Shopping Behaviors Behind Big-ticket Purchases.

Between the messes created by her children and the rapidly accumulating dog hair from the family’s border collie, Laura’s old vacuum cleaner cannot keep up. She desperately needs a new one. But shopping for a major purchase like this leaves Laura feeling frustrated and overwhelmed by the many choices, features and prices. After hours of online research and wandering down store aisles, she gives up and asks her husband to choose the new vacuum.

Laura is not alone. Although she’s a persona, Laura represents a significant percentage of U.S. shoppers that follow the path of the “Fretting Frugal” — one of four shopper profiles recently identified in The Complex Shopper™ study conducted by The Integer Group® and research partner Decision Analyst. The annual study will help increase shopper marketing knowledge of considered purchases, or big-ticket items.

“This is the first study we are aware of that seeks to understand the process of a larger considered purchase – in the $100s to $1,000s – showing how shoppers are similar and different and the level of importance on a particular purchase decision,” said Xan McNelly, executive vice president, chief integration and strategy officer, The Integer Group.

Inside the shopper mind

An interesting outcome from The Complex Shopper study was uncovering four distinct shopping profiles. Here’s a preview:

Fretting Frugal — Finds big-ticket shopping as enjoyable as a trip to the dentist. He or she is nervous about making the wrong choice and is price-conscious and easily overwhelmed. They may delay big purchases or pass the responsibility to someone else.

Experience Lover — Shopping is a labor of love. Generally older and female, she values her relationship with brands and is more likely to make repeat purchases with the same company.

Passive Purchaser — Let’s get this over with … this older, high-income-earning male wants his purchases quick and easy. He doesn’t waste time researching and he’s not loyal to brands.

Social Adventurer — Believes what you buy is a reflection of your style and personality. She is urban, more likely to be a person of ethnicity and upwardly mobile. She engages via social media to connect with the brand and lets others know about her experience.

Insights about considered purchases

The study researched eight big-ticket purchase categories: automobiles, flooring, furniture, major appliances, major vacation travel, single-serve coffeemakers, vacuum cleaners and windows/doors. Each shopper group experiences vastly different emotions and behaviors based on the item for which they are shopping. For instance:

Fretting Frugals are most excited by and get the most enjoyment shopping for vacation travel, and the least excitement and enjoyment shopping for tires.

An Experience Lover needs a great deal or a sale before buying items for her home, like flooring, a single-serve coffee maker or a vacuum cleaner.

More than half of Passive Purchasers have not enjoyed any major vacation travel in 6 months or more, and they were the least excited of any group (51%) about the process.

About 80% of Social Adventurers buying vacuum cleaners are surprisingly either very or extremely excited about the purchase (versus 46% of the next closest segment — Experience Lovers).

For more information at http://www.shopperculture.com