Kit Kat Survey Findings
Kit Kat is widely considered to be one of the most widely recognised chocolate brands in the world. Its tagline of ‘Have a break, have a Kit Kat’ is one of the utmost examples of how to create association with a brand.
However, sometimes there is a gap between perception and reality. Just being a strong brand might not be converting into sales for a variety of reasons. This could happen for a variety of reasons. The brand could have lost touch with the market or the rise of stronger alternatives.
To make sure Kit Kat was not facing such problems and gain a greater understanding of the market, we conducted a comprehensive survey.
However, sometimes there is a gap between perception and reality. Just being a strong brand might not be converting into sales for a variety of reasons. This could happen for a variety of reasons. The brand could have lost touch with the market or the rise of stronger alternatives.
To make sure Kit Kat was not facing such problems and gain a greater understanding of the market, we conducted a comprehensive survey.
High brand recall and recognition
Our survey asked the respondents to list all the chocolate brands they could think of. Kit Kat fared well on this unaided recall. 40% of the respondents listed Kit Kat as part of the chocolate brands which had top of the mind recognition for them. Cadbury, the only brand higher than Kit Kat, had 58% brand recall amongst the respondents.
The second question tested the brand recognition. Amongst the listed chocolates, Kit Kat was chosen by 81% of the respondents behind M&M and Snickers at 90% and 89% respectively. Hershey’s Kisses is just slightly behind Kit Kat at 80% recognition.
The second question tested the brand recognition. Amongst the listed chocolates, Kit Kat was chosen by 81% of the respondents behind M&M and Snickers at 90% and 89% respectively. Hershey’s Kisses is just slightly behind Kit Kat at 80% recognition.
Most Purchased Brand
We asked the respondents which chocolate brand they usually purchased. Kit Kat was ranked as the No. 1 chocolate purchased. This shows a strong association of buying chocolate with buying a Kit Kat.
Cadbury Dairy Milk was listed as the 2nd most bought chocolate with 60%, followed closely by Ferroro Rocher at 59%.
Cadbury Dairy Milk was listed as the 2nd most bought chocolate with 60%, followed closely by Ferroro Rocher at 59%.
Well-known Varieties: 2-Finger, 4-Finger and Chunky
The 4-Finger version (65%) is the most well-known type of Kit Kat along with 2-Finger and Chunky (64%). All of them were the milk chocolate versions. Chunky white chocolate version (51%) was another broadly recognised variety. Overall, the awareness levels of the varieties of Kit Kat were well distributed.
Affordable Snack Time Option
We asked the respondents to rate the most descriptive characteristics of Kit Kat. The characteristics were: Fun, Snack Time Option, Time for Relaxation, Dessert Option, Affordable and Quirky. They were chosen from the brand association map of Kit Kat. Respondents were asked to rate the characteristics on a scale of 1-7 (1=strongly disagree, 7=strongly agree). Respondents were also allowed to list any other characteristics which they associated with Kit Kat.
Though, none of the characteristics were rated as being highly descriptive of Kit Kat, Snack Time Option and Affordable were the highest rated characteristics. Under the Others option, many respondents listed Tasty as a characteristic of Kit Kat.
Though, none of the characteristics were rated as being highly descriptive of Kit Kat, Snack Time Option and Affordable were the highest rated characteristics. Under the Others option, many respondents listed Tasty as a characteristic of Kit Kat.
Break, chocolate and sweet
The respondents were asked to list in order the top 3 things which came to their mind, when they thought of Kit Kat.
Break, chocolate and sweet were listed most often. This shows the association of the tagline ‘Have a Break, Have a Kit Kat’ continues to be strong. Wafer and crunchy were the others in the top 5 list.
Break, chocolate and sweet were listed most often. This shows the association of the tagline ‘Have a Break, Have a Kit Kat’ continues to be strong. Wafer and crunchy were the others in the top 5 list.
Red/Silver Wrapping and Wafer Fingers
Respondents were asked to rate the uniqueness of Kit Kat in the following product characteristics: Red/Silver Wrapping, Wafer Fingers, Fun, Flavour, Variety and Quirky. The rating was on a scale of 1-7 (1=not unique, 7=very unique)
The red/silver wrapping and Wafer Fingers were listed as the most unique characteristics of Kit Kat. These have been the traditional characteristics of Kit Kat throughout its brand life and continue to be the strongest characteristics till date.
