The pandemic has made Apple fans more loyal than ever
Well, Apple, you've done it again. According to a second annual MBLM survey studying the effects of COVID-19 on brand loyalty, the pandemic has only strengthened Apple fans' bond with their favorite fruit-themed company over the eventful past year.
The survey covered a total of one hundred brands across ten different industries, studying how the trends of consumer loyalty (based on 3,000 U.S. citizens) evolved over time—and Apple undeniably sets itself apart with some of the most intriguing patterns visible.
The survey results showed several cases of "only Apple" this and "only Apple that," as AppleInsider reports. For example, the tech giant was the only company to be shared by both male and female participants as one of their top three favorites brands.
For the women, Apple was the fist choice, while for men, it came in third (after YouTube and Samsung, respectively).
Not only was Apple the only shared favorite across both genders, but it was also shared by each of the age groups—something no other company had been able to achieve. Of the three age groups studied, Apple was the highest choice for two: the 18–34-year-olds, and the 35–44-year-olds both placed it at the top. For the 45–64-year-olds, Apple took second place—first was Amazon.
It isn't all too surprising that people have been getting more attached to their mobile devices and gadgets over the past year, increasingly more so as the global pandemic has been keeping us largely confined at home with limited options for entertainment. There's also the fact that in uncertain or scary times, we humans tend to cling to the things that ground us harder than usual.
However, Apple is not the only popular brand on the market for phones, tablets, laptops, or watches—yet they've managed to attain something quite incredible in the U.S. market and globally—to create a society that is both extremely reliant and emotionally attached to a relatively expensive line of tech products.
Apparently, Apple is doing something right to be able to maintain their status as favorite brand across such an impressively diverse range of consumers.
The loyalty of Apple fans has actually grown consistently year after year, with the percentage of so-called "intimate users" rising from 41% leading up to the pandemic, to 51% in 2020, and now 52% in 2021.
Apple came second to none in four out of the six traits MBLM names as present among the top "intimate" brands this year. The tech giant takes the lead in "fulfillment," "enhancement," "ritual," and "identity." Apple lost "indulgence" and "nostalgia" to Disney and Hershey's, however.
Last year, BLML's preceding "Brand Intimacy COVID Study," which explored consumers' emotional connections to their favorite brands, also found that Apple claimed the highest pedestal among popular brands—and this year's findings are only cementing Apple's top spot.
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