SYDNEY: Two thirds of Australian consumers are bored by brands constantly telling them they need to update or upgrade, a new survey has shown, and nine in ten said concerns about issues such as privacy would stop them buying new products.

The Innovation and the Earned Brand study from PR firm Edelman surveyed 10,000 respondents across 10 countries including Australia, Japan, India, China, the UK, Germany, France, Brazil, Mexico and the US.

This found that while consumers were largely ready to embrace innovations they needed to be reassured by marketers but this wasn't happening.

"All brands, marketers and communicators need to think about communicating a new innovation differently," said Michelle Hutton, global practice chair, consumer marketing at Edelman told Mumbrella.

"You can't just talk about the inspirational components of that innovation, you've got to really reassure people – allow them to find that peer-to-peer review easily and participate in it."

Fully 87% of Australian respondents indicated they would not buy products or services from companies that failed to address how innovations affected their concerns pertaining to privacy, security and the environment.

According to Hutton, the feeling among those surveyed was that brands were "talking at me, they're not listening to me, they're not allowing me to be part of the conversation, to share my views, to find out about other people's views around products and services".

Almost two thirds (64%) of Australian consumers said they trusted a brand more if they found it easy to review its products and services; and 59% trusted a brand more if they were encouraged to review its products and services.

The study also highlighted an "innovation gap" in certain sectors. Fewer Australians were looking for further innovation from the technology and mobile industries, but more wanted to see greater innovation in energy, healthcare and education.

Data sourced from Mumbrella; additional content by Warc staff