Reducing the mental load for customers and offering them a simpler experience could be the key to enhancing customer value, new research from The University of Western Australia (UWA) has found.
Dr Richard Gruner and Professor Geoff Soutar from UWA’s Business School explored the concept of cognitive simplicity to evaluate how it affects the value customers get from their interactions with companies.
The review article, published in International Journal of Management, found that bringing down customers’ mental load across the retail journey creates value for customers as well as companies.
"We found consumers are willing to pay more for, and are more likely to cherish, brands they perceive as simple," Dr Gruner said.
"What matters more than an in-your-face presence is simplifying customers’ lives and solving their problems," he said.
The research comes as retailers heighten their focus on their customer experience, often offering more options, promotions and price fluctuations to entice customers to shop.
Dr Gruner cited brands such as Aldi, Netflix and Google as good examples of brands making the customer experience simple and streamlined.
According to the research, these winning brands make things easy for consumers by making strategic and intentional decisions about product, promotion, price and distribution tactics.
"Consumers tend to reward companies that drive down their mental load, and many brands owe some of their success to their ability to simplify consumers’ experiences.
"These brands consider the entire customer journey throughout their organisation and are in turn often rewarded with strong performance and loyal customers," he said.