Motivation behind different coping mechanisms.Consumer Insights behind baking Engagement with Consumers

1. August 2020
Aditi Garg
ResearchShows
The Idea
This lockdown, a lot of us realized this
famous saying by practicing it.
Whatever we took for granted,
whatever we believed underwent a
change.
We thought we couldn’t do without
domestic help. That changed.
We thought we needed our office space
so badly that we couldn’t do without it.
That changed.
None of us ever imagined we could do
with unpressed clothes. That changed.
We thought we would never be able to
stay indoors all day, all night. That
changed.
For all those who planned every
summer holiday in the winters itself,
they were spending Summers at home.
So what were some of the coping
mechanisms that enabled people
through the lockdown?
Implications for brands:
Learnings from Human Behaviour
Aditi Garg
August 2020
‘Change is the only constant’- Author unknown

2. August 2020
Aditi Garg
ResearchShows
Limited
touchpoints pose
an engagement
challenge for
brands
With the Customer Journey, being transformed from multi channel
touchpoints both inside and outside the home, the touchpoints have to be
re-imagined to inside the “house” and mostly online.
How can brands re-invent Engagement with existing Consumers?
•For so many brands, the product usage is at odds with the current
scenario.
•For illustration sectors like Luxury Apparel & Footwear, Hospitality where
moments of consumption are absent.
So how can brands create engagement with existing Consumers?
• That means starting from where it all starts, the Consumer. What he
wants & needs.
• It means understanding the Coping mechanisms the Consumer has
internalized.

3. August 2020
Aditi Garg
ResearchShows
What did people do to cope with during the lockdown?
As the world faced a lockdown, many of the world’s millennials faced this situation for the first time
ever.
With no exposure to a war or a national crisis which lasted for so long, or affected so many people, it
was an unprecedented situation. For the first time, people’s emotions, feelings were at the
forefront. How they managed to cope up, tells us a lot about how they dealt with their own
emotions. A lot of people put up inspirational & motivational quotes, sent messages reaching to
friends and family
A lot of people’s response was to either negate it or accept it with extreme paranoia. It also showed
resilience, patience, human adaptability at its best. It brought back nostalgia for forgotten activities.
It connected friends, family who had not spoken for years due to paucity of time. It showed men
what a lot of women do everyday and their challenges. It also showed women what men do
everyday and their challenges at it.
What intrigued us at ResearchShows was the different trends that became the ‘thing’ during the
lockdown and how it enabled a lot of us to ‘cope’.
One of the trends that caught our fancy was the #lockdown baking. What made a lot of people
bake? How did they get into this activity? Did they bake before? Why did this help them cope?
Any lessons or opportunities for brands?
In the design thinking way, when we think of Consumers as humans first instead of looking at it
from a product/brand .. It is actually their experiences which leave a larger impression on people’s
mind rather than possessions.
Fear
Strength

4. August 2020
Aditi Garg
ResearchShows
What?
Were some of the coping mechanisms
that helped people get through the
lockdown?
How ?
Did people
discover these
activities
/tasks?
Why?
Did those
particular
activities
enable
people to
cope ?
When?
Will people
continue
these
activities
even after
lockdown?
Who?
Are we talking
about?
Questions

5. August 2020
Aditi Garg
ResearchShows
What?
Drawing
Reading books
Playing games on social networks
with friends & family
Baking sweet treats & breads
Practicing Yoga and other fitness
activities
How ?
Influence of Social
media
Pesky power of kids
Role of WOM
Why?
Activity/ task that enable staying
connected with family & friends
Activity/task that gather appreciation
Emerging need: Tasks/activities which
enable creative expression
When?
Some pursued these
during their leisure time
Majority confirmed
pursuing these even post
lockdown
Who?
Mix of Professionals and
homemakers
Women aged 25-35 years
Lifestyle/
Upper income group

6. August 2020
Aditi Garg
ResearchShows
+ Extra baking
+ OTT content
+ gardening
+ sketching
+ video calls with Friends virtual classes with
trainers
+ Board games
+ Playing with
extended family
+ Birthday parties on video conferences
+ DIY beauty
+ Haircuts at home
+ Pyjamas and t-shirts
- Pressed clothes
- Friday/Saturday night parties
- Running/Gyming
- Domestic help
- Beauty parlours
- Profressional haircuts
- Formal apparel
- Movies,plays
- Social connect
- Focus on health
- Staying active: Mind & Body
Constant need
- Need to stay connected with
family & friends
- Need for appreciation
Latent need:
- Need for creative expression
Consumers addedConsumers subtracted
Looking for similar emotional payoffs in new innovative ways

7. August 2020
Aditi Garg
ResearchShows
Some people developed
new interests & some
rekindled old ones ..

8. August 2020
Aditi Garg
ResearchShows
#baking
#Baking
with family
#Lockdown
chef
#cravings
#homechef
• Food has a social binding effect. It unites, heals and brings people together. In
India, we wait till the last person is eating to get up from the table .
• This pandemic, we were just thankful for having food on our plate.
• Interestingly some people went beyond this and were cooking up a storm. They
made banana bread, garlic bread, sponge cake and even yes believe it or not
Jalebis !
• This trend cut across different locations, celebrities and Gender.
Need for creative expression manifested into baking emerging as
one of the most popular coping mechanisms

