OMG discovers the Pathway of consumer spending

Malaysia – The Omnicom Media Group (OMG) has made it easier for its clients to define the best time to reach customers thanks to the results of Pathway – a survey that looks at the decision making process of consumers across Asia. 

Revealing the results at 1Utama, Andreas Vogiatzakis, OMG managing director said the research is a breakthrough for the group.

“We’ve never had a project looking at the decision making process that leads to the purchase decision and what the influences are.

“It’s good that the results coincide with the current economy environment but through it, we can advise our clients of when and how to advertise as influence in fragmented times is important.

“It is all about the right time, the right place and the right medium as people stretches the ringgit as widely as they can,” Vogiatzakis said.

Carrying the theme ‘Decoding the path to purchase’, Pathway polled over 5,000 respondents located in12 cities across eight countries and covered 21 categories between May and June.

Of this, more than 600 respondents were Malaysians in the Klang Valley, Johor Baru, Penang and Ipoh.

Breaking the decision making process into four main categories – Quick, Long, Winding, and Long and Winding – OMG which is parent company to media specialists OMD and PHD say decision making is a complex process due to the influences and different mediums used to reach out to consumers.

In its results, Malaysians were found to take about eight to nine months (Long and Winding category) to buy a car while it takes them only about eight hours to decide on buying snacks.

The survey looks at five stages before purchase – desire, feature considerations, research, comparing prices and determining retail points – and what consumers look at before making the purchase.

“At a time when people are tightening their belts and wallets and purses, we have found that products in Quick and Winding category like food and lesser expensive items are unlike to be affected, as compared to those in the Long and Long and Winding category,” said Florence Oong, Communication Insights Director, OMG Asia Pacific.

Vogiatzakis added that there is like to be a change in personal items purchases if the brand develops a sense of loyalty with its customer.

“It depends on the consumers’ relationship with a brand,” he said.

Stressing importance on Pathway’s findings, Oong held that it would go a long way with the current times when advertisers are likely to cut back on their budgets and zone in on value efficiency.

“It is crucial to engage with the consumers and sometimes it may not be through the main media as more people are tuned into digital touch-points, which is also a cheaper way of advertising.

“Pathway serves to be sharpen communication plans for our clients,” she added, citing McDonald’s, Visa, Sara Lee and Pentel as some of OMG’s clients who will benefit from the survey.