To buy…or not to buy
How FMCG brands can use OOH to overcome the problem of rational choice
Fresh consumer insights for challenging times...
We all buy into the fact that the cost-of-living crisis has put pressure on household budgets and reshaped the way we approach grocery shopping. But what does this mean for FMCG brands, and where do the opportunities lie?
In collaboration with industry experts Shoppercentric, our latest research series, To buy...or not to buy, delves deep into today's fast-evolving grocery landscape, dissects how consumer buying behaviour differs between in-store and online, and defines the role of Out of Home (OOH) advertising in influencing in-store purchase decisions.
As new shopping habits are established, brands have a fresh opportunity to secure their place in the hearts and baskets of both existing and potential customers. But in an increasingly competitive in-store battleground, your brand needs to shine brighter than ever before...
Shopping behaviour - what’s in-store?
Most of the UK’s supermarket spend (*88%) is still carried out in physical stores. In this active environment, shoppers are increasingly grappling with cognitive overload as they navigate promotions and compare prices across a vast product selection.
Faced with a sea of options, in-store shoppers instinctively seek familiarity and short-cuts to help them make quicker and easier decisions, avoiding laborious, price-based rational decisions - that's where the power of the brand comes into play.
*Source: GlobalData
Influencing brand preferences
The stronger a brand’s identity and the equity it has cultivated, the more it can tap into our subconscious decision-making process, and override price and rational information gathering. We are familiar with that brand, we trust it, we can rely on our instincts.
In these uncertain times, sustained brand communication is paramount in upholding brand equity, and ensuring that those associations are at the front of shoppers’ minds in the right places and moments to influence purchase decisions.
A powerful brand building channel + a timely reminder at the POS
OOH is brilliant at brand building, long term activity that needs to have happened before grocery shoppers reach the store. But OOH can also serve as a timely and impactful reminder at POS locations, bringing back all those established brand associations and easing the path to purchase when shoppers are in ultra buying mode.
A few headline results...
Our core research mission was to find out more about the effectiveness of supermarket OOH screens in helping brands to capture shopper attention once at the shelf.
Industry experts in this field, Shoppercentric, conducted an independent evaluation to measure the influence of supermarket OOH screens on the fluency of decision making at the supermarket shelf.
The research proved that shoppers exposed to supermarket OOH screens are more likely to pay attention to the advertised brand on the shelf, spot the brand faster and are more likely to choose it. Here are a few headline results: (NB: Belvita Image shown below was not used in supermarket study)
53
higher share of attention for the test brand among those who saw the OOH ad
14
faster time to first fixation of test brand among those who saw the OOH ad
4
more respondents chose the test brand after seeing the OOH ad