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Brand user profiles seldom change and seldom differ

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Abstract

This study tests and extends the discovery that competing brand user profiles are broadly similar, specifically investigating the consistency of this pattern over time. Examining 700 brands in more than 60 consumer packaged goods categories, for more than 160 variables, the authors document not only that brand user profiles seldom differ but also that they seldom change much over 3 to 6 years. These findings have important implications for marketing theory and practice. For example, marketers need to focus mostly on who buys the category and what features they demand as opposed to thinking their brand buyers are very different to those of competitive brands. This paper extends the empirical results of prior brand profile findings, demonstrating their robustness and durability.

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Acknowledgements

The Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science thanks Kantar World Panel for providing data to enable this research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science, University of South Australia, Level 4 Yungondi Building, 70 North Terrace, Adelaide, AUS, 5000, South Australia

    Zachary Anesbury & Rachel Kennedy

  2. College of Business & Victoria Institute, Victoria University, 300 Flinders St, Melbourne, VIC, 3000, Australia

    Maxwell Winchester

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  1. Zachary Anesbury
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  2. Maxwell Winchester
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  3. Rachel Kennedy
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Correspondence to Maxwell Winchester.

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Anesbury, Z., Winchester, M. & Kennedy, R. Brand user profiles seldom change and seldom differ. Mark Lett 28, 523–535 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11002-017-9437-2

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