Rekgabile Sito is a senior analytical consultant within the Google specialist team for sub-Saharan Africa. Sito works on Search insights and bespoke analytics to support clients to achieve their marketing objectives.
What moves people, across Africa, to make a purchase? The motives behind a shopper’s decisions can be as complex as the modern consumer journey.
New research from Ipsos and Google helps demystify this complex landscape as it unveils significant new insights into the shopping priorities of consumers in Africa. It reveals how purchasing is connected to perceived social status, and how consumers factor in their personal values when shopping.
Let’s dive deeper into these insights and what they mean for marketers on the continent.
Shoppers buy products and experiences based on what will attract attention to their social media feed
Many shoppers in Africa value social status. This is reflected in their purchasing decisions with material possessions and their interest in skincare and beauty. Fifty-eight per cent of consumers across the continent say they keep their social media feeds in mind when buying products or experiences. This is compared to a much lower global average of 44% of shoppers saying the same.
In Nigeria, Google Search interest for “louis vuitton bags” increased by 60% in recent months, while the topic of “collagen induction therapy” increased 4.5 times in South Africa over the same period.
Shoppers in South Africa invest in their health more than in some other markets: McKinsey research shows that affluent food shoppers in South Africa have a higher intent to pay more for healthier products. The same research shows that South Africans also have a stronger focus on healthy eating than shoppers in European countries, such as the Netherlands, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom.
Action for marketers
Create content that’s aspirational to consumers: There’s a great opportunity for brands across retail verticals to reach an audience for which social status is an important purchasing decision factor. Marketers can use Google’s Gemini, for instance, to build a campaign based on niche audience types that are both eager content creators and posters as well as people who prioritise social status.For example, a travel brand may use the following prompt: “Imagine you are a travel brand looking to create social media posts and video ads to attract travel enthusiasts. Create a campaign brief that includes photo and video ads to reach and attract travel enthusiasts who are active on social media and who tie their social status to what looks good on their online profiles.”
Gemini can develop a full campaign brief based on this prompt, including the campaign’s core message, audience types, full-funnel content, and copy ideas, as well as a channel strategy based on where travel enthusiasts get their inspiration from most.
Personal values are strongly tied to the purchasing choices of shoppers across Africa
There is a clear connection between the personal values and the purchasing decisions of shoppers across Africa. An 82% majority of of them say they buy from brands that reflect their beliefs when it comes to environmental, social, and governmental causes.
This includes choosing brands that prioritise environmentally-friendly packaging, ingredients, or shipping methods. On top of that, they look for companies that actively pursue social causes, such as with charities or give-back schemes.
Additionally, 79% of African consumers are prepared to pay more for a better customer experience. This highlights that not only aligned values are important to consumers, but also that their expectations must be met. This is key for brands and retailers to retain loyal shoppers who are willing to pay more.
In other words, it’s about boosting consumer confidence. When a shopper feels they know and trust a product – and the brand at large – they feel strongly enough to choose it over another, less costly brand.
Actions for marketers
Improve personalisation to align to values and expectations: Using consented first-party, segment your audience by their shopping behaviours on your site, their search history, and their values and lifestyles. You can then personalise a shopper’s experience with dynamic site content that changes based on their purchase and search history. Lastly, you can elevate personalisation by retargeting your products to shoppers with a higher intent to buy by employing AI-powered campaigns with value-based bidding.Foster consumer confidence: Build trust by creating digital proof of your brand and make it easy for shoppers to learn about you. For example, include customer reviews in your advertising, create campaigns dedicated to improving brand and product knowledge, ask for post-purchase feedback via email, or utilise YouTube creators to improve consideration.Get more marketing insights, guides and knowledge with Think with Google.
Google/Ipsos, EG, KE, MA, NG, ZA, ZM, Ipsos Global Trends Report, Nov. 2024.
