Episode 179 | July 14, 2025
Why shopper behavior is changing and what brands can do
Explore why shoppers rarely stay loyal and how brands can adapt using real human insights, with Devora Rogers of Alter Agents on Insights Unlocked.
Why shopper behavior is no longer predictable
Forget everything you thought you knew about how people shop. Fewer than 5% of consumers follow a predictable, step-by-step journey to purchase. Today’s shoppers are impulsive, exploratory, and constantly evolving—and for brands, that changes everything.
On a recent episode of Insights Unlocked, Devora Rogers, Chief Strategy Officer at Alter Agents and co-author of Influencing Shopper Decisions, joined us to unpack why traditional models of consumer behavior no longer reflect the way real people make decisions. Drawing from her years helping brands like Google, Snapchat, and Nespresso decode customer journeys, Devora shared how brands can embrace behavioral segmentation, human insight, and a whole lot more humility.
“You have to operate as if you're earning your customer’s loyalty every single time,” Devora said. “You can't rely on habit anymore.”
Let’s break down what that means—and how brands can shift from outdated funnels to truly customer-centric strategies.
The myth of brand loyalty
For decades, marketers have clung to the idea that brand loyalty is the holy grail. But Devora argues that this belief is now more myth than reality. Consumer insights gathered by her team at Alter Agents show that modern shoppers are “promiscuous,” meaning they’re open to switching brands based on new information, changing needs, or even a better message on a package.
Take the example of milk. Once a habitual grocery item, milk has become a category full of choice—almond, oat, soy, lactose-free—and shoppers now regularly reevaluate their options. Devora shared a personal story about switching back to Horizon milk because of its new prebiotic message tailored to kids. That shift, she said, was a reminder that no brand can afford to become complacent.
“Consumers have so many choices, and they’re so aware. Whether it’s new packaging or something they read on a blog, they’re always re-evaluating,” she noted.
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Segmenting shoppers by behavior, not demographics
To help brands better understand shopper behavior, Devora’s team developed a behavioral segmentation model. Rather than relying on age or income, this model identifies four shopper mindsets:
- Loyalists – committed to the brand and hard to sway
- Defectors – formerly loyal but now shopping around
- Ambivalents – indifferent and open to influence
- Impulse shoppers – driven by momentary needs or emotions
By identifying how much of your audience falls into each category, brands can craft more relevant product experiences. For instance, an ice cream brand might attract more explorers and impulse buyers, while a soda brand might still retain a core group of loyalists.
“You have to begin converting explorers into loyalists,” Devora said. “And at the same time, refresh your audience, because those explorers are likely to disappear.”
The pitfalls of “brand narcissism” in research
One of the most candid parts of the episode was Devora’s critique of traditional brand tracking studies, which she’s called a form of “brand narcissism.” These surveys often ask consumers what they think of a brand before understanding what really matters to them.
While brand trackers give marketing teams easy-to-read metrics, Devora believes they rarely provide the kind of deep human insights needed to drive meaningful action.
“The dirty secret of research is that most people are unhappy with their brand trackers,” she said. “They’re inherently narcissistic.”
So what’s the alternative? Ask questions grounded in real-life context and moments of decision-making. Today, tools like video feedback and real-time mobile surveys make it easier than ever to see—and hear—what customers are thinking in their own words.
The outdated funnel vs. the dynamic journey
If fewer than 5% of people shop in a linear way, what happens to the traditional purchase funnel?
Devora doesn’t dismiss the funnel entirely, but she warns against relying on it too heavily. Instead, she encourages brands to recognize patterns without expecting a perfect sequence. Customer journeys are more like constellations than straight lines: a collection of touchpoints that light up differently for every individual.
“It’s not about the exact order,” she said. “It’s about understanding all the different pieces that might come together to influence a decision.”
For example, your audience may not see your ad, visit your website, and then buy. They might hear about you on a podcast, read a review, watch a TikTok, and then decide. The challenge for brands is figuring out which of those moments matter most.
PRO TIP: Listen to our recent interview with Rand Fishkin and hear his take on how brands should now be marketing where their audiences gather rather than historically trying to lure them back to a website.
Continuous listening is a culture shift
One of the biggest mindset changes Devora advocates is shifting from episodic research to continuous listening. Many companies still treat research as a one-time event rather than an ongoing strategy.
The brands that succeed are those that embed customer feedback into their everyday decision-making—across product, brand, and customer experience.
“The only way to keep the luck going is to stay close to your customers,” Devora emphasized. “That starts with humility.”
That cultural shift often means empowering cross-functional teams to access, interpret, and act on customer data more quickly. Fortunately, today’s tools make that easier than ever.
Turning insights into action—faster
Collecting customer feedback is only half the battle. Devora stressed that insights must tell a story people can act on—and act on quickly. With short timelines and increasing pressure from stakeholders, teams need to be able to synthesize data fast and extract meaningful takeaways.
“It’s not just about the data,” she said. “It’s about asking, ‘What’s the big idea? What’s the problem we’re trying to solve?’”
She recommends keeping research grounded in objectives, identifying surprises in the data, and facilitating collaborative workshops to align teams around what the insights actually mean. AI can help accelerate some of that synthesis, but it’s the human interpretation that drives relevance.
AI can help, but humans still lead
Speaking of AI, Devora acknowledges its growing role in retail—from personalization engines to automated research analysis. But she draws a clear line when it comes to actual customer conversations.
“We don’t want to interview robots,” she said. “We want to interview people—and we want people to interview people.”
Where AI excels is in organizing large volumes of qualitative data, spotting trends, and freeing up human researchers to focus on strategy. But for brands that care about empathy and authenticity, real human feedback remains irreplaceable.
Final thoughts: stay humble, stay curious
Consumer behavior is evolving faster than ever—and so must the strategies brands use to stay relevant. Whether it’s rethinking shopper segments, abandoning outdated funnels, or ditching vanity metrics in favor of genuine insights, the takeaway from this episode is clear: brands need to listen, adapt, and evolve with their customers.
And that starts with humility.
“If we don’t do the listening,” Devora concluded, “we won’t know what to do.”
Episode links
- Winning repeat customers: How retailers can optimize every digital touchpoint for more conversions: This webinar explores how retailers can leverage human insights to identify friction points, reduce cart abandonment, and deliver seamless shopping experiences that drive conversions and build customer loyalty.
- Unlocking audience insights: Driving smarter decisions across product, marketing, and UX: This guide provides strategies for collecting and applying customer feedback to make informed business decisions, emphasizing the importance of understanding customer behavior to enhance product development, marketing strategies, and user experiences.
- Product research and empathy with C. Todd Lombardo: Discover how C. Todd Lombardo uses product research, empathy, and agile leadership to build better B2B experiences in this episode of Insights Unlocked.
- Improve digital customer experience to boost conversions: This blog post discusses how aligning digital experiences with evolving shopper behavior can enhance conversions. It emphasizes the need for strategic optimization based on customer intelligence and real human insight to lead in a competitive retail environment.
- Alter Agents
- Devora Rogers on LinkedIn
- Bobby Meixner on LinkedIn
- Influencing Shopper Decisions – co-authored by Devora Rogers
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