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Companies need to invest more in improving customer experience (CX) and the use of technologies including artificial intelligence (AI) can help, according to the findings of a PwC consumer survey.

In this “age of chatbots,” digital payments, AI, the Internet of Things (IoT) and big data, “most brands are not striking the right CX balance,” PwC said March 26, in a news release announcing the release of its report “Experience is Everything: Here’s How To Get It Right.”

Good customer experience “minimizes friction, maximizes speed and efficiency and maintains a human element, embedded within the automation, AI or other technologies,” PwC said in the report, adding: “It leaves consumers feeling heard, seen and appreciated. It has a tangible impact that can be measured in dollars and cents.”

Seventy-four percent of U.S. consumers want more human interaction in the future, not less, while 64% of consumers feel companies have lost touch with the human element of CX, PwC said. That’s according to the findings of a PwC survey in which a nationally representative sample of 4,000 U.S. respondents were polled online and via in-field interviews in December 2017 and another 11,000 respondents from 11 more countries were surveyed in January 2018, it said.

“CMOs take note: our research revealed that 65 percent of U.S. consumers find a positive brand experience to be more influential than great advertising,” David Clarke, PwC global CxO and experience consulting leader, said in the news release.

The survey also indicated that there’s a “tech awareness and adoption gap,” PwC said, noting 48% indicated they believed digital payments had a greater perceived impact than other technologies, including the cloud (38%), IoT (30%) or AI (29%). Consumers also indicated they would pay more for “smarts, speed and convenience,” while bad experiences can “drive consumers away – fast,” PwC said, noting 59% indicated they would turn their backs on a beloved brand after several bad experiences and 17% said they would stop shopping or using a brand they loved after only one bad experience.

“A focus on using technology and innovation to equip employees with the information they need to best serve consumers could help close this gap—and so could incentivizing employees to provide a good experience, boosting relevant training for employees and creating an overall corporate culture of empowerment,” PwC said in the report.

The “most tangible role” of AI in consumers’ shopping activity is already seen through the smartphones and other devices they use, and in ads and sponsored content that links to prior behavior, it noted. “But most consumers simply aren’t aware that these are AI in action,” it said.

Meanwhile, just 47% of executives indicated they understood clearly how robotics and AI would improve customer experience, PwC said, adding: “That has to change— immediately. Smooth, consistent transitions from machine to human is crucial. Consumers increasingly show loyalty to the retailers, brands and devices that consistently provide exceptional value and variety with minimum friction or stress. Using these tools wisely to provide seamless payments and consistent experiences across platforms and in-person transactions is crucial to customer satisfaction.”

Companies should “take advantage of automation, but make sure customers can reach a human when one is needed,” PwC cautioned, adding: “In turn, automated solutions should ‘learn’ from human interactions so those experiences also improve. This shift allows your employees to be more engaged when they’re needed, provide better service and get necessary support from technology—as part of the seamless experience. This will require a change in how companies measure customer service performance. For instance, instead of measuring call volume, companies may look to the number of successful solutions they provided for a customer.”

Price and quality “remain top of mind” when customers make buying decisions, but 73% of global respondents said a positive experience was among the key drivers that influenced their brand loyalties, according to PwC. Consumers would pay as much as 16% more for a better customer experience, PwC found with the survey, it said.