Making Purchase Decisions

When making a purchase decision for consumer-packaged goods (CPG) products, buyers typically consider a variety of factors. A few are:

Advertisements  

Ads play a crucial role in purchase decisions by creating awareness, generating interest, and influencing consumer preferences. Ads evoke emotions, establish brand identity, and create a lasting impression on consumers. Through repeated exposure and strategic targeting, ads can influence how consumers evaluate products. Marketers invest heavily in advertising to increase brand recognition, drive sales, and build customer loyalty. Effective ads that resonate with consumers can lead to increased sales and long-term profitability for businesses.

Brand

The brand of a product plays a critical role in influencing a buyer's decision-making process. A strong brand can create a preference, recognition, and loyalty towards the product or service, which can translate into higher sales and customer retention. The brand also conveys a promise of quality, consistency, and reliability to consumers. Branding can differentiate a product from its competitors, making it easier for consumers to identify and select it.  

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Packaging

A well-designed and eye-catching package can capture a consumer's attention and encourage them to consider the product. The packaging can also convey important information about the product, such as its features, benefits, and ingredients, which can help the buyer make an informed decision. It can create a perception of quality, with premium or unique packaging often indicating a higher-quality product. Eco-friendly or sustainable packaging can appeal to environmentally conscious consumers.  

Price

Consumers often have a budget in mind when considering a purchase, and the price of a product can be a determining factor in whether they choose to buy it or not. Pricing also affects the perceived value of a product, with higher prices often indicating higher quality or prestige. Additionally, consumers may compare prices across different brands or retailers to find the best value for money. Special promotions or discounts may also influence a buyer's decision, as they can create a sense of urgency and encourage consumers to make a purchase.  

Quality of Product  

Consumers associate the quality of a product with its ability to meet their needs and expectations, as well as the brand's reputation. A high-quality product is perceived as more reliable, safe, and efficient, which enhances brand loyalty and repeat purchases. Therefore, manufacturers and marketers invest heavily in ensuring the quality of their products and meeting the expectations of their customers.  

Also read: Fix The 5 Biggest Shopper Research Mistakes You’re Making

Tap into Consumer Preferences  

Implicit Behavior  

The godfather of neuromarketing, Gerald Zaltman wrote about how 95% of all buying decisions are done in the subconscious mind, in his book - How Customers Think: Essential Insights into the Mind of the Market. Thanks to the evolution of AI, we can get consumer behavior insights with increasing accuracy.  

Facial Coding  

Facial coding uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to detect and measure emotional responses by capturing facial movements, such as muscle contractions and eyebrow movements. The technology can identify emotional states such as joy, surprise, anger, and disgust in real time and provide insights into how people respond. This comes in handy when pre-testing advertising and product packaging.  

• When combined with market research, facial coding becomes instrumental in gauging the market response once the advertisement or product is released into the market.  
• Marketers can optimize their ad spend allocation by analysing the reaction of different consumer cohorts across different channels.  
• Marketers can even optimize the ad storyline if the ads evoke negative emotions or when attention and engagement levels are low.

Eye Tracking

The eye tracking technology can track and measure eye movements and pupil dilation to understand visual attention through a webcam once consumers have consented. Researchers and designers can gain insights into how consumers interact with brands, pack designs, products, etc.  

• By identifying points of interest, eye tracking can reveal what content, features, or elements are most engaging or distracting.  
• Marketers can optimize design, placement of creative elements on packs, video ads as well as static ads.  

Also read: CX Research is the New Recipe for Marketing Success

Voice AI  

Voice AI technology uses machine learning algorithms to analyze different aspects of human speech, such as tone, pitch, and cadence, to identify emotions. It also includes features such as speech-to-text transcription, sentiment analysis, and voice biometrics for authentication purposes.  

• Using sentiment and tonality analysis in qualitative studies help researchers and marketers understand the hidden sentiments behind consumers responses.  
• This way, marketers can identify consumers’ take on the quality of the product how it performs against its competitors.  
• Through Voice AI-powered qualitative studies, marketers can also analyse consumers’ sentiments on the price or the product – if they think it is priced fairly or overpriced.  

AI-led Consumer Research Platform for the Consumer-Centricity

Understand what makes a consumer buy with advanced AI technologies such as facial coding, eye tracking, and voice AI. End-to-end automation of both quant and qual studies help researchers cut down research time and get insights 4x fasters. Marketers have access to meaningful, actionable insights helping them develop GTMs and campaigns that are consumer centric.  

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