Respect and Honesty for Global Consumers
May 1 2002
According to new research from Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, the global consumer now represents a shopper who demands honesty and respect from retailers and brand manufacturers more than the highest-quality merchandise or the lowest prices.
'There is a global consumer, but with many different accents,' said Steve Deedy, Vice President and Americas Leader, Consumer Products, Retail and Distribution, Cap Gemini Ernst & Young. 'U.S. companies must understand these nuances and customize their strategies accordingly. Our research provides a window on the marketplace as seen through consumers' eyes and points to an opportunity for companies that are able to decipher these unique factors and understand the critical role they play in shaping consumers' relationships with retailers in a specific market.'
The latest in a series of Cap Gemini Ernst & Young consumer studies, titled 'Searching for the Global Consumer: A European Study of Changing Lifestyles and Shopping Behaviour,' uncovered five key findings:
- Human values have become the contemporary currency of commerce.
- A chasm exists between what consumers want and what retailers offer, particularly when it comes to price, product, service, access and shopping experience.
- The majority of consumers are hard-pressed to identify their favourite stores in many retail channels.
- Retailers in general are not well differentiated in the minds of consumers in terms of their value propositions.
- Demographics make a difference: Throughout most of the countries studied, women were much more likely than men to rate the factors related to shopping satisfaction as extremely important, while younger consumers were less apt than older shoppers to do so.
'Our research makes it clear that companies that understand the `human values'-based needs of today's consumer and offer sharp differentiation combined with promise execution can develop a value proposition that is meaningful to the new global consumer,' said Fred Crawford, Executive Vice President of Cap Gemini Ernst & Young's Consumer Products, Retail and Distribution practice.
According to the research, retailers are not well differentiated in the minds of consumers. In addition, a substantial number of consumers could not identify a favourite store in many retail channels. Four in ten in Spain, and a third of shoppers in Norway were unable to point to a favourite supermarket, for example.
The research reveals that today's global consumer views human values as more vital to a satisfactory business transaction than traditional notions of product and service. The most important values consumers said they look for in the companies with which they do business are honesty, respect and reliability. European respondents identified the same top five factors related to shopping as did their counterparts in the U.S., with a slight difference in rank order. Consumer surveys in Thailand and Australia reported similar results.
The findings indicate that consumers and businesses often are not speaking the same language when it comes to retail attributes such as price, product, experience, access and service. In the area of price, for instance, 'honest price' was far more important to shoppers than was 'lowest price.' For instance, 64% of American consumers identified 'honest price' as extremely important, while 54% pointed to 'lowest price.' In Europe, the spread was even wider, with 58% saying 'honest price' vs. just 38% saying 'lowest price.' Similarly, more American consumers ranked 'consistently good merchandise quality' above 'top quality products,' 70% vs. 59%. European shoppers expressed similar preferences, 67% vs. 48%.
The new study's findings, based on interviews with 6,000 consumers in nine European countries, are consistent with similar surveys conducted by Cap Gemini Ernst & Young with 10,000 consumers in the U.S. and 1,000 consumers in Asia Pacific.
Cap Gemini Ernst & Young's consumer studies were conducted in the U.S., Asia Pacific and nine European countries: Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Consumers were asked to rank the importance of a series of factors related to their shopping experiences.
All articles 2006-22 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas unless otherwise stated.
