Harbinger_Decoding-the-Female-Consumer_Whitepaper

Decoding the Female Consumer & Brand LoyaltyNew research validates relationship between a woman’s lifestage and brand preferences

© 2014 Harbinger Communications Inc.

Decoding the Female Consumer & Brand Loyalty. © 2014 Harbinger Communications Inc.

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Overview New research by Harbinger confirms that women are more likely to purchase brands that share their personal values, aspirations and interests, and that these may vary by lifestage.

The findings suggest that, to become and remain relevant to a woman as she transitions through lifestages, a brand must serve a greater purpose which transcends how her priorities and cares shift over time.

Overall, the research findings support the concept of brand purpose: connecting with women based on an understanding of how brand essence intersects with consumers’ deepest cares and desires.

The study is particularly meaningful for marketers in its revelation that today’s most dominant and profitable consumer brands are driven by a clear and compelling raison d’être beyond the physical goods and services they sell.

WHAT IS BRAND PURPOSE?

Harbinger defines it as the ownable, actionable impact your brand will make on the lives of your target consumers, rooted in a fundamental insight. It resides at the intersection of what your brand offers the world and your consumer’s deepest cares and desires.

BrandPhilosophy, Equity, Capabilities & Goals

ConsumerNeeds & Wants, Macro Trends

Purpose


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Content3 Executive Summary

4 Men vs. Women

4 Canada vs. United States

5 Topline Results

6 Lifestages and Segments

13 Using Brand Purpose to Connect with Consumers

15 Segment Specific, Purpose-Driven Brands

16 The Wrap: 5 Key Takeaways


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Executive Summary• The brands women are most likely to identify as

“preferred” and “representing what’s important to me” have attributes and messaging that align with their personal priorities.

• Brands that understand their core consumers’ values and cares are able to define a meaningful brand purpose that will drive preference, purchase and profit.

• Harbinger’s research validated the existence of six lifestages, which can be further broken out into 10 female consumer segments, based on career status, age and income.

• A woman’s values, aspirations and interests can change by lifestage and differ among segments within lifestages.

• While a strong, meaningful purpose allows some big name brands to enjoy higher preference levels and loyalty across all lifestages, smaller brands are able to be successful by connecting with specific segments and understanding and relating to their deepest desires and interests.

• While men and women share many of the same values, attitudes and priorities, there are key differ-ences in their aspirations, priorities and interests, and in how these change between lifestages.

• There were also differences between American and Canadian women. Most notably, women in the United States have equal or greater brand loyalty in every product category except financial services, where loyalty is much lower.

METHODOLOGYAn online quantitative survey was distributed between June 26, 2014 and July 21, 2014 to a total sample size of 4,285 (3,887 women and 398 men). The sample composition is a close representation of the North American female population. The overall sample was composed of 76% U.S. and 24% Canadian respondents. The margin of error is +/- 1.64%.

Very little is known/has been documented about the characteristics of an effective brand purpose, and about the relationship between consumers’ personal values and the brands they love.

To explore this research gap, Harbinger undertook a large North American study to explore female consumers’ values, demographics and preferred brands (including a relevant sampling of men for baseline comparisons).

The main objectives were:

1. To identify and characterize specific, actionable female consumer segments

2. To understand the relationship between a woman’s values and the brands she loves

3. To draw implications for defining winning brand purpose

CANADA

USA24%

76%

RESEARCH CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVES


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Men vs. Women Canada vs. United StatesThe following points are some of the primary differences between men and women:

1. A man’s priorities are more influenced by key milestones in his life (e.g. marriage and kids) and men tend to hit these milestones later in life compared to women;

2. In general, women value “relationships” more than men, while men value “fun” more than women;

3. The priorities, cares and values of men and women are very similar as they age and as their children become more independent.

Following are a few differences between women in the United States and Canada:

1. Women in the United States are more concerned with the economy than women in Canada (45% vs. 31%) and as such, are much less loyal to financial services brands.

2. 64% of women in the United States consider “morals & ethics” a top 5 value vs. 50% of women in Canada.

3. Canadians are more interested in food and spend more time preparing meals at home. 67% of women in Canada say that food is a top interest vs. 60% of women in the U.S. This is reflected in the amount of time they spend preparing meals at home – 6.36 hours per week in Canada vs. 5.44 hours per week in the United States.

