This is the ninth instalment in a series exploring the key decision-making factors that explain shopper and consumer behaviour, focusing on the four behaviour drivers and five barriers that can impede consumer choice and brand use. These factors draw on extensive insights from across psychology and behavioural science.
Together, these core “WHYs” offer a practical framework for assessing what really drives your business, what may be holding back your results, and which actions can significantly impact real-world behaviour.
As neuroscientist T. Sigi Hale, PhD, explains, “Human behaviour is actually predictable; given external stimuli—like a bear on a hiking trail—we know with pretty strong confidence how a person will react. And while it gets more subtle in contexts like everyday purchase behaviours for things like food and drinks, it’s no less predictable.”
This instalment sheds light on a less-exciting-but-no-less-important aspect of consumer behaviour: physical barriers. While transactional elements, such as price, and psychological factors, like consumer emotions, often take centre stage, the physical experience of buying and consuming is frequently overlooked.
As a recap from previous articles in the series, five core barriers can deter someone from making a purchase:
- Price—Is this worth its cost?
- Time—What am I giving up if I choose this?
- Social—How will others perceive my choice?
- Physical—Physically-speaking, will this negatively affect me?
- Emotional—Will I be disappointed by this choice?
The fourth, physical barrier encompasses both the shopping experience and consumption itself. Shoppers in this mindset are essentially asking, “How will this choice make me physically feel?”
This consideration can be broken down into one of three perceived definitions of “physical feeling”.
- Difficulty: Brand use hindered by perceived practical challenges.
- Acute: Brand use hindered by the concern of immediate discomfort?
- Chronic: Brand use hindered by potential long-term effects on the body.
Let’s explore these further, how they impact behaviour in everyday life and, most importantly, the ways marketers can overcome them.
Difficulty: Brand use hindered by perceived practical challenges.
This expression of the physical barrier is often misconstrued as being simply about availability. While this can be the case for niche products like speciality Bourbon, “difficulty” frequently surfaces in more routine situations. Often, consumer behaviour is not obstructed by the challenge of finding the brand, but rather the process of getting it stands in the way of enjoying it.
A notable and somewhat paradoxical example is Starbucks with its Mobile Order & Pay. While designed to streamline the drink-buying process—and ultimately reduce the physical barrier—Starbucks’ mobile ordering system can sometimes unintentionally introduce new physical barriers. These barriers manifest as both practical and psychological obstacles.
During peak hours, customers using the app may encounter crowded stores with long lines of mobile order pickups. Beverages are occasionally misplaced, promised ready times are missed, and navigating a busy café quickly detracts from the enjoyment of their coffee. This palpable congestion can turn what should be a convenient process into a stressful one, potentially discouraging customers from using the mobile ordering option or visiting Starbucks during busy periods in general.
This leads us to the psychological or perceptual aspect of the physical barrier: When the only metric you provide consumers is physical ease, it sets an almost unattainable expectation in their minds.
Starbucks initially built its brand around the concept of the “third place”—a relaxing environment for socializing and hanging out. However, in their drive to serve more drinks to more people more efficiently, the experience has shifted to an increasingly transactional, mobile-first model.
While effective, this shift has inadvertently reframed customer expectations, focusing them on the experience’s physical elements—easy ordering, effortless pickup, and so on. Under these reframed experiential metrics, any deviation from a perfectly streamlined transaction is perceived by the consumer as producing “high costs” in the form of the physical barrier.
A similar issue happens with Jimmy John’s sandwiches, whose tagline “Freaky Fast” places emphasis on speed. Once speed becomes the sole measure of satisfaction, it raises the question: How fast is fast enough?
In contrast, QSR Magazine recently reported Chick-fil-A’s drive-thru wait times were long relative to competitors like McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and Taco Bell. However, customer satisfaction scores for Chick-fil-A led the pack.
How’s it possible that the service was slower, but guests were happier? It’s potentially because Chick-fil-A successfully takes the focus OFF of the physical hassle of the drive-thru and refocuses guest attention on non-physical factors like friendliness, order accuracy, and experience.
Acute: Brand use hindered by the concern of immediate discomfort.
This version of the physical barrier focuses on concerns about near-term physical consequences. Few categories face this barrier more widespread than energy drinks. Customers worry, “Will I feel too jittery? Will I feel an energy crash? Will the niacin make my face flush?”
As alluring as the fast-acting effects of these products—from a burst of energy to the convenience of the drive thru—can be, short-term physical concerns can be a deterrent.
Celsius is one brand that disrupted the category dominance of brands like Red Bull and Monster by reframing the physical effects the category provides. Rather than promoting an instant energy boost, Celsius touted the effects of “accelerating metabolism”, which shifted the conversation toward more balanced, health-conscious effects.
This approach successfully repositions the brand’s physical impact from quick energy to a more desirable physical experience which, as the brand’s tagline suggests, helps one “Live Fit.” It promises a much lower physical consequence versus the category’s status quo.
Chronic: Brand use hindered by potential long-term effects on the body.
The third physical barrier that might hinder a consumer’s decision is the more chronic concern; specifically, the concern of long-term physical considerations, such as health concerns.
While it’s difficult to experience the long-term effects of consuming something immediately, the concern of lasting consequences can significantly impact a customer’s decision. The most prominent of these longer-term physical barriers comes in the form of weight management, followed by concerns such as heart health, risk of diabetes, and cosmetic concerns related to one’s skin and hair.
The “clean label” movement addresses the chronic physical barrier, with snack brands like Lays and Walkers easing consumer concerns by highlighting that their chips are made with just four simple ingredients. Kroger’s Simple Truth takes things a step further, leveraging innovation to create offerings that promise more of the good or less of the bad. The brand’s cross-product “Free From” list assures shoppers that the products omit virtually anything that would cause physical concerns in the long run.
As Kroger states on their website: “Trust in Simple, Simple Truth® makes it easy to know you’re getting quality products, Free From over 101+ unwanted ingredients. That’s why we proudly display our ‘Free From’ badge across our products. When you see Simple Truth®, you can be confident in your choice.”
Marketers frequently use the word “feel” when diagnosing consumer perception and behaviour, but this word is usually reserved for the assessment of emotions or mental “feelings”. By assessing the physical domain, however, brands gain the potential to address consumer concerns and remove barriers to brand choice, thereby opening a new domain of consumer experience and brand effectiveness.
Feature Image Credit: Danon
By Hunter Thurman
Hunter Thurman is president of Alpha-Diver, the market research and consulting firm that applies decision science to more deeply understand marketplace behaviour. The firm’s neuroscientists and strategists work with leading brands, retailers, and Wall Street analysts to explain–and predict–consumer behaviour in ways proven to help clients drive double-digit brand growth via activation.
