The top three industries out of 19 industry sectors according to loyal usage by South African consumers as ranked in the Ask Afrika Icon Brands survey are Drinks, Restaurants and Fast Food, and Foods. This is followed by Travel and Leisure, Pets or Pet Food, and DIY and Gardening. Consumers have to tighten their belts in tough economic times that show no sign abating in the near future and spending is less frequent, their focus is on satisfying basic needs, but also on enjoying leisure time with friends and family.
This may be good news for those in the FMCG sector, yet even brands within this industry sector will require a carefully crafted brand strategy to retain consumer loyalty. This is due to economic and lifestyle pressures which decrease the frequency of spend, and also because consumers are more willing to experiment and try new products.
“Brand loyalty is not as simple as repurchasing, it is multidimensional and it is determined by several distinct psychological processes. True brand loyalty exists when customers have a high relative attitude towards the brand, which dramatically affects profitability. Consumers demand a continuing pattern of change to keep up with their fluctuations in taste, lifestyle and circumstance, even for brand leaders,” says Sarina de Beer, MD of Ask Afrika.
The scope of the survey is partly quantitative, but largely qualitative providing insight into South African consumer mind-set and behaviour. These insights can help companies place themselves within the context of their product category and industry sector and provide invaluable, current psychographic understanding of their target market.
The Ask Afrika Icon Brands survey uses a nationally representative random sample, 15 690 consumers were surveyed, representing over 23.3 million adult South African consumers. An enumerated area sampling design was employed and the universe includes all communities with more than 8 000 inhabitants 15 years old and above. The data was weighted using the Statistics South Africa’s population mid-year estimates and audited by respected independent experts BDO and Dr Ariana Neethling.
