There is no doubt that to survive in today’s market conditions, brands have to subscribe to a purpose that serves the personal values of consumers and in some cases, their habits.
Individual consumer values mostly center around the social, environmental or cultural aspects while at times, the customer’s personality too plays a critical role in their purchase decisions.
The consumer is not ready to accept quietly anymore; their submissive attitudes have given way to more informed decision making, value judgements and peer recommendations.
When the Covid pandemic arrived, some consumers who were brand loyal, would see if the product (whatever the brand) would deliver what they look for rather than if the product was from “their brand”. As the post Pandemic buying waves released the pent-up demand, brands were back in business… subject to a new stipulation: Consumer values and habits. I.e. Socially Conscious Shopping.
Warren Buffett famously said: “Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.” In the post-Pandemic era, the consumer increasingly seeks value–and the ‘value’ now extends beyond the usefulness that the product can deliver and focuses on their personal beliefs and values. Why?
Since consumers identify themselves with their brands.
Among the most common values that today’s consumers are subscribed to are honesty,
security, freedom, charity, sustainability/ESG and speedier delivery.
Consumers who have honesty as a value, may look for a brand’s own honesty shown through transparent supply chain or manufacturing processes. Consumers who have a higher value for security would look to find if safety mechanisms are built to the product well.
For instance, a man who has a family would prefer buying a strongly built heavy van that can withstand impacts rather than a light, small vehicle that would disintegrate upon impact.
Customers who value freedom would prefer a mobile communications network that is flexible towards the user whenever they switch to different service packages within the same network. Consumers who value loyalty highly, would prefer a brand that rewards their loyalty (Eg – special tier membership for being a long term patron of the brand).
A consumer who values charity would prefer a brand that shows higher CSR engagement in the society in comparison to a brand that supplies the same product but is not seen as altruistic. A consumer who values personal achievements hwould opt for brands that glorify and celebrate personal achievements or family progress or both. For instance, such a consumer would pick a well known household beverage brand for their family gathering rather than an energy drink, even if their personal preference is for the energy brand. A consumer who values sustainability/ESG would prefer a and that focuses on using recycled materials rather than original raw material inputs for their products. A consumer ho values anonymity would prefer a brand that stays away from Facebook. A consumer who values speedier delivery would opt for brands that can deliver via online orders and are digitally engaged. If the consumer is a female, she would prefer a female owned brand (on the other hand, a male consumer would go for either a male or female owned brand. These findings come from a 2022 study by Technical University of Munich and Copenhagen Business School,
which was published in a paper in the Journal of Consumer Psychology).
A landmark study by Google Cloud, showed increasing numbers of U.S. shoppers are opting for brands that align with their personal values. The 2022 Study showed that a massive number of consumers are rebelling against brands that do not align with their values.
“82% of shoppers want a consumer brand’s values to align with their own, and they’ll vote with their wallet if they don’t feel a match. Three-quarters of shoppers reported parting ways with a brand over a conflict in values..” (consumergoods.com/new- research-shows-consumers-more-interested-brands-values-ever )
The pivotal point was that consumers were ready to desert even their most favorite brands if there’s a value mismatch.
“Even with their favorite consumer goods products, a majority of shoppers will not compromise on principles. If there’s a value mismatch, 39% of shoppers said they’d permanently boycott their favorite brand, and 24% would break ties at least temporarily.”
Shockingly 28% that found their values at odds with a brand would speak of their concerns with friends and family, and 15% voiced it on social media.!
Another study highlighted the same trend. A study by IBM showed that purpose-driven consumers choosing products and brands based on how well they align with their personal values, represented the largest segment (44%) of onsumers. (What is Sourcing? by Alexandra Jonker-Published in IBM.com – December 2023).
