ELIOT: a brand preference measure that can predict sales

Consumers stated preference for a brand can be a bad forecaster of actual sales. People may say they prefer a certain brand but then sometimes still buy competing brands. How can that be?

Brand preference is actually made up of two components – conscious preference and unconscious preference. Conscious brand preference is the consumer’s stated preference – the type of preference measured by many surveys.

Unconscious preference is simply a bias the consumer has for or against certain brands – a positive or negative feeling they may or may not be aware of. Unconscious preference can only be measured by specialist research tool such as the Brand ELIOT test.

Some consumers are aligned – their conscious and unconscious preference is for the same brand. Those consumers have a 90-100% likelihood of buying this brand most often.

However, a large number of consumers are not aligned and have a conscious preference for one brand whilst showing an unconscious preference for another brand. Those consumers will state a preference for brand A – but probably not buy it very often.

This may indeed partly explain why people buy a portfolio of brands – some days the consumer follows their rational thinking and makes the rational choice. On another day caution is thrown to the wind and the brand that makes me feel good is chosen. A third brand may fall somewhere in-between (make some sense but also has some more emotional elements) and therefore is the compromise.

One example where this dynamic works is the butter and dairy spreads market – most consumers buy at least one butter brand and one spread brand. The butter holds most of the emotional factors, whilst the spread appeals to rational reasons (lower cholesterol, lower price, convenient).

Market research is only useful if it measures and tracks brand parameters that actually predict sales. In order to do so we need to measure both conscious and unconscious preference. Brand ELIOT measures both conscious and unconscious brand preference in the same study.

To find out more about the Brand ELIOT tool please read this PDF article including the case study on petrol brands.