TrueTouch. Classifying consumers by their channel preference and promotional orientation

Transcription

1 TrueTouch Classifying consumers by their channel preference and promotional orientation

2 TrueTouch Classifying consumers by their channel preference and promotional orientation Communicating effectively with consumers in today s multi-channel world is a complex process. The growth of digital and direct response media, and the increasing importance of more informal networks such as family and friends, presents organisations with new challenges in the way they communicate with consumers. Understanding an individual s channel preferences, and how media informs their choice of product or service and their purchasing behaviour, is of fundamental importance to anyone wishing to maximise the effectiveness of every customer contact. Experian Business Strategies TrueTouch consumer classification addresses this challenge. TrueTouch is a new segmentation solution that classifies individuals by their channel preferences and promotional orientation. It helps you to develop smarter and more relevant contact strategies.

3 TrueTouch Understanding why consumers choose your product or service is fundamental to the growth and development of any organisation. Understanding an individual s channel preferences, how responsive they are, how they like to be contacted and where they are likely to go for information, means that you can improve the quality and efficiency of your communications. TrueTouch enables you to do this by classifying every UK consumer into one of 22 detailed behavioural segments, aggregated into six groups based upon their channel preferences, motivation and promotional orientation. Developed by Experian Business Strategies and its team of leading consumer forecasters from the Future Foundation, TrueTouch helps you identify the optimum channels for faster, more effective communication. Understanding consumers motivations and decision making To develop your dialogue with consumers, you need to know how consumers make decisions, particularly when faced with ever increasing choice and the continued development of media. Using its extensive programme of sociocultural research, from which it monitors trends in consumer behaviour, the Future Foundation has identified a series of key consumer behaviours that influence the use of media in decision making. These inform our thinking and have been used to provide a framework for the development of the TrueTouch classification. Key behaviours include: Complicated lives people are developing their own coping strategies to manage the complexity that comes with increased choice. New ways to engage consumers are moving from consumption to active use of media for self expression. Social networking social networks are becoming more important in raising awareness of products and services. The experience economy consumers increasingly value intangible rather than material experiences. Self-service society independent consumers are doing-it-for-themselves, using interactive media to proactively control their dialogue with organisations. Flexible customer journeys increasingly complex lives impact on preferred communication channels, opening up new pathways. Participation media successful media need to create two-way interaction and participation with consumers. These behaviours inform the classification and help it to keep pace with consumers changing attitudes towards media.

4 For example, TrueTouch type 11 Cellular Society highlights the role that mobile phones play in the planning and enhancement of consumers social lives, furthering the growth of social networks. The TrueTouch media behaviour matrix TrueTouch type 1 Information@speed illustrates the increasingly flexible way in which consumers interact with organisations through the use of new technology such as mobile phones, wi-fi computing and PDAs. How is TrueTouch built? TrueTouch is built using over 700 individual data variables. These are chosen for their ability to illustrate an individual s range of behaviours in relation to media consumption, including use of different channels, responsiveness and exposure to media. These are distilled into two core data sources: Quantitative data Experian s UK Consumer Dynamics database compiles information on all UK individuals, their demographics and lifestyles, attitudes and responsiveness to media. It includes known data on demographics and lifestyles from publicly reported sources such as the edited electoral roll, company directors, shareholders and council tax, as well as Experian s proprietary lifestyle information taken from its programme of consumer surveys.

5 This data provides a comprehensive and unambiguous view of every UK individual s key demographic and lifestyle characteristics. Information on media consumption is taken from authoritative sources of media and market research including BMRB s Target Group Index (TGI), MORI s Financial Research, Forrester s Technographics and Internet User Monitor, Hitwise internet research and Future Foundation s nvision. Propensity models link media and channel behaviour to Experian s demographic and lifestyle characteristics so that every individual in the UK is assigned a propensity to exhibit these behaviours. Qualitative research Without an understanding of consumers motivations, you could choose the right channel but the wrong message and style of communication. To address this issue, the Future Foundation has conducted new research into the different ways in which consumers make decisions. This supports Experian s quantitative data and provides an in-depth analysis of consumers motivations when using different media and the processes they go through in deciding about products and services. An initial representative sample of 1,500 consumers was surveyed, followed by a more in-depth analysis of 1,000 respondents and their decision making processes. Responses from the research were then used to augment Experian s understanding of an individual s media consumption. The Future Foundation s research is based on the principle that there are four key dimensions that shape the decision making process: Engage your level of participation in society Learn methods for information gathering and processing Communicate media for information sharing Conclude processes for making choices Respondents were asked a series of questions on each dimension. For example, in relation to Learning, they were asked: Thinking about the information you gather and process prior to making purchases or lifestyle choices, to what extent do you agree or disagree with the following: There s no such thing as too much information I mostly act on instinct in an emotional rather than rational way The research was used to identify the six decision making styles that sit within the TrueTouch solution.

6 TrueTouch classification groups, types and decision making styles TrueTouch classifies all adults in the UK into one of 22 individual behavioural types. These are then aggregated into six groups. These groups and types are also linked to the six decision making styles.

