September 10, 2007
CPGmatters: Study of Hispanic Shopping Behavior to Enhance J&J’s Go-to-Market Strategy
By John Karolefski
Through a special arrangement, what follows is an excerpt of a current article from CPGmatters, a monthly e-zine, presented here for discussion.
A landmark study of Hispanic shopping behavior will enhance Johnson & Johnson’s go-to-market strategy for health and beauty care (HBC) products.
The largest in-store study ever done on the subject took place in 13 main Hispanic markets and involved 12 HBC categories. Over 7,000 personal interviews took place in stores operated by seven retailers in four trade channels: grocery (three retailers), chain drug (two), mass (one), and bodega (one). Meyers Research conducted the interviews in English and Spanish.
In an interview with CPGmatters, Jon Troy, manager of shopper insights for the recently created Johnson & Johnson Center of Excellence, said J&J found that Hispanic shoppers are less inclined to ask questions about HBC products in the store because – unlike food and beverages – the questions and products can be personal. Another factor that underscores the need for good communication, he added, is the implications for safety since many Hispanic consumers may not be fluent in English. Several brands in J&J’s product portfolio are therapeutic and call for a complete understanding of dosage limits.
Because of proprietary reasons, he was reluctant to share any specifics of how J&J’s go-to-market strategy would change. However, Mr. Troy revealed three key takeaways from the study:
• The Hispanic shopping trip is a family event. “How do we make sure that it is an atmosphere for the family and not just for an individual?” asked Mr. Troy. “From a marketing and advertising standpoint, we need to make sure our in-store vehicles are talking to a family.”
• The shopping experience for less acculturated Hispanic consumers is not easy. “There are safety and quality issues at play that are an obligation for us,” he said.
• The Hispanic shopper wants an ideal shopping experience in a store that has large shelves and is easy to navigate.
“Many Hispanic are living in two worlds, the homeland and the new land. To bring these two together in a store environment is the key. Our learning has become an influence for our go-to-market strategy and plans,” said Mr. Troy.
The knowledge gained through the study builds on the learning that J&J acquired two years ago with “VIDA NUESTRA,” a Hispanic health and wellness retail marketing program that traveled to stores and Hispanic festivals. “VIDA NUESTRA” included the mobile marketing tour as well as a proprietary health and wellness publication, health assessments, and fully integrated public relations campaign.
“Together they will help us build a strategy to go to market,” Mr. Troy said of the past and current initiatives. “We have great benchmarks. We can talk to a retailer and understand how their Hispanic consumers behaved and learn specific shopping behaviors and associated attitudes. We can compare that to a broader base. What is it about a Hispanic consumer in a particular retailer versus other consumers in general?”
Discussion Questions: Did anything surprise you about the core findings of J&J’S Hispanic study or their approach to the Hispanic market? Where do you think retailers and brands are still falling short in their attempts to incorporate Hispanic consumers into the shopping experience?
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Some of the J&J conclusions sound like they’d apply to all shoppers, not just Hispanics (wider aisles). Some of the conclusions sound like they’d apply to other recently-arrived ethnic groups, too (safety and dosage instructions for non-English speakers). Why wasn’t Vida Nuestra continued after 2005? And why did it only tour 4 states?
The sample size is large so the analysis should be able to break out separate groups. The three conclusions reported are reasonable but not new information. Hopefully, J&J’s analysis goes deeper to determine whether respondents are first, second or third generation, from which country they trace their roots, the kind of neighborhood in which they live, etc. If this information is not known then it is not possible to know to whom the results apply. However, with 7,000 respondents there certainly is the possibility of answering these questions.
Hard to say without reading the whole study, but here are a few questions. How is “Hispanic” being defined? That answer is critical to understanding the value of the study. If we are talking about immigrant and/or first generation Mexicans for example the study doesn’t seem to be too eye opening. Yes, shopping is a family affair and that’s why those aisles need to be wider. The preference for wider aisles has less to do with merchandising and more to do with navigating a cart, two adults and several children through a store. Again, not surprising J&J doesn’t want to release more details but, as it stands, these conclusions were available five, ten, fifteen and twenty years ago.
Jon Troy and the Centers of Excellence are focused on securing and maintaining the industry lead on insights and applications of the most recent research (consumer and other types). As the U.S. retail environment becomes even less “homogenized” ethnically and racially (in spite of the reputation for being a land of immigrants, stores and the CPG industry have not always reflected that), it is wise for manufacturers and retailers to look at the shopping experience through the eyes of the shopper and not merely as product sellers.
The CPGMatters report did not share the differences BETWEEN and AMONG Hispanic shoppers from different countries (or did every Spanish surnamed person react the same and have the same desires?). I suspect there is more to the research than what was shared here–and CPGMatters just was not privy to it as J&J likely was holding back somethings for their own competitive advantage. GOOD for J&J for doing this research and for sharing some of the highlights–but it is obviously (and intentionally) not a recipe book for others to follow to achieve what J&J is capable of achieving, having done the research.
This study tells us nothing new about the multicultural marketplace. Any retailer that takes his local market seriously would know how to cater to his local customer base. It’s obvious to any company that its consumers must understand the words on the package! Here in Ontario, everything sold has English and French on the package and I would suspect there are probably more Hispanics in California than there are French people in Ontario. This is another situation where retailers and manufacturers need to focus more on the customer they are serving and not what marketing surveys and focus groups suggest they should do.