CANADA

USA50%

64%

% to name “Relationships” as a top 5 value

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Singleton Me to We Pre-School Mom/Dad

School Mom/Dad

Zoomer Golden Years

MEN

WOMEN


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Topline Results

Following is a topline summary of findings from women overall for key themes explored by the research.

VALUES AND ASPIRATIONS

PRIORITIES INTERESTS TIME BRAND LOYALTY

Considering your lifestyle and values, please select and rank the 5 priorities which are most important to you.

TOP 5 VALUES

1. Health & wellness

2. Relationships

3. Morals & ethics

4. Helping others

5. Fulfillment

Think about your values, your aspirations and how you picture your “best self.” From the list, select the 10 words which best reflect the person you aspire to be.

TOP 5 ASPIRATIONAL CARES

1. Happy

2. Healthy

3. Honest

4. Loved

5. Competent

Please indicate your level of interest in the following subjects.

TOP 5 INTERESTS

1. Family

2. Health & wellness

3. Home

4. Food

5. Current events

To what extent do the following factors influence your brand preference and loyalty?

TOP 10 LOYALTY DRIVERS FOR WOMEN

1. Offers good value

2. Does what it says it will do

3. Makes my life easier

4. Makes my family happy

5. Makes a significant, positive impact

6. I feel good about myself

7. Aligns with my personal values

8. Is recommended

9. Fond memories/nostalgia

10. Brand gets me

Please indicate the priority of the following aspects in your life.

TOP 5 PRIORITIES

1. Finances/money

2. Family (other than children)

3. Health & fitness

4. Home

5. Children (having or raising)

Which of the following, if any, would be most likely to keep you up at night?

TOP 5 THINGS THAT KEEP WOMEN UP AT NIGHT

1. Finances/money

2. Her kids’ health/ well-being

3. Her own health/ well-being

4. Her parents’ health/well-being

5. Romantic relationships

Please enter approximately how many hours per week you spend on each of the following activities [non-working hours].

TOP ACTIVITIES

1. Watching TV

2. Leisure time with family

3. Completing household chores

4. Caring for family members

5. Surfing the internet


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Lifestages and Segments

The research validated six differentiated lifestages among women based on key milestones such as marriage, having children and retirement. Though her journey may not be linear, most women will transition through several lifestages over time.

The research suggests that these lifestages can be further split by career, age and income offering actionable segment-level insights for marketers.

Children start school

ME TO WE

SI

NGLETON

SC

HOOL MOM

ZOOMER

RetirementMarriage First child Kids become independent

PR

E-SC

HOOL MO

M

GO

LDEN YEARS

Lifestages represent a way of defining segments among the population based on common interests and priorities as opposed to solely using demo-graphics such as age or income.

WHAT ARE LIFESTAGES?


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6 Lifestages and Characteristics

ME TO WE

SI

NGLETON

SC

HOOL MOM ZOOMER

PR

E-SC

HOOL MO

M

GO

LDEN YEARS

• She is not in a relationship and doesn’t have any children

• Focused on her personal development and friends

• Beyond health, she is most interested in beauty, fashion, travel, sports, technology and pop culture

• Loyal to brands that make her feel good about herself

• When a Singleton takes on a romantic partner

• Shifting priority from “Me” to “We”/family

• Home and family become greater interests; other interests decline vs. the Singleton

• Loyal to brands that “get her”

• The arrival of her first child brings a dramatic shift in priorities and behaviours toward family and home

• Interest in family and home peaks, while interest in travel and current events as well as friends as a priority, hits a low

• Loyal to brands that make her life easier and make her family happy

• Once her children reach school age, some of her time and attention shift from her kids and spouse back to herself and friends

• Family and home remain top interests; beauty and fashion become less of a priority

• Loyal to brands that make her family happy

• As her children approach adulthood and she plans for retirement, her priorities shift significantly from her children and career to leisure and wellness

• Her interest in beauty and fashion declines, while her interest in current events, finance and travel rises

• Loyal to brands that do what they promise and offer good value

• With her children no longer dependent and with the arrival of retirement she is free to focus on wellness

• Her interest in health and current events peaks, while her interest in beauty, fashion and pop culture falls

• Least likely to be influenced by brands, she prefers brands that offer good value and do what they promise


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Shifting Priorities of LifestagesLifestages are especially insightful in the context of consumer lifecycle management either within a specific brand or amongst a broader corporate portfolio of brands.

