The “Aspirationals” are on the rise the globe over and brands are being warned to ready themselves to meet their buying needs.
What’s an Aspirational, you may well ask? Well, they love to shop and buy stuff but they expect the brands and companies they buy from to be socially, ethically and environmentally conscious.
However, according to a study by consultancy firms BBMG and GlobeScan done in the first quarter of 2016, 40 per cent of shoppers around the globe are now considered as an Aspirational; however, half of those again couldn’t name a brand that they felt conducted itself in a ethical and purposeful way.
And according to the study, to be an Aspirational you can be of any age. However, they’re most likely to be a Millennial (47 per cent); while some 34 per cent of Xs are considered in the category. But it appears the only criteria to be an Aspirational is you like shopping and buying stuff.
Aspirationals are also broken down into sub groups. There’s the highly committed Advocates (22 per cent of consumers globally in 2016), style and social status-seeking Aspirationals (40 per cent), price and performance-minded Practicals (29 per cent), and the less engaged Indifferents (nine per cent).
Other findings of the study included:
- 84 per cent of Aspirationals found shopping exciting in comparison to 58 per cent of the rest of the population.
- 74 per cent of Aspirationals say the seek out brands that are purposeful.
- 90 per cent say they’ll pay more for brands that try and make a positive difference.
- 87 per cent of Aspirationals try and encourage others to shop responsibly.
- 79 per cent say they try and learn more about a company’s ethics and the brands they buy from.
Interestingly, the countries with the highest number of Aspirational consumers were emerging nations. Nigeria topped the list with 58 per cent of its consumers considered Aspirational. India was second (53 per cent) and China third (52 per cent). When it came to the top number of Aspirational consumers in developed markets Australia did not rank in the top eight.
Raphael Bemporad, founding partner at BBMG said of the study that involved 21,000 consumers from 21 countries: “Aspirational consumers are looking for brands to stand for something bigger than product benefits. They want brands to embody an inspiring ethos, to bring a strong point of view, and take action to make a positive impact in the world
“However, half of the world’s Aspirationals cannot name a single brand that reflects this deeper sense of purpose. This ‘brand purpose gap’ provides a major opportunity for brands to win by placing a higher purpose at the core of who they are and what they do,” Bemporad said.
