April 1st, 2022, Janice Fernandes
The pandemic and current product shortages may have tested brand loyalty in recent times, but what other factors are influencing consumers’ purchase decisions? In a new YouGov survey, consumers from 18 markets across the globe were asked what would make them switch brands in the FMCG sector.
A lower-priced competitor is the biggest reason why consumers in the European and North American markets are enticed to switch brands. Over two in five consumers in both regions (42% each) identify lower prices as an incentive to move away from their current brand.
In the Asia Pacific region, lower-priced competitors (39%) sway a similar proportion of consumers, but price is not the biggest factor for brand switching. Recommendations from family and friends (41%) followed by online reviews (40%) score highest here.
Recommendations from family or friends influence slightly more than a third of consumers in Europe (33%) and North America (36%). However, consumers in these two regions are not easily swayed by online reviews. While around a quarter of North Americans (26%) follow online reviews, among Europeans the share is slightly lower (22%). APAC registers almost twice as many consumers who say they are likely to change their brand loyalty based on online reviews (40%).
New product launches are a significant influence globally, but they do not top the list of reasons why consumers are turning away from their usual brands. Around two in ten consumers in Europe and North America cite new products as an influencing factor. A quarter of consumers in the Asia Pacific-region say the same is true (25%).
Despite best efforts from competitors to lure consumers away, around a quarter of consumers in Europe (25%) and North America (27%) say that they will not change their brand. This share falls significantly in Asia Pacific as slightly less than two in ten consumers agree with the statement (17%).
Breaking down the data by age, we see that recommendations from family/friends holds the top spot among those aged 18-24 (39%) and 25-34 (41%). A lower-priced competitor is the most popular among 45-54-year-olds (43%) and 55+ (45%). Global consumers aged 35-44 are likely to be swayed by both recommendations and lower prices (40% each).
Receive monthly topical insights about the FMCG/CPG industry, straight to your inbox. Sign up today.
Discover more FMCG content here
Want to run your own research? Start building a survey now
Methodology: The data is based on the interviews of adults aged 18 and over in 18 markets with sample sizes varying between 528 and 2,002 for each market. All interviews were conducted online in January 2022. Data from each market uses a nationally representative sample apart from Mexico and India, which use urban representative samples, and Indonesia and Hong Kong, which use online representative samples.