In-store Frozen Vegetable Eye-tracking Study Report

In-store Frozen Vegetable Eye- tracking Study Report
Checkers Sunninghill, South Africa

Agenda

• Executive summary

• Research objectives – The bird’s eye view

• Methodology

• Sample

• Empirical findings

• Conceptual insights and actionable foresights

© Prompt Research Insights 2009

Objectives

Primary research objectives
A bird’s eye view

• To gain shopper insights and understanding at how shoppers
shop within the refrigerated vegetables category
• Understand shopper behavior and drivers, especially the
coffin freezer

Secondary research objectives

• Identify patterns of behavior within the category
• Understand the importance of brand within the category
• Understand shopper purchase decision
• Ascertain level of loyalty


Methodology

•In-store interviews were conducted where respondents were approached in the store while they
were making their purchases

•The respondents were initially observed while the eye tracker was recording what they were
looking at and asked questions regarding their observations.

• These interviews build one to rapport, serves to provide greater detail and
more intimate information while the respondent is still engaged in the
shopping activity

•Respondents were able to open up on a personal level with the moderator
who aims to break down barriers and understand barriers and drivers of the
category purchase


Eye Tracking?

One of the most powerful methods to
find out how visual communication
works is eye movement analysis.

Integrated infrared EMR camera in flat
screens respondent is not aware of the eye-
movement registration equipment.
Analysis based on the distribution and number
of fixations (Fixation = 50-100 milliseconds
focus on 1 point)


Some facts about Visual Communication

• 83% of all information people receive is visual
• An average person sees over 3.000 messages a day
• Getting the attention of the consumer gets harder and harder

Attention Tracking Research

Executive Summary

•The frozen vegetables industry consists of only a few brands including
the house brand with McCain being the dominant brand. Awareness of the
other brands is low with some customers thinking there is no substitute
for McCann.

•The picture and the texture of the packaging is the purchase driver.
•There seems to be a dwindle in the purchase of frozen vegetables as more
consumers prefer more fresh vegetables as the concern over health rises –
there seems to be greater awareness around required nutritional content
on a daily basis.

•Frozen vegetables do not hold the credibility of freshness and “all the
goodness I need” compared to fresh vegetables but since they require
much less preparation time they remain part of their grocery shopping


Executive Summary

Benefits of frozen vegetables – Why we buy them
•Convenience stands as the biggest benefit for frozen vegetables
•It lasts longer
•Does not require pealing
•Cooks quicker
•Less frequent visits to the store for the busy consumer

•Some respondents feel that the variety available inspires ideas for
cooking – Pictures on pack play a big role in driving this inspiration
•Availability of convenience steam pack

•Options of the different sizes where a customer can choose between
chunky vegetables or smaller ones. Brings variety to their dishes


Executive Summary

Barriers to Frequent Purchase
• There is very little reference to a health benefit – credibility on health tends to be
low as consumers do not believe that a frozen product can contain the necessary
nutrients until consumption
• Concerns over the colour of the vegetables – fresh vegetables seen to be brighter
and more nutritious
• Frozen vegetables have less crunch meaning less fresh – some describe them as
soggy
• Frozen vegetables are not seen to deliver on the taste benefit as some believe that
the taste is not the same as fresh vegetables

“All frozen vegetables taste like cardboard” (White female, 35 -49)


Brands studied

• McCain • HOUSEBRAND

• POT O’ GOLD
• Harvestime


Eye tracking
findings


Choose a pack of frozen vegetables you would buy


Demographics


This heatmap shows where the participants focused most during the
test sessions i.e. where people were looking.


Inverted heatmaps display the same information in the opposite way.
They illustrate what people actually see and what is left out of their visual focus.


This slide compares heatmaps for male and female participants.

FEMALE MALE


This slide compares heatmaps for older and younger people.

UNDER 35 OVER 35


The image was divided into areas described above. The following describe
the performance of those areas.


CATCHINESS :
how attractive is a area


The blue bars in this graph show the catchiness scores of these areas. The most
important question is whether catchiness scores correspond to business priorities.

Catchiness Table


Visual Value

How VISIBLE is the area
How FAST people see the area

How LONG people look at the area

How ENGAGED are people with the area


Visual Value

Blue bars on the graph show how quickly people arrived to different areas.
Green visibility line displays how many participants actually saw the particular area.


Visual Value

Observation length shows how many seconds users looked at each area on average.


Visual Value
Average eye fixation length measures engagement with the area. Longer duration of a single fixation
means more information from that area was processed by the brain. Engagement can be either
positive (its interesting) or negative (its hard to understand).Either way, it measures with which areas
people engage with the most


Visual Value

Key visual metrics are then combined into single value score.
The picture above shows how visual value is distributed across the areas.
These percentages should correspond to the business importance of the respective areas


Table : Key visual metrics

This Table shows the key visual metrics are combined into a single value score.
These percentages should correspond to the business importance of the respective areas


Visual Value

Allocation of visual value across different functions of the page is displayed above.
This distribution must be in line with business priorities of Your media.


Summary

• The logo is the first thing people look at in the category but
only so that they can see what brand it is, but do not focus
too much on it

• The picture of the vegetables on the pack is the most
important factor that drives purchase, people fixate more on
it to see what’s inside.

