Paradoxical tensions amongst consumers are making their behavior unpredictable and baffling many sellers, in line with a report released Monday by a worldwide strategy and management consulting firm.
Consumers want alternative but are overwhelmed by it; want to regulate their decisions but want curation of their selections; and need to live certain values but can’t at all times prioritize them, in line with the report by the Kearney Consumer Institute (KCI) based on survey data gathered from 14,000 consumers in america, Europe, and Asia Pacific region.
“Brands have more data than ever about consumer demographics, behavior, spending, and opinions. But we still often categorize consumer behavior as ‘unpredictable.’ To know why, our research found three key consumer tensions that help explain this behavior,” KCI lead Katie Thomas said in a press release. These key tensions include:
- Options vs. Overload. The report explained that buyers appear to expect a product that suits each form of skin, weight loss program, or fitness need, yet in lots of major categories, most consumers consider there’s already plenty to pick from — if not an excessive amount of.
- Curation vs. Control. Two out of three consumers say they like making all their decisions themselves, the report noted, but it surely’s logical that buyers want and want some level of curation to make sense of all their options.
- Facts vs. Feelings. Consumers need to “do their very own research,” they usually trust themselves greater than they trust brands and institutions, the report found, but have limited reserves of time, energy, and motivation.
The research suggested that retailers and types aren’t striking the correct balance between facts versus feelings, curation versus control, and too many selections. “When retailers and types balance the stress, applying emotional intelligence and great merchandising, they’ll higher navigate the mindset of the long run consumer to handle their needs,” Thomas stated.
Decision Fatigue
Alternative presents a chief example of the paradoxical behavior cited within the report. Just one in 4 consumers said they’re overwhelmed by the number of choices they should make every day, the report noted, but qualitative research tells one other story. Call it decision fatigue, evaluation paralysis, or the paradox of alternative, but people often start by sharing that they’re exhausted by options.
“Decision fatigue may be very real,” Thomas told the E-Commerce Times. “What brands say they’re responding to is their belief that buyers are demanding ever more specialized options, but the fact is that buyers are overwhelmed by a staggering variety of selections in the combination.”
“How can brands and retailers address this inconsistency?” she asked. “The easiest way is to realize a firmer grasp of the buyer’s lifestyle after which reply to that. So, it’s a mixture of understanding and merchandising. For instance, Trader Joe’s does an excellent job of this by offering fewer selections while matching those to the buyer’s lifestyle.”
“The paradox of alternative results in evaluation paralysis amongst consumers,” added Matthew A. Gilbert, a marketing lecturer at Coastal Carolina University in Conway, S.C.
“When there are too many selections, consumers are sometimes unable to choose,” he told the E-Commerce Times. “The answer is to have a limited number of options, not every possible product permutation.”
Innovation Without Clutter
The report advised sellers that sometimes it’s best to forgo additional options and search for higher ways to innovate and offer selections without adding clutter to the market.
“Adding latest products to the market is an element of the innovation process. The important thing for sellers is to supply product selections in sets relatively than offer them suddenly,” explained Anthony Miyazaki, professor of selling at Florida International University in Miami.
“Putting your prospective buyers right into a situation where they’re required to pick out from lots of and even 1000’s of offers is a recipe for failure,” he told the E-Commerce Times. “Buyers have to feel that they’ve a alternative and feel confident within the alternative they’re making, however the alternative set must be controlled to avoid information overload where making no selection can often be the result.”
“Once I take a look at this problem with clients, I ask, ‘How can we group these products higher? In what way can we bucket them to make it easier for people?’” added Liz Kressel, CEO of Lizard Strategy, an e-commerce and live shopping agency in Latest York City.
“For those who just lay out your individual products — particularly if you’ve over 10 SKUs — people will begin to get overwhelmed,” she told the E-Commerce Times. “That’s why curation is super necessary. Consumers can get overwhelmed quickly. It’s why you don’t need to put 30 things on a navigation bar.”
Taking Consumers for A Ride
The Kearney report maintained that the consumers of the long run need to feel like they’re being brought along for the ride. It really helpful reorienting consumer research plans around on-the-ground qualitative research, using grassroots marketing, and constructing feedback loops with consumers to grasp their full lifestyle and the thrill and challenges they face. Embrace a test-and-learn mentality and enhance consumer-backed design, it added.
“I’d urge brands to look beyond traditional research sources and take a look at more energetic qualitative feedback loops,” said Liz Miller, a vice chairman and principal analyst with Constellation Research, a technology research and advisory firm in Cupertino, Calif.
“Be it from digital customer listening posts or from qualitative panels like UserTesting, just be ready to essentially hear after which be transparent with why you would possibly not be or shall be doing something,” she told the E-Commerce Times. “Share those voices and have fun the nice, bad, and ugly.” “But — and it is a big but — in case you cannot commit to being transparent on the ride you would like to bring customers along on, in case your instinct is simply to point out the nice or censor any a part of the experience, customers will feel more betrayed and decision fatigue won’t be your only problem,” she added.
Mark N. Vena, president and principal analyst at SmartTech Research in Las Vegas, noted that sellers can enhance consumer involvement of their products by incorporating interactive experiences, equivalent to crowdsourcing product features, designs, or flavors, which might make consumers feel actively invested within the product.
“Engaging storytelling, transparent development processes, and exclusive behind-the-scenes content can strengthen emotional connections,” he told the E-Commerce Times.
“Offering personalized options or co-creation opportunities allows consumers to shape products to their preferences, fostering deeper attachment. Loyalty programs that reward feedback, testing, and advocacy can further cultivate an engaged community across the brand.”
Exploiting AI
Rob Enderle, president and principal analyst on the Enderle Group, an advisory services firm in Bend, Ore., really helpful engaging consumers when considering product options to spice up consumer interaction.
“Advisory councils work with existing customers, so that they feel they’ve some say in what results,” he told the E-Commerce Times. “Then when the product arrives, the vendor points out the features that the shopper had direct influence over, creating the impression the product was built for them.”
“This was virtually unattainable to do at scale before AI, but now that we’ve AI, it opens up a wealth of possibilities,” he added.
“The Kearney study shows that for a lot of product categories, a big portion of consumers feel that there are too many options from which to decide on,” Miyazaki said. “This presents great opportunities for sellers to work on guiding the acquisition decision process — in essence, focusing efforts on buyer development relatively than product development.”
“Sellers have to utilize artificial intelligence within the product presentation process,” he continued. “Because no two consumers are the identical, it follows that the selling process must be different for every consumer.
“By offering alternative sets that match consumer preferences for evaluating feature details, analyzing selections, and even connecting emotionally, sellers may also help consumers of their decision processes while at the identical time nudging them toward product purchases that may profit the corporate’s bottom line.”
