Kiwis just love a bargain
A new survey shows fewer than one-fifth of Kiwis are prepared to pay more for branded products, reflecting a national love of bargain-hunting.
Research group Nielsen asked more than 29,000 respondents in 58 countries, including 517 New Zealanders, about the influence of brand names and commercials on their purchases.
Kiwis and Australians emerged as less likely to be swayed by commercials, and much less interested in buying designer goods over unbranded counterparts.
Suzie Dale, head of Nielsen’s brand practice, said Australasians had ‘‘a cynical side’’ when it came to branding, and marketers had to work harder to convince them.
‘‘A product needs to show it will enhance a consumer’s life and is the intelligent choice – for example, a tastier cake, or a car that is luxurious but also uses less fuel and will look good for longer,’’ she said.
The rise of home-brand goods in supermarkets was a good illustration of the Kiwi need for value.
‘‘We generally need to believe a more expensive product will offer a tangible quality that makes it better, otherwise we’re often unwilling to pay more for it.’’
Lindsay Mouat, of the Association of New Zealand Advertisers, said New Zealand was indeed a nation of bargain hunters.
Kiwi shoppers bought more of their groceries on ‘‘special’’ than in any other country, almost 60 per cent.
They liked to negotiate on motor vehicles, electronics and furniture and were very savvy at using the internet to compare prices, he said.
However, it was still possible for premium brands to succeed here, as was evident by rising sales of European cars, craft beers and premium olive oils.
Meanwhile, advertising industry consultant Martin Gillman was not convinced that Kiwis were that much different from the rest of the world.
Social media had passed the power to consumers to validate and rate products and people expected brands to live up to their claims.
‘‘A brand can’t hide any more. At one stage you could make a claim on television and it was believed.
‘‘Whereas now we have to fol- low through and create more connections. A marketer doesn’t have much control over their own brand any more, it’s controlled by users and their networks.’’
Virginia Wilkinson, of retail consultancy Coriolis, said increasing sales of supermarket ‘‘home brands’’ were not unique to New Zealand and were probably more a reflection of the economy.
Kiwis would be loyal to a brand if they felt the quality they were getting was worth the money they were paying.
However, frugality was generally etched on the New Zealand psyche.
‘‘With the history that we’ve got in New Zealand, of being a long way from the mother country, we’ve always had to learn how to make do.
‘‘We don’t like waste, because traditionally we couldn’t afford to waste . . . so we have a culture of saving and of being a bit more frugal.’’