On the surface, Saudi Arabia’s customer experience landscape looks strong. Some 69 percent of customers are satisfied with the brands they use, seven in ten can recall a pleasant brand experience, and the country’s Net Promoter Score of +32 slightly exceeds the global benchmark. Yet one in three customers intends to stop dealing with their main brand.
That is the central finding of new research by Ipsos, drawn from more than 6,000 interviews across sectors including automotive, aviation, banking, insurance, internet service providers, mobile service providers, online retailers, public service entities, quick service restaurants and retailers.
The firm calls the contradiction the Saudi CX Paradox: a marketplace where functional satisfaction and transactional success are no longer guarantees of customer loyalty.
An emotional deficit beneath the surface numbers
Ipsos identifies a growing gap it describes as an “emotional deficit” — the distance between customers who are merely content and those who are emotionally bonded to a brand.
The data shows the difference is substantial. Emotionally attached customers record a satisfaction score of 89, compared with 76 among the functionally satisfied and 37 among the unfulfilled. Retention rates follow the same pattern: 91 percent among emotionally attached customers, 76 percent among the functionally satisfied, and 35 percent among the unfulfilled. NPS scores diverge even more sharply, at +71, +44 and -25 respectively.
The report concludes that building emotional connections is no longer optional for brands operating in Saudi Arabia — it is, in the firm’s words, “a true business need for both retention and acquisition.”
Digital push creates distance as well as efficiency
A second trend is compounding the problem. While 86 percent of customers in Saudi Arabia engage with brands digitally, that shift comes at a cost. Two in three customers feel that customer service has become too automated and impersonal.
Anxiety about artificial intelligence is also rising. Some 66 percent of people in Saudi Arabia report feeling nervous about products and services that use AI — an increase of 15 percentage points in just two years.
Ipsos labels this the Digital Duality: the tools deployed to create efficiency and scale are inadvertently creating emotional distance. The report says this dynamic is most visible in sectors that have aggressively embraced digital transformation, specifically online retail and insurance, which tend to fall into what the firm categorises as “Low Brand Closeness” quadrants.
Enjoyment and status emerge as top loyalty drivers
To explain what builds emotional attachment, Ipsos applies what it calls the Forces of CX framework, which organises drivers into two tiers: hygiene factors — fair treatment, certainty and control — and differentiators — status, belonging and enjoyment.
Research in Saudi Arabia finds the market is primarily driven by the differentiator forces. Enjoyment is rated the top driver at 23 percent, followed by status at 18 percent. The implication, according to the report, is that simply being reliable or fair is not sufficient. Winning brands are those that make customers’ lives easier and more pleasurable, and that make them feel valued, respected and special.
Airlines lead on emotional attachment; online retailers lag
Not all sectors perform equally. Airlines lead the market in creating emotional attachment, with a score of 55 percent, followed by public service entities at 46 percent. The report attributes this to those sectors’ ability to deliver on status — through exclusive perks and priority service — and enjoyment, through seamless travel experiences and peace of mind.
Online retailers and insurers are identified as lagging sectors, and the report calls on brands across all industries to embed emotional drivers into every customer touchpoint.
Recommended customers twice as likely to recommend others
The report outlines three strategies for brands seeking to close the emotional gap.
The first is humanising digital channels through personalisation, which Ipsos describes as the single most powerful tool for bridging the digital divide. The argument is that data should be used not only for operational efficiency but to deliver tailored interactions that generate feelings of status and enjoyment.
The second strategy is to double down on emotional drivers, taking cues from the high-performing sectors.
The third is what the report calls activating the advocacy ripple effect. Ipsos data shows that customers acquired through recommendation are twice as likely in turn to recommend the brand to others. Investing in emotional connection, therefore fuels customer acquisition at lower cost and with higher trust.
For brands aiming to meet the goals of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, the report concludes, closing the emotional deficit is not just an opportunity — it is the new imperative for survival and growth.
