Social media influencing millennials’ grocery purchases: survey
Social media is changing millennials’ grocery shopping habits.
In a survey of millennial shoppers in Canada and the U.S. by research firm Cashew, 78% of respondents said they had purchased a specific food or ingredient after seeing it on social media.
A quarter of respondents said “this happens regularly,” while 34% said this “has happened a few times.”
Millennials discover new food through an average of three channels, Cashew found. Social media influencers topped the list at 37%, followed by in-store discovery (36%) and word of mouth (34%).
Twenty six per cent reported being influenced by “entertainment,” such as TV shows, while 25% said they have discovered new products via social media ads—slightly higher than retail channels (23%).
Cashew surveyed 783 millennials aged 28-43 across Canada and the United States who actively participate in household grocery shopping decisions.
READ: Lessons from the social media food battle
The survey found the generation is adapting their grocery shopping habits in response to high food prices.
Sixty eight per cent are cooking at home more than they did last year—with 56% citing money as the primary reason.
Millennials are shopping at multiple stores, trading down, downsizing their lifestyle and couponing, among other things, to save cash.
In fact, 32% of respondents reported shifting to value-oriented retailers, with frequent mentions of Walmart, Costco, dollar stores for household essentials and discount grocery chains.
Fifty nine per cent of millennials said they deliberately splurge and save across categories.
Among Millennials, 33% prioritize demonstrable quality and taste differences as their primary driver for premium food purchases. Only 18% show brand loyalty regardless of price.
"This is a generation under pressure that has moved quickly into solutions mode," says Addy Graves, CEO of Cashew, in a press release. "They are feeling the impact, but they are also actively reworking how they shop to stay in control."
