Habit and price outweigh brand in essential commodity purchases: Report

Ipsos India’s Shopper Insights team has released new research exploring how consumers make purchase decisions across categories and sectors. Drawing on years of shopper studies, the team developed a Decision Tree, or Purchase Decision Hierarchy, to map the attributes shoppers consider as they navigate needs, priorities, and preferences.

Central to the framework is the 'Spectrum of Necessity', which divides purchases into three categories: Essential commodities, casual indulgence, and pleasurable indulgence. The classification reflects how decision-making shifts depending on context and mindset.

In Essential Commodities, purchases are typically functional, low-involvement, and habit-driven, with price and performance emerging as key drivers. “Visibility at the point of sale is critical, supported by strong in-store promotions and clear functional messaging across touchpoints such as PoS, digital and social media,” the report noted. In these categories, brand plays a supporting role, reinforcing reliability and recall rather than driving consideration.

Casual Indulgence purchases, everyday discretionary items, see branding take on a more influential role. Sensory cues, packaging, and trust signals guide choice, with brands acting as shortcuts to quality. Factors such as pack size, portability, and convenience become important, especially in on-the-go consumption contexts.

Pleasurable Indulgence, often linked to luxury, is largely driven by emotion, self-expression, and experience. Here, brands dominate the decision, and marketing emphasizes storytelling, heritage, symbolism, and exclusivity. Limited editions, curated experiences, and scarcity signals are used to heighten desire and reinforce perceived quality.

Archana Gupta, Executive Director and Head of Shopper Insights at Ipsos India, said, “By recognising that the significance of a brand shifts across purchase occasions, marketers can more effectively allocate resources and craft messages that resonate with the consumer’s mindset in each specific context.”

Shruti Patodia, Research Director, Ipsos Shopper Insights, added, “When marketers acknowledge that brand meaning evolves along the purchase spectrum, they are better equipped to design strategies that are informed, relevant, and impactful at every stage of the shopper journey.”

The research underscores the importance of context-aware marketing strategies that adapt messaging and brand positioning according to whether purchases are functional, discretionary, or indulgent.