Study finds customers demanding more than ever

Consumer expectations for brands have jumped 32% year-on-year, the largest increase since 1998, a Customer Loyalty Index has found.

Brand research consultancy Brand Keys’ annual Customer Loyalty Engagement Index (CLIE) measures how brands create loyalty and what matters most to consumers.

This year’s study reveals that emotional engagement is the most important influence on customers’ decisions, more so than product specifics or pricing.

The Index argues that loyalty is the most powerful driver of profitability, suggesting that a 5% increase in loyalty can yield up to 88% higher lifetime profits per customer.

As such, Brand Keys concludes that even small improvements in loyalty can significantly reduce marketing and operational costs.

For watch brands that means focusing on, and investing in, emotional factors like heritage, craftsmanship, and identity in both product and brand storytelling.

The Index also suggests that it now costs 17 to 25 times more to find a new customer than to keep an existing one.

This could explain why more watch brands are starting to deliver “money can’t buy” experiences such as exclusive events to engage existing customers and nurture loyalty.

The 2026 CLEI shows that loyalty is no longer about the product, it’s about how the brand makes the owner feel.