The red/silver wrapping and Wafer Fingers were listed as the most unique characteristics of Kit Kat. These have been the traditional characteristics of Kit Kat throughout its brand life and continue to be the strongest characteristics till date.
“I buy the Kit Kat, I eat it”
An overwhelming percentage of respondents (98%) said that they bought Kit Kat for personal consumption. We could also infer from this that they eat the Kit Kat on their own and do not share it. Buying for family or friends and buying for gifting purposes were listed as the reasons to buy Kit Kat at 23% and 19% respectively.
Impulsive Buy
85% of the respondents said they bought Kit Kat impulsively versus only 15% saying they planned to buy Kit Kat. This shows the high importance of packaging and recognition for Kit Kat.
Monthly Purchase
40% of the respondents said they bought Kit Kat less than once a month. 23% said they bought it at least once a month and 25% said they bought 2-3 times a month. These figures show that much could be done in terms of ensuring repeat sales.
Most Favoured: Milk Chocolate Finger
The respondents were asked to choose their favourite type of Kit Kat amongst the varieties available. The respondents were allowed to choose more than one option. A strong preference for the traditional milk chocolate finger variety was displayed. The 2-Finger got rated as the most favoured by 60% followed by the 4-Finger at 44%. Chunky milk chocolate was the third most favoured variety with 29%.
Convenience Stores and Supermarkets
Respondents listed convenience stores as the place where they bought Kit Kat usually with 73%. It was followed by hypermarkets and supermarkets at 54%. These figures also show the importance of distribution and availability in chocolate brands.
Low Brand Loyalty
To test the loyalty to the brand, respondents were asked that if Kit Kat was not available at one store would they go to another store, buy another brand or buy nothing at all. 90% of the respondents said that they would buy another brand. This is worrying for the brand as it shows very low brand loyalty.
Flavour is Most Important
Respondents were asked to rate the importance of following characteristics for chocolates: Flavour, Affordability, Variety, Packaging and Availability. Rating was on a scale of 1-10 (1=unimportant, 10= very important)
Flavour was rated as a highly important characteristic along with by affordability. Availability was rated as quite important. Variety and packaging were rated with low importance.
Flavour was rated as a highly important characteristic along with by affordability. Availability was rated as quite important. Variety and packaging were rated with low importance.
Kit Kat: Average vis-à-vis competitors
Respondents were asked to rate the performance on the characteristics above of Kit Kat and the two competitors identified by us: Ferroro Rocher and M&M. Rating were on a scale of 1-10 (1=very poor performance, 10=very good performance)
Kit Kat was ranked between Ferror Rocher and M&M in flavour, but the value was less than the importance placed on the flavour characteristic.
Kit Kat scored highest on affordability, just above M&M. It was slightly lower than the importance placed on this characteristic.
Kit Kat ranked second on variety, behind M&M while on par with the importance placed on variety by the respondents.
Kit Kat ranked second on packaging just above M&M, though packaging was the least important characteristic for the respondents.
Though it rates higher on availability than the importance placed, it ranks third in the competitors.
Kit Kat was ranked between Ferror Rocher and M&M in flavour, but the value was less than the importance placed on the flavour characteristic.
Kit Kat scored highest on affordability, just above M&M. It was slightly lower than the importance placed on this characteristic.
Kit Kat ranked second on variety, behind M&M while on par with the importance placed on variety by the respondents.
Kit Kat ranked second on packaging just above M&M, though packaging was the least important characteristic for the respondents.
Though it rates higher on availability than the importance placed, it ranks third in the competitors.
Limitations
In the course of doing the survey, we faced hurdles which affected our results. Following are the limitations:
- Lengthy survey: Many of the respondents gave feedback that they thought our survey took too long to complete. This could have possibly restricted the number of responses we gathered. People are always hesitant to complete surveys which do not provide them any incentive.
- Too many open-ended questions: Due to the fact that we had to focus on many abstract concepts, open-ended questions were required in the survey. This leads to difficulty in compilation of results and also deterred people from filling the survey. It also contributed to the perception that the survey was too long.
- Biased sample: Most of the respondents were in the age group of 19-25. This may create a bias in the survey and we were not able to gain a wide spectrum of responses. The primary mode for gaining respondents was Facebook which could have resulted in a restricted sample.
To see a copy of the survey that was hosted on Qualtrics, please click here.