In the chart below, you can see, for example, how a woman’s priorities tend to shift away from herself (i.e. health & fitness and friends) toward her family (having/raising children) and back again as she transitions through lifestages:

With careful consideration of lifestages and their portfolio, marketers will be much better positioned to win, retain, and consciously graduate consumers into new products/ brands.

WHAT ARE LIFESTAGES?

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Singleton Me to We Pre-School Mom School Mom Zoomer Golden Years

Health & fitness

Romantic relationship

Friends

Having/raising children


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SegmentsThe six lifestages were further split into 10 distinct segments based primarily on differences in income and the presence and age of children in a woman’s life.

Each segment has specific values, desires, priorities and behaviours that separate one group from another.

YOUNG SINGLE (12%)

Looking for brands that help her to feel confident and beautiful, to express her individuality and have fun!

INDEPENDENT WOMAN (7%)

Will respond to brands that respect her intelligence and empower her to achieve her personal goals.

DUAL INCOME NO KIDS (5%)

Seeks fun, experiential brands that she can enjoy with her spouse and friends, while building her home.

Young Single

Independent

Dual Income No Kids

• Finishing school or has taken her first full-time job; focused on education and career

• Lower income (<$40K), but also has limited financial liabilities

• Much of her income is allocated towards discretionary spending on fashion, beauty and entertainment

• More likely to make emotional connections with brands; puts lower priority on functional drivers

• Tech-savvy; loyal to technology brands

• Spends more time on social networks and is more likely to be influenced by online channels

• Still focused on growth, development and career

• Less likely to have a boyfriend than a Young Single

• Living on her own and building a home for herself

• More educated and experienced than a Young Single

• Higher income but spends extra income on living expenses (home ownership) and discretionary items such as travel, shoes and clothing or entertainment

• Lives with spouse; >80% of households have two incomes

• Behaviours, priorities and interests revolve around creating a home for her spouse and future family

• Relationship likely contributes to a higher sense of security, confidence and happiness vs. Singletons

• Heavily relationship oriented

• Spends more time with family than a single women (taking care of her home, preparing meals)


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Segments

DUAL INCOME MOM (11%)

Will respond to practical brands that allow her to spend more time with her family and service their core needs (health, love, self-esteem) to the very best of her ability; she is unlikely to fall for bells and whistles – she wants products that make her family happy and her life easier.

HIGH INCOME PROFESSIONAL MOM (11%)

Rarely compromises; she seeks aspirational, experiential brands that enrich her busy personal and family life - think lifestyle brands with rich stories and premium packaging.

Dual Income Mom

High Income Professional Mom

• Puts great effort into spending time with and caring for her family, despite full-time job commitment

• With personal income below $60K (majority <$40K) and household income generally under $80K, displays less brand loyalty than average across most categories (possible reflection of tighter budget)

• Compared to other segments who work full time, considers career to be a much lower priority

• Less loyal to healthcare brands and has lower concern for her own health and well-being

• With career an integral part of who she is, she spends less time with her family than other moms, but still considers family and her children to be top priorities

• Most educated segment with higher personal income

• Higher household income allows her to outsource some household chores and childcare and to indulge her wide array of interests

• Strong emotional connection and loyalty to brands beyond functional benefits like value and efficacy

• Brands win her loyalty by aligning to her personal values, making her family happy and her life easier$


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Segments

SINGLE MOM (9%)

Has high hopes for herself and for her children; she will respond to accessible, social, aspirational brands that empower her to pursue her dreams on a shoestring.

FULL-TIME MOM (8%)

More than any other segment, the Full-time Mom seeks brands that will enrich her household and her family’s lives, and put her children first; help her to be the consummate homemaker.

Single Mom

Full-time Mom

• Skews younger than a mom with a spouse

• More likely to have only one child

• Juggling effort to get ahead financially with the obligation of raising children, leaving little time for taking care of herself

• Generally less educated and financially stable than other moms, but places a greater degree of emphasis on education, career, growth and development

• Like singles without children, she is more interested in her appearance, beauty and fashion

• Generally has more insecurities than women with spouses

• Devotes most of her time and energy to caring for and nurturing her spouse, children and home

• Career and education are low priorities, as evidenced by lesser education and her propensity to forgo traditional employment

• Without a full time job, she spends 20–60% more time with her family than working moms

• Values, priorities and activities are outward oriented (caring for others)

• Spends little time or energy on her appearance, health and wellness or personal interests


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Segments

SOLO ZOOMER (11%)

Experienced and practical in her view of brands; win with the Solo Zoomer by building brand credibility through expert endorsements, especially online.

