In February, Horizon’s WHY Group VP Pam Wake joined Scripps News to discuss findings from the recent CPG report on consumer value.

Below is an excerpt from the live chat. To watch the full story, click here.

Brand awareness tops convenience and quality in importance for CPG consumers

PW: Familiarity is something that we may take for granted, but there’s a whole generation, Gen Z, that doesn’t have the same level kind of brand experience that the rest of us have. And so for them, they want to try before they buy — sampling is critical because you want to make sure that you’re getting what you pay for and that you are receiving the quality that you expect.

How brands can set themselves apart

PW: In addition to familiarity and convenience, there are other factors there that are really value adds, so they won’t necessarily promote a premium amongst consumers, but they’re going to get you to maybe switch to that brand on impulse. This comes to sustainability and showing that you have premium packaging that’s thinking about the environment, that you’re ethically sourced. Another way that brands can really differentiate has to do with hyper-personalization — showing that a product is made for you and your specific needs, there is no one-size-fits-all anymore.

How value varies by generation, and what brands can do

PW: Gen Z is really into sustainability, they are very much into community. Anything a brand can do when you think about collaborations that have come out, so partnering with a celebrity, an athlete, or even doing things to promote popular franchises, movies and TV shows that really connect with the fandoms that Gen Z really places a premium on when they’re looking for stuff.

Boomers are completely on the other end of that spectrum. They are interested in trustworthiness, an established brands; they want to see the research, they want to know that this is the best product, and they want you to have the studies that prove that. If you’re thinking about a beauty product, a boomer is going respond to something that shows that this is so much more effective, whereas Gen Z is going to want the buzzy ingredient.