In a highly diverse world, we can still find profound commonalities in consumer needs — but in surprising places

By Aparna Bharadwaj and Patrick Witschi

Global companies that try to find commonalities and drive synergies in marketing strategies around the world soon run into a conundrum: The global consumer marketplace is remarkably diverse. What motivates consumers to make their buying choices can differ sharply even among nations that are close neighbors or that share cultural roots.

So how can companies simplify a complex world? Does this mean that brands can’t use similar marketing strategies in different countries? Well, not really. We find that profound commonality in consumer behavior exists, but often in surprising places. One just has to dig deep to find it. One promising way is to carefully study the needs that drive choice within specific countries and categories.

Consider China and Indonesia. These are extremely different markets in terms of consumer mindsets, histories, and cultural roots. Yet our research found that the needs that motivate Chinese consumers to select certain snacks are strikingly similar to those in Indonesia. In both markets, snacking is an opportunity for social connection. In the US, by contrast, snacking is an individual moment of indulgence. 

We believe this insight can be highly valuable for companies searching for new growth markets. A consumer company that is successful in one major market may be able to identify opportunities to expand in other markets that have common consumer needs to their home base. A Chinese snack company, for example, might have a winning marketing or product strategy that will also work in Indonesia.

Searching for similarities in consumer choice

These conclusions are based on extensive research by Boston Consulting Group’s Center for Customer Insight on 40,000 consumers in 18 of the world’s biggest markets: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, the UK, and the US.

We asked consumers about their mindsets — attitudes that define their personality — as well as the needs they seek to fulfill when making a purchase. We then hunted for commonalities between markets that can help companies navigate a world of consumer diversity.

We conducted a correlation analysis of 130 consumer attitudes and needs for each pair of 18 countries. We plotted the proximity of each market to the other 17. The closer a market is to the center, the more similar its consumers are to those of the home market. This enabled us to identify pairs of markets where consumers are “mindset neighbors,” as well as pairs where mindsets differ. It also enabled us to show similarities in consumer needs in each pair of markets.

To put it simply, if you are a Chinese company, Exhibit 1 shows how the consumers of the world will appear to you in terms of mindsets. None of the other 17 nations fall within the innermost circle closest to China, the home market. This indicates that consumer attitudes in China are quite unique. In other words, China does not really have “mindset neighbors.”

But when we looked at consumer choices through the lens of needs for different product categories, the view changed radically. We found that Chinese consumer needs for snacks, for example, closely align with those in Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, and the United Arab Emirates — even though the cultures of these countries are starkly different. In each market, the top snacking needs are to feel energized and enjoy social moments. (See Exhibit 2.)

We also found surprising needs similarities for cars between China and some other markets. For example, even though the consumer mindsets in Nigeria are very different, in both markets looks and perception are the most important needs when deciding which car to buy. (See Exhibit 3.) This implies that there may be an opportunity for Chinese automakers to succeed in Nigeria because they can apply parts of strategies used in their home market to address Nigerian consumers’ needs. Likewise, our proximity analysis found that needs for insurance policies are similar in China and Mexico, despite divergent mindsets. 

On the other hand, we also found surprising divergence in product needs in countries with similar consumer cultures. In the US, for example, the most important snacking need expressed by consumers is to indulge. In France, however, snacking is more about social connection. Needs for automobiles diverge even more: In France, safety is the paramount need when buying a car. In the US, it’s looks and perception. Companies’ marketing approaches in these categories must therefore be substantially different across these two markets.

What it means for marketers

A key implication of these findings is that to succeed in new markets, companies should gain a granular understanding of needs for their products at the local level. Consumers’ needs for a product category are determined not only by their mindsets but also their demographics and the context in which they make their purchasing and usage decisions, as will be explored in a subsequent article. This intelligence can enable businesses to correctly activate brand strategies at scale and achieve breakout growth.

To explore more about BCG’s approach to Demand Centric Growth click here. 

This post was created by BCG with Insider Studios.