Category: Marketing Research Foundation

The Marketing Research Foundation (MRF) and Plus94 Research announced the successful unveiling of the latest comprehensive MAPS™ (Marketing All Product Survey) dataset through a global webinar presented in partnership with ESOMAR, the world’s leading voice for the data analytics profession.

The MAPS™ May 2024 release incorporated three full years of data from 2021 through 2023, providing brands, marketers and their agency partners with an unmatched opportunity to analyse emerging consumer trends and shifting product purchasing behaviours across South Africa.

“Our long-standing MAPS program exemplifies the cutting-edge market intelligence capabilities within the South African research community,” said Johann Koster, CEO of the Marketing Research Foundation. “By collaborating with renowned organisations like ESOMAR, we were able to highlight how the quality, integrity and thoroughness of MAPS aligns with the highest global standards for consumer analytics.”

With a robust annual sample size exceeding 20,000 respondents across metro, urban and rural areas, MAPS offers unprecedented visibility into media consumption habits and consumer goods purchasing patterns nationwide. The study’s rigorous methodology, covering over 3 000 brands across more than 150 media and product categories, ensures MAPS data maintains stringent quality thresholds.

Key findings from the MAPS May 2024 release painted a picture of South African households grappling with increasing financial strain amidst rising costs for basic goods and persistent issues like crippling electricity blackouts. Data showed significant declines in expenditures for discretionary purchases like dining out and cinema visits, however alcohol sales have remained fairly constant with beer and wine being increasing consumed. Media consumption remained stable overall, with streaming video and social platforms carving out their space in the video viewing universe while Television seems to have stabilised and is holding its own in terms of overall audience share.

The MAPS May 2024 webinar featured insights into wide-ranging topics such as:

• Impact of escalating inflation on grocery and consumer goods purchasing power
• Shifting habits around traditional and digital media consumption
• Households’ reliance on mobile banking and money transfer services
• Evolution of e-commerce and online shopping adoption across categories like clothing
• Emerging trends in alcoholic beverage preferences and liquor retail channel choices

Koster further emphasised, “The insights derived from MAPS are invaluable for any entity looking to understand and engage with the South African market. Our data is a critical tool for developing strategies that resonate with consumers, drive growth, and adapt to the dynamic market environment.”

The webinar recording and presentation are freely available to all. For more information on accessing these assets, please visit https://mrfsa.org.za/mapspresentations/.

For additional information on MAPS – http://mrfsa.org.za/maps/

Social Media: Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/MRFSouthAfrica/
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/mrfsa

The Marketing Research Foundation’s (MRF) is looking forward to connecting with the marketing and advertising industry at their upcoming webinar on Thursday, 01 February 2024, to provide general top-line data from the latest MAPS™ (Marketing All Product Survey) data that was released in December 2023.

“The three continuous years of data, from July 2020 to June 2023 with over 60 000 respondents, has provided invaluable insights into consumer media and product consumption and spending patterns,” says the MRF’s CEO, Johann Koster.

The webinar will include MAPS demographics, the economic landscape that South Africa finds itself in, the current media landscape, and consumer product consumption and spending patterns.

Some interesting findings in the data include the continued upsurge in online activities and e-commerce. Social media and content streaming services continue to show strong growth, for example, TikTok growing by 531% over the past three years, while print media is showing some stability following sharp declines during the pandemic. Television has been severely affected by loadshedding and the Government’s digital migration programme and saw an overall decline of 22%. Some TV channels however bucked this trend and experienced growth during this challenging time.

The three-year period under review presented extraordinary challenges for consumers ranging from the pandemic, economic and cost-of-living challenges to loadshedding and water supply interruptions. These challenges forced consumers to adapt and change their behaviour and the MAPS data provides invaluable insights into these behavioural shifts. While the average monthly spend on groceries and toiletries have remained fairly stable throughout this period, it should be seen in the context of rising inflation which meant that the average grocery basket got smaller. Brand loyalty for groceries and toiletries have also declined while cosmetics saw the opposite trend.

MAPS December 2023 Release Industry Webinar

When:             Thursday, 01 February 2024

Time:              11:00

Where:            Webinar (https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/97d5d696-906b-410e-b9c1-01a614d3022b@54694a3e-ea56-4bf8-bd2c-83bf1d910d45)

“MAPS provides vital marketing insights to help brands navigate the fast-changing marketing landscape. With extensive consumer data covering long-term trends, seasonal shifts, and quarterly changes in shopper behaviour and spending patterns, MAPS empowers marketers with the consumer intelligence needed to succeed,” said Koster. “We are excited to present MAPS most current findings on South African consumers to the industry this week.”

The Marketing Research Foundation’s (MRF) latest iteration of MAPS™ (Marketing All Product Survey), with fieldwork from July 2022 to June 2023, is now available to marketers and their designated agencies. The latest quarterly release marks three continuous years of insights into consumer behaviour and spending patterns.

