Consumer Financial Communications

Purpose:

Pitney Bowes’s major clients were financial institutions and enterprises in financially related verticals such as  insurance, telecom, and utilities—companies whose own customers, to whom they sent communications, were primarily comsumers.  Understanding consumer motivations and preferences was key to moving the needle on behavior changes desired by clients.  This work was aimed at gaining a deeper contextual understanding consumers perceptions of, interactions with, and actions/behaviors taken in response to these communications, in particular understanding consumer practices and attitudes toward financial information and transactions.

The Project

This research program was built out of several studies including observational research with consumers and diary studies that informed initiatives across several business units in the company. Broad questions for exploration included:

• What channels do they receive different forms of communications (transactional, marketing, transpromo)?

• What are their preferred channel?

• When are communications received?

• When do communications get customer attention? In what context?

• What communications get customer attention? Which ones do not get attention? Why?

• How do interactions with paper communications differ from other channels (email, mobile)

• Do individuals scan QR codes? Which ones? When? Why?

• Do individuals pay attention to transpromo?

• What it the reaction to targeted marketing?

• What are their practices regarding privacy?

• What privacy/security concerns do they have?

Outcomes

This work informed business decisions across several business units, and fed into a large innovation program for a new offering.