OVER 90% OF CONSUMERS MAKE SPONTANEOUS CPG BRAND CHOICES; DECISIONS DRIVEN BY FREQUENT SHOPPER DISCOUNTS, BRAND FAMILIARITY

Personal care brands planned most often, cleaning items least, says Advertising Age/Knowledge Networks study

Menlo Park, CA; May 5, 2003: A just-released study, developed by Knowledge Networks and Advertising Age and conducted on KN's projectable consumer panel, indicates that nearly all consumers make "spontaneous" CPG brand choices - without planning in advance to buy a particular brand. The research also shows that, apart from special discounts, high brand/manufacturer familiarity is the best way to influence such spur-of-the-moment decisions.

Published in Advertising Age's May 5th special feature on CPG marketing, the findings provide a glimpse of how Knowledge Networks' deep expertise and powerful resources for research can deliver insights that lead to more efficient CPG marketing, from smarter concept development to effective advertising and trade promotions.

Click here for results of the CPG survey.

Knowledge Networks asked over 950 of its panelists nationwide how often they plan in advance to buy specific CPG brands; 62% said they plan "about half" or fewer of their CPG purchases, and 20% answered "very few/none."

Proportion of CPG purchases for which brand was planned in advance

• All/nearly all: 9%
• Most: 28%
• About half: 24%
• Some/less than half: 18%
• Very few/none: 20%

The study also shows that men are much more likely to make last-minute brand decisions; 46% said they plan less than half their brand choices, compared to 31% of women. Large households are more likely than small households (26% versus 16%) to plan few or none of their choices.

Though nearly half (46%) of consumers cited special prices/discounts as the best way to influence a spontaneous purchase, the "familiarity" of the brand or manufacturer was identified as the most important factor by more than one in three (36%) respondents. This suggests that "brand awareness" advertising may provide a significant return on investment. Advertising, attractive packaging, recyclable packaging, and shelf placement/displays each earned 1%.

Among four CPG product types, consumers reported brand planning for personal care items most often (41%) - an outcome largely driven by women, with almost half (48%) citing this as their "most likely to plan" category. Among men, beverages (34%) and personal care items (33%) were essentially tied for "most planned." By contrast, cleaning items were chosen as "most likely" to plan by only 8% of consumers - 5% of men and 10% of women.

The study also indicates that the CPG discounts used most often come via Frequent Shopper Cards (41%); coupons from newspapers and magazines were cited by 29%.

And television (64%) is clearly viewed as the medium most likely to affect last-minute CPG brand choices, with newspapers chosen by 19%.

Knowledge Networks is the leading provider of innovative, high-quality marketing information. The company brings together an exclusive set of consumer research capabilities, including the only Web-enabled research panel created using a nationally representative RDD sample. In conjunction with its expertise in brands, media, advertising, and analytics, Knowledge Networks uses these resources to pinpoint specific steps clients can take to maximize efficiency in reaching and selling to consumers. Other Knowledge Networks specialties include media, brand management, segmentation, and research on pricing, product configuration, advertising, public opinion, health, and social issues.