No, nothing surprising here. Frankly, the research I have done and continue to do with LatinWorks is much more nuanced, useful and actionable. We make the distinction between Hispanic assimilation (understanding) and acculturation (action). The insights that flow from this understanding have helped many of our clients succeed in the many (yes, many) US Hispanic markets.
As for where retailers and brands are still falling short in their attempts to incorporate Hispanic consumers into the shopping experience, I would say that the store-level efforts are still lacking. We have certainly found that store-level efforts (signage, promotions, sampling, etc.) are particularly effective in Hispanic marketing campaigns.
7,000 interviews to capture the many different segments of the Hispanic shopping audience. Interestingly, one bodega.
There are many hurdles to address with this growing and meaningful audience. Tesco utilized a very profound research effort…even though it was with major perishable shoppers. Tesco’s researchers and senior management team went directly to the homes of its future target audience, and lived with them for a number of weeks.
One would think more would be secured with Tesco’s approach. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm
We should commend J&J for the work they’ve done to better understand Hispanic shopper insights in the HBC category. It would seem obvious that they would withhold sharing proprietary findings as this offers them a means to craft a unique strategy positioning them competitively in key channels. Why does this seem so surprising? Clearly there is more to the data than what’s been released and we should all recognize that given the magnitude of this initiative, we can expect to hear more about this in the future.
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Some of the J&J conclusions sound like they’d apply to all shoppers, not just Hispanics (wider aisles). Some of the conclusions sound like they’d apply to other recently-arrived ethnic groups, too (safety and dosage instructions for non-English speakers). Why wasn’t Vida Nuestra continued after 2005? And why did it only tour 4 states?
The sample size is large so the analysis should be able to break out separate groups. The three conclusions reported are reasonable but not new information. Hopefully, J&J’s analysis goes deeper to determine whether respondents are first, second or third generation, from which country they trace their roots, the kind of neighborhood in which they live, etc. If this information is not known then it is not possible to know to whom the results apply. However, with 7,000 respondents there certainly is the possibility of answering these questions.
Hard to say without reading the whole study, but here are a few questions. How is “Hispanic” being defined? That answer is critical to understanding the value of the study. If we are talking about immigrant and/or first generation Mexicans for example the study doesn’t seem to be too eye opening. Yes, shopping is a family affair and that’s why those aisles need to be wider. The preference for wider aisles has less to do with merchandising and more to do with navigating a cart, two adults and several children through a store. Again, not surprising J&J doesn’t want to release more details but, as it stands, these conclusions were available five, ten, fifteen and twenty years ago.
Jon Troy and the Centers of Excellence are focused on securing and maintaining the industry lead on insights and applications of the most recent research (consumer and other types). As the U.S. retail environment becomes even less “homogenized” ethnically and racially (in spite of the reputation for being a land of immigrants, stores and the CPG industry have not always reflected that), it is wise for manufacturers and retailers to look at the shopping experience through the eyes of the shopper and not merely as product sellers.
The CPGMatters report did not share the differences BETWEEN and AMONG Hispanic shoppers from different countries (or did every Spanish surnamed person react the same and have the same desires?). I suspect there is more to the research than what was shared here–and CPGMatters just was not privy to it as J&J likely was holding back somethings for their own competitive advantage. GOOD for J&J for doing this research and for sharing some of the highlights–but it is obviously (and intentionally) not a recipe book for others to follow to achieve what J&J is capable of achieving, having done the research.
This study tells us nothing new about the multicultural marketplace. Any retailer that takes his local market seriously would know how to cater to his local customer base. It’s obvious to any company that its consumers must understand the words on the package! Here in Ontario, everything sold has English and French on the package and I would suspect there are probably more Hispanics in California than there are French people in Ontario. This is another situation where retailers and manufacturers need to focus more on the customer they are serving and not what marketing surveys and focus groups suggest they should do.
No, nothing surprising here. Frankly, the research I have done and continue to do with LatinWorks is much more nuanced, useful and actionable. We make the distinction between Hispanic assimilation (understanding) and acculturation (action). The insights that flow from this understanding have helped many of our clients succeed in the many (yes, many) US Hispanic markets.
As for where retailers and brands are still falling short in their attempts to incorporate Hispanic consumers into the shopping experience, I would say that the store-level efforts are still lacking. We have certainly found that store-level efforts (signage, promotions, sampling, etc.) are particularly effective in Hispanic marketing campaigns.
7,000 interviews to capture the many different segments of the Hispanic shopping audience. Interestingly, one bodega.
There are many hurdles to address with this growing and meaningful audience. Tesco utilized a very profound research effort…even though it was with major perishable shoppers. Tesco’s researchers and senior management team went directly to the homes of its future target audience, and lived with them for a number of weeks.
One would think more would be secured with Tesco’s approach. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm
We should commend J&J for the work they’ve done to better understand Hispanic shopper insights in the HBC category. It would seem obvious that they would withhold sharing proprietary findings as this offers them a means to craft a unique strategy positioning them competitively in key channels. Why does this seem so surprising? Clearly there is more to the data than what’s been released and we should all recognize that given the magnitude of this initiative, we can expect to hear more about this in the future.