Longing for travel adventures as borders open up

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After 2 long years of travel restrictions and closed borders, pent up desires for adventure can finally be fulfilled. In 2020, 217 holiday destinations were impacted by the global pandemic, with 45% implementing total or partial border closures. In the latest report by the UN World Trade Organisation published last year in November, that number had decreased to 46 destinations. Today, most countries have reopened their doors to tourists. 

Even during the pandemic, statistics showed that online searches for resorts and hotels were at an all-time high within the last decade. With less restrictions in place, renewed interests in turning holidays into a reality isn’t surprising. At Insightzclub we asked our panel of consumers what their thoughts were in our latest survey. 

An indication of strong demand

89% of our respondents told us that they were planning a holiday within the next 3 months, with 56% saying they were going to a local holiday destination and 44% looking to travel internationally. 

A longer holiday duration appealed to 44% who said they were going to spend 1 to 2 weeks on vacation. Perhaps because they had saved up annual leave, but the trend suggests that we want to stay longer to make up for missed holiday opportunities.

Consumer confidence in air-travel is also returning, with 56% of our respondents telling us that they choose to travel by airplane. This figure has doubled from our findings in a previous survey conducted last year that revealed only 27% were comfortable with flying. 

Concerns and Considerations for Health & Safety

All of our respondents were either slightly concerned (22%) or very concerned (78%) about their health and safety while travelling. Although this doesn’t seem to deter or prevent holiday makers, instead they have to think about extra considerations and take precautions before booking their trips.

An increase in the time it takes to plan a holiday reveals these additional considerations, with 66% of our respondents saying that they needed at least 3 weeks up to 2 months to plan for their holiday. 

Furthermore, 67% also agreed that travel insurance is “very important” for their holiday. This suggests that consumers are aware of the risks that come with travelling during a pandemic, but are still willing to do it. 

Luxury and Comfort are sought after

There are many reasons for taking a holiday, but there has been a shift towards seeking luxury and comfort. A get-away that pampers consumers is becoming more desirable. 

Our findings seemed to suggest the same with 56% of respondents saying that they were going to stay at 4* or 5* Hotels and only 33% said they were planning to stay at an AirBnB. 

66% said they were prepared to spend a budget of between $2000 and $3000 for their holiday. 

To learn more about consumer behaviour and trends reach out to us.  

Schedule a call with us…

Media Trends to benefit your brand in 2022

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As we round up our exploration into this years top Media Trends, here’s a summary of the trends that your brand should get onboard with to better engage with your consumers and extend your brand’s influence while improving the impact of your marketing presence. 

Privacy Matters

In this day and age, our digital footprint has become widely available to most companies and brands that collect our personal data. With so many cookies and trackers monitoring our search history and activity across websites, applications and other platforms, it’s hard to stay anonymous while browsing the web. Have you ever wondered why advertisements displayed to you change after searching a certain keyword? Perhaps, you were looking for a new vacuum cleaner one day and all of a sudden, you are shown the latest model available the next time an ad pops up on your screen.

Although most consumers agree with personalised ads, at the same time, our respondents told us in our latest survey that privacy matters more. 78% claimed that privacy is “very important” to them. Therefore, making sure that your consumers are aware of what personal data is being collected and how you are safeguarding their personal data helps to ease their concerns. 

Furthermore, 56% of our consumers reported that they were “not comfortable” with allowing websites to collect and store their personal data. This highlights consumer’s fear of their personal data being abused or misappropriated. In order to alleviate this fear, brands should be more transparent about the data collected and provide an opt-out option to protect consumer privacy. 

Improve your brand’s perception

We looked at 3 areas of how brands could promote a positive image to their consumers. With a rise in awareness towards socio-economic issues like sustainability, corporate social responsibility and fair HR practices, consumers want to support brands that not only care about these issues but are at the forefront with initiatives aimed at addressing them. 

56% of our respondents reported that a brand’s stance and measures towards ensuring sustainability, in the form of eco-friendliness, using green technologies or cleaner waste was “very important” when it came to their consideration of supporting the brand. 

An overwhelming majority of respondents (89%) view brands that donate or collaborate with non-profit organisations and charities more positively. Brands which are viewed as being part of the community, seen giving back by supporting meaningful causes attract consumer’s attention and make them more favourable than those which do not take part in these initiatives. 

Internal practices of the brand in the form of promoting diversity, inclusivity and fairness among employees was also deemed important by 78% of our respondents. 

More demographic representation in advertising

Only 33% of our respondents claimed that they felt represented “very often” in the advertisements that they saw. 

While representation in advertising and media has expanded over the past decade, there is still much more room for improvement. When consumers see relatable portrayals of themselves in advertisements, they are able to engage better and more effectively with the message of the advertisement and even begin imagining themselves using the brand’s product or service.

To learn more about consumer behaviour and trends reach out to us. 

Schedule a call with us…

Cosmetics & Skin Care: A look into the aspirations for beauty

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In the highly contested cosmetics and skin care global market valued at over 163 billion dollars this year, we take a look at how the market continues to grow and some of the changing trends that we observed in our latest survey. 

Big brands like SK-II previously launched marketing campaigns directed towards natural looking beauty. The hashtag #nomakeup challenge had became a trend all over social media, even big-time celebrities like Lady Gaga, Jennifer Aniston and Selena Gomez took part with their own makeup-less selfies. 

Promoting self-image: 

Among our mostly female respondents aged between adolescents to 50 year olds, the consensus was clear; not only do cosmetic products improve self-image but skin care products play a very important role for maintaining beautiful and healthy skin. 

Our findings suggested that respondents were taking an active role, searching for ways to take care of their self-image. 67% of our respondents claimed to search online for new cosmetic products. While at the same time an equal number also reported that they have been influenced by social media to purchase a skin care or cosmetic product in the past. 

This points towards a conscious and aware market where information is highly sought after. Although reaching this audience has become a challenge as traditional forms of media are declining in popularity, for example only 33% of respondents claimed to rely on magazines for this information, which once used to be the standard of the beauty industry. 

The types of products demanded:

Our data appears to support the shift from make-up towards natural skin beauty, an overwhelming majority of respondents reported to regularly use facial cleanser (78%), serums (67%), moisturizers (56%) and treatments (44%) while compared to only 22% claiming to regularly wear make-up. 

We speculate the factors that prompted this shift, like changing standards of beauty and the natural look trend, less social events and mask wearing could be responsible. 

Being a recognized brand is important:

With thousands of options to choose from, fierce competition requires top brands to stand apart to dominate a loyal user base. 

78% of our respondents agreed that the brand name played a very important role when considering to make their purchase. 

With over half of our respondents spending up to $50 dollars a month on skincare and cosmetics monthly, the market is certainly still growing. Currently the affordable product range provided at pharmacies is the majority of where our respondents choose to shop at (56%) while only 33% are visiting department stores for more mid- to high ranged products. 

To learn more about consumer behaviour and trends reach out to us. 

Schedule a call with us…