How changing customer expectations are changing perceptions around loyalty

Recently we wrote about how Big Tech is influencing customer experiences and ultimately how this is driving a shift in customer expectations.

This is where the question of loyalty comes into consideration. Recently ChatGPT announced a $200 USD per month subscription for its top-tier model and people aren’t happy.  

My favourite book is Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari and there’s a chapter that I couldn’t resonate more with. While we don’t want to get into politics, it’s an interesting discussion point around human behaviour.

In the book, there was discussion around the fact that humans generally have the best health, security, and living standards now than they ever have had in thousands of years, and yet we couldn’t be more upset and it’s because of things such as fairness and equality. 

How this relates to the Big Tech and ChatGPT subscription vs loyalty conversation is that people are upset that they are being asked to pay $200 per month which is essentially subsidising the free tiers. And it’s questioning their loyalty. 

Across the CXO2 team, we have a lot of experience working with Financial Services brands and Mutual Banks, so it's not uncommon to hear about customer loyalty in the terms of 20, 30, 40, 50+ years.

But that expectation is now changing.

Someone who has been a ‘loyal’ customer of ChatGPT is threatening to leave after just 1.5 years. Have big tech redefined customer expectations and loyalty standards to their own demise? 

An online complaint from a 'loyal' ChatGPT customer. Source: Threads

It’s all economics really. And there’s a big, giant mass with all the gravity pulling towards it - it's a shift in expectations, fuelled by Big Tech brands.

What’s really happening is this interesting intersection of customer expectations (demand) and those who can provide the reliable, predictable and stable services at a reasonable price point (supply). Then there’s those brands who can’t. 

So, we have to ask ourselves, which elements of these experiences can we replicate and copy quickly to keep up, vs which overheads do we eliminate so we keep our local businesses lean and scalable and adaptable to this changing environment?