Portion control fails to consume shoppers, fine dining success is reliant on quality and ambiance and pasta thrives in challenging economic times, according to three new reports from market and consumer research firm Mintel. 100-calorie packs a tough sell: price and size deter hungry consumers 100-calorie packs were introduced earlier this century with great success in America and were designed to appeal to shoppers keen for a snack that wouldn’t pile on the pounds. Though weight and health... ...Read more »

The current recession has created a new niche of consumers identified as the “Downturn Generation”, who are likely to have a major impact on the consumer packaged goods sector. The research, “Dissecting the Downturn Generation: Recognising and Leveraging Permanence in Today’s Transformational Economy,” by Information Resources, Inc. (IRI), has found a new generation of Americans adopting practices similar to Depression-era shoppers and similar responses could be expected... ...Read more »

In-store brand decisions take the average shopper just 2.3 seconds, according to research from America, with over 90 per cent of shoppers making at least one unplanned purchase on their shopping trip. Curt Johnson, Senior Vice-President for the consumer industries division of retail consultants Miller Zell, believed the findings of recent tracking of 1,000 shoppers were unexpected. “We were surprised,” he told Marketing Daily. “Because while we’ve been hearing so much lately... ...Read more »

New research has discovered that German consumers, like an increasing number of consumers in countries like Australia and England, are demanding greater corporate responsibility from companies. Such conduct on the part of companies influences the purchase decisions of consumers. This is the conclusion reached by a survey carried out by GfK Panel Services in cooperation with GfK-Nürnberg e.V. and Roland Berger Strategy Consultants. The survey looked at the attitudes of consumers towards issues such... ...Read more »

American households without children spent considerably more on vitamins, liquor and wine than the average American household during the 52 weeks ending June 28, 2008, according to Nielsen data.’Households’ are often considered to be conventional families with children but the number of households without children has grown considerably over the last couple of decades. In Australia, couples without children are expected to outnumber couples with children at some point within the next... ...Read more »

The Kellogg Company is attempting to utilise consumer insights collected from virtual shopping to enhance the packaging of its breakfast cereals. Consumers are now more demanding than ever, private label is placing greater pressure on ‘national brands’ and the economic crisis is softening demand and reducing impulse purchases. As a result, virtual shopping has become an increasingly popular tool for brand marketers in the US, in particular, as the ability, and tools used, to understand... ...Read more »

Australian shoppers are re-evaluating their shopping habits in the face of rising household costs, according to a recent study undertaken by The Nielsen Company. This has seen two out of every three Australians (66%) reduce, or plan to cutback on, purchases of non-essential grocery items, 41 per cent avoiding the purchase of certain items altogether, and more than one-third (38%) buying fewer items. The Nielsen study, which surveyed 1,500 Australian consumers, found that fuel, home loans,... ...Read more »

Heinz Ketchup, one of the world’s most iconic brands, has been a prominent fixture on supermarket and convenience store shelving for over a century. The company has consistently updated the packaging of the product since its 1876 launch to appeal to a wider range of consumers but have recently undertaken a process to produce a more optimal assortment of package types and sizes. “We have so many package sizes and types,” explained Barbarita Marbelt, the company’s market research... ...Read more »