Poor Personalization Can Drive Customers Away: 50% Say They May Disengage If It Is Irrelevant.
Adobe finds that the expectation of customization grows at the same time as tolerance to bad messages goes low.
Image: Adobe Martech Digital Trends 2026 · original publication Image source ↗
What happened
Adobe reports that 65% of customers use AI tools regularly or occasionally and that 50% can be disconnected if customization isn't relevant.
What changes
Customization no longer means inserting a name. It means using proper context without crossing the line into invasive or absurd messages.
Why it matters
Automation increases the speed of error: an wrong segmentation can be repeated to thousands of people.
Implications for businesses
It's best to start with customization based on observable behavior - interest, stage, prior purchase - rather than complex inferences.
One Rhino’s take
Useful customization felt as a service and bad customization felt as monitoring. Data design should start with that difference.
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