Digital much more entwined in consumers’ lives than most realize

The average person estimates they use seven digital services a day, but, in fact, they are using more than 30 daily basis, according to an AppDynamics' App Attention Index report. The study shows how intertwined digital and mobile technology is within the consumer's daily life and reveals a "seismic shift in the way consumers interact and engage with digital services and applications," according to a press release on the report.

The report is based on interviews with more than 7,000 consumers, including 2,000 interviews in both the United States and the United Kingdom, and 1,000 interviews within Germany, France and Australia. It was conducted by Insight Avenue in March 2019.

The global study examined consumers' reliance on applications and digital services and identified how these digital dependencies impact consumers' expectations of the businesses and brands they engage with, as well as their intolerance of performance problems.

Additional findings include:

• 70% say digital services have helped reduce stress.
• 68% claim digital services have improved their productivity at home and work, an increase from 43% in 2017.
• 71% admitted that digital services are so intrinsic to their daily lives that they don't realize how much they now rely on them.
• 55% can only go without a mobile device for up to four hours before they find it difficult to manage tasks in their everyday life.
• 61% admit they reach for their mobile phone before talking to anyone else when they wake up.
• 76% reported expectations of how well digital services should perform are increasing, compared to only 62 percent in 2017.
• 70% claim to be less tolerant of problems with digital services than they were two years ago.
• 50% would be willing to pay more for an organization's product or service if its digital services were better than a competitor's.
• 85% expect to select brands on the variety of digital services (web, mobile, connected device, etc.) they provide.
• 54% now place a higher value on their digital interactions with brands than their physical ones.

"In the era of the digital reflex, consumers will no longer forgive or forget poor experiences. A great digital performance is now the baseline for any business, but the real winners will be those that consistently exceed customer expectations by delivering a flawless experience,” said Danny Winokur, general manager, AppDynamics, in the release.