The Most Frequently Tried New Products in 2010

A new brand trial survey from Market Force revealed which brands drive the most new product trials and why. The research -- conducted in January 2010 among its network of 300,000 independent mystery shoppers and merchandisers -- looked at categories including beverages, snacks, coffees/teas, cereals, cleaning products and health/beauty products. Here, we share the findings from this revealing new survey:

 

The survey took a look at what drove consumers to pick up and buy a new product in the categories studied. Four in 10 consumers said "they saw it on the shelf or display." Promotions such as coupons were mentioned as driving factors by another three in 10. Referrals by friends was the next most popular reason driving new product purchases, and advertising was cited by just 8 percent of survey respondents.

 

Other 82 percent of respondents said they drink coffee or tea, and cited traditional brands such as Folgers, Sanka, Lipton and Nestea as the brands they currently have at home. But, specialty coffee and teas enticed more consumers to try a new brand or flavor in early 2010. Starbucks coffee was the No. 1 brand tried by consumers in the coffee/tea category in January. Dunkin' Donuts coffee received roughly half that number, followed by Celestial Seasonings and Folgers with 35 and 34, respectively.

 

Forty-four percent of consumers reported trying a new brand of snack in the last 30 days. The leading brand of snack consumers remember trying in the past 30 days was Chex Mix, followed closely by Ritz and Fiber One. All three have been very successful in extending their iconic brands into multiple flavors and even multiple categories.

 

Coca-Cola's vitaminwater, V8 and SoBe were called out by consumers as the top three new brands they remember purchasing in the last 30 days. Out of the top 17 brands that dominated in the beverage category with 10 or more mentions, Pepsi-distributed brands accounted for five of them. Starbucks also made it on to the beverage list, showing its increasing marketing muscle in the grocery aisle. Fuze had a very strong showing as a relatively new entrant, mentioned almost as frequently as much better known brands such as Pepsi and Mountain Dew.

 

Kashi and Kellogg's Special K cereals were the two brands mentioned most frequently as new cereal products tried by consumers in the past 30 days. In fact, they had more mentions than any brand across the six categories researched, with 127 and 123, respectively. General Mills' Cheerios brand rounded out the top three with 80 mentions. The nearest competitor was Post's Honey Bunches of Oats with 24 mentions, one-fifth of what was garnered by the two cereal leaders

 

Consumers were slightly less likely to try a new cleaning product than snacks, coffee or beverages, with 29 percent of consumers reporting that they bought a new brand in the past 30 days. When they did try a new cleaning product, long-standing brands won out. Reckitt Benckiser's Lysol was mentioned most frequently, followed closely by Procter & Gamble's Swiffer and Clorox, with 29, 28 and 27 mentions, respectively.

 

The survey's pool of 6,000 respondents ranged in age from 19 to 72 and reflected a broad spectrum of income levels, with approximately half reporting incomes of more than $50,000 a year. Approximately 75 percent were women, the primary household consumer purchasers. Half had children at home.