Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

Nielsen's 'Global Generational Lifestyles' report, based on the responses of 30,000 online respondents across 60 countries, will help marketers better understand how consumer behavior differs across life stage.

The interesting take-out is that, in some aspects of life, generations are bucking preconceived notions of how they behave.

Take eating out, for example. While older generations may have more time and money to indulge in out-of-home dining, it is Millennials (21-34 year olds) who were found to eat out most often. Sixty percent eat out at least once per week and a third say they eat out three times a week or more....

Consumers plan to use a combination of online and traditional channels to research and purchase gifts this holiday season, according to a recent report from the Blackhawk Network.

The report was based on data from a September 2015 survey of 1,140 adults living in the United States.

Some 73% of respondents say they plan to research gifts online this year, 66% plan to visit retail stores in person, and 46% plan to simply ask recipients what they want.

As for actually purchasing holiday gifts, 84% of respondents say they'll visit brick-and-mortar retail stores, 78% plan to shop online, and 20% will use a retailers' mobile apps....

For this holiday season, 80% of consumers plan to spend as much as or more than they did last year, according to a recent report fromSAS.

The report was based on data from a survey of 3,458 consumers in the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand.

The US leads expected spending growth, with 29% of US respondents saying they plan to spend more this year. Most Canadian shoppers, on the other hand, say they are tightening their budgets this year.

Millennial respondents (age 18-29) are the most likely to say they will increase their spending this year, whereas older consumers are the most likely to say they'll stick with last years budget....

Findings from the 2015 Pitney Bowes Global Online Shopping Study released today confirm that search engines like Yahoo, Google and Bing remain top choices for consumers to find products online. Furthermore, marketplaces such as eBay and Amazon along with retailers remain dominant for today’s consumer transactions, according to a press release.

The study found that 33 percent of millennials use mobile devices or a mix of devices, compared to 24 percent of overall consumers in the study.

The research further reveals that online shoppers globally share commonalities in discovery and purchase of products but they maintain “unique global shopping preferences and behaviors that vary by country.” Retailers looking to expand their brands globally “should consider cultural norms and shopping preferences of consumers around the world.”...

Accenture went on a journey to understand consumer preferences to shop seamlessly across channels and the ability of retailers to deliver that seamless experience.

Consumer Research SurveyAccenture surveyed nearly 10,000 adult consumers in November 2014 in 13 countries around the globe: Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom and United States.

The survey targeted respondents who shop in a multi-channel way and use the internet and their smartphones regularly....

The brainiacs at Harvard and Stanford are at it again. Just this past month in the Journal of Marketing Research, several Ivy School consumer neuroscience researchers led by Dr. Uma Karmarkar, whom I had the opportunity to interview for this piece, explained to me how putting the price first (called price primacy)—before a user sees the actual product—affects buying behaviors.

Specifically, according to the researcher’s comments in a Working Knowledge magazine exposé, “that price primacy (viewing the price first) makes consumers more likely to focus on whether a product is worth its price, and consequently can help induce the purchase of specific kinds of bargain-priced items.”

Mind. Blown. Let’s look at three pricing strategy examples and some specific takeaways from Karmarkar’s findings to see how we can repurpose her research and turn it into actionable solutions....

The shopper journey is getting shorter. On average, consumers now spend approximately 68 days researching a major purchase decision, according to research from Synchrony Financial. This is a substantial drop from 2014, when shoppers spent approximately 80 days researching potential purchases.

The survey explored consumer attitudes and the path-to-purchase across 13 categories: Appliances; automotive service, tires and products; electronics; eyewear; fine jewelry; flooring; home improvement; furnishings; bedding and mattresses; lawn and garden; musical instruments; sewing; and sports and fitness equipment.

Consumers researching fitness equipment spent the least amount of time, 49 days, before making a purchase decision. On the opposite end of the spectrum, home improvement research averaged 97 days before consumers made a final purchase.....

The act of deleting photos, apps and other content from phones causes many people to feel low, research has revealed. Dubbed "Post Deletion Stress Disorder" (PDSD), experts have warned that more than half of consumers suffer emotional effects after deleting content to make way for pictures, videos and selfies.

The research conducted by Western Digital (WD) suggested that more than half (56%) of UK consumers are forced to delete content from a technology device and have then regretted doing so. The link between deleting content and feeling down because of it could stem from the fact that the average consumer is now spending roughly £3,241 on content such as pictures, music, apps and movies, only to have to delete it.

"Running out of storage space isn't the greatest challenge threatening mankind at the moment, but it's certainly an annoyance for a great many consumers," said Jim Welsh, executive vice president and general manager of Content Solutions at WD. "Our findings clearly show that currently consumers are sacrificing precious memories and valuable content to make more space on their devices."...

The holiday season is once again upon us and this year marketers have an unprecedented opportunity to blow their sales out of the water. For the first time in history, consumers over 50 make up the majority — 51 percent — of all of consumer spending according to just-released data from the U.S. Consumer Expenditure Survey.

While marketers are preoccupied with Millennials — who became the biggest adult age demo this year — consumers over 50 control 70 percent of our country’s wealth, making them a significantly greater holiday sales opportunity than their kids.

One might expect that 50+ would account for the majority of health (63%) and insurance (68%) expenditures. However, when it comes to buying for everyone on their holiday lists, consider that people 50+ are now responsible for 51 percent of all entertainment spending as well as 57 percent of big ticket items such as new cars and trucks....

More than 90% of shoppers say price is the top reason they buy an item from a different retailer after visiting a store without making a purchase, according to research from Cognizant. As many as 55% of shoppers leave and go to another retailer’s store if they feel the price of an item is too high.

When it comes to retailers that offer the lowest prices, there are still plenty of reasons consumers can be turned off from making a purchase. Almost half (48%) of shoppers say convenience is the top reason they will not shop at the lowest price retailer. Additionally, 32% of these shoppers prefer loyalty programs at other retailers, while 31% will shop at retailers with a better return policy....

Key takeawaysDigital payments make up 53% of all transactions in Australia (and rising).

Convenience of digital payments rates highly with customers, but security does not.

Retailers have the opportunity to enhance user experience and reward customers by working with payment providers to gain insights from data.

The looming growth in digital payments offers many opportunities for retailers to understand and reward their customer, says a new Strategy& report....