This article was originally published on the website of .
You鈥檙e standing in the bread aisle, faced with an array of loaves with a variety of claims. There鈥檚 low GI, multigrain, added vitamins, unbleached, gluten free… Which one do you buy? And what is the main influence on that decision 鈥 health, value, taste?
Australians spend more than $90 million a year on bread, so understanding the intricacies of our bread preferences is big business. Our choice of bread also influences our health, so policy makers are keen to know what might nudge us in healthier directions.
Researchers at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) [Paul F. Burke, Christine Eckert, and Srishti Sethi] have developed a new marketing research tool that provides a deeper insight into how we choose between products that have multiple features and benefits, and what drives these preferences – and they鈥檝e tested it on bread shoppers.
They surveyed Australian consumers who evaluated bread according to brand and product features such as type of flour, low GI, enriched with Omega 3, presence of seeds, grains, vitamins and minerals, expiry date, loaf size and price.
The results, just published in the , provide a fascinating insight into our bread buying behaviour. They reveal that brand is the biggest influence on our selection, with supermarket brands dominating the list (34%), followed by Helga鈥檚 (23%), Abbott鈥檚 (11%), and Tip Top (10%).
鈥淎 lot of bread manufacturers play around with product features and the claims they make on the front of pack, but what we found is that brand dominates consumers鈥 decisions,鈥 says Burke, Deputy Director of UTS .
鈥淚t seems that brands provide a short-cut to our preferences 鈥 so if we care about health we buy Helga鈥檚, or if our focus is value for money we buy a supermarket brand.
鈥淐ompanies might advertise a product as ‘low carb’ or highlight the additional minerals and vitamins to improve perceptions around health. However, consumers judge the healthiness of a product mostly according to brand,鈥 he says.
As well as brand, the type of wheat was also an important factor, with more than half of those surveyed (52%) opting for wholemeal [whole wheat] breads, compared with 35% who bought white varieties and 10% who bought unbleached varieties.
鈥淏rand and flour type dominated other considerations, including various key claims such as whether a product is promoted as being low GI, high fibre, or 鈥渟tone-milled鈥. The respondents also preferred breads that were larger, cheaper and had a longer expiration date,鈥 says Associate Professor Burke.
It鈥檚 about the relative importance of attributes that drive perceptions and choices.
Paul F. Burke
Value was also an important consideration, with nearly half of all shoppers surveyed buying bread on special, at an average discount of around 19% off the shelf price. Most shoppers bought either one or two loaves at a time.
After screening out those with allergies and other specific dietary requirements, the researchers found that only 1% of those surveyed reported regularly purchasing gluten-free breads, however this rejection was mostly due to perceived lack of value for money.
Associate Professor Burke says the new marketing research model disentangles multiple results to provide information about how each feature drives perceptions such as health and value. For example, Abbott鈥檚 is perceived to be relatively healthy but is poorly positioned in terms of value.
鈥淚t鈥檚 about the relative importance of attributes that drive perceptions and choices. It鈥檚 those trade-offs that ratings scale based approaches do not always allow you to see in the consumer.鈥
鈥淥ur method allows companies to understand how the market will respond to product alterations not just in terms of overall demand, but the reasons behind why that demand is shifting among certain segments,鈥 he says.
For policy makers, the method also offers insights into potential policy failures. For example, consumers may agree that a certain ingredient or calorie count represents an unhealthy product, but that may not be a driving factor in their buying decision.
Burke also notes the new research method is not just suitable for understanding fast-moving consumer goods such as bread. Manufacturers of products such as cars would also benefit from understanding how perceptions drive preferences.
鈥淐ar manufacturers offering new engine types need to understand that while the innovation may have perceived environmental outcomes, the same feature might create poor perceptions around power, performance, safety, value and resale value.
鈥淲hen these other benefits dominate choices it makes no difference how environmentally friendly the car is 鈥 consumers will buy elsewhere,鈥 he says.
Full Article
Burke, Paul F., Christine Eckert, and Srishti Sethi (forthcoming), “A Multiattribute Benefits-Based Choice Model with Multiple Mediators: New Insights for Positioning,” Journal of Marketing Research,
