Editor's note: This article appeared in the October 10, 2011, edition of Quirk's e-newsletter. 

After three years of penny-pinching and perhaps several more to come as the economy dips again, consumers are growing weary of always settling for the lowest price and are becoming more interested in brands and retailers that connect with them emotionally. According to a retail tracking study from San Mateo, Calif., research company Motista, building deeper connections with consumers can help drive higher levels of purchase intent, response rates, online engagement and advocacy.

Overall awareness and familiarity with 10 major retail brands Motista tracks (including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, Gap, Crate & Barrel, Macy's, Nordstrom, Walmart, etc.) were high at 90 and 71 percent, respectively, but only 18 percent of consumers indicated an emotional connection to their retailers.

With only 24 percent of consumers indicating they would make their next relevant purchase with the retailers they frequent today, retailers must establish and leverage emotional connection to retain their customers and increase sales.

According to the study, connected consumers are better retail consumers. Consumers who feel emotional connections to their retailers are four times more likely to shop those retailers first when relevant needs arise, compared to consumers who are simply familiar and satisfied with their retailers. Connected customers also respond to direct mail from their retailers twice as often as consumers who are familiar and satisfied.

Connected consumers are more engaged through social and mobile channels. Consumers who feel a connection to their retailers are shopping their retailers' Web sites via mobile devices 10 times more often than consumers who are simply satisfied. And these connected consumers are following their retailers on social media networks four times more often.

Retailers can build connection by fitting into the real lives of consumers. While consumers want to be inspired, they're also looking to retailers to help make their lives simpler. For example, top connections resonating with retail consumers include: the retailer simplifies my life; the retailer helps me live my life the way I want to live it; and by shopping at the retailer, I get a sense of accomplishment.

Connected consumers will also recommend retailers to friends and family. When consumers feel a connection with their retail brand, they are 50 percent more likely to advocate for the brand and recommend the retailer to others.

Genders experience retailers in different ways

Motista also segmented the data to look more closely at how men and women interact with retail brands, showing that genders connect and experience retailers in different ways.

Men take retail more personally. Men are 50 percent more likely to feel that their preferred retailer makes them a more valuable person. Appearing to seek to enhance their identities and sense of self through the retailers they choose, men are also 53 percent more likely to feel that people will see them differently because they shop at a particular retailer and 30 percent more likely to feel that their retailer personalizes its relationship with them.

Women, on the other hand, establish connections with retailers around the perception that the retailers are fun and stylish. Women are 18 percent more likely to connect with retailers they consider to be fun and 18 percent more likely to connect with their retailer if they believe the retailer is stylish.

While men and women both follow retail brands on social media networks at approximately the same rate (10 percent), men are more likely to engage with retailers through emerging online touchpoints. Men are twice as likely as women to engage in a live chat through a retailer's Web site and twice as likely as women to make purchase through mobile devices.