Ipsos B&A’s annual Sign of the Times research delves into the consumer mindset, consumer decision-making, and the cultural and societal context in Ireland.
Report Summary:
1. The economic and political landscape – Cautious optimism, ongoing frustration: Although inflation is finally starting to settle down, 2024 promises a challenging economic, social, and geopolitical environment in which brands need to operate. Additionally, the landscape will be further complicated by important domestic and international elections on the horizon, promising continued instability at the macro level throughout 2024 and into 2025.
2. Life in Ireland – Shifting experiences and enduring traits: Life in Ireland is also going through an evolution – and brands need to have a deep understanding of these evolutions to remain relevant. The country is changing demographically. As is the population’s actual experiences of lifestages – with emerging expressions of life progress coming to the fore. However, there is also some enduring traits that resonate strongly with Irish consumers be it community, or our many behavioural quirks! Beneath the surface, there exists a stark ‘perception gap’ regarding gender equality. Despite Ireland’s progressiveness, men and women experience and perceive gender equality very differently.
3. Consumer spending – Loyalty under siege: Brand loyalty remains under pressure as consumers begin to seek out ‘the best’ value. Brands can protect brand loyalty by better understanding the emotional impact they are delivering to customers – and making their products and services more ‘sticky’! Successful examples being products and services in which customers feel like they are making investments in themselves or ones that enable connections to their identity or cultural roots. Customer engagement methods are evolving, with consumers seeking unfiltered information directly from primary sources. ‘authentic’ sources playing a more mainstream role in influencing decision-making. Its important that brands ensure that they are incorporating this omni channel experience into their customer engagement strategies. However, let’s not put all our eggs in one basket. Out-of-home advertising and sponsorships, radio, TV remain key avenues to success for longer term brand building.
4. Sustainability – Don’t look up: Regarding sustainability, brands must recognise that a one-size-fits-all message will fail to resonate. It’s crucial to understand the contexts in which these messages land to effectively communicate sustainability initiatives.
5. Technology – From immersion to integration: Recognition that technology is starting to rewrite our brains with many noticing they have an increased ‘stimulation threshold’. For AI, we must wait and see what 2024 holds. But evidence points to increased engagement amongst consumers and a willingness to engage. Brands need to move on this now. The battleground will likely centre around emotional engagement, and the blend with human, thus Human powered AI.
For more information about this study please contact Niall Brenna, Account Director, Ipsos B&A: niall.brennan@ipsos.com
