to engage in a loyalty program this year than last, while only 8% are less likely to engage.

• The push for greater data privacy is making zero-party data even more important.

61% of consumers find ads based on indirect tracking tools, like third-party cookies, to be a “creepy” marketing tactic. In late 2024, Google Chrome will become the next major browser to disable third-party cookies.

• Fortunately, the value exchange is alive and well.

When it comes to sharing their data in exchange for something, a majority of consumers find value in loyalty points/rewards (89%), discounts/coupons (91%), early/exclusive access to offers (83%), a chance to win something (81%), unlocking content (60%), and brand community (55%).

• Consumer pessimism surrounding social media is hard to ignore.

— 63% of consumers don’t trust the advertising they see on social media.

— 55% of consumers are engaging with social media less for the sake of their mental health.

Sections of the 56-page report dive further into each of these topics.

Download the full report here.