• Adweek, Wednesday, September 5, 2007 10:31 AM

A study of customers' in-store behavior conducted by Nielsen Customized Research provides copious evidence that some marketers don't really know how shoppers shop. The study was designed to teach food marketers about shoppers' habits by category.

The study, which was released this summer, found that shoppers look for discounts and special offers for canned tuna, canned fruit and pasta sauce, but they want products like cheese, mayonnaise and coffee to be recognizable and easy to find. For energy drinks and chocolate, shoppers care little about price, but want eye-catching ads and snazzy packages. When it comes to salad dressings and chewing gum, they want to try out new products.

Some categories are wasting marketing dollars by misreading the body language and mind-sets of their shoppers. For example, offering discounts will not boost purchases of energy drinks and soda, but beverage makers are still spending fortunes on price promotions, says Manjima Khandelwal, senior vice president of Nielsen Customized Research.

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