How to influence mums - what does research reveal?

According to Datamonitor (Sep 2011), Australian mums control around A$132 billion in household spending each year. Additionally, mums indirectly influence the purchase decisions of family members, friends and other consumers via word-of-mouth and online communities.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, there was 2.7M households with dependent children in Australia in 2010 – which is approximately one third of the 8M total households in the country. At least 85% of these households have a mum in residence.

Kidspot.com did a quantitative study of 2,165 mums conducted August-September 2010, that gives useful insights on how to reach this target audience.

62% of respondents nominated their network of friends and family as a strong influencer when they first come to hear about a new brand or product. TV has the most influence from a channel perspective (58% of respondents) but the gap between this more traditional advertising method and digital alternatives, such as specialist websites (41%), is definitely closing.

Digital and social channels wield more impact as a mum moves through the purchase funnel into the ‘consideration’ phase where she seeks more information about the product and turns to other avenues for more detailed research. 5 of the top 6 influencers in this step are digital, with specialist websites having the strongest influence of all (50% of all respondents). Online forums outweigh the influence that TV or magazines have at this stage with 30% of respondents nominating comments in these forums as influential versus 27% for TV and magazines.

When it comes to making a purchase decision, recommendations from known people have the strongest influence on mums (63%). Her digital world plays a significant role with online reviews and forums plus both specialist and brand websites also rating highly as powerful influencers.

And then what; do they stay loyal? Not really. The latest release from Kidspot.com (November 2011) revealed that even if most mums-to-be believe that brands are of superior quality and worth paying a little extra for, a lot of them think private labels are just as good. Brands are less a part of her identity than for her mum’s generation and thus require more salient connections.

The Datamonitor research reveals that tver half of the mums surveyed are buying more private labels to save money, while over six-in-10 mums say they are sacrificing some food products altogether.

Australian mums prioritize their children’s health over their own. Such an attitude is not only evident when assessing a food product’s nutritional value, but also when considering the safety of different household cleaning products. This has important implications for how marketing messages and product benefits should be framed.

• 66% put more stock in what other mums (or mums-to-be) say than they do in a brand name.
• 55% believe that brands are usually a superior quality and worth paying a little extra for (compared to private label brands).