CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
Customer Stereotyping And Brand Stratification : Do # CustomerLivesMatter ?
By Carolyne Gathuru
At a time when world consciousness has been raised to boiling point about discrimination with the re-eruption of the # BlackLivesMatter movement spurred by recent criminal acts laced with racial bias , it is time that the corporate fraternity took a step back to examine discrimination from a customer experience view point .
For corporates to review their position for possible discriminatory biases whether overt or nuanced , conscious or subconscious , it would be important to revisit what discrimination actually is . The dictionary lists synonyms for the same as : prejudice , bias , bigotry , intolerance , narrow-mindedness , unfairness , inequity , favoritism , one-sidedness , partisanship , and apartheid . All strong words that elicit equally strong reactions towards rejection should there be any implication towards alleged practice .
Many a corporate organization in their responsibility statements indicate that they respect diversity , are an equal opportunity employer , and have a non ‘ non-discrimination ’ policy based on gender , age , disability , sexual-orientation , religion , age , class , cultural bias or any other circumstance that would elicit intolerance . All good when documented on paper and when placed in policy files .
However … would these organizations sail through an audit when assessed for compliance ? Would both the internal and external customer experience audit , yield a clean plate when pitted against the discrimination scale ? Would the brand , marketing and customer experience initiatives hold fast to the nondiscrimination agenda when the customer stratification , customer segmentation , and customer differentiation strategies are examined ?
Every brand , marketing and customer experience syllabus is built on the foundation of “ Knowing Your Customer ”. A premise that advocates for understanding customers , knowing what their demographics , and psychographics
Would both your internal and external customer experience audit , yield a clean plate when pitted against the discrimination scale ? Would the brand , marketing and customer experience initiatives hold fast to the non-discrimination agenda when the customer stratification , customer segmentation , and customer differentiation strategies are examined ? call for , and responding in tandem with the right products and services , and appropriate messaging that resonates with each group .
These customer assessments are based on the persuasion that it is critical to dig deeper and understand customers ’ cultural heritages , religious inclinations , socio-economic orientations , geographical alignments and schools of thought ; and that armed with this information , customer responsiveness will soar based on the ability to service specific needs and provide client specific solutions . All good when documented on strategy documents for implementation .
However … where does the line between positive customer stereotyping , and customer discrimination begin and end ? Is there such a thing as a positive bias when it comes to designing great customer experiences ? Does shelving the batch approach and stratifying customers work well towards delivering customer satisfaction ?
Two main customer experience philosophies exist in this realm , with one advocating for matrixing general assumptions about different customer groups and mapping out effective ways to serve them . The other pushes for the cessation of customer profiling as a customer experience strategy , owing to customer outliers and exceptions being collateral damage in the customer group initiatives application process .
The first assertion leans towards making a deliberate effort to understand the
30 MAL37 / 20 ISSUE