Following a bad shopping experience, some customers will dismiss a brand. In fact, 39% of consumers said they will avoid retailers for two or more years after bad experiences.

Although good experiences are nice to share, consumers are more likely to discuss a bad experience with friends and family: 95% will share their experience with more than five people, while 45% said they share negative experiences through social media.

This infographic, courtesy of Zendesk, highlights "the good, bad and ugly truths" of how consumers are influenced by a retailer's customer service.

I am sure that you have been a party to animated debates about Nature vs. Nurture in the context of psychology. But, have you ever considered this phenomenon when it comes to customer behavior and marketing? Nature, as I understand it, is the behavior that occurs without coaching. Nurture equates to behaviors that are learned. As marketers, our work lies in the balance between these two — understanding natural shifts in consumer behavior and shaping behaviors to achieve our end goal: engaging consumers and selling to them.

In today’s ever-changing marketplace, marketers are forced to make note of the evolutions that are happening. For example, customers are shopping on their mobile devices, they are asking one another for product recommendations before buying, and they are looking for deals online in ways that were previously unheard of. The changes we see are the results of consumers adapting to the new tools and online environments available to them. According to a 2011 report from ITU World Telecommunication, 2.3 billion out of approximately 7 billion people on the planet have access to the Internet — what an evolution!