9. August 2020
Aditi Garg
Pizza base
12%
Chocolate cake
37%
Banana bread
13%
Garlic bread
13%
Sponge cake
25%
What did they bake?
Source: Primary research*
Information in appendix
Fun Fact !
Google search results
54,32,000 search results for banana bread
About 3,92,00,000 results for baking during lockdown (0.50
seconds)
Meals are enjoyed by
everyone in the
house,so a delicious
meal makes everyone
happy
17%
Creating something is very
fulfilling and you feel happy
when you can create
something
50%
Most people have not
cooked before so
taking this up now
helps learn something
new
25%
Nutrition is very
important in
such times and
therefore
making
nutritious meals
is primary
8%
WHY DID PEOPLE CHOOSE TO BAKE?
Source: Primary research* Information in appendix
Also trending
# Children took to baking, making with their mothers
# Specific dishes became the trend itself ie: Banana bread
# Chefs doing live videos about their favourite recipes
# brand engagement – asked their consumers to tell them what they had baked
Our cravings. Our need for food. Our need for comfort. Our need to talk about our labour of effort and share.

10. August 2020
Aditi Garg
Consumers posted on social media about their baking
conquests !

11. August 2020
Aditi Garg
ResearchShows
Baking in effect covers all aspects of the
Maslow’s hierarchy.
Basic everyday food
Baking with family,Children involved
in process
Sharing with neighbours,posting on
social media
Maslow’s Hierachy of Needs to deconstruct how baking
becomes a noun from a verb
“I used to bake cookies regularly”-Fitness coach
“ I dint find my usual cookies in the market so I
decided to bake them”
“ I never used to cook, but now that I am working
from home, I just thought that I would make
something different”-Female,36,Salaried.
professional
“I used to bake many many years ago, I picked it
up back during this lockdown”
“My children and I used to bake earlier also, we
used to follow a lot of cookery shows”
“ I used to follow Nigella, and a few other cooks
earlier also”

12. August 2020
Aditi Garg
ResearchShows
Consumers perceive baking as a task which is more emotionally satisfying and not merely functional
Activity/ tasks that
enable staying
connected with family
& friends
Activity/tasks that
garner appreciation
Emerging need:
Tasks/activities
which enable
creative expression
As people look more
inward and external
activities start to decline
Creative led expression
takes eminence
PRE- LOCKDOWN LOCKDOWN ONWARDS
FUNCTIONAL
TIME PERIOD
* Note: Use of a particular gender is not meant to imply any conclusions- rather to show no conclusion only one has been used
EMOTIONAL
Activity/ tasks that
enable staying
connected with family
& friends
Activity/tasks that
garner appreciation
Social gatherings
Calls with family & friends

13. August 2020
Aditi Garg
Bread is also something which unites
people across.
Instead of simply shopping for it,
baking bread has also become a way
for people to destress and self-
soothe in
Insight# 1 Activities which play on nostalgia, ‘the familiar’ ..almost signal that nothing has changed and help recreate the earlier
normal

14. August 2020
Aditi Garg
ResearchShows
Insight # 2 Activities which have a social stamp, which make you a part of a movement
The power of ‘nudge’ on social media- Egged on by celebrities & family and friends everyone wanted to
try their hand at baking something
Brands came up with recipes, cook sessions with celebrity chefs to connect with existing consumers

15. August 2020
Aditi Garg
ResearchShows
Insight # 3 Activities which bridge the gap from being a Verb to a Noun: Creates a sensorial experience involving all 5 senses
What about other activities?
• Art & gardening come very close second to baking in fulfilling some of these needs. Though it starts from a higher order need, it does not cater to familial
needs & sharing/collaboration.
The magic of mixing of ingredients
à
Use of hands
Ears à Music playing in the kitchen adds to the
experience
Nose à Perhaps the most
important & critical element
in the role; The smell of
sweet is enhanced.
Mouth àThe ultimate high of the activity à The outcome is
the real prize .Instant gratification
Hear
Smell
Taste
See
Feel
The visual treat of seeing
the outcome à in many
cases turned to perfection
as imagined
Nostalgia
Curiosity
Excitement

16. August 2020
Aditi Garg
ResearchShows
So how did baking become one of the popular coping mechanisms?
A multi- sensorial
experience
Power of Nudge
Role of Nostalgia
3 Key factors which together
together enabled
prolonged engagement and
helped create habit creation

17. August 2020
Aditi Garg
ResearchShows
The Idea
Brands looking at staying relevant with the Consumer during this lockdown need to come up
with unique ways to craft solutions around quite literally what the Consumer is doing.
Using certain principles like
1. Nudge Theory
2. Creating a multi-sensorial experience (or at the minimum a combination of 2-3 senses)
3. Role of Nostalgia
The Opportunity:
Evaluate different touchpoints of the Customer journey to understand where you can
create engagement with at least one of the three principles or combine two.
The Challenge
Doing the engagement in a way that is not overt
Does not just simply ask the Consumer to cook and share
Maybe even DIY?
To sum up
…The
learnings
from the
simple art of
baking