Introduction
- What motivates customers to leave one brand for another
- How to use JTBD and VoC research to dig into decision-making moments
- Why uncovering unmet needs and emotional drivers is the key to lasting loyalty
- What motivates customers to leave one brand for another
- How to use JTBD and VoC research to dig into decision-making moments
- Why uncovering unmet needs and emotional drivers is the key to lasting loyalty
Why Do Customers Switch Brands If the Price Is the Same?
Beyond Price: Key Reasons Customers Switch
Here are a few common brand switching reasons that go beyond cost:- Lack of Convenience: If a process becomes time-consuming or complicated (like reordering supplies or accessing support), people look for easier options.
- Poor Customer Experience: A glitchy app, bad service interaction, or confusing return policy can leave lasting impressions.
- Unmet Expectations: Products that don’t solve the problem as promised may drive customers to 'try something new.'
- Brand Disconnect: When a company’s tone, values, or messaging feels off—or no longer aligns with the customer’s identity—they may feel pushed away.
- Desire for Innovation: Curious shoppers often switch just to test something fresher, more modern, or more relevant to their lifestyle.
When Competition Isn’t Price-Based
Competition doesn’t just come from lower-priced knockoffs. It’s often about who better understands the customer’s actual situation – emotionally and functionally. Let’s say a fictional meal-kit customer switches from Brand A to Brand B. Both cost the same, but Brand B allows late-night delivery and has diet-specific choices that match their new health goals. The switch isn’t about price – it’s about lifestyle alignment. That small tweak makes all the difference, but only if you dig deep enough to uncover it.Why This Matters Now
Today’s consumers are more empowered, informed, and quick to try new brands. With customer behavior shifting rapidly, assuming loyalty is risky. Businesses facing low brand loyalty need tools like Voice of the Customer research to uncover what their customers are really saying – both spoken and unspoken. In the next section, we’ll explore the framework that helps make sense of these switches: Jobs To Be Done.What Is Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) and How Does It Help?
So, What Is a Job?
In JTBD terms, a job is the underlying progress a person is trying to make in a given situation. It’s not just about what they buy, but *why* they buy it. For example:- A parent might “hire” a minivan not just for transportation, but to safely move kids while managing groceries, schedules, and unexpected life moments.
- A manager might “hire” a project management app to help their team feel more organized and confident—not just check off tasks.
How JTBD Connects to Brand Switching
When brands fail to meet the real job—and particularly its evolving elements—customers start looking elsewhere. This helps answer the question: *why do customers change brands even if the price is the same?* It’s because the competing product does the job better. For example, a fictional office worker might stop using one productivity tool because it now feels cluttered. A simpler platform enters the market and delivers the same functions in a cleaner, more intuitive way. Even though pricing stays equal, their priorities have shifted – and the new tool delivers progress more effectively. JTBD helps businesses:- Refocus product improvements on what matters most to the user—not just adding features, but solving core problems better
- Reveal unmet needs customers don’t always articulate (“I just want to feel less overwhelmed at work”)
- Design clearer marketing that speaks directly to real emotional drivers and customer situations
Pairing JTBD with Voice of the Customer Tools
To effectively apply JTBD in market research, businesses often layer in Voice of the Customer insights. These insights come from real customer feedback—what people say in surveys, interviews, social media, or reviews. Listening to their own words helps illuminate:- What customers were trying to achieve when they engaged with the brand
- What frustrations they faced along the way
- What external factors (life changes, work demands, cultural shifts) shaped their needs
Using Voice of the Customer to Uncover Hidden Needs
Using Voice of the Customer to Uncover Hidden Needs
Price isn't always the reason people switch brands. More often, customers are motivated by unmet needs they can't always articulate. This is where Voice of the Customer (VoC) research plays a critical role. By actively listening to customers – not just through surveys but also interviews, open-ended feedback, reviews, and social media conversations – businesses can uncover the deeper motivations and frustrations driving customer decisions.
When customers talk about their experiences, they often reveal the gaps between what they expected and what actually happened. These moments of friction or disappointment can uncover hidden needs – emotional or functional desires they may not even be consciously aware of.
Listening Beyond the Obvious
VoC is not just about compiling customer quotes. It's about interpreting themes and identifying the root causes of satisfaction or dissatisfaction. For example, several customers may say they want a product to be "easier to use," but behind that request could be multiple hidden needs: less time commitment, simple instructions, or even emotional confidence in using it.
By organizing and analyzing VoC data with care, businesses can categorize feedback into actionable insights – illuminating the real reasons behind low brand loyalty or brand switching behavior.
Practical ways to use VoC for uncovering hidden needs:
- Conduct open-ended qualitative interviews to explore emotional drivers behind decisions
- Analyze support tickets, call transcripts, and online reviews for patterns
- Use thematic analysis to identify recurring language around pain points or unmet expectations
- Look beyond product-related feedback – consider lifestyle context, goals, and challenges
These insights help answer pivotal questions like, “Why do customers change brands even if the price is the same?” and “What drives customer decisions beyond price?” Armed with this knowledge, companies can refine offerings to better fulfill the customer’s true goals – leading to stronger brand retention strategies and reduced customer churn.
Voice of the Customer research isn't a one-time activity. It's an ongoing commitment to truly understanding what consumers value and how those values change over time. In today’s market, not listening deeply is a missed opportunity to stand out through empathy and responsiveness.
