Aspirational Consumers Want ‘Purposeful’ Brands — But Are They Out There?

Hold on to your designer, hipster-esque trilby hat, because things are about to get a little confusing (but also this could be a major opportunity for brands to compete and “win” in a new retail space).

A new study that looks at “aspirational consumers” finds this segment of shoppers steadily rising, but about half of them cannot name a single “purposeful” brand they actually feel good about buying.

The study, conducted by BBMG and GlobeScan, two brand consultancy groups, surveyed 21,000 consumers from 21 countries during the first quarter of 2016.

For the purpose of “labeling’ the aspirational consumer, the study defined this group based on their “love of shopping, desire for responsible consumption and their trust in brands to act in the best interest of society.”

Aspirationals now make up about 40 percent of global consumers, the study found, and this group is more and more mingling their “consumer needs, desires and shopping behaviors with social and environmental beliefs, values and priorities.”

But since much of this data is new and brands and retailers really don’t have a handle on the aspirational consumer quite yet, these type of consumers are still a largely underserved and untapped market.

“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,” said Raphael Bemporad, BBMG’s founding partner.

However, as Bemporad notes, aspirationals are still not really sure what “their” brands actually are.

“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 notes.

Aspirationals also tend to be more style-oriented and social status-seeking than the typical shopper.

Seventy-eight percent of consumers identified in the study as aspirational answered: “I want to stand out by the way I look, my style,” compared to 53 percent of all consumers.

Aspirationals also tend to be more “empowered” shoppers, as 84 percent answered that “shopping for new things excites me,” compared to 58 percent of all consumers. About 74 percent of aspirationals also “try to support companies and brands that have a purpose of making a positive difference in society through their products, services and operation,” compared to 65 percent of all consumers.

Aspirationals are also much more likely to “trust” a brand, with 58 percent responding that they “trust global companies to act in the best interest of society,” compared to 48 percent of all consumers.

And they also tend to be more positive “influencers” of brands and their friends’ purchasing habits. Almost nine out of 10 aspirationals (87 percent) answered that they encourage others to buy from “socially and environmentally responsible companies,” compared to just 63 percent of all consumers who felt the same way.

“Brands have good reason to place purpose at the center of their value proposition, as aspirationals are notably more trusting of companies than others and more open to brands with a bold vision of the future,” said Eric Whan, director at GlobeScan. “It’s a ripening opportunity, so long as brands align authentically with aspirationals’ social and environmental values.”

And for brands and retailers looking to target this steadily growing market of aspirationals, here’s the data that will tell you how:

Aspirationals tend to be on the younger end of the consumer spectrum. They are most likely to be among the millennial (47 percent) and Gen X (34 percent) populations, compared to 42 percent and 35 percent of the general population, respectively.

They are also most typically found in emerging markets.

Fifty-eight percent of Nigerian consumers surveyed identified as aspirationals, as well as 53 percent of Indian consumers, 52 percent of Chinese and South African consumers and 51 percent of Indonesian consumers. Shoppers from Ghana and Peru (both 49 percent), Kenya (44 percent) and Brazil (42 percent) also strongly identified as aspirational shoppers.

In developed countries? Not so much … at least not yet.

Canada had the highest percentage of surveyed consumers who identified as aspirational in developed markets, at 42 percent, followed by 41 percent in the U.K. and Russia, 40 percent in Greece and 37 percent in Spain.

But the aspirational trend seems not to have caught on too firmly in the U.S. yet, as only 36 percent of U.S. consumers surveyed fell into that category.

Still, brands and retailers would be wise to heed this data and start offering products marketed and geared toward aspirationals in the future.

And if you’re still not sure how to identify an aspirational, they’re the type of person you’re probably most likely to find at Burning Man.