• Checkers and pot O gold has higher visual values purely
because people were struggling to see what’s in the pack.
Some respondents complained Pot O Gold is too bright and
hard to read while with Checkers its because one has to read
to see what’s there because the picture is dull


Further Findings

Purchase mostly habitual - consumers
were buying what they always

purchased , looking for their brand
and the vegetable type and off they go

The habitual purchasers spent
very little Browsing and looking at other
alternatives more loyal and

less price sensitive


Behavior

Identify patterns of
behavior within the
category


Behavior patterns within category

• Purchase mostly habitual - consumers were buying what they always
purchased, looking for their brand and the vegetable type and off they go

• The habitual purchasers spent very little time browsing and looking at
other alternatives – they tended to be more loyal and less price sensitive
•“What else is there to buy, what other brands are there?” (Black
male, 25 -35)
•“This is what I go for, my mother used to use it, what can you do –
you go for what you know” (White female, 25 -35)

• The less habitual shopper browsed more,


Behavior patterns within category
• Pictures on packaging are used as purchase guide to identify preferred vegetables
and inspire new cooking ideas
•“I was looking for the sweet corn. I only buy the ones with the sweet corn and
so I look at the pictures” (Black male, 25 -35)
•“I like to look at the pictures to get new ideas, I have two children so I like the
stir fries, they keep it interesting for them” (White female, 25 -35)

• With some respondents packaging communicated freshness vs. not fresh – for
example, McCain packaging communicated more freshness with its glossy shine vs.
Harvest time which was seen to be worn out and tired
•“You see this pack compared to this one, this one looks like it’s been around,
that can’t be fresh” (Black male 25-35)

• McCain is the most dominant brand with it’s users displaying strong loyalty – even
with some price sensitive consumers claiming that it is the better brand
•“Ideally you want McCain, the veggies are nicer, but I’ll buy it if it’s on special”
(White female, 35 -39)


Brand Importance

Understand the importance of
brand within the category


Brand Importance - Summary
Brand plays a significant role within this category as it
communicates;
Good quality product – this means that the colour of the vegetables is restored
which equates to freshness
Trust – consumers felt that they could trust certain brands more than others
based on the quality of the product, the brand’s reputation and how long it has
been around
Brands that are well known, advertised more were seen to be more credible,
could be easily trusted and identified with
Packaging of the brand played a significant role as it communicates the level of
freshness and the quality of the brand
Greater affinity was displayed towards brands that had a larger variety of
options and thus seen as more innovative and progressive
Certain brands were seen to be better cut than others
Freezing methods were seen to be different for different brands which affects
the quality of the product
Some brands were seen to be more expensive than others


Role of Brand

McCain
•Most dominant brand within the category
•Enjoys strong loyalty
•Trusted due to it’s advertising
•Seen to be innovative through its variety – stir- fries, chunky vs. small, assorted
steam packs
•Attractive packaging – more of a glossy finish which communicates freshness
•Premium pricing communicates prestige
•Seen to have been around for a long time – this drives credibility and trust

Harvest time
•Trusted brand
•Loyalty is low as consumers will switch if McCain is on special
•Seen to be of better quality than the other brands except McCain
•Seen as affordable relative to McCain
•Perceived to be rather old fashioned and outdated
•Packaging a barrier as it gives a feeling of not being fresh
•Lacks variety


Role of Brand

Nature’s garden
•Relatively unknown
•Low levels of loyalty
•A substitute when primary brand is not available
•Packaging seen to be attractive and communicates a sense of
freshness through its glossy finish

Pot O Gold
•Unknown
•No loyalty
•Very little trust for the brand
•Seen to be cheaper and hence not the best
•Lacks innovation based on its packaging style, perceived to be too
bright


Role of Brand

House brand
•Well known and yet not very trusted
•Seen to be too cheap – bought on the basis of price
•Taste benefit not credible
•Only considered when on special
•Packaging unattractive


Role of Brand

Quality

Harvest time McCain

House brand

Cheap Innovative

Pot o Gold Nature’s garden

Unknown


Planning

Level of planning
involved

Planning

• Where less planning was involved, consumers tended to browse
through then choose what they think they’ll like based on packaging
and brand

• Some purchases are based on habit
•“I always just buy the mixed one cos they have everything”
(Black female, 25 -35)

• Some consumers prepare their recipes for the week and hence plan
on the type of frozen vegetables they will need for their shopping trip
•“I’m making stew today so I needed the mixed vegetables to
make it more appetizing” (White female, 35 -49)
•“I need the cut green beans. I have to make a salad” (Black
female, 25 -35)


Conclusions & recommendations

• Frozen vegetables need to communicate a stronger health benefit
• This can be achieved through the communication of preserved
nutrition in the frozen vegetables
• Packaging needs to serve as a stronger communication tool – more
appealing, inspiring and better quality.
• The picture of the vegetables is ultimately the deciding factor on
whether or not people will buy the product
• Greater variety creates greater appeal
• New and interesting combinations of vegetables create curiosity
and trial
• TV advertising builds credibility and trust because people buy what
they know.


Get in touch with us…

Prompt Research Insights Research Ltd

Twickenham Building, The Campus
Cnr Sloane and Main Street
Bryanston,
2021

Tel: +27 (0)11 575 6853
Fax: +27 (0)11 576 6000

email: tsholo@promptresearchinsights.com
Email: lindiwe@promptresearchinsights.com
web: www.promptresearchinsights.com


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