UK/INTERNATIONAL. Advertisers are gaining insights into travellers’ attitudes and behaviour from what outdoor media owner Primesight claims to be the largest ever consumer insight survey conducted in UK airports.
Primesight teamed up with out-of-home (OOH) agency Kinetic and YouGov in June 2018 to question more than 2,100 respondents who had all departed from one of the 20 busiest UK airports within the previous 12 months.
Among the data uncovered, the survey revealed that people are most likely to be in a positive mood within the airport environment, 53% described their mood as ‘happy’, and 31% as ‘open to new things’.
It was also found that 23% of respondents agreed that they liked to treat themselves in the airport environment, and among those who described their mood as ‘happy’ within the environment this increased to 29%, and 31% among those who describe their mood as ‘excited’.
Primesight’s Steve Bernard commented: “The airport is a unique and, for most, an unfamiliar environment, perhaps visited only two to three times a year. We have concluded that their behaviour will therefore differ from the norm and means that there will be a heightened chance of purchase.’’
After analysing the survey results, Primesight created seven segments primarily built from the range of different behaviours, moods and attitudes on display within the airport environment, backed up with demographic data, flight length and propensity to spend.
“These seven segments offer advertisers a vision of the diversity of the UK airport traveller and flesh out what types of people these are and how best for brands to communicate with them,’’ added Bernard.
“For example, the way in which you talk with a ‘High Flyer’ (frequent business traveller) will differ greatly from someone in the ‘On The Up’ segment (25-44 year-old, less frequent leisure traveller), as the frequent traveller is unlikely to consider the airport to be a unique environment and will therefore be less likely to feel the need to make extravagant purchases, in contrast to a less frequent visitor.
“The range of segments opens the doors of airports to a whole raft of different advertisers, many of whom may not have previously recognised a natural fit with airport environments.’’
Primesight believes the data enables advertisers to identify which airports best profile their target audiences.
After consultation with other OOH specialist agencies and key stakeholders at each of Primesight’s network of airports, the business – which has more than 35,300 sites nationwide, from large-scale billboards to unique digital advertising – plans another wave of research later in the year.
The seven categories of airport user that Primesight has identified…
Premium professionals: High end consumers looking for quality products and experiences.
Labels and long haul: Affluent and fashionable conspicuous consumers who love to shop in the airport environment.
High flyers: High level executives experiencing multiple visits through airports throughout the year .
On the up: Career climbing middle class professionals who enjoy multiple flights every year.
Pools, packages and Prosecco: Middle Class women who value their holidays with both friends and family.
No frill flyers: Low income budget travellers who mainly travel with groups of friends.
Savvy travellers: Older middle class travellers who value their holidays and their budgets even more.
Note: JCDecaux Chairman of the Executive Board and Co-CEO Jean-Charles Decaux was interviewed by Martin Moodie as the cover story for the inaugural issue of The Moodie Davitt Report’s new bi-monthly eZine, Sight Lines – The Amazing World of Airport Advertising. The title profiles advertising and communications initiatives across the airport world. For details contact Irene Revilla at Irene@MoodieDavittReport.com. See the first issue here. Keep your eyes peeled for issue 2, which is scheduled for June 2019.
