Household cleaners swept away in Tide-al wave - discount house consumers' preference for Tide, brand name products

Discount Store News, Oct 18, 1993

Tide continues its dominance of the household cleansers, detergents & cleaners category, but that brand's actual standing and the preference for specific merchandise reflects consumers' lifestyles much more than the discount stores where they bought the products, according to DSN's 1993 Top Brands Survey of consumers.

The preference for Tide was such that it even ranked as a Power Brand based on Top Brands research conducted among both retailers and consumers. Clorox, No. 2 among consumers, joined Tide as a Power Brand for the first time.

Wal-Mart, Kmart and Target shoppers showed little difference in their preference for cleanser brands. The major variation was found among consumers' life stages and the lack of a brand preference: a 4% spread from Busters (those under 35), who showed the highest lack of a preference, to Boomers (35 to 49 year olds), who exhibited the lowest lack of a preference. Empty Nesters (50 and older) were close to Busters in their no brand preference score.

There was a miniscule difference among the life stages in the overall high interest in a brand preference--which resulted in the dominant showing for Tide as the leading detergent brand.

There was only a 17 point variation among Wal-Mart, Kmart and Target shoppers in their preference for Tide. But that figure jumped to 60% when the life stage of consumers is measured, with Empty Nesters showing the greatest preference (44%), followed by Busters (35%). Boomers exhibited the weakest preference (28%).

Six out of 10 consumers were "certain" they would find the brands they wanted in the discount store they shopped most often, with three out of 10 "sure" and 10% "not sure." Consumers in all three life stages showed the same degree of certainty in finding the preferred brand. But while brand preference, was strong, shoppers were ready to act if they didn't find the desired product: 58% said they would buy another brand, while 42% would skip the purchase.

A consumer's like stage played an important role in how he acted. Half of the Boomers would buy another brand or skip the purchase, a figure that increased to 57% among Empty Nesters and jumped to 58% of Busters.

When consumers switched, store brands or private labels prove attractive to 56%. This was especially so for Busters, with almost seven out of 10 ready to buy such products, while just over half of the Boomers were inclined to do so and just over four out of 10 Empty Nesters were likely to take this step.

Wal-Mart shoppers showed the biggest inclination to purchase a store or PL brand, followed by Kmart and then Target customers. But the difference among the chains' customers was minor, just two percentage points from Wal-Mart's 8% to Target's 6%.

Overall there was little change in the listing of the Top 10 cleaner brands, with Ivory returning to the chart after an absence of a few years and Formula 409 appearing for the first time. Dropping off from last year were Wisk and Colgate-Palmolive.

[TABULAR DATA OMITTED]