By Our Staff
A majority of consumers – across demographics and geographies – are reimagining their values and basing purchasing decisions on factors beyond price and quality, according to a new report by Accenture.
Accenture’s 16th annual research report based on a survey of more than 25,000 consumers across 22 countries including more than 2000 consumers in India, entitled “Life Reimagined: Mapping the motivations that matter for today’s consumers” set out to understand how companies can capitalise on evolving consumer expectations to achieve new levels of growth and competitive agility.
71% of those surveyed in India are coming out of the pandemic having reimagined their behaviour and values as consumers. They have reevaluated what is important to them in life and are increasingly focused on their personal purpose. This is having a direct impact on what, how and why they buy. An additional 22% of consumers in India seem to have evolving values and purchasing mindsets while the unprecedented experience of the pandemic has had no impact on the buyer values of only 7% of respondents.
Said Vineet R Ahuja, managing director and lead – consumer, sales and service, Accenture in India: “Driving innovation and growth in a post-pandemic economy will require the C-Suite to structure the entire organization around experience and ensure all aspects of operations including marketing, sales, innovation, R&D and customer service, understand new consumer motivations. It is extremely important to become a listening organization and invest continuously in data and analytics to understand changing consumer preferences.”
According to the communiqué, the research – created by Accenture Strategy and Accenture Interactive – analysed over 80 unique factors across 14 industries and found that five distinct areas are increasingly driving consumers’ purchasing decisions. The five factors extend beyond price and quality to include health and safety; service and personal care; ease and convenience; product origin; and trust and reputation. Perhaps even more notable is that these five factors, which have been historically important to the specific demographic groups of Gen Z and millennials, have now hit a tipping point and are considered critical across the full breadth of consumer demographics.