Consumer Report: Shopping is only a matter of seconds, regardless of line

Article: Randall Beard, President of Nelson North America

Recently, read a report from the University of South Australia Marketing Research Center, "shopping is only a matter of seconds, regardless of line." "I remember again how many market executives today still have unrealistic fantasies about the importance of brands in the minds of consumers."

He doesn't really care about you – consumers, buy and buy

Of course, there is always a small number of consumers, and a handful of goods and brands, successful completion of benign interaction, the establishment of deep ties. But the brutal truth is that most consumers do not care and do not interact with the brand. They simply buy and buy. This report from the University of South Australia offers two extremely interesting data, with the consumer's online encounter under the line, the brand only

– 13 seconds. Yes, the average time is 13 seconds for consumers to buy a product online. The data are based on studies of a large number of consumer buying behaviors.

– 19 seconds. Online shopping may be a little bit better, with consumers averaging 19 seconds to decide online purchases, and a small number of them becoming "second kill experts" in 10 seconds.

The simple fact is that for most categories, consumers already have a list of acceptable brands that they don't need to spend more time making. There are many more interesting things in life, partners, children, recreational activities, outings, they are simple, no time and energy and brand "play". Of course, a few exceptions are not excluded. So what makes consumption so simple and quick? The answer is inertia and intuition.

How do consumers decide what to buy?

Inertia is very easy to understand (I once bought this brand), but what does "intuition" lead to buying? Intuition is simply a brand jumping into the eye. The University of South Australia study called it "spiritual availability". That is, the ability to quickly associate a brand with the spirit of the consumer, which is achieved through a memory structure. For example, a brand logo on the image of the pattern, or a product specifically belong to the advertising language.

Finding ways to enhance the number and length of brand-related memory structures is the key to the spiritual availability of brands. Now, let me ask you a question: When was the last time you thought about brand advertising in front of the shelves? If you are honest, I believe the answer to this question is no. So how do we get advertising to influence buying decisions?

Is it fast or slow to buy?

In the book Thinking, Fast Andslow, Daniel Kahneman describes two distinct but equally valid human thinking patterns: quick thinking and slow thinking.

"Think Fast", as the name suggests, does not realize how we make decisions, not even with too much spirit, without thinking about decisions. It's like we're not thinking too much about buying toilet paper. The evolutionary advantage that humans naturally form in a dangerous environment during the ancient evolutionary process.

"Slow thinking" is also interesting, which means that we think about one thing for a long, difficult decision. It's like you're doing an algebraic equation. Such thinking models, though slow, are extremely valuable for complex and challenging problems that require a lot of energy.

Most consumers ' buying decisions start with the "Think Fast" model. In other words, our brains default to automatic and unconscious behavior when buying decisions, and our decisions are influenced by the number to the depth of memory structures in our minds, including brand advertising and, of course, some other elements. In other words, in the act of shopping, humans evolved to think of simple and rapid decision-making patterns.

Fast thinking mode of shopping, the role of advertising

In fact, what can advertisers do?

First, make sure your value information is unique and superior to your competitors. Building a persuasive value proposition and forming a consumer's memory structure is a very basic task.

Second, focus on building strategic and executive policy structures, as much as possible. It is critical that you define your strategy and implementation guidelines and persevere.

Third, maximize the reach rate. If the target consumer does not receive your advertising information, the memory structure will not be able to complete the build. The study shows that incremental contact is more valuable than incremental frequency.

To ensure the continuity of media playback. The memory of advertising weakens over time. Keeping your ads on TV or on the web will help deepen the memory structure that your brand is related to.

Brand 20 second encounter, make the most of it

The fact that brands are dispensable to consumers makes most market members feel sad. In fact, for most consumers, buying is largely a habit, an unconscious process that they want to end as soon as possible because there are more important things to think about, social information and social affairs are too much.

Brand owners seize the consumer's decision to buy 20 seconds to tell stories, creative ways, from the frequency and depth of the consumer's heart to deepen the memory of brand-specific memories, so that they can quickly Lenovo brand.