How JTBD Insights Help Brands Improve Loyalty
How JTBD Insights Help Brands Improve Loyalty
Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) reveals not just what people are buying, but why they are buying it. And when you understand why your product or service is being “hired,” you can increase customer loyalty by better meeting those specific needs. Most consumers aren't simply picking the cheapest or most visible option – they're choosing the solution that best fits their situation.
At its core, JTBD aligns your offering with the progress your customer is trying to make. That progress might be functional (e.g., saving time), emotional (e.g., feeling confident), or social (e.g., looking competent in front of colleagues). When brands understand these desired outcomes, they can improve how they communicate, deliver, and support their offerings.
Strengthening Loyalty Through Better Fit
Customer loyalty often wavers when a product no longer fits the job it was hired to do. Or, when another solution emerges that does it better. By continuously gathering customer insights through JTBD, businesses can recognize early signs of mismatch between product and purpose. This understanding allows brands to:
- Adapt messaging and positioning to reflect real-life use cases
- Refine or evolve products to better align with evolving consumer trends
- Create segmented strategies based on distinct “jobs” rather than traditional demographics
- Address unmet needs that competitors may have overlooked
In short, if you want to improve customer loyalty using JTBD, start by asking: “What are our customers really trying to accomplish, and how can we support that with fewer obstacles and more relevance?”
When loyalty is framed as a byproduct of consistently solving the right problems, it becomes easier to build trust and long-term relationships. JTBD helps shift the focus from keeping customers tied to your brand out of habit to keeping them because they genuinely want what your brand provides.
Pairing JTBD with Voice of the Customer insights creates a powerful feedback loop. What customers say, and what they ultimately do, can be connected to understand not just the surface-level complaints but the root causes behind brand switching reasons. And with that knowledge, brands are better equipped to create products, services, and experiences that customers choose again and again.
Real-World Examples of JTBD in Action
Real-World Examples of JTBD in Action
To really grasp how the Jobs To Be Done framework works in action, it helps to look at a few practical, fictional scenarios. These examples show how businesses can apply JTBD insights to understand brand switching consumer behavior and improve retention through tailored solutions.
Example 1: Fitness App Switching
A health brand noticed a spike in subscribers switching to competitors, despite similar pricing and feature sets. Through JTBD research, they discovered that users weren’t just tracking workouts – they were hiring the app to “feel accomplished” every day. Unlike competitors, their interface made progress harder to see, leading to a drop in motivation.
By redesigning to highlight micro-goals and offer daily encouragement, they aligned the app with the emotional job users were hiring it for. As a result, customer loyalty increased and churn decreased significantly.
Example 2: Grocery Brand Discovery
A legacy grocery brand faced low brand loyalty among younger shoppers. Using VoC and JTBD analysis, they found that these consumers weren’t loyal to brands – they were loyal to solutions that “reduced daily decision fatigue.” Shoppers switched products often because packaging and messaging didn’t clearly solve their daily meal planning stress.
The brand adjusted its packaging to communicate meal inspiration, simplified recipes, and time-saving tips on every product. This resonated with the core emotional driver, helping the brand stand out in a cluttered space – without touching price.
Example 3: Home Cleaning Service Choices
A home services provider experienced frequent client churn. JTBD interviews revealed customers weren’t just hiring them for a clean home, but for the job of “feeling confident hosting company.” Small misses – like leaving cleaning supplies out – made clients feel the job was incomplete. These details drove brand switching, even if the pricing was competitive.
With this insight, the provider refined training and customer touchpoints, focusing on the full emotional outcome. Within weeks, satisfaction scores improved, and repeat bookings climbed.
These examples (fictional but grounded in reality) show how understanding the real job behind a purchase decision goes beyond demographics or product features. It highlights emotional triggers, shifting behaviors, and evolving consumer trends. When businesses connect their offering to what matters most, brand retention improves almost naturally.
From grocery aisles to digital subscriptions, the JTBD framework gives companies a clearer path to answer the question: “Why do customers switch brands even if the price is the same?”
Summary
Brand switching isn't just about price – it's about fit, function, and emotional relevance. Customers change brands when their needs aren't fully met, and understanding those needs requires more than guesswork. By exploring real customer behavior through the Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) framework and Voice of the Customer (VoC) research, businesses can uncover the true reasons behind shifting loyalty.
This post explored the many reasons why customers change brands, even when costs are equal. We clarified the basics of the JTBD model, showing how it reveals what people are really trying to achieve when they choose a product or service. We also showed the power of VoC in uncovering hidden expectations that drive decision-making. Together, these tools offer a clear lens into evolving consumer behavior and practical strategies to improve loyalty, retention, and relevance in an ever-changing marketplace.
Ultimately, understanding the real-world jobs your brand is hired to do gives you the insight needed to stay ahead of your customers’ lives, not just their wallets.
Summary
Brand switching isn't just about price – it's about fit, function, and emotional relevance. Customers change brands when their needs aren't fully met, and understanding those needs requires more than guesswork. By exploring real customer behavior through the Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) framework and Voice of the Customer (VoC) research, businesses can uncover the true reasons behind shifting loyalty.
This post explored the many reasons why customers change brands, even when costs are equal. We clarified the basics of the JTBD model, showing how it reveals what people are really trying to achieve when they choose a product or service. We also showed the power of VoC in uncovering hidden expectations that drive decision-making. Together, these tools offer a clear lens into evolving consumer behavior and practical strategies to improve loyalty, retention, and relevance in an ever-changing marketplace.
Ultimately, understanding the real-world jobs your brand is hired to do gives you the insight needed to stay ahead of your customers’ lives, not just their wallets.
