GfK Survey Reveals Opportunities for Brands that can Give Back Time or Experiences to Consumers

PR68695

NUREMBERG, Germany, May 25, 2017 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/

    - Internationally, three times more people firmly agree than disagree in

wanting more time over more money  

    - Even among people with low income, twice as many firmly agree than

disagree  

    - For those aged 60+, the gap narrows significantly

    In an online survey just released by global research experts, GfK, three

out of ten people (31 percent) would firmly* prefer to have more time than more

money - compared to only nine percent who firmly* disagree with that. And over

four out of ten (44 percent) firmly believe that experiences are more important

than possession - compared to just three percent who firmly disagree with

that.  

    GfK asked 22,000 people across 17 countries how strongly they agree or

disagree with two statements: "I would rather have more time than more money"

and "Experiences are more important than possessions".

    Internationally, three times as many people firmly agree than disagree that

they would rather have more time than more money. And well over ten times as

many people firmly agree than disagree that experiences are more important than

possessions.

    This preference for more time over more money is especially important for

people in China (41 percent), Brazil (37 percent) and Argentina (32 percent).

And agreement with experiences being more important than possessions is highest

in Mexico (57 percent), Argentina and the USA (both 53 percent).

    Income plays a factor in consumers' mindsets, but possibly not to the

extent that may be imagined. There is only an eleven-percentage-point

difference between people in high income households and those in low income

households, when it comes to the numbers who would prefer to have more time

than more money (38 percent versus 27 percent).

    A similar picture is seen in people's perception that experiences are more

important than possessions. Half of people in high income households agree to

this (50 percent) compared to 38 percent of those in low income households.  

    Money becomes relatively more important to those over 60  

    There are also some differences to be noted between different age groups.

Internationally, those in their twenties and thirties have the highest

percentage of any age group that would prefer more time to more money -

standing at over a third (36 percent) each. And they also have the smallest

percentage of those strongly disagreeing with that (7 percent each).

    In contrast, for those aged 60 and over, there is a much tighter difference

in the numbers favoring more time to more money (19 percent) versus those

indicating they would rather have more money than more time (13 percent).

    When looking at the perceived value of experiences versus possessions, age

does not make a significant different in outlook. Those in their twenties are

thirties are the most in favor of experiences over possessions, with 46 percent

firmly agreeing with this, dropping to 40 percent for teenagers (15-19 year

olds).  

    GfK's findings clearly show market potential for brands that can associate

themselves in consumers' minds with giving quality time back into people's

lives, or with making daily tasks simpler and faster. Brands can also raise

themselves above close competitors by identifying ways to turn their purchase

process into more of an experience for the consumer.

    Download GfK's complimentary report to see how results differ for each of

the 17 countries surveyed:

    Footnote: *All the data presented in this release represents the top 2

boxes (agreement) and bottom 2 boxes (disagreement) from on a 7-point scale

where "1" means "disagree strongly" and "7" means "agree strongly."

http://www.gfk.com/global-studies/global-study-overview/

SOURCE: GfK