A focus on quality and value transcends age
Boomers aren't the only ones out there who place a high emphasis on quality and value. According to the Penn & Zalesne's research, 85 percent of those surveyed selected "quality" of the product/service as the focus of their research; 74 percent selected "value" (respondents were allowed to choose more than one category). But, given that it's not possible to touch, taste, or "test drive" most products online in order to make a judgment about their quality and/or value, is it the case that consumers typically have a preconceived notion about a product and their research merely reinforces what they already believe?
"I think people are working as hard as they can to get that information by proxy," Zalesne says. "In other words, if they can't 'test drive' it, they can really scour the sites that offer expert reviews and consumer experiences. And the more real those reports sound, the more compelling their stories are, the more consumers feel like they have done the test drive themselves."
Relevant, credible reviews and information are critical
Daphne Kwon makes the point that, when it comes to product information, relevance is a major factor in the purchase-decision equation. She says not only do consumers want to hear what others who think and act like they do have to say about a product, they also want more relevant information from advertisers.
"Advertisers are trying to tell you what they consider the most important, salient facts about what you should know, and that's not necessarily what I want to know," Kwon says, wearing her consumer hat. "It's a piece of it, but not all of it." She believes both expert- and user-generated information about a product are necessary for a shopper to make a truly informed purchase decision, citing the example of a keyboard: A shopper might locate lots of information from a manufacturer on why its keyboard is designed a certain way, but she also needs input from people who've actually used the thing -- and spent their hard-earned money on it.
"There's a problem not only of getting the right content out there," Sam Decker says, "but also in putting it in a way that matches what the customer needs." Decker believes advertiser's words need to both inform and resonate with consumers. "It depends what they put out there and how they write it as to how credible or impactful it will be…There's a growing skepticism of claims made by advertisers and marketers. But doing demonstrations, showing this works with this, or showing specifications or applications of how something can be used, how-tos, things like that, all of those things are much more credible, because it's just objective information about the product."
But, as advertisers supply more information and details, is there a danger that already-skeptical NISs will discount the value of this information? Hilary Weber thinks consumers, especially boomers, appreciate this additional info from advertisers -- but only if it's credible. "What really moves the needle is credentials," she says. "Some kind of proof that there's a reason to believe this person." For Kaiser, that meant adding content from real doctors dispensing real advice to its website.
Zalesne believes skepticism of advertiser-supplied information gets worked out in the wash as NISs satisfy their need to dig deeper. "In a sense, what we're talking about here is an intense desire to ferret out the right information," she elaborates. "So, I think people will become better and better skilled at knowing what's real and what isn't. That's the whole point of doing information-based research."
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