A recent survey by software company CA Technologies dug into the connection between customers and their apps. Spanning 18 countries and more than 6,000 users, the research was trying to discover the factors that dictated app brand loyalty. And the results were insightful, uncovering three main factors which drew (and kept) customers using an app.

Number one was app loading time. According to Ad Week's coverage of the research: "The study showed 68 percent of consumer respondents, who have left a brand because of poor loading times, desire apps to load in six seconds or less. More than half of those respondents demand a load time of less than three seconds. If an app fails to load within that time, consumers are likely to abandon the app, or a brand altogether."

The survey also cited functionality (Almost 80 percent ranked applications that have “easy to use features” as a meaningful reason to buy and use them) and security as the other top factors. Security lapses could get a consumer to drop a brand forever - 10 percent said a poor security experience would evoke a lifetime ban of the brand and it app.

Here is a look at the full results of the survey: