Shopper Culture

To Spend or Not to Spend: That’s Not the Question for many Middle-Class Americans.

Does our income level really feed happiness? According to a study by Princeton University researchers, the answer is yes, up until a point. Researchers found that the benchmark for happiness, in regard to day-to-day contentment with life, tends to sit at an average 75K (give or take a few thousand based on where you live). While many can rest assured that life’s daily struggles become less burdensome at that income level, for many, that range just isn’t the reality.

While financial and economic stability continues to be a hot topic of conversation, a recent article in The Atlantic, titled “The Secret Shame of Middle-Class Americans” shed a startling spotlight on a pervasive, but less talked about issue. According to the article, nearly half of Americans’ wouldn’t be able to come up with $400 in an emergency. In fact, 47% of respondents said that they would cover the expenses by borrowing or selling something or they would either not be able to come up with $400 at all. That statistic is worthy of pause.

Contextually Relevant Advertising Get a New High

If you’ve been driving around Denver over the past month, you may have noticed a series of billboards that advertise Totino’s Pizza Rolls. With lines like “Better When Baked,” “420 Is Better on Pizza Rolls,” “Stock Up B4/20,” and “Legal in Every State. Better in Colorado” these ads are particularly memorable due to their playful reference to marijuana and the 420 holiday. The brand supported these tactics with pedicabs and food trucks in downtown Denver that handed out hot pizza rolls to city dwellers during the cannabis celebration.

This is a great example of contextually relevant advertising done right. Totino’s and its parent company, General Mills, took a risk by targeting a subculture and succeeded by activating it in an authentic way. The ads only make sense in Colorado, during a specific time period, and for a specific mindset. Based on tweets about the ads, both marijuana fans and local Coloradoans felt like they were part of an inside joke with the brand. The smart and contextual relevance of these ads in turn created brand affinity and buzz.

Contextual relevance can play a big role inside retail as well. Clever and relevant tactics can break shoppers out of autopilot and get them to consider a purchase. What are some ways that brands can bring contextually relevant activations into the store?

Image Source: Hightimes.com

Urban Shopping Trends are in Bloom!

Hot off the virtual press is our latest issue of The Urbanist. Filled with all kinds of fun, urban retail stuff that will stick to your brain. So kick back and enjoy. 

In this issue:

– Barbie's Ken Doll Gets a Makeover

– 3 New Ways to Top the One Night Stands

– The Latest VR Trip

– Why to Visit the Amazon Store

Click here to explore past issues

The Great Chicken vs Egg, Media vs Creative Debate

If I had a dollar for every time I heard the question, “Should creative or media come first?” I would rival Trump’s piggy bank (and maybe then I’d be running for president!). Let’s face it, “creative then media, media then creative” is the advertising quintessential of “chicken then egg, egg then chicken” debate.

On one hand, having a brilliant and disruptive creative idea is the kindling that could inspire equally brilliant and disruptive placements of said idea. On the other, having strategic insight into all of the constantly evolving media possibilities can spark a brilliant and disruptive creative idea.

Paperless Coupons–Saving Money, Saving Trees

Happy Arbor Day! Let’s celebrate with a look at trends in paperless coupons.

While paper coupons still dominate the landscape, digital coupon penetration has increased every year since 2012 while paper coupon penetration has slightly decreased according to a recent report from Valassis. And as the user experience at checkout improves, adoption is expected to continue to increase.

Here are some money and tree-saving techniques savvy shoppers have at their disposal:

New Checkout Study: Channel Insights

When it comes to understanding why shoppers do things, it is often difficult to get the real truth as shoppers are known to say one thing and do another. They can't always articulate the "why" behind the behavior, especially when it comes to some of their decisions, behaviors, and habits. The retail landscape is ever evolving and, as it changes, shoppers’ habits change with it. Their shopping lists can include everything from snacks to household goods to alcohol, and they have priorities in how they like to shop, where they like to shop, and how much they are willing to spend. 

How does this behavior vary across top retail channels? How do shoppers make decisions when it comes to where they go and what they buy there? And why? This study of the Checkout set out to explore questions like these and find out some answers to better understand shopper behavior across channels.  For example, did you know that 14% of shoppers have chosen a retail channel because there was a retailer loyalty program offered? Or that 31.4% of shoppers visit the dollar channel when it's a last minute trip? 

Click here to learn more channel insights and how shoppers are shopping across different retail channels in the latest edition of The Checkout.

Brands Use Social Exchanges as Currency at Coachella

This past weekend was the conclusion of Coachella, the popular music festival that stretches over two weekends each spring. Every year, the event draws in a crowd just shy of 100,000 young and hip festival-goers per day, making it a highly desirable venue for brands. Fighting to stand out in such a crowded space, marketers are finding new ways to entice consumers to buy their products. One of the most highlighted tactics from brands this year: using social exchanges as a form of payment instead of traditional money transactions.

