Commentary
Life Events Precipitate Purchase Behaviors
- by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, November 22, 2006
According to BIGresearch, for consumers 18 years or older, life events such as having a baby, getting married or divorced and retiring can have an impact on consumers' purchasing behavior. Understanding the behavior shift, plus the media that these consumers say influence their purchases, can be a key element in marketing planning
Top 5 Planned Purchases for Consumers Experiencing Life Events:( | ||
Children starting college | Expecting a baby | Getting married |
Vacation | Furniture | Furniture |
Computer | Vacation | Vacation |
Furniture | Computer | Computer |
Home Improvement | Car/Truck | TV |
Car/Truck | TV | Home Appliances( |
Getting divorced/separated | Retiring | |
Vacation | Vacation | |
Furniture | Computer | |
Computer | Furniture | |
TV | Home Improvement | |
Digital Camera | Home Appliances | |
Source: BIGresearch, November 2006 | ||
Joe Pilotta, VP of Research for BIGresearch, says "Life events are transitions which lead to reconfiguring one's environment. Transitions heighten the level of media consumption and disposition to buy for the purpose of stabilizing the change..."
The survey also found that media influence on product purchasing is extremely high for those consumers across all major product areas. When it comes to which media influence consumers anticipating a life event, it all depends on the event, with the exception of good old word of mouth.
Top 5 Media Influences for Consumers Getting Married or Children Starting College (By Product Categories) | ||
Getting Married | ||
Electronics | Home Improvements | Car / Truck Purchase |
Word of Mouth | Word of Mouth | Word of Mouth |
Internet Advertising | TV/Broadcast | TV/Broadcast |
Read Article | Newspaper | Newspaper |
TV/Broadcast | Read Article | Magazines |
Magazines | Magazines | Internet Advertising |
Children Starting College | ||
Electronics | Home Improvements | Car / Truck Purchase |
Word of Mouth | Word of Mouth | Word of Mouth |
TV/Broadcast | TV/Broadcast | TV/Broadcast |
Read Article | Newspaper Inserts | Newspaper |
Internet Advertising | Magazines | Read Article |
Newspaper Inserts | Cable | Cable |
Source: BIGresearch, November 2006 | ||
Additional top Line Findings on SIMM and other BIGresearch, can be found here.
Jack Loechner is the Editor of The Center for Media Research's daily Research Brief. You can reach him at jack@mediapost.com.