Women are primarily responsible for clipping coupons - but men are more likely to seek out coupons if they are online or can be delivered via mobile phone. So says research by The Integer Group and M/A/R/C Research.
Coupon, retailer, and brand websites come in right behind newspapers as places where men actively seek out coupons. The increased interest in online coupons indicates that men who are seeking coupons online during their pre-planning and research stage of shopping are more open to marketing messaging if provided with the right amount of benefit.
In general, coupons fit into the lives of male and female shoppers differently, MarketingCharts reports. They search for coupons in different media, redeem them in different channels, and use them to accomplish different shopping objectives. Across both gender groups, newspapers and direct mail/circulars hold the top spots for finding deals (62% and 58%, respectively). However, women are clearly more involved in clipping coupons, surpassing males in just about all coupon sources except mobile phones.
Consumers Eye Coupon Convenience
Nearly three out of four shoppers (74%) report using coupons because they are convenient and useful, while 26% say coupons take too much effort to find and use. Older shoppers (50-plus years) use coupons often and are more likely to use them to buy familiar brands and products, yet a significantly higher amount (32%) report that coupons take too much effort to find and use. Interestingly, shoppers are split when addressing the issue of whether coupons cause the brand decision or the brand decision drives the coupon search.
Shoppers who report that coupons are “convenient and useful” are using them for items that they buy and re-stock often (e.g. paper products, cleaners, cereal). For items that have a larger repurchase cycle (e.g., furniture, electronics, motorcycles), coupons may not be as useful to the shopper unless they receive them at precisely the right time when they are considering a repurchase or close to a repurchase point.
Value Trumps All
Not surprisingly, coupon value is the most motivating factor (68%) driving consumers to switch from their preferred product or brand. Though the value of a coupon is the most compelling aspect, brands must still be aware of their brand positioning in the marketplace and need to align their promotional couponing with their category entry strategies. If a new product is more high-end, than extensive couponing may only serve to cheapen the brand and thus tamper with the overall brand positioning.
A small percentage of respondents (3%) say that the most compelling aspect of using a coupon to buy a new product is the ability to use the coupon online or save it to their loyalty card. While these digital capabilities are not yet mainstream, trends show consumers are increasingly making more big-ticket purchases online. For product categories like computers, electronics, and DVDs, the ability to use coupons online might have a stronger influence on shoppers, according to The Integer Group analysis.
Shoppers Seek Simplicity
In terms of incentives, instant discounts or two-for-one deals resonate strongly with consumers (75% and 72%, respectively). Shoppers want coupons that are easy to find, simple to understand, and effortless to use. Shoppers favor coupons that word their discounts in terms of actual dollars off versus the potentially confusing percentage-off type of discounts.
Discounts applied to future visits as well as those incentives that require multiple or bulk purchases, are the least popular coupon type; implying an inverse relationship between the number of cognitive or physical “hoops” that the shopper has to jump through.
