‘We are experiencing unprecedented shifts in consumer attitudes’

The lockdowns have dramatically changed consumer behaviour and their path to purchase.

To enable brands to adapt to this rapid transition and ensure business continuity, Facebook India, in association with Boston Consulting Group, has released a new report titled ‘Turn the Tide.’

“We are experiencing unprecedented shifts in consumer attitudes and behaviours — over 80 per cent consumers will continue to practice social distancing and are bringing the outside inside, over 40 per cent of consumers are dialing up on health and wellness spends; e-commerce adoption has already advanced by two to three years — to name a few. These aren’t just temporary surges, and many will last longer and become more defining traits. Our analysis reveals that only one in six companies emerged stronger in past crises. The players who show the agility to reinvent their value propositions, go-to-market plans and business models to address these demand shifts will be the ones that set themselves apart from the pack,” said Nimisha Jain, Managing Director and Partner, Boston Consulting Group.

Societal truths

The report delves into key consumer shifts based on three societal-truths that have emerged as a result of the pandemic — social distancing, increasing focus on health and hygiene and income uncertainty. Within each of these shifts, there are three kinds of behaviour change movements — reversal of past trends, acceleration of existing trends, and formation of new habits.

“As business after business joins the dots to understand consumer shifts in both mindsets and behaviours as a result of Covid-19, we have invested in studying the new paths to purchase in continuing our commitment to enabling growth for businesses both large and small,” said Sandeep Bhushan, Director and Head, Global Marketing Solutions, Facebook India.

Some of the key steps brands can take in the new normal, as outlined in the report, are: Build social connect in social distancing, focus on hyper-localisation, bring alive experiences with digital access, optimise portfolio for value creation, build online presence, strengthen CRM solutions and re-look at media mix models to drive growth.

BCG conducted a consumer sentiment survey covering top 100 cities in India, with an online panel of consumers across different demographic profiles. The research was conducted in three waves from March 23 to May 3 with 5,757 consumers.