Market research firm Alpha-Diver’s doctrine is “understand your consumer like a psychologist.” Company president Hunter Thurman clearly takes that credo to heart.
“My degree is in marketing, but I’ve been working with all these PhDs for the past 14 years, so I’ve picked up a few things,” Thurman said jokingly, in an email to The Food Institute.
That explains some of the statements Thurman made recently when unveiling Alpha-Diver’s latest Bev50 Report, which examines what’s currently driving consumer beverage purchases. The report’s findings are pulled from Alpha-Diver’s extensive U.S. database.
“There is a basic truth to human behavior,” Thurman said during a presentation. “We will seek the ‘carrot’ and avoid the ‘stick.’ So, what we’re measuring and tracking is how do consumers perceive the carrot, and how can we, as marketers, sweeten the carrot, and how can we shorten the stick? How can we mitigate the perceived barriers that people encounter in the marketplace?”
Common barriers to purchase for consumers include: price, time, social pressures, physical concerns (how a product will make a consumer feel), and emotions.
Price, Thurman said, is often an overrated factor. More often than not, consumers tend to give in to impulse purchases in the post-pandemic era.
“The past couple years, it’s pretty glaring and pretty obvious what’s been going on – this impulse driver continues to grow,” Thurman said. Modern consumers have “a bit of a ‘YOLO’ mindset. … What feels good now continues to be the driving macro force.”
In a two-year study of 17 beverage brands, Alpha-Diver found that growing brands tend to inspire impulse purchases.
As Alpha-Diver tracked roughly 50 beverage brands recently, it noticed certain brands and products break out.
“BODYARMOR SportWater is sort of the darkhorse this year, leaping up,” Thurman said, noting that it had become one of the highest-performing hydration drinks. Ready-to-drink iced tea is also “having a bit of moment” of late, he noted.
A few other beverage trends have established even deeper roots in 2024:
Dr Pepper Overtakes Pepsi
Dr Pepper recently ascended to the No. 2 spot among the most popular soda brands. The outlook isn’t all bad for Pepsi, though.
“Dr Pepper has been growing,” Thurman said, adding that the brand currently “aligns with that feel-good-now, macro (driving) force” which is boosting sales.
“It’s not nearly as dire for Pepsi as some of the headlines would indicate,” Thurman added. In this year’s second quarter, Pepsi’s North American beverage unit saw volume shrink 3%; the metric strips out pricing and currency changes to reflect demand, as noted by CNBC.
“Their logo evolution (this year) has really taken a step into that impulse driver. Pepsi is moving in the right direction,” Thurman said.
The Better-for-you Boost
Olipop and Poppi have benefitted from their perceived health halo recently.
“Olipop and Poppi are two brands that have gotten a lot of attention because their volumes are just incredible,” Thurman noted.
The main factor driving purchases of these prebiotic sodas is that, above all else, they tend to be viewed as exciting.
“What’s happening is the consumer is sipping and thinking, ‘What will this feel like? What’s the experience going to be like” when drinking Olipop or Poppi?
Hydration is Top of Mind
The Bev50 report highlights an intriguing trend among many consumers these days: they want to drink water – and lots of it.
“I was laughing the other day that, when I was kid, we would get a sip out of the hose twice a day in the summertime and that was it,” Thurman said. “Now it’s like if you don’t have a 64-ounce Stanley at all times it’s like we’re gonna wither away.”
At present, there’s a high interest among the public in hydration. The success of drinks like BODYARMOR SportWater and Liquid Death canned water illustrate that.
Thurman concluded his presentation of the report by reiterating his belief that brands need to market the perceived benefits of their products – especially that their beverages can make consumers feel good instantly. Inspiring impulse purchases from consumers is currently more important than lowering the price of a product.
“The brands that recognize that are going to continue to drive growth and continue to thrive,” Thurman said.
The Food Institute Podcast
In this episode of The Food Institute Podcast, IFDA President and CEO Mark S. Allen discussed the pressing challenges and innovative solutions in the foodservice distribution industry. Allen delved into topics such as labor shortages, transportation issues, technology advancements, and the importance of industry events like IFDA’s Solutions Conference.
