Why Businesses Should Invest in Consumer Empathy

Empathy is defined as the ability to share someone else’s feelings or experiences by imagining what it would be like to be in that person’s situation. While we often think about this in the context of our personal relationships, it makes all the difference in the world of business, too. It’s a person making the purchase decision, after all! 

The benefits of implementing consumer empathy in your business strategy are clear: 

Building Trust and Connection

People want to feel connected to the brands they support, not just buy from faceless corporations. So, when a brand shows that they genuinely understand and care about the needs, pain points, feelings, and experiences of their customers, they create a deeper emotional connection. And when those customers feel valued and understood, they’re much more likely to trust you—creating long-term brand loyalty and advocacy. 

Improving the Customer Experience

Empathy leads to a better customer experience because it encourages brands to design products, services, and communication strategies that address the needs of their audience. By truly understanding the challenges that they experience, you’re able to create effective solutions. 

Better Brand Reputation

Today’s consumers are more socially conscious than ever, so brands that demonstrate empathy for societal issues can improve their reputation. This is true on the individual level, as well; when a brand shows that they genuinely care about consumer well-being, those consumers are more likely to share their positive experience with others. Positive word-of-mouth is one of the most powerful and cost-effective ways to boost your reputation and grow your customer base. 

Driving Innovation

Empathy helps you identify unmet needs and problems that consumers may not even be aware of themselves. When you understand their struggles, desires, and aspirations, you can create products and services that solve real problems—and gain a competitive edge in the process. 

But don’t just take it from us—hear from Cherie Leonard at Colgate-Palmolive who joined QualSights’ Jonathan LaGreca on our One-Minute Podcast: 

“Consumer empathy helps pull us out of thinking about people when they’re in shopper mode and when they’re in consumer mode, but rather looking at them as holistic human beings like we all are. By better understanding their priorities in life—their hopes, their dreams, and what keeps them up at night—it gives us really good context for decision-making and helps us create that link to category tradeoffs and motivations that we see people taking on.” 

And as Oksana Sobol at Clorox shared, consumer empathy isn’t just for the insights function: 

“We are on a mission to be a company that is consumer obsessed. What that means to us is three things: being closer to consumers, understanding their needs, and anticipating their needs. And for us, that means bringing everyone in the company closer to the consumer. Not just the insights function acting as a proxy or intermediary, but actually putting the decision maker in touch with the consumer and what they have to say. We are fortunate to live in a time of profound technological transformation that makes these things more feasible than they have ever been.” 

Empathy isn’t just a feel-good buzzword, it’s a powerful driver of business success. Brands that actively listen to their customers, understand their needs, and demonstrate care in their actions and messaging will reap the rewards of stronger loyalty and long-term growth.  

If you’re looking to increase consumer empathy in your insights efforts in the new year and beyond, contact us today to learn how QualSights can help.