Quantum Metric: Consumers Feel Unheard by Brands

Many brands are not as equipped to listen to consumer feedback as they may think. 

According to research from Quantum Metric, most consumers are feeling unheard by brands – with half of customers reporting that they haven’t given feedback in six months. 

This is caused by what the report refers to as a listening gap, where digital brands take in customer feedback, but the consumer never sees any action. 

Unresolved feedback like this can create challenges for brands – particularly as GEO plays a more significant role, with 31% of consumers reporting that they would skip a brand AI flagged as having issues. 

“Customers don't stop giving feedback because they're impatient,” Michelle Brigman, Contact Center Principal at Quantum Metric, tells Marketing Chief. “They stop because they've learned that nothing changes when they do. 

“That then trickles directly into loyalty, retention and ultimately revenue. Once someone speaks up and hears nothing back, they don't ask twice, they just leave. 

“Our research found that 56% of consumers have left a brand because they felt their feedback was ignored, showing just how detrimental a poor consumer experience can be."

Creating gaps in understanding

Having the right structure to receive and act upon feedback can help brands keep consumers long term, while also improving overall business competitiveness.

With consumer habits constantly changing, subtle shifts in audience behaviour can easily go unnoticed. 

According to Quantum Metric, not paying attention to this behaviour can start to build a “gap in understanding” between what brands assume customers want, and what they actually want – meaning that building the right listening channels can lead to “happy customers and a happier business”, says the report. 

But brands don’t have long to get this right. 

The average consumer will give a brand two to three strikes before they move on, and half of consumers who have reported issues have had to reach out more than once about the same issue. 

This is creating an environment where consumers don’t feel that the feedback they provide matters.

In fact, one in three consumers report that they don’t feel heard by digital brands at all, while 37% believe that ChatGPT understands their feedback better than the brand itself. 

The most effective way to be heard

According to Quantum Metric, one of the most significant contributors to this growing listening gap is the belief that, unless they speak to a human, a brand isn’t really listening. 

A third of consumers will choose to contact support teams directly rather than filling out a feedback survey when the option is there, with 50% of respondents saying that this is the most effective way to be heard. 

Brands also need to make sure they have the tools in place to be truly listening across every channel, with teams needing to integrate qualitative feedback with behavioural data to get a stronger understanding of their customer. 

“Building trust means proving there's actually someone on the other end of that feedback, and that speaking up changed something,” Michelle concludes. “Customers don't expect perfection. They expect to be heard, and to see proof of that.”

Who are Quantum Metric’s key partners? 

• Google Cloud: In October 2025, Quantum Metric and Google Cloud announced they were deepening their collaboration to deliver Felix AI Agentic via Gemini Enterprise, in order to bring next-level AI-powered digital analytics more deeply into enterprise workflows. The partnership is designed for users to be able to instantly answer any question about their digital experience. 
• Salesforce: The partnership between Salesforce Service Cloud and Quantum Metric is designed to improve contact center outcomes with real-time customer insights. The company’s integration with Salesforce Service Cloud, it says, helps organisations deliver digital-first customer service.
• ServiceNow: Quantum Metric Embedded Replay for ServiceNow allows organisations to provide better customer support, quickly resolve customer frustrations, minimise risk and deliver better experiences – all natively within the ServiceNow platform.
• Adobe: Quantum Metric works with Adobe – specifically Adobe Analytics – to help close the feedback loop between engineering teams and feedback teams, with users able to look at page performance, time to click per element, field revisits and a complete overview of every user session.