Segmentation on food and eating – Introducing the “Six Finns”

In our previous article we introduced a more refined approach to consumer targeting for research, covering attitudes towards food consumption, technology use, and fashion adoption. Beyond plain traditional consumer targeting and demographics, the true value lies in understanding people’s attitudes and behaviours that steer their buying decisions. Through the identification of relevant consumer behaviour, validating a compelling strategy and establishing continuous performance tracking become genuinely solid assets for any company. This article sheds more light on our identified segments on food consumption in Finland.

Emotional vs. functional food consumption

At Crowst, based on the data we have collected for over 4 years and including the dataset of over 18 500 Finns, we have built a rich base of consumer segments for research targeting. By nature, we are all different and we are inspired by different things. Generally speaking, on food consumption some of us consider food and its impact on health and social life of paramount importance. This indicates a lot broader influence of food in one’s life than just the taste of it. Exploration and discovery of new tastes, cooking together and bonding with friends, and feeling better due to a healthier diet represent a lifestyle for some of us. Among us there are also those who don’t care much about other above-mentioned aspects than taste. Some may not even be too demanding on the taste, either.

Emotionally driven people on food often value a variety of cross-disciplinary factors linked to their daily rhythm, training, and wellbeing. Functionally driven people are somewhat indifferent on food; they eat to fill the stomach to do something else that matters more than food to them.

Introducing the “Six Finns”

Based on our extensive dataset and over 4 years of exploration on people’s attitudes, behaviour and relationships to food, we have identified the following six core segments;

• Health conscious: consider nutritious meals in daily life important. Aware of wellbeing on societal, environmental and personal level. Follow regularly news and articles related to food and well-being, and also look for new food recipes actively.
• Convenience seekers: typically eat in a hurry, look for quick meals. Rarely plan meals in advance, or try new foods.
• Progressive consumers: they combine the best of all examined attributes on food. They  are highly health conscious, curious about new foods and innovations, innovations, having also a positive outlook on the connection between healthy food and a healthy society.
• Social foodies: typically talk about food n social settings, are considered knowledgeable about food by friends and family, and visit often restaurants to enjoy new food experiences.
• Info-seeking foodies: follow new food innovations actively, and also look for new recipes and try new foods. Their behaviour may also indicate a broader interest in food knowledge and food-related trends.
• Indifferent eaters: people who basically eat just to fill the stomach. They don’t pay too much attention to new food products, and they rarely try new recipes or foods. Also, in their daily lives, they rarely plan their meals in advance, which indicates uninterest and indifference on food.

Let’s consider the above segments in a national and cultural setting. While stereotyping could also be considered a sin, it is sometimes also fun. Think about the Spanish tapas culture where the whole purpose is to taste a broad variety of foods in a home gathering or out in a bar or restaurant. Food is the centrepiece where people meet, socialize, laugh, and fall in love. On the high level, Spanish people (or Spanish cultural inclination and behaviour) are a good example of Social foodies. Compare this to the British way of eating a cold sandwich for lunch, often on the street while walking. It’s all about filling the stomach, to be able to continue the day. Convenience seekers on a mission!

Identifying and understanding the behavioural triggers in each segment enables developing better food products and fuel sales. What kind of form factors and packaging is welcomed by Convenience seekers who eat in a rush? What type of innovations, value propositions and multi-disciplinary information would be considered meaningful and appealing by the Info-seeking foodies who are constantly looking for something new and something better?

The introduced segments are available for consumer targeting for all our Clients without additional costs. Obviously, these segments are not mutually exclusive and there is some overlap across these segments. Interested to hear more about the specifics on these segments? Let’s talk.

You can read more about our segmentation approach and capabilities here and here.