Inside the mindset gap between marketers and Australians

Australian marketers may think very differently from the consumers they’re trying to reach, according to new research from insights and strategy company TRA.

Research from TRA’s Aussie Minds framework found around half of the marketers surveyed at RESET fell into the “Chasers” MindSet, while just 3-4% were classified as “Keepers”.

That’s a significant reversal of the broader Australian population, where Keepers are the largest MindSet.

The results expose a gap between the people shaping brands, campaigns and customer experiences, and the audiences they’re trying to reach.

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Marketers lean towards newness

Aussie Minds is based on research with more than 2,000 Australians and identifies six MindSets based on how people see the world, make decisions and respond to brands.

The differences between Chasers and Keepers are particularly clear when it comes to trying something new.

Half of Chasers say they are a little faster than average to try new products and services, compared with 27% of Keepers. Meanwhile, 55% of Keepers say they are a little slower than average.

The skew towards Chasers perhaps isn’t surprising. Marketing is an industry that prizes new ideas, change, ambition, innovation and, inevitably, whatever comes next.

But when so many people making marketing decisions share that outlook, they risk overestimating how much consumers want the new thing too.

For Keepers, familiarity, reassurance and proof can matter more.

Technology and AI widen the gap

The difference is also evident in attitudes towards technology.

Around nine in 10 Chasers feel confident using technology in everyday life, compared with seven in 10 Keepers. Just 6% of Chasers report limited confidence with technology, compared with one in four Keepers.

AI produces an even bigger split.

Almost eight in 10 Keepers feel nervous about what AI could mean for the future, while almost half of Chasers feel excited by it.

It’s a useful distinction at a time when AI is increasingly being built into products, platforms, campaigns and customer experiences. What feels intuitive or exciting inside a marketing department may not feel the same way to the person on the other side of the screen.

Differences in outlook go beyond technology, too.

Chasers are more than twice as likely to believe they are getting ahead in life, at 25% compared with 12% of Keepers.

Yet Keepers are more likely to rate their quality of life as good or very good, at 68% compared with 57% of Chasers.

Are marketers marketing to themselves?

The research also raises questions about how much demographics alone can tell brands about their customers.

Age, income, household structure and life stage remain important, but two people who look almost identical on a demographic spreadsheet can have very different values, priorities and views of the world.

That difference matters when deciding which trends to chase, which ideas to back, what language to use and how quickly consumers are expected to embrace something new.

The RESET results put that problem into fairly stark terms.

If around half the marketers in the room are Chasers, while the people they’re marketing to have a very different MindSet profile, their own instincts can’t automatically stand in for those of the market.

Or, put another way: are marketers making work for the market, or for people who think like marketers?