COUPLED ZOOMER (12%)

Responds to wholesome brands that help her remain relevant in her role as wife and caregiver (possibly as a grandmother) and brands that enable her to enjoy a happy, healthy transition into retirement.

GOLDEN GIRL (14%)

Is probably least likely to try new brands, as personal experience is her largest purchase influencer. The biggest opportunity for marketers is to appeal to her strong desire to preserve her health and wellness and to clearly demonstrate superior value.

Solo Zoomer

Coupled Zoomer

Golden Girl

• No young children and no spouse, so has a very different outlook than younger segments with families

• May have raised children to adulthood and divorced, or chose to remain single through her adult years

• Has fewer passionate interests and is less likely to spend time on traditional female roles (cooking, caring for her family, tending to her home)

• Is her own number one priority and is comfortable with her solo lifestyle

• More likely to be working than Coupled Zoomers and more likely to still consider her career a priority

• Health, wellness and friends are growing priorities

• Has likely raised children to adulthood and is reaping the rewards (with spouse) of years of hard work

• Retired or thinking about retiring soon and looks forward to pursuing hobbies and interests

• Places highest value on relationships and considers spirituality a priority more than other segments

• Becoming less concerned about fashion and beauty and thinking more about charity

• Unlike Solo Zoomer she plays an active role running a house-hold for herself, her spouse, and possibly an adult child still living at home

• Brand loyalty is driven by “makes my family happy”; looks for value and efficacy

• Officially graduated to leisurely living

• Retired and reallocating her time to relaxing, watching TV and hobbies

• Has a practical, func-tional outlook on brands she buys, influenced by value, efficacy and aiding her life

• Health and wellness are her top concerns and values, although she is not dramatically more interested in fitness or in spending more time exercising

• Products that support her wellness must inte-grate into her lifestyle (i.e. cooking, TV, house, hobbies)


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Using Brand Purpose to Connect with ConsumersIndependent studies have shown that purpose-driven brands are more successful in delivering greater purchase, preference and profit figures compared to brands that don’t have a purpose or a point of view that resonates with their target consumers.

The question that our research attempted to answer was what marketers need to consider in developing a winning purpose-driven brand. Answering this question required a combination of understanding which brands women love (based on pur-chase and preference) and the attributes they most associate with the brands that they named.

To identify women’s favourite brands, we asked each respondent to consider the brands she has previously purchased and most prefers, and to name five which she feels best represent what is important to her; the Top 25 brands, ranked by total number of mentions, are as follows:

Brand names most frequently mentioned by female respondents, in order of ranking.

TOP 25 BRANDS AMONG FEMALES

This list includes a mix of product and corporate brands that span many categories with a higher proportion of food & beverage and personal care brands. This is not surprising as we would expect to see the strongest representation of brands that consumers tend to interact with on a frequent basis.

It is also not surprising to see brands that have significant advertising and marketing budgets behind them on the Top 25 list. In fact, many of these brands would have a significant share of voice in their respective categories and one could argue that they are “buying” their way on the list. However, there are two key points that can be derived from the research:

• Brands that have defined a clear, unique and relevant purpose and make that pur-pose a consistent focus of their marketing and communication with consumers can outstrip bigger spenders in the rankings;

• The fact that many significantly advertised brands do not make the list suggests that consumers are not connecting with those brands as they do not resonate with their values, needs and aspirations.

Furthermore, the survey findings suggest that the brands women are most likely to identify as their most “preferred” and “representing what’s important to her” also have attributes that correlate with their own personal priorities:

• Over half of all values, loyalty drivers, interests and cares (aspirations) associated with a woman’s favourite brands match those that they themselves named as being the most important to them personally.

• The Top 25 brands showed a higher correlation between individual cares and brand associations than the average brand.

• Most favourite brands are associated with helping a person realize several of her aspirational cares.


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Three examples of purpose-driven brands that have achieved tremendous business success are as follows:

APPLE Purpose: To empower creative exploration and self-expression.

NIKE Purpose: To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world (everybody is an athlete).

