With the January sales firmly up and running, it is timely to ask – bearing in mind almost all of us like a bargain – which consumers are particularly likely to be swayed by low prices and offers. Looking at data from our TGI study of consumer behaviour and characteristics in the Republic of Ireland, we identified a group of ‘hardcore’ shopping savers, as defined by those who agree with all of the following attitude statements.
“I look for the lowest possible prices when I go shopping”
“I always use ‘money off’ coupons and vouchers”
“I always look out for special offers”
“I am a bargain hunter”
This equates to 28% of the adult population (just over a million people). Those aged 65 and over are 27% less likely than the average adult to be in this group – perhaps this is in part due to the older generation being more committed to routine and buying the products they trust.
Indeed, the hardcore savers are especially likely to be parents with young children, no doubt one reason being they have more mouths to feed on the money they have available for groceries and thus are more conscious of making savings. Those in both the TGI Lifestage groups ‘Playschool Parents’ (live with son/daughter and youngest child aged 0-4) and ‘Primary School Parents’ (live with son/daughter and youngest child aged 5-9) are 26% more likely than the average adult to be in this savers audience.
The hardcore savers are 29% more likely to use the ‘click and collect’ service for their regular main shopping. This is likely both for the sake of convenience, especially for those with young children, but also for the purposes of buying online so they can better pick out bargains and perhaps be less prone to the impulse buys that might sway in-store shoppers.
The attitudes that mark out these savers as different from other adults – aside from the obvious explicitly saving-related attitudes – include fascinating insights into their engagement with brands and advertising. For example, they are 44% more likely than the average adult to say that when they see a new brand they will often buy it to see what it’s like and also 44% more likely to agree that when watching TV they search on the internet for products they see advertised.
In addition, they are a group that likes to stand out, be noticed and get consulted by their friends. TGI data reveals that they are 42% more likely to agree that they like to stand out in a crowd, 41% more likely to say they like to have control over people and resources and 43% more likely to claim that people come to them before buying new things.
Indeed, TGI’s Word of Mouth segments back up these claims revealing that these savers are significantly more likely than the average adult to believe they can very likely convince others with their views on a range of products services and topics, including food & dining, children’s products and household products – a bonus for marketers seeking to leverage the word of mouth potential of this audience.
When it comes to media consumption, the hardcore savers are 31% more likely than the average adult to be amongst the heaviest fifth of consumers of cinema, with the most popular film choice thrillers and mystery movies. However, their attitudes also reveal other media-specific inclinations. For example, they are 53% more likely to say they go in for competitions in newspapers and magazines, 50% more likely to sometimes respond to direct mail and 48% more likely to claim to tend to buy products from companies who sponsor TV programmes.
To view archived TGI Insights of the Week please click HERE
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