Going Green Versus Actually Going Green

We’ve all been guilty of it–answering “Yes, of course” when asked if your household recycles when in reality, the recycling bin in the garage hasn’t been emptied in months because it isn’t even close to being full. Earth day, April 22, is a day when shoppers are reminded that everything we do impacts the environment and that we should all try to be a little better. So why is it that the average American household recycles just 34% of its waste every year? Well, first, it has to be clear. A third of consumers are unclear on what is actually recyclable and another 20% admit to placing an item in a recycling bin without knowing for sure it’s recyclable. Next, it has to be easy. 62% of Americans say that if a product is not easy or convenient to recycle, they probably won’t recycle it. Behaviorally, this is not shocking. The more hurdles that exist for consumers to do anything, consumers are less and less likely to actually do it.

So how can brands and retailers help consumers kick their non-recycling habits?

Women Make 80 Cents on the Dollar Even on eBay?

eBay is a platform for buying and selling goods, not services. eBay doesn't explicitly list the seller's gender. eBay sells both used and new products. eBay has seller ratings that should give buyers objective ways to choose sellers.

And yet somehow, products sold by women earn 80 cents on the dollar compared to identical products sold by men. What is going on?

The Unconscious Shopper: Part 1

If you’ve spent any time around market research, you know how often people say one thing, but do another. There are many quirks of the brain that influence this behavior – biases and heuristics and the limits of memory. In this new series of posts, we will showcase examples of how human psychology and behavior affect the way we shop.

Topic #1: Framing

The Framing effect states that people will react differently to a particular choice depending on how it’s “framed up”: what it’s compared to and how it’s compared. Here’s an example most of us are familiar with: gasoline sales.

Scenario 1: Imagine you go to the gas station to fill up your car and see on the big sign that the price of a gallon of regular is $1.50. You pull in and slide your credit card, and then you notice the price per gallon on the pump display reads $1.60 per gallon. Confused, you look back at the station pricing sign and see the fine print: prices are for cash only. If you are like most people, you’re annoyed and feel deceived.

Mobile Use and Implications for Retail

According to a new report from App Annie on age and usage behavior, email is slowly dying as a communication tool with younger users. For ages 13-24, messaging apps are taking over. Meanwhile, the older crowds (45+) spend far more time on traditional desktop apps such as email and browser. 

Email dying as a communication tool is probably not too surprising, it is good to get actual stats against this behavior.

What is interesting, however, are the shopper implications.

POKE!

This is a coming trend: The sushi of tomorrow called poke, pronounced “poh-key’. The word refers to diced fish. Poke is a raw fish salad served as an appetizer in Hawaiian cuisine. Traditional forms are aku (an oily tuna) and he’e (octopus). Increasingly popular ahi poke is generally made with yellowfin tuna.

The hip food of 2016 is revisiting the concept of poke. The idea is simple. One marinates raw fish in soy sauce, sprinkles it with sesame seeds. and serves it over rice. It can be topped with avocado, kale, fresh tomatoes, soy bean sprouts, sea lettuce, small chili peppers, macadamia nuts, mango, ginger, or coriander, depending on your mood.

Deliciously exotic and healthy, this dish attracts customers looking for flavor and freshness. A number of casual restaurants, especially in Los Angeles and New York, have already made poke the house specialty.

Image source: NellyRodiLab

Virtual Reality is Here...So, where's my Hovercar?

When I was growing up the future looked fantastical! Jetpacks, hovercars, floating skateboards and virtual reality. Well, 1 out of  4 ain't bad. With Facebook's Oculus Rift hitting shelves earlier this week, and several more competitive units coming to retail in the near future, virtual reality is legit.

With all the hype around virtual reality, we asked ourselves, how are current sales and how will they shape up moving ahead? The company was tight-lipped about actual numbers of pre-orders, but Oculus founder Palmer Luckey said at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, "Pre-orders are going much better than I ever could have possibly expected." Although one gaming forum, NeoGAF,  full of pre-order gamers awaiting their unit, estimated anywhere from 350K - 450K units, based on their order numbers and production predictions. Yet, this is purely speculative.  

 

The Power of Franchise Partnerships

Brands old and new are always looking for ways to keep their products fresh in their shoppers minds. As a result, many brands look towards franchise partnerships as a way of refreshing their brand perception without actually making a "technical" upgrade. Lego is one such company that has done this in an extremely effective way. In fact, at Lego, these franchise partnerships account for approximately 1/3 of their sales. Currently, it's been partnerships with Star Wars and Disney Princess that have driven their most recent success. Learn more about Lego's story HERE.

While franchise partnerships can be an extremely successful approach for brands, some seem to push the limits when it comes to creating a relevant connection between the brand and the franchise partner. Take the NFL as an example. Many brands such as SAP and FedEX partner with the NFL even though their brands have seemingly nothing to do with the NFL brand. Which begs the question: Does relevancy matter when it comes to franchise partnerships?

Image Source: Lego via CNNMoney.com

Your 'Dancing Cat' Search Cues ‘Smelly Cat’ Pre-Roll

We’ve all heard the many adaptations of: “if content is king…” Including the retort: “…context is queen.”

Case and point: the recent Netflix YouTube campaign to promote the addition of ‘Friends’ to their television roster. The “Friendly Pre-Roll Campaign” is the first pre-roll campaign to utilize responsive search to serve relevant clips from the oldie-but-goodie sitcom. Meaning if you searched for “funny dance videos” on YouTube, your video might open with a pre-roll of Monica and Ross’ infamous “routine.”