DOVE Purpose: Helping women reconsider and redefine what beauty is.

SUPPORTING A CAUSE DOES NOT REPLACE BRAND PURPOSEThe research confirms that having a brand purpose should not be confused with having a cause. Nearly half (46%) of women consider how a brand “makes a significant positive impact on peoples’ lives” as a key loyalty driver, while only one in five (20%) believe it is important that “brands support a cause they believe in”.

The research suggests that leading, financially successful brands do a better than average job of understanding and then linking their consumers’ values, interests and priorities to what their brand can deliver and then focusing their marketing decisions and resources on effectively communi-cating and engaging consumers on what means most to them.

TAKEAWAY

Using Brand Purpose to Connect with Consumers


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Segment Specific, Purpose-Driven BrandsOf special interest for marketers is that, while many top brands were recognized across several lifestages and segments, several smaller, yet highly successful brands were seen as leaders among either specific female consumer segments or several combined segments.

These brands were successfully able to connect with a targeted group of women based on values, aspirations and interests that are more important to them than to the average female.

Following are two examples from the research:

The research suggests that there’s a big opportunity for brands, even without the benefit of broad awareness drivers, to connect with and succeed with women of specific segments by understanding their deepest desires and interests. Brands can either take a very targeted approach with a specific segment or they can find a purpose that has meaning and resonance with a wider range of women.

TAKEAWAY

Forever 21 is an example of a brand that has had great success by developing and living a brand purpose that resonates primarily with one specific female consumer segment – Young Singles. The brand is truly aligned with this segment’s values, cares and priorities.

Annie’s is an example of a brand that has been successful by targeting its purpose to a broader group of women that covers several segments. Annie’s brand purpose is relevant and meaningful to the core mom segments without alienating women in the other seg-ments, which ultimately allows the brand to appeal to a wider potential consumer base.

BRAND PURPOSE

Empowers women to express their individuality, stay on trend and have fun with the clothes they wear.

SEGMENT TARGET

Scores high with Young Singles (ranked #12 among Young Singles, who represented over half of Forever 21 mentions). Over-indexes to the average female on values (fun and creativity), interests (fashion and beauty), and loyalty driver (brand “gets me”).

BRAND PURPOSE

To cultivate a healthier and happier world by spreading goodness through nourishing food.

SEGMENT TARGET

Most popular among the core mom segments, who most associated the brand with their values (relationships, growth and development), their aspiration (to be nurturing) and loyalty driver (brand “gets me”).


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The Wrap: 5 Key Takeaways

Harbinger develops purpose-driven programs that drive preference, purchase and profit with women. We combine our broad and deep understanding of consumers with our proprietary process and tools to ensure we deliver the best strategic approach and the strongest possible marketing programs to meet our clients’ objectives.

For more information contact:

Jeff Weiss416.960.5100 [email protected]

Deborah Adams416.960.5100 [email protected]

Jennifer Lomax416.960.5100 [email protected]

ABOUT HARBINGER1. CANADA VS. US In general, you can feel confident in extrapolating consumer insight across the Canada/US border, but exercise special caution in the food and food services related categories, where we know Canadian and American female consumers think and behave differently.

2. MEN VS. WOMEN A man’s priorities are more influenced by key milestones in his life (e.g. marriage and kids) and men tend to hit these milestones later in life compared to women.

3. LIFESTAGES Painting all females with the same brush will do you a disservice. Consumer attraction and retention strategies should consider how a woman’s values, priorities and behaviours shift over the course of her life; lifestages provide topline direction for consumer lifecycle management, including the development of consumer transition plans within your brand or portfolio of brands.

4. FEMALE CONSUMER SEGMENTS

While lifestages provide a good starting point in the strategic process, brands need to consider the actionable differences that exist between female segments. Considering the differences in priorities and lifestyles among the various target segments will enable you to tell your brand story through more resonant marketing programs.

5. PURPOSE DRIVEN PROFIT

Purpose drives profit. More and more, consumers are looking to engage with brands with a point of view, which add genuine value to their lives, and their spending behaviour proves it. By gaining an understanding of women’s values and what’s important to them, there is a major opportunity for marketers to develop a brand purpose that taps into those cares and desires that ultimately can drive purchase, preference and profit.

Harbinger_Decoding-the-Female-Consumer_Whitepaper

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