Darren Varney looks at the latest consumer trends and how retailers can tap into changes in behaviour. This is the second article in this series. You can read Darren’s first article, The Pursuit of Happiness, here.
We are diving back into our GfK ConsumerLifeTM 2016 study to help you understand your consumers’ attitudes, behaviours and values, and how you can use these findings to better connect with your customers. Specifically I’ll be discussing date from the GfK ConsumerLife 2016 Australian survey of 1,000 respondents.
The study has been running across 25 countries since 1997 and in Australia since 1999. We are able to compare what’s happening locally, with emerging trends from all over the globe and understand what forces drive change.
The study identified 12 key global trends that represent genuine long term shifts in attitudes and behaviours. In this article I’ll focus upon a consumer trend having an impact on the people walking through your doors today.
The purchase choices we make are increasingly being influenced by how they will be perceived socially. Consumers want to do the right thing and be seen to be doing the right thing. One in five consumers say, ‘Products and services need to appeal to my beliefs, values and ideals.’ Perhaps not surprisingly 45% of those surveyed say, ‘Brands and companies have to be environmentally responsible.’ We call this global trend ‘considered consumption’.
Consumers are increasingly holding brands to account for their actions and seek to have connections with the makers of their products. The keywords which typify with this trend are Heritage, Provenance, Integrity, Authenticity and Fair Trade.
What can go wrong when your brand fails to meet your customer’s expectations?
Failing to Meet Customer Expectations
In April 2015 the German automaker Volkswagen’s share price was riding high at 253 euros. It had a stable of strong well-loved brands and even ran the tagline “truth in engineering” for its Audi brand. In September 2015 VW admitted it had been illegally cheating the emissions tests for the company’s diesel engine cars. The engine management system had a hidden ‘feature’ built in which allowed the cars to meet the emissions standards during lab testing. While out on the road however, it behaved quite differently and the cars were emitting up to 40 times more pollutants.
The fallout from the scandal for Volkswagen has been significant. When news broke, VW’s share price fell 46%, and it is currently trading 150 euro less than the highs in 2015. Along with the fall in company value, Volkswagen has been the subject of multiple law suits and fines which in the US alone, total almost $4.5B. The brand has been widely criticised on social and mainstream media, with some long term brand owners stating that they would sell their current car and never buy another Volkswagen. The VW brand, that once was associated with fun and freedom, is now irreversibly linked with cheating and pollution, even boasting a dedicated Wikipedia site on the topic. Customers voted with their feet, with sales in the US declining 11months in a row following the company admission. While the VW example is an extreme case, it demonstrates what happens when brands fail to align with consumers’ expectations and values.
Riding a Global Trend
Inspired by nostalgia, consumers value authenticity and seek a connection with the maker. This trend has seen growth in handmade frames. Back in the 70’s and 80’s custom high end road bikes were all made of steel. In the 90’s the Japanese and Taiwanese cycle industry quickly adopted aluminium and then later carbon fibre moving away from steel, taking high end consumers with them. Paul Ketelaar is a self-taught local custom frame builder from Mackay, Queensland, that has witnessed the evolution of the industry and the recent growth in the custom frame market. He as seen this revival in steel bicycles over the past decade, as older millennials and cashed up baby boomers try to recapture spirit of cycling from a bygone era and love having a connection with the frame builder.
This trend however, is not limited to artisan manufacturers. Brooks England has seen an increase in popularity in recent years as consumers rediscover their long history in cycling. The Brooks website and point of sale material embraces the past and aims to connect consumers with the men and women creating the products. Their online magazine ‘The Bugle’ is a nostalgic mix of adventure stories and advertising, punctuated with artistic product images and vintage cycle events. Issue 1, has a feature on their ‘most valued employee’ creating a connection between the man working the machine and the shiny seat sitting on a store shelf.
What does this mean for you?
Having a good amount of stock on your floor is no longer enough. Many of your customers will want to know the heritage and provenance of what you are selling and know that it has been produced ethically and fairly. The consequences of not aligning your company’s behaviour with customer expectations can be catastrophic, so it is important that how you behave fits with your customer’s beliefs, values and ideals. Find a way to share the origin of the products you’re selling and help share the stories of people that design and build them.
About Darren Varney & Gfk Consumerlife
Darren Varney is the Director of Market development, at GfK, Australia’s GfK trusted source of relevant market and consumer information. Darren is setting up a Point of Sales tracking measure for eBikes in the Australian market.
GfK ConsumerLife provides detailed socio-demographics and helps you understand key consumer trends. The 2016 report covered 25 countries and 17 categories, making it one of the largest and longest running studies of its kind globally. For more information on GfK ConsumerLife or eBike sales tracking contact Darren at darren.varney@gfk.com
