Beyond Satisfaction: Creating Emotional Attachments to Exceed Expectations in Singapore

In today’s experience economy, great Customer Experience is paramount to success. It’s no longer enough to simply exceed customer expectations; businesses must create an emotional attachment with customers to drive greater loyalty and stronger relationships.

On 7 May 2025, Ipsos CX globally unveiled the results from the new Customer Experience (CX) benchmarking study, the "CX Global Insights 2025". Ipsos' comprehensive global survey provides the data-driven insights businesses need to transform CX strategy and drive measurable business growth. The study included 65,000 evaluations across 18 countries such as Australia, India, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, and multiple sectors: Financial Services (banks, insurers, motor insurers), Retail (supermarkets), Technology & Telecommunications (mobile networks), and Transportation (automotive, airlines). 

Click here to access a sneak peak of Ipsos CX Global Report.

On June 18, 2025, Ipsos Singapore hosted an event with clients to unveil national insights and findings from our global CX benchmarking study.

The study highlighted a significant gap between customer recommendations and initial brand choice. While 57% customers in Singapore chose brands based on recommendations, only 31% would recommend the same brand afterward, falling below the global average of 48%. In addition, 44% of customers in Singapore find social media influencers untrustworthy, suggesting businesses need to cultivate trust through authentic and personalized interactions.

Key findings from the insights study for Singapore included:

• Trial and Experience Disconnect:

Although 78% of customers in Singapore choose brands anticipating a good experience (second highest globally), actual experiences are disappointing. 86% report that the brand did not exceed their expectations, while 59% report having a bad or unmemorable experience in the last six months.

• Willingness to Pay for Better CX by driving Emotional Connection

52% of customers in Singapore say they are willing to pay more for better experiences. This increases to 70% if brands can move beyond transactional experiences and build emotional attachments with customers.

Even in essential sectors like supermarkets and mobile network providers, emotionally attached customers in Singapore are 1.3 – 1.4 times more willing to pay more for better experiences than the average customer.

• Key Drivers of Good CX:

Customers prioritize friendly and proactive service, reliable products, seamless digital experiences, value for money, loyalty recognition, and personalized interactions.

• Differentiating CX:

Beyond basic hygiene factors, businesses must offer added value through competitive pricing, motivated employees, omnichannel availability, and customized solutions. True differentiation comes from experiences that match brand promises, understanding individual needs, and incorporating aspects beyond the experience factors, the foundation of true loyalty is being able to develop an emotional connection.

• The Role of AI and Human Interaction:

While AI is increasingly used for customer service, less than half (44%) of customers in Singapore believe it improves the experience. Finding the right balance between AI and human interaction is crucial, with AI handling routine tasks and freeing up human agents to address complex, emotionally charged situations.

The overarching message from the study was that to elevate the customer experience, brands need to think differently about customers and technology with Ipsos offering the following 3 recommendations for the future of CX:

1. Seamless and consistent omnichannel experience: Design with HUMANS at the core
2. Personalized through curation: AI supports HI
3. Exceed expectations & connect: Experience + Emotional Attachment

About The Study
These are some of the findings of an Ipsos study conducted between January and February 2025. For this survey, a sample of 1,741 residents in Singapore aged 18 years and over was interviewed. To ensure the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census of Population data, and to provide results that approximate the sample universe, soft quotas were used and adjusted to achieve compliance with demographic quotas. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within ±2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all adults who are residents in Singapore been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Sara Pike

Head of CX, Ipsos Singapore

[email protected]