People more open to new brands following ‘life events’

The research, carried out by ZenithOptimedia and shared on The Warc Blog, involved asking over 1,000 consumers whether they had recently gone through a life event, and if they had tried a new brand in any of eight categories.

In every category, people were more likely to have tried new brands if they had undergone a life event: for all categories — except one — the likelihood of trying new brands increased by at least 75%. In over half the categories, the trialling of new brands doubled.

“Most decisions are made habitually, making them hard to influence,” said Richard Shotton, head of insight at ZenithOptimedia. “However, consumers […] have rare windows of opportunity when they are easier to influence. These moments tend to be after life-events when consumers’ routines have been so destabilised that a greater proportion of decisions are made consciously.

“If brands focus their communications around these moments they will have a better chance of a successful campaign.”