Marketing

Brands falling short on emotional drivers

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April 20, 2026

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Business-to-consumer companies may be overestimating the strength of their customer loyalty as customers report consistent gaps between the emotional drivers they value and how brands deliver on them.

That's a top finding from a Phaedon research report that also revealed other weaknesses in loyalty strategies.

The U.S. consumer study examined how customers evaluate emotional loyalty and where expectations are being set today. While brands generally perform well on reliability, data security and program clarity, they consistently fall short in the areas that greatly influence emotional connection and long-term commitment, according to a press release on the findings.

"Brands know emotional connection drives loyalty, but they don't always know how to measure it and apply it to their strategy to really drive retention," Denise Holt, SVP of strategy and research at Phaedon, said in the release. "Our research reveals that execution gaps are undermining loyalty even among customers who appear most committed — a silent erosion many brands haven't detected."