New research published by The Wee Agency has identified automated telephone services, call centres and email spam as the three most annoying technological advances of modern life. The survey was conducted by One Poll for The Wee Agency and asked a random sample of 2,000 people across the UK for their thoughts on modern technology and communication, including ecommerce, online marketing and social media.

The best technological advances of modern life were identified as the smartphone, wi-fi and tablets/ iPads. Mobile personal communication appears to be highly valued by survey respondents. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the business sectors perceived to be best at digital communication in this brave new world are retail, food and drink, and technology. The business sectors perceived to be the worst at digital communication are agriculture, construction and the voluntary sector.

When asked how they preferred to interact with a company when buying a product for a personal need, the majority of people preferred to shop in store (31.5 per cent), or via email (31 per cent ) – with e-commerce only getting 15 per cent of the vote. This finding contrasted with how people prefer to interact with a company when buying a product for a business need – when email came out on top (35 per cent). In person trailed behind with just 25 per cent of people preferring it, and 15 per cent preferring the telephone.

The differences between B2B and B2C online commerce also affected what people wanted from a website. Consumers’ main priority was that the site is fast to load – 58 per cent said a slow site would annoy them. But, in a business context, lack of information was much bigger turnoff – 52 per cent people said this is annoying.

The best way to get people to engage on social media is through offers and discounts. The Wee Agency survey found that 52 per cent of people who use social media cite offers and discounts as a key factor in their engagement with brands on social media. Interesting content (cited by 42 per cent of survey respondents who use social media) and a quick response to enquiries (also cited by 42 per cent of survey respondents who use social media) were also important factors in engagement with brands on social media.