Young Women and Older Men Worldwide Consume a Volume of Snacks Above Their Share of the Population, Making them the Key Age Groups to Target.

Tuesday 15 January 2013, Amsterdam

The consumer trend known by marketers in the industry as ‘Indulgence’ drives a significantly larger volume share of women’s Snacking markets than men, though Indulgence still drives a very significant part of men’s consumption. Marketers should beware of taking stereotypical approaches to targeting women’s indulgent snacking: rather than offering to alleviate guilt, at the moment of consumption women want products than provide ‘Indulgence’, ‘Personal Space & Time’, and ‘Fun & Enjoyment’.

Conversely, ‘Quality Seeking’ is the most important trend in the BRIC region. Products targeting expansion in BRIC countries must be able to communicate their high quality at all touch points with the consumer. Snacking products based around quality ingredients, hand craftsmanship, and authenticity will be particularly well placed.

Advances in communication and production technology means marketers can produce personalized products at mass market costs. Small snack producers, previously targeting a niche market limited by geographical area, can now reach consumers hundreds of miles away. Though still small, this consumer trend may hit the mainstream in the next five years.

In the dynamic BRIC markets, females aged between 16 and 44 account for a significantly greater share of the Snacking and Impulse market than they do of the overall population. The same is true for men aged over 55.

Older Consumers are particularly important given increasing life expectancy worldwide: they’re already the largest consumer group in the Non-BRIC region, and are gaining in importance in China as a result of the country’s restrictive child policy.

Children, particularly boys under the age of 16, are the major over-consumers in the Non-BRIC region. At younger ages, particularly under the age of six, this reflects high nutritional demands during a key developmental stage, and at older ages reflects the tendency to graze throughout the day.

This report offers a completely fresh look at consumers’ Snacking and Impulse food habits, allowing marketers to understand consumption patterns with more granularity and accuracy than ever before. This offers unique opportunities to effectively target new consumer groups, behaviors, and trends based on actual empirical data in Snacking and Impulse Foods consumption across 10 core countries.