Global: What kinds of products are the public most likely to complain about on social media?
Brands have increasingly come to rely on social media as a channel for customer support. A recent YouGov Surveys: Serviced poll - conducted across 18 international markets - offers insights on whether global consumers reached out to a brand’s social media presence for complaints over the past six months.
Data from the poll reveals that half of global consumers surveyed have never used social media for complaints. Among those who have, 12% have reached out to an online shopping platform and marketplace’s social media platform/handle to complain, closely followed by social media handles of food and beverage brands (11%).
Similar proportions have taken to social media to reach out to brands from sectors such as travel and tourism (10%), telco (9%), and apparel (9%).
By age groups, categories of brands that consumers have reached out to on social media for complaints
Similar proportions of consumers from age groups 18 to 24 years and 25 to 34 years (36% each) say that they have never used social media to file complaints. A little over two-thirds of consumers aged 55 years and above (67%) claim to have never used social media for complaints.
Compared to other categories, consumers across age groups have reached out to social media handles of online shopping platforms and marketplaces, and food and beverage brands for complaints the most. On the other hand, lower proportions of consumers across all age groups have reached out to social media handles of brands in insurance products and services (7% of 18-24 year olds, 9% of 25-34 year olds, 8% of 35-44 year olds, 7% of 45-54 year olds and 5% of 55+ year olds)
Among global adults aged 25-34, less than one in ten consumers (9%) have contacted the social media handles of insurance and products and services (9%) and one in ten consumers each (10%) have gotten in touch with telecom providers, household appliances, financial and investment services and beauty and personal care products and out-of-home entertainment brands to file complaints.
Further, 8% of adults aged 35-44 have reached out to insurance products and services’ social media handles to file complaints, followed by automotive products and services, and out-of-home entertainment (9% each).
By region, which are the top categories that consumers have reached out to the brand’s social media handle for complaints?
Looking at the data by region, in North America, the most engaged category remains online shopping platforms and marketplaces, with one in ten (10%) consumers resorting to social media for complaints. This is closely followed by food and beverages (9%), travel and tourism (8%), telecom providers (8%), apparel and shoes (8%), and tech products (8%). However, more than half of consumers in the region state they have never used social media to air grievances (54%).
In Europe, nearly six in ten consumers (59%) say they have never used social media for complaints - the highest proportion of consumers across all regions to say so. Online shopping platforms and marketplaces, and the travel and tourism sector, both witnessed 7% addressing their concerns.
In Europe, nearly six in ten consumers (59%) say they have never used social media for complaints - the highest proportion of consumers across all regions to say so. Online shopping platforms and marketplaces, and the travel and tourism sector, both witnessed 7% addressing their concerns.
UAE consumers are more likely than their counterparts in other regions to voice their issues on social media, especially for online shopping platforms and food and beverages, each capturing the attention of less than a quarter of consumers (24% each). In stark contrast to other regions, only 16% of consumers in the UAE report having never used social media for complaints.
For the APAC region, online shopping platforms and marketplaces lead the categories consumers took to social media to file complaints against (20%). Apparel and shoes, household appliances, health and wellness products, smartphone manufacturers, financial and investment services, beauty and personal care products, and automotive products and services all hovered around the 11-12% mark. However, almost two in five APAC consumers (38%) stated they've never used social media when lodging complaints.
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Methodology : YouGov Surveys: Serviced provide quick survey results from nationally representative or targeted audiences in multiple markets. The data is based on surveys of adults aged 18+ years in 18 markets with sample sizes varying between 511 and 1999 for each market. All surveys were conducted online in May 2023. Data from each market uses a nationally representative sample apart from Mexico and India, which use urban representative samples, and Indonesia and Hong Kong, which use online representative samples. Learn more about YouGov Surveys: Serviced.