“The data, now from over 60 000 unique respondents, over the last three-year period provides a clear view of the changes in product consumption and spending patterns,” says the MRF’s CEO, Johann Koster. “The recovery from recent global events and ongoing economic pressures on consumers are evident in the data.”

It is important to note that normally there would only be four releases of data per annum, but due to the audit conducted this year and the implementation of the findings there is an additional release. 2024 will see the releases return to the normal quarterly cadence.

The fieldwork data from July 2022 to June 2023 is currently available for use to the subscribed marketers and their agencies, there will be a general top-line data industry webinar late January 2024, once everyone is back from the holiday season.

“MAPS is an invaluable strategic marketing tool for today’s dynamic landscape delivering an incredible depth and breadth of data whether looking at year-on-year, seasonal or quarterly shifts in consumer behaviour,” said Koster. “We look forward to sharing the latest insights into the ever-evolving South African consumer with the industry next year.”

For additional information on MAPS – http://mrfsa.org.za/maps

Social Media: Facebook –      https://www.facebook.com/MRFSouthAfrica/

LinkedIn –        https://www.linkedin.com/company/mrfsa

The Marketing Research Foundation’s (MRF) announces that the latest iteration of MAPS (Marketing All Product Survey), with fieldwork from April 2022 to March 2023, will be available as from Monday, 02 October 2023.

The MRF’s CEO, Johann Koster says, “The upcoming latest iteration of MAPS will provide insights into consumer behaviour and spending patterns from the first quarter of 2023. It will be interesting to see data from this year coming through.”

The impacts of recent global events on consumers are evident in quarterly consumer data. Trends that emerged during COVID-19 and ongoing economic pressures continue to shape how consumer behaviour evolves in the face of uncertainty. The data reveals changes in product consumption and spending patterns.

“MAPS is an invaluable strategic marketing tool for today’s dynamic landscape,” said Koster. “With its wealth of insights into an ever-evolving consumer, MAPS empowers marketers and agencies to make smart, data-driven decisions. We eagerly anticipate the release of the newest MAPS data, which will reveal the latest shifts in consumer trends as the research continues to progress. These timely insights will allow us to identify and respond to changes in the market.”

For additional information on MAPS – http://mrfsa.org.za/maps/

Social Media: Facebook –      https://www.facebook.com/MRFSouthAfrica/

LinkedIn –        https://www.linkedin.com/company/mrfsa

The Marketing Research Foundation’s (MRF) latest iteration of MAPS (Marketing All Product Survey) data has been released. Interesting changes in consumer behaviour has come to light, especially over the past two years providing marketers with a strategic decision-making viewpoint.

The July release which, for the first time, enables users to compare two calendar years of data, delivers a national survey of 20 000 interviews which includes insights into respondents’ brand interaction across more than 3 376 brands.

MAPS validated by audit

A recent audit on the survey’s underlying processes, procedures, and protocols, by auditors 3M3A found that MAPS is of a “high standard”, healthy and in a good place. Some technical adjustments have improved the accuracy and stability of MAPS, ensuring that the MRF can ultimately deliver on the goal of making MAPS a world class survey enabling strategic decision making.

The MRF’s CEO, Johann Koster says, “There have been many data releases recently from various organisations and it can become a little confusing as the data to many are not comparable. It is therefore important to understand where the MAPS research fits into the South African research sphere. The scope of MAPS is huge and includes life stages and lifestyles, financials, media consumption and consumer purchasing behaviours.”

“MAPS is a strategic tool; it is not a media currency,” adds Virginia Hollis, Chairperson of the MRF. “The insights from MAPS offer a detailed view of consumer behaviour across media, finance, retail and many other sectors, additionally, MAPS covers the entire age 15+ population, not just a section of South Africa.”

The MRF are in the process of having discussions with the Broadcast Research Council (BRC) and the Publisher Research Council (PRC) to become the industry hub survey for fusion with currencies and other industry research to provide a single source of consumer data. “These discussions are going well and are looking very positive,” says Hollis.

Fieldwork Landscape

Two research collection instruments are used for the MAPS study, over 20 000 face-to-face interviews and nearly 11 000 product and brand diaries have been completed during 2022. The two formats are integrated into a full sample by means of fusion. Sampling includes a distribution of 50% metro, 30% urban and 20% rural, validated by GIS (Geographic Information System) mapping.

Personal and household incomes decline

The survey has found that average personal income over the two-year period of 2021 and 2022 had declined from R4 883 to R4 438 while average household income has declined from R11 648 to R9 973. 2022 saw less people unemployed, more retirees, more self-employed and more students. More undergraduate degrees were achieved while diplomas and post-graduate degrees remained the same.

