Brand loyalty is less important to UK consumers than to their international counterparts while the recession has pushed consumers towards own-brand products, a new survey has revealed.
According to the Nielsen Global Survey of New Product Placement Sentiment, 59 per cent of UK consumers would consider switching to a new brand, in comparison to 50 per cent worldwide.
Britons are also more willing than most to try new and innovative products, with only 52 per cent waiting until the product has proven itself before purchasing compared with 60 per cent globally.
Commenting on the findings, Johan Sjöstrand, European Managing Director of Nielsen Bases said: “Innovating on established brands that are already trusted by consumers can be a powerful strategy.”
“Companies spend millions on new product innovation, yet two-thirds of them won‘t survive beyond three years.”
Financial constraints on consumers‘ budgets also influence the success of new products, as 40 per cent of Britons said that they would be less likely to try a new product due to challenging economic conditions.
Consumers feeling the squeeze often opt for value and own-brand options such as Tesco Value or Sainsbury‘s Basics, which 59 per cent of UK respondents and 64 per cent of global consumers said that they would consider.
Over Christmas, supermarket Sainsbury‘s saw sales of own-brand products increase at three times the rate of outside brands while total sales growth stood at 3.3 per cent.
Sjöstrand commented: “Consumers are willing to adopt new product and brand innovations provided there is a strongly perceived value proposition.”
“Without this, any product innovation will face an uphill challenge to stay on the shelf, especially given the tough economic climate,” he concluded.
