SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — A new study of home and personal care shoppers across 22 categories hopes to show marketers how to keep consumers from trading down in their brand purchases, according to the Nielsen Co. here.

“As a CPG [consumer packaged goods] marketer, you don’t want to get it wrong in the fleeting nanosecond of purchase decision,” said David Parma, global head of Nielsen Consumer Research.

The study identified five shopping modes it called “indifferent auto-pilot,” “blinkered auto-pilot,” “browsing,” “buzz-activated” and “bargain-activated.” For example, while purchasers of hand and body lotions, air fresheners and baby toiletries are “buzz-activated,” shoppers buying products like bathroom cleaners, bar soaps and cotton swabs tend to be on “indifferent auto-pilot” or “blinkered auto-pilot,” the study said. Toilet paper and battery buyers are “bargain-activated,” while those looking for razors and blades, toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoos and conditioners and body wash are “browsers.”

Among its findings, the study said the key to reaching “auto-pilot” shoppers is knowing how and when to disrupt them with external stimuli.

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