We want chatbots to make us laugh

People want brands to make them smile and laugh, but business leaders fear using humour in customer interactions, according to a new research report from Oracle Fusion Cloud Customer Experience (CX) and Gretchen Rubin, bestselling author and podcaster. 

The Happiness Report includes insights from more than 12,000 consumers and business leaders across 14 countries and found that people are searching for new experiences to make them smile and laugh and will reward brands that embrace humour with loyalty, advocacy, repeat purchases, and walk away from those that don’t.

People are searching for happiness in new ways and are willing to pay a premium

It has been more than two years since many people last felt true happiness and they are searching for ways to be happy again, no matter the cost.

• 45% of people have not felt true happiness for more than two years and 25% don’t know or have forgotten, what it means to feel truly happy.
• 88% are looking for new experiences to make them smile and laugh. People are prioritizing health (80%), personal connections (79%), and experiences (53%) to gain happiness.
• More than half (53%) wish money could buy happiness, with 78% willing to pay a premium for true happiness.
• 89% attempted to find happiness in online shopping during the pandemic and while 47% said that receiving packages made them happy, 12% struggled to remember the purchases they had made online. 

Advertising, marketing, sales, and customer service interactions need to change

People want brands to make them smile and laugh, but business leaders admit their brands rarely use humour to engage with customers.

• 78% of people believe brands can do more to deliver happiness to their customers and 91% said they preferred brands to be funny; this number increased among Gen Z (94%) and Millennials (94%).
• 90% are more likely to remember ads that are funny, yet business leaders said that only 20% of their brands’ offline ads (TV, billboards) and 18% of their online ads actively use humour.
• 77% of people are more likely to buy from a salesperson that is funny, yet only 16% of business leaders said that their brands use humour to sell.
• 75% of people would follow a brand if it’s funny on its social media channels, yet only 15% of business leaders said their brand is humorous on social.
• 69% of people would open an email from a brand if the subject line were funnier, yet only 24% of business leaders said they actively use humour in email marketing campaigns.
• 68% would prefer to engage with a chatbot/digital assistant that is funny, yet only 27% of business leaders said their brands actively incorporate humour into bot communications.

Smiles and laughter pay dividends, but business leaders are afraid to joke around

People will reward brands that embrace humour with loyalty, advocacy, and repeat purchases and will walk away from those that don’t.

• 48% of people don’t believe they have a relationship with a brand unless it makes them smile or laugh and 41% would walk away from a brand if it didn’t make them laugh or smile regularly.
• If a brand uses humour, people are more likely to buy from the brand again (80%), recommend the brand to family and friends (80%), choose the brand over the competition (72%), and spend more with a brand (63%).
• 89% of business leaders see the opportunity to use humour to enhance the customer experience and believe that their brand can do more to make customers laugh or smile.
• 95% of business leaders fear using humour in customer interactions.
• 85% of business leaders state that they do not have the data insights or tools to successfully deliver humour. Business leaders would be more confident using humour when engaging with customers if they had better customer visibility (55%) and access to advanced technologies like artificial intelligence (32%).

Gretchen Rubin, five-time New York Times bestselling author and podcaster, says: “We’ve all been through some very tough years, and around the world, we’re short on happiness. We’re starved for experiences that make us smile and laugh, and brands can help. For brands aiming to contribute to the happiness of their target audience, the process starts with data and knowing your customers. Only then can you bring the appropriate mix of humour, personality, and brand experience that will drive loyalty and brand advocacy.”

Rob Tarkoff, executive vice president and general manager, Oracle Fusion Cloud Customer Experience (CX), says: “The customer experience continues to evolve, but at the end of the day, it all comes down to one thing: Making the customer happy. There are many different factors that go into creating happy customers and in this research, we decided to examine humour as it is one of the most nuanced. As the results show, most business leaders want to make consumers laugh more and understand it’s a critical part of establishing a true relationship. To be successful, brands need to put data at the heart of their customer experience strategy.”