7 TrueTouch decision making styles

8 Linking the TrueTouch groups and types to the decision making styles TrueTouch Family Tree The TrueTouch family tree illustrates the polarities in channel consumption between each of the groups and types. It shows how the TrueTouch types relate to each other, and illustrates the correlation between TrueTouch types and decision making styles. Type 1: Type 9: Gadget-mad Technophiles

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10 The TrueTouch Groups and Types Group A: Experienced Netizens 18.99% of UK Adults (Types 1 4) Experienced Netizens are established citizens of the internet and love the functionality of new technologies. They have embraced new communications tools in every area of their lives, from work to leisure and personal lives. They have an Inquiring decision style which reflects their fascination with new technology and are often among the first to adopt new devices. Their motivations vary between the practical applications of technology and enjoying its entertainment value. Group B: Cyber Tourists 22.59% of UK Adults (Types 5 8) Cyber Tourists are part-time internet users. They have found that the internet can help them with certain key areas of their lives such as access to shops or a social community, but have not yet made it their central information source. The types in this group often have a Perfectionist decision style. This inclines them towards the internet because of its ability to give them information in their pursuit of the perfect solution. Group C: Digital Culture 14.88% of UK Adults (Types 9 11) Digital Culture have made modern communication channels an intrinsic part of their social world. The fast pace of their lives and demand for immediacy of information makes the mobile phone the preferred method of communication with their network of family and friends. They have a strong Experiential bias in their decision style. This means they are looking for entertainment, and communications that are fun or amusing have the greatest potential to get their attention.

11 Group D: Modern Media Margins 14.98% of UK Adults (Types 12 15) Modern Media Margins are not up to date with all the latest technological advances and tend to have older, lower specification equipment. Those that have computers and access to the internet use it for peripheral entertainment and social purposes, such as making an online bet or downloading ring tones. They are still inclined towards traditional communications and purchasing media shopping through catalogues or by visiting stores. There is no single, dominant decision style in this group and motivations vary. Group E: Traditional Approach 19.62% of UK Adults (Types 16 20) Traditional Approach are predominantly offline. They use traditional methods of purchasing such as post, visiting shops or using catalogues. They source their information from newspapers, TV or radio and will be most responsive to communications through the post. They tend to be either Adamant or Accepting in their decision styles, meaning that they are either sure of their own opinion, or they are not confident in their ability to embrace the benefits of new technologies. Group F: New Tech Novices 8.94% of UK Adults (Types 21 22) New Tech Novices are an ageing but progressive group. Whilst they are late adopters, they see the benefits of new technologies and are committed to learning and getting online, either through work or in their own leisure time. They are still influenced by traditional media channels and will happily use post or telephone for communicating. New Tech Novices tend to have Adamant and Perfectionist decision styles which drive their self-belief and desire for the wealth of information available online.

12 Support materials To help you get the most out of TrueTouch and to illustrate the classification, we have created a set of comprehensive support materials. TrueTouch e-handbook a detailed electronic and printed guide that explains our research methodology and the structure of the typology, lists the input variables and provides illustrations and detailed descriptions of the TrueTouch types and decision styles. TrueTouch website online access to our support material, including a white paper from Prof. Melanie Howard, Director at the Future Foundation, on the background to our decision style research, detailed descriptions of the TrueTouch types and decision styles and example applications for TrueTouch. For more information visit Delivery TrueTouch classifies every individual in the UK based upon their channel preferences, motivation and promotional orientation. It is available as: A classification of individuals by each of the 22 TrueTouch behavioural types and six groups Six individual-level decision making style propensity scores Eighteen individual-level media behaviour propensity scores An array of data for every UK postal sector Data directory and coding services TrueTouch can be matched to your database of customer names and addresses to enrich your view of consumers and help develop contact strategies. Customer names and addresses can be matched to Experian s universe of adults, coded with TrueTouch types, media propensities or decision styles.

13 Experian s icoder PC or server-based application allows you to batch process large volumes of name and address data in-house. icoder can append any TrueTouch data to your customer database. Bureau services Access to TrueTouch is also available through our bureau and consultancy services. Our Customer Insight Reports provide detailed profile analysis of customer information using the TrueTouch classification and propensity models. Our Consumer Insight team of consultants and analysts can help you undertake more detailed predictive modelling and analysis of your customer data using TrueTouch, and help you optimise your use of the classification. To contact a member of our Customer Insight Team call us on T: +44 (0) About Experian Business Strategies Experian s Business Strategies Division provides a detailed understanding and analysis of consumers, markets and economies in the UK and around the world, past, present and future. Its focus is consumer profiling and market segmentation, retail property analysis, economic forecasting and public policy research, supporting businesses, policy makers and investors in making tactical and strategic decisions. As part of the Experian group, it has access to a wealth of research data and innovative software solutions. The division s economic research team is devoted to analysing national, regional and local economies for a range of public and private sector clients. Its statisticians, econometricians, sociologists, geographers, market researchers and economists carry out extensive research into the underlying drivers of social, economic and market change. About Future Foundation The Future Foundation is a leading international consumer think-tank and strategic consultancy. Specialising in understanding socio-economic change and consumer behaviour, the Future Foundation provides intelligent research, analysis and commentary. Its research and analysis is used in the development of new products and services, to inspire marketing and communications programmes, and to instil awareness of the wider operating environment throughout client organisations. Clients range across most sectors and many countries. They include over 140 organisations including financial services, manufacturing, automotive through to advertising agencies and government departments.

14 About Experian Experian is a global leader in providing analytical and information services to organisations and consumers to help manage the risk and reward of commercial and financial decisions. Combining its unique information tools and deep understanding of individuals, markets and economies, Experian partners with organisations around the world to establish and strengthen customer relationships and provide their businesses with competitive advantage. Experian Group Limited is listed on the London Stock Exchange (EXPN) and is a constituent of the FTSE-100 index. It has corporate headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, and operational headquarters in Costa Mesa, California and Nottingham, UK. Experian employs more than 12,500 people in 34 countries worldwide, supporting clients in more than 60 countries. Annual sales are $3.1 billion ( 1.7bn/v 2.5bn). For consumers, Experian delivers critical information that enables them to make financial and purchasing decisions with greater control and confidence. Clients include organisations from financial services, retail and catalogue, telecommunications, utilities, media, insurance, automotive, leisure, e-commerce, manufacturing, property and government sectors.

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