Customer experiences have always been a very important factor in consumers' decisions between different brands or service providers. If you are treated badly in a restaurant, you will probably choose a different restaurant next time. But nowadays, in the age of Social media and recommendation aggregators like Yelp, customer experiences, whether good or bad, can radiate beyond the customer themselves, and suddenly the bad meal of a single customer can deter dozens, if not hundreds, of customers.

According to a new study by the Temkin Group People tend to share their experiences with others, whether in person with friends or family, on social media, or elsewhere. Interestingly, the tendency to speak publicly about an experience with a particular company is stronger when the experience is negative. 34 percent of consumers surveyed by Temkin Group said they had not told anyone recently about a very good experience with a company, while only 27 percent have kept a very bad experience to themselves.

The following diagram summarises the survey findings, indicating that consumers are more inclined to share their personal customer experiences than to recommend them.