Advertising Research Foundation sets out on the path to purchase

US-- Researchers know plenty about consumers – but is that really enough to understand people as human beings? For Joel Rubinson, chief research officer of the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF), the answer is no.

“Being a consumer is just one state of being,” he says. In this state – as the name implies – they are consuming, or “depleting the reservoir” as Rubinson puts it. As a marketer thinking about a ‘consumer', you are thinking about someone in terms of what they buy, what they eat and what media they use – their preferences, in other words.

But, Rubinson argues, that's not enough to understand fully why someone buys what they buy, and how they go about “adding to the reservoir”. For that marketers need to think of people as “shoppers”. He says: “Understanding people as shoppers is as important as understanding them as consumers if marketers are serious about putting the human at the centre of their thinking.”

Key to knowing the shopper is understanding the path to purchase – but people start down that path long before they ever set foot in a store, says Rubinson. “You can become activated while sitting in your bathrobe in front of the computer,” he explains.

The challenge, the ARF believes, is in reshaping industry thinking so that shopping is seen “as an integral part of the brand experience”. To that end, the foundation has launched its Shopper Insights Council, which sets out to define the “emerging discipline of shopper insight research” and develop best demonstrated practices.

The council held its first meeting towards the end of February. This week it added Wal-Mart's senior director of brand and customer insights Candace Adams as a co-chair, alongside Rubinson, Unilever's director of shopper insights Michael Twitty, Information Resources' Bob Tomei and Peter Hoyt, the executive director of the In-Store Marketing Institute.

Hoyt said: “The whole idea of retail and shopper insights is exploding and, while explosive growth is exciting, it also brings with it the very real likelihood of unqualified practitioners and shoddy work appearing on the scene.

“That's why we are excited to play a role in helping the ARF set high standards and establish best practices across the wide spectrum of approaches to gaining a better understanding of shoppers, their thought processes and their behaviour.”

Author: Brian Tarran