CLIENT’S CHALLENGE
Thinking about electronic products, you probably do not think immediately about sustainability. And that has to change! Our client, MediaMarktSaturn, is doing a lot to become more sustainable. For example, by providing their BetterWay label to indicate which products are more sustainable, by offering more sustainable electronic products, by paying customers for their old phones if they hand them in, by offering a platform where customers can sell used electronics, by offering a repair service, by delivering by bike, or by providing energy saving tips. However, is sustainability also important for consumers when it comes to buying electronic products? And, at what point in the customer purchase journey do consumers make sustainability-oriented decisions? The customer journey is embedded in the whole organisation of MediaMarktSaturn and consists of four broad phases. Namely, the Want It, Get It, Use It and Love It phase. And while MediaMarktSaturn already has lots of insights into sustainability and its importance for consumers, a detailed analysis of sustainability related aspects along the customer journey is still missing.
THE APPROACH
Therefore, MediaMarktSaturn and DVJ Insights are teaming up around the role of sustainability in the journey. Together we developed a holistic research setup containing different elements from our Mass Qual technique. With the type of question MediaMarktSaturn has, you always want to explore with qual techniques and at the same time validate to be able to make data-driven decisions. Therefore, our MassQual philosophy is extremely suited to answer questions like: what are sustainability triggers at the beginning of the purchase process (Want It phase phase), What are sustainability purchase factors (Get It phase), How to use products sustainably (Use It phase), and How satisfied are consumers with sustainable aspects of the products (Love It phase)? In order to answer these questions, we start with storytelling to identify whether consumers include sustainability aspects into consideration when buying electronic products. Subsequently, for each phase in the customer journey, we determine sustainable aspects and what is important for consumers. The study was conducted among N = 1,200 German consumers who bought an electronic product within the last 12 months at MediaMarktSaturn (n = 800) or competitors (n = 400 control group)
THE LEARNINGS
Want it phase
Results show that especially for large household appliances, sustainability is an important factor already regarding first purchase triggers and in considering what to purchase. Also, large household appliances are most often replaced because of sustainability reasons. Something that became also apparent from the stories: “Our son, not on purpose, broke the old television. When we bought a new one, we took a close look to ensure that the investment was worthwhile in the long run. Of course, image quality is important, as are energy efficiency and CO2 emissions. We chose and purchased a model after considering all of these factors.”
Get it phase
When determining the most important aspects of buying a new electronic product, durability and energy efficiency are ranked as the most important, after price (see Figure 1). This shows how important consumers consider sustainability. Also, environmental impact, recyclability, and
environmentally conscious manufacturing score relatively high. So, sustainability is definitely important when purchasing new electronic products. Besides this, MediaMarktSaturn is associated with sustainability, services like sustainability consulting and labelling and a good return policy.
Use it & Love it phase
After purchase, more than 50% of respondents indicate they are interested in information on how to use the bought electronics in a sustainable way. And 50% of respondents indicate they believe energy consulting on how to save energy at home, would be very useful to them. Many people recommend MediaMarktSaturn as a sustainable customer electronics dealer. Some illustrative quotes: “Due to the better way Logo and sustainable movement and the efficient employees”, “MediaMarktSaturn is very high quality, reliable, environmentally friendly.”
All in all, this study provided MediaMarktSaturn with even more tangible and actionable insights how to best tailor sustainability initiatives in different moments of the customer journey. And it gave them confidence that sustainability is also as important to consumers as it is to them.