The impact of change in the economic landscape between 2020 and 2022 has become very clear to see. The effects saw fewer impulse buying opportunities, a shift in shopping patterns from instore to online, an increase in dependents other than own household and careful buying became the order of the day – the result – behaviour shifts in volume and cost-effective purchasing or thrift shopping.

Effects on consumers can be seen through quarterly data tracking

The effects on consumers and changes in product consumption and spending patterns are also clear to see especially when viewed through the lens of quarterly data tracking. For example, overall, the average monthly clothing or apparel expenditure decreased by just over half from R2 736 to R1 329 over the two-year period, but what is apparent in the quarterly data tracking is that the expenditure is showing signs of recovery from Q2 in 2022.

The data also indicates that while brand loyalty is on the rise, consumers are more willing to abandon a particular brand if it becomes too expensive.

Media landscape

Not only has the environment affected the economic landscape but media consumption too. 2022 saw never-before loadshedding stages and a massive upward trend of Gigawatt Hours (GWh) being shed especially in the second half of 2022 with huge impacts on consumer media consumption.

Since the easing of lockdown, the data confirms that consumers have been spending more time getting back to activities outside their homes. Clear upward trends are noticed for out-of-home engagements including gardening, running errands (school runs and shopping for example) and traveling to and from work. Other MAPS ‘time spent’ data points include, but are not limited to, checking social media, playing computer games, just ‘surfing’ the internet, watching TV (further segmented into watching sport or not) and listening to radio.

Year-on-year media penetration shifts saw a massive increase in online activities while traditional media, TV, radio and print saw various levels of decline.

Strategic decision-making for brands

MAPS delves deeply into brands and services. Financial service questions relate to commercial banking, financial services, saving and investment behaviour, stokvels and SASSA grants. Retail questions include household purchasing behaviour, products and brands, malls visited and fast-food purchasing behaviours. For example, the percentage of the population that used hair styling products decreased from 16% to 14% over the two-year period.

Hollis reiterates,” MAPS is an indispensable strategic tool in decision making, providing the ability to track shifts in behaviour and consumptions patterns of the South African consumer. Our vision for MAPS is to help business’ make better decisions.  It has been designed specifically for marketers, media strategists/planners independently from any commercial interests. Our goal is for MAPS to be the single source of consumer data that marketers and agencies can rely on.

Thank you to our users and subscribers, stakeholders, the MRF board, the volunteers and Plus094 Research in this massive undertaking for getting MAPS published on a quarterly basis.”

For additional information on MAPS – http://mrfsa.org.za/maps/

Social Media: Facebook –      https://www.facebook.com/MRFSouthAfrica/

LinkedIn –        https://www.linkedin.com/company/mrfsa

The Marketing Research Foundation’s (MRF) has announced that the latest iteration of MAPS (Marketing All Product Survey) data will be released on Monday, 31 July 2023. The media and advertising industry is invited to participate in a general release webinar on Thursday 3 August 2023.

The July release will once again deliver insights into a national survey of 20 000 interviews which includes insights into respondents’ brand interaction across more than 3 376 brands.

The MRF’s CEO, Johann Koster, emphasises the significance of this release as it presents a valuable chance to conduct a thorough analysis of two full calendar years. “This enables MAPS users to gain a plethora of valuable insights as we monitor evolving consumer behaviour, transitioning from the impact of Covid restrictions to the current economic downturn.

MAPS is the largest and most comprehensive consumer survey of its kind in South Africa and offers a holistic and detailed view of consumer behaviour across media, banking, insurance, clothing, groceries, alcohol and many more,” confirms Koster, “What makes MAPS so relevant is that all data collected is from the same space and time, representing specific consumer and household views.”

Space and time are very important considerations when consolidating consumer data. Consumer behaviour is largely a consequence of external factors and the environment within which consumption decisions are made. Consider how quickly consumer behaviour changed during and after the Covid pandemic. The subsequent economic downturn has ushered in a period of volatility and uncertainty for consumers, resulting in further shifts in behaviour. Consumers are adapting, re-prioritising, and making changes in their day to day lives and MAPS provides the unparalleled ability to track these changes over time.

“Marketers and agencies have found MAPS to be a powerful and strategic tool in its depth of sample, data diversity, frequency, scrutiny and all the processes that govern its implementation”, concludes Koster. “In this regard MAPS is unequalled in its capacity to be a sole provider or used in combination with other data.

The MRF together with our partner Plus94 Research look forward to sharing this information with the industry on Thursday, 3 August 2023.”

MAPS July Release Industry Webinar

When: Thursday, 3 August 2023

Time: 10:00

Where: Webinar (https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/d7acaaa1-d85d-49dc-93e3-b0dee9fcde97@54694a3e-ea56-4bf8-bd2c-83bf1d910d45)

For additional information on MAPS – http://mrfsa.org.za/maps/

Social Media: Facebook –      https://www.facebook.com/MRFSouthAfrica/

LinkedIn –        https://www.linkedin.com/company/mrfsa