BRAND LOYALTY ON THE DECLINE
By Adnews Staff
Canadians' loyalty to brands is on the decline, according to a study done by the Food and Consumer Products Manufacturers of Canada and The Reader's Digest Association (Canada) Ltd. The survey highlights the differences between the Canadian and U.S. marketplace, including attitudes, lifestyle and behavior. Both Canadians and Americans exhibit brand loyalty especially with food products. Canadians are more likely to use just one brand within a household, however, the study showed that Canadian loyalty towards food products has dropped an average of seven points for seven selected products since 1996. In that same period, brand loyalty dropped one percentage point in the U.S. Canadians regard ads endorsed by a health or medical organization as the most believable, while U.S. consumers prefer ads with money-back guarantees. Overall, Americans are more skeptical of various advertising approaches than Canadians, but they do have a higher level of acceptance of cause-related marketing than Canadians. For both countries, women are still the primary shoppers in the family and do most of the cooking. Sixty-nine per cent of Canadian women say they do the shopping, while 72% of American women do it. Fifty-two percent of Canadian women prepare most of the meals at home, while 62% of American women do the cooking. However, Canadians are more likely to cook from scratch than Americans, and they place a greater emphasis on quality, taste and personal involvement. Canadians also pay more attention to nutritional content, with 53% of the respondents saying they have a regularly balanced diet, compared to 46% of Americans. Canadian couples are more likely to make joint decisions and the family is more likely to eat dinner together than their American counterparts.