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s they become more savvy, Indonesian consumers have no qualms with switching to another brand if one fails to meet their expectations.

A new study shows that 80 percent of Indonesian consumers surveyed have switched brands based on dissatisfaction, actions resulting in US$176 billion in potential losses for the abandoned brands.

The findings are part of Accenture'€™s latest study on '€œThe Digital Customer'€. Surveys involving 12,867 end consumers were conducted in 32 countries, including Indonesia as an emerging market. Other countries included in the survey were USA, UK, Brazil and Malaysia.

The study also revealed that the proclivity to switch among Indonesian respondents was above mature markets. Globally, 66 percent of consumers have switched between brands in at least one type of industry, while the number was 54 percent for mature markets.

Internet Service Provider (ISP), retail and banking were the top three industries in which Indonesian consumers flipped between brands. Eighty-three percent of respondents said they have changed ISP providers, while the figures for retailers and banks were 18 percent and 25 percent, respectively.

Trailing closely behind were satellite television and mobile phone providers at 24 percent each.

Accenture Indonesia executive director, Tore Berg, said that poor service was the prime reason consumers ditched a brand.

'€œAs high as 77 percent of respondents said that they would not have switched if the provider of the service had done something that would have kept them as customers,'€ he told The Jakarta Post.

According to the survey, the value of the '€œswitching economy'€ in Indonesia was US$176 billion. This is the potential revenue the first choice brands could have pocketed if they had not lost consumers to competitors. Indonesia'€™s '€œswitching economy'€ worth was the second highest after Japan, with Australia placing third. Accenture puts the global '€œswitching economy'€ at $5.9 trillion.

Accenture Indonesia managing director, Julianto Sidarto, said that switching was high among Indonesians because consumers have evolved far more rapidly than brands. '€œIn the past, people were less likely to switch because there were only a handful of service providers or service among providers was equally poor,'€ he said. Berg added that a solution for increasing consumer satisfaction was by providing mobile services, a technology consumers have grown attached to.

Online support channels have become essential to consumers. The survey found that 70 percent of respondents have used more than one online channel for customer support. These respondents accessed the sites through mobile phones and tablets 50 percent of the time.

However, 35 percent of respondents were still reluctant to use online channels due to spamming fears.

'€œHence, once customers use digital channels, companies cannot misuse the trust placed on them by using the customer data collected in the wrong way,'€ he said.