Consumer Shopping Habits for Wellness and Environmentally ...

u Some categories show serious consumer knowledge gaps. Less-experienced H+W consumers often have a hard
time understanding what makes a more H+W-oriented version of a product different from a conventional product.
There are strong opportunities for manufacturers and retailers to assist consumers here by making key attributes
and differentiators clear.
u Demand for natural and/or organic products varies by category. Foods are most sensitive to this, but approximately
50% of consumers say it is “important” in both cleaning and personal care products (foods range from 55-70%,
general merchandise rates approximately 30%).
• Cleaning products top the list when consumers were asked about desiring “more choices in natural and organic”
product options, with several personal care categories also appearing toward the top of the list. Cleaning products
also top the chart by a very wide margin when consumers are asked about toxicity concerns.
u Purchase decision criteria vary by product category and by H+W orientation. There are far too many different
criteria to explain in this summary in a general sense (please see Chapter 3).
• For less lifestyle-involved consumers (Periphery, outer Mid-level), notions of effectiveness and price generally
tend to be present in purchase decisions
• Notions of purity, toxicity avoidance and environmental friendliness often serve as purchase criteria for more
lifestyle-involved consumers (Core, inner Mid-level)
u Price concerns are most acute in the categories of vitamins and minerals, OTC, and organic and natural foods. Price
concerns for cleaning products are “all over the map,” with laundry detergent having the highest concern rating of
all product types, but many other products not holding nearly the same level of concern.
• Price declines as a concern as consumers evolve in their H+W. Many lifestyle-committed Mid-level and Core
consumers tend to care more about specific product attributes (e.g., organic) than price.
u Product packaging and labeling is highly relevant to H+W and sustainability impressions.
• Basic packaging format provides important sustainability indicators (e.g., recyclable, made from recycled materials
and biodegradable) to consumers.
• Many H+W products in study categories are unattractive and/or unclear to consumers. Elegant, contemporary
packaging and clear labeling (product purpose, and key attributes) are often critical for a product to enter into a
shopper‘s consideration set at shelf, especially with new, “trying it for the first time” H+W SKUs.
u Recyclability tops the list of sustainable product attributes for consumers, for all segments.
Retail Findings
u Channel use varies by H+W orientation.
• Periphery consumers tend toward the use of mainstream (e.g., drug, mass, club and grocery) channels in
most categories.
• Mid-level consumers use mainstream channels for most of their shopping, but also make fairly frequent use of
specialty (specialty, grocery, and where available, specialty drug) channels.
• Core consumers do use mainstream channels in some categories, but tend to use specialty channels when they
are available in their areas.
u Consumers’ channel choices tend to change as they evolve as H+W consumers – retailers can retain those evolving
consumers through developing specific H+W categories that vary to some degree by channel (see Chapter 4 for
detailed strategies by channel).
u Consumers tend to shop across many channels, having specific channel preferences for different categories.
• Grocery is a preferred channel for functional beverages, as well as being a “solid option” across several home
cleaning and personal care categories (of course, it is also strongly preferred for most food purchases, though
that category was not tested in this research).
The Association for GM and HBW
Connectivity, Education, and Research
Consumer Shopping Habits Study