Dialing Down Demographics

As anyone who analyzes the data collected from those store-specific “preferred,” “fresh values,” and other cards scanned at the grocery checkout—or any other method of market research—will tell you, the details surrounding who buys what is of great interest to product manufacturers and marketers. And in recent years, such data have revealed more-specific drivers that dial down demographics into brackets divided by such rubrics as age and gender. What floats Little Johnny Toddler’s boat is obviously much different than Big Sister Sally Preteen, not to mention Mom and Dad Gen X and Grandma and Grandpa Boomer—and gender even enables a subdivision between Mom and Dad, as well as Grandma and Grandpa. Everyone has different genetically and environmentally instilled bits that make us tick, and unearthing any such nuggets suited to relatively broad categorization could very well catalyze a quantum leap—which is already underway—in how we approach product formulation in the coming decade.

Clinical research captures a significant part of this picture. Studies, such as this recent analysis, continue to look how such factors as gender and age can affect purchasing decisions. If we can discover what motivates different consumer demographics—18- to 24-year-old males, 36- to 54-year-old women, etc.—we can fine-tune products for those markets and facilitate better targeted placement at retail.

These customizations can come in the form of specific products that hit home with different groups—smoothies, bars, sushi, wraps, etc.—as well as flavor profiles, texture, etc. It can also encompass health aspects, driving this closer to nutrigenomic territory: working with ingredients scientifically proven to help prevent prostate cancer for adult males in targeted brackets, breast cancer for women, etc., as well as taking into consideration genetically inherited proclivities toward those and other conditions.

As is often the case, a press release that crossed my desk kicked these perpetually swirling thoughts into action today. The Danisco release describes some demographic-specific bars, including: a reduced-sugar, fortified snack bar for kids with fruit, cereal and nuts that includes prebiotics and soluble dietary fiber, to boot; a bar for women with fruit, cereal and white chocolate; and one for men that includes saw palmetto, a botanical shown to aid prostate health. Other, similar products have hit the market in recent years attempting to foster a more-personal connection between consumers and the foods they eat.

As market research reveals more purchasing patters that cross enough concentric circles to make such targeted formulation an economic reality, and science reveals more proven connections between certain ingredients and specific health conditions, dialing down demographics will undoubtedly prove a profitable route for product development.