Nearly two in three Britons 'disappointed with their gadgets' "Business and brands can say what they like about themselves, but there is no hiding place if the experience is out of step with the promise," Mr Kanareck said. In a world where customers are able to share their actual experiences with greater speed, visibility and impact than ever before, measuring and managing reputation - what those customers are saying about you, in relation to what you're saying about yourself - becomes a business imperative. A gap between expectation and experience is, at best, an opportunity to enhance reputation and confidence and, at worst, can bring a business to its knees. The study, also run by Lepere Analytics, found that innovation is the most important factor in a company's reputation in 75 per cent of the industries they looked studied, which included biotechnology, electronic gaming, the energy sector, smartphones and social networks. The report claims there is an "authenticity gap" even in the intensely competitive smartphone market. Mr Kanareck added: "The more closely a company can align what it says about itself with what others are saying about it, across the critical reputation areas, the more lasting confidence and momentum it can build." According to a report published in July, people in the UK collectively own more than 606 million gadgets, or 10 per Briton. Britons spend £9 billion a year on new devices, and carry more than £22 billion woth of gadgets with them every day.