"Although gas prices are not as high as they were in mid-2008, they have been edging up for some time and continue to impact how consumers shop and buy," said Todd Hale, senior vice president, Consumer & Shopper Insights, Nielsen. "Even though gas prices are reasonable relative to recent years, consumers continue to employ [image-nocss] money-saving strategies, such as using coupons and gas purchase incentives, as means to deal with gas costs given overall economic concerns."
Other findings: Consumers continue to combat high gasoline prices by combining errands/trips (63%), doing more at home (39%) and reducing spending to a small degree (29%), moderating from levels seen at the peak of the recession. Eating out less (46%) and coupon use (38%) rank high as money saving strategies due to gasoline costs, elevated from pre-recession times. Supercenters are losing some appeal for consumers seeking gasoline savings; only 26% of households say they shop more at supercenters to save on gasoline compared to 28% a year ago. 16% of households say that gasoline prices have no impact on their driving or spending; double the response in June 2008. Some consumers buy gasoline at locations because of incentives tied to their spending at stores where they shop, such as grocery stores (24%); convenience stores/gas stations (19%); warehouse/clubs (14%) and mass merchandisers (7%).
What is driving consumers to purchase gasoline at c-stores/gasoline stations versus other locations? Of the 85% of households that buy gasoline in these locations, 79% do so because of low gasoline prices; 67% for the convenient location; 14% for the shopper/loyalty cards and 8% because they are there to purchase lottery tickets.
"Consumer packaged goods (CPG) retailers continue to demonstrate good marketing and merchandising tactics by linking in-store spending to gas savings at their pumping sites or with participating petroleum companies," said Hale. "Some programs have been extended to reward shoppers with gas discounts and in-store savings based on gas spending. Other programs include participation from manufacturer brands. While gas prices are a bargain compared to mid-2008, filling up a 15-gallon tank represents a significant cash outlay and an opportunity for CPG retailers and manufacturers alike to offer saving solutions."
Results are based on Nielsen online survey responses from nearly 52,000 U.S. households, geographically and demographically representative of the total U.S. population. The survey was conducted in June and July 2010 when regular gasoline prices averaged between $2.70 and $2.75 per gallon.
New York City-based Nielsen is a global information and measurement company with leading market positions in marketing and consumer information, television and other media measurement, online intelligence, mobile measurement, trade shows and related assets.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.