A lasting effect of digitization and the pandemic has been the proliferation of consumer choice. From being able to purchase cars and furniture online, to the pandemic’s effect of pushing more shopping into infinite virtual shelves, consumers are facing more options. That vast choice and supply chain strain have affected brand loyalty to some degree, but not to the degree that you might think. And for marketers seeking to grow their brand through new customer acquisition, all that choice means a lot more competition for new buyers.
Though wooing new customers is a major focus for marketers, consumers are not inclined to start a relationship with a new brand. Research from Nielsen Commspoint Journey, which helps clients understand the attitudes, motivations and behaviors that lead to purchases, shows that 85% of consumer purchases in over 80 categories involved a brand the consumer had tried in the past. High levels of repeat purchasing might be expected in categories where buying behavior is highly routinized, and consumers are shopping on auto-pilot. But even in high-consideration categories, defined by purchase journeys that are typically longer than a week, hesitation with trying a new brand is still high. Nielsen data shows that in these high-consideration categories, 75% of consumers still buy from a brand they’ve bought in the past.
Uma possível explicação para o alto índice de compras repetidas é o fato de que, para os consumidores, experimentar uma nova marca é uma proposta arriscada, e os consumidores procuram evitar esse risco. Os dados da Commspoint Journey mostram que quase um quarto (22%) dos consumidores dos EUA relatam que se sentem preocupados ou nervosos durante uma jornada de compra para adquirir uma nova marca. Isso é o dobro do nível de ansiedade que os consumidores sentem (11%) quando estão recomprando uma marca que já compraram antes. E, como era de se esperar, os consumidores estão mais ansiosos nas categorias em que o custo é um fator mais importante, como tecnologia, automóveis e serviços financeiros.
As marcas podem atenuar a hesitação do consumidor criando sua confiança. A confiança está no centro de qualquer relacionamento entre marca e consumidor, e é ainda mais essencial para novos relacionamentos. De acordo com os dados do Nielsen Commspoint Journey, as pessoas que estão considerando uma nova marca têm 25% mais probabilidade do que o consumidor médio de descrever seu relacionamento ideal com a marca como um relacionamento que inclui confiança.
Consumers evaluate multiple sources of information along their purchase journeys to assess a brand’s trustworthiness. A brand’s reputation, reflected in reviews and word of mouth, certainly carries significant weight. Nielsen’s U.S. Trust in Advertising survey found these sources to be among the most trustworthy among more than 20 sources considered. But it might surprise marketers to know that ads are cited more often than reviews or recommendations as useful or influential resources along the journey. According to Commspoint Journey, just 18% of new brand triers recall using reviews in their journey. By comparison, 30% used recommendations and 45% say they found advertising useful or influential.
Given the critical role of advertising, marketers should give careful thought to where they place their ads. When building trust is at stake, our U.S. Trust in Advertising survey found that marketing investments like sponsorships, newspaper ads and ads before movies were the among most trustworthy. In contrast, ads that appeared in mobile text, online banners or social media were viewed as less trustworthy. And Influencers, which blend elements of sponsorship and social, were seen as about average relative to other marketing investments.
As marcas que têm públicos-alvo específicos com os quais desejam se envolver achariam importante para a mídia entender quais canais esses públicos consideram mais confiáveis. Os consumidores da geração X, por exemplo, são os que mais confiam em anúncios no rádio, enquanto os idosos têm muito mais probabilidade de confiar em anúncios de e-mails que assinam.
A escolha de canais que aumentem a probabilidade de gerar confiança nos consumidores tem um peso ainda maior para determinadas categorias e setores. Os consumidores confiam menos nas propagandas de serviços políticos, farmacêuticos e financeiros, o que significa que os anunciantes dessas áreas devem escolher os canais de marketing com maior probabilidade de gerar a confiança do consumidor.
