Let’s start at the beginning.
In 2005 (yes, way back then), the Wall Street Journal reported on research by personal care product giant Proctor & Gamble that identified three key points in a consumer’s journey to purchase — where the battle to win the consumer’s dollar is won.
It starts with Stimulus. The consumer’s journey is inspired by a need or desire, spurred on by the stimuli of advertising and personal experiences.
A prospect becomes a customer. They know they will need to spend to achieve this.
Whether you’re choosing personal care products, picking a restaurant, buying a gift or finding a contractor, every consumer follows this same journey. According to the research, following the Stimulus comes the Moments of Truth:
The First 2 Moments of Truth
The First Moment (Shelf) — When a consumer is ready to make a decision and is evaluating their final options. P&G figured out that grocery shoppers decide on their purchase in 3 to 7 seconds of looking at the shelf. That same shopper might have also tried a different grocery store in the neighborhood after its grand re-opening, a different First Moment. Or looked at 15 houses before settling in that neighborhood, each with its own First Moment.
Basically, it’s curb appeal.
Environmental psychologist Paco Underhill and his seminal work Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping gets great credit for increasing the depth and breadth of of thinking on how surroundings influence consumers purchase decisions.
The Second Moment (Experience) — When a consumer uses a product or service, that’s the second moment. Will they use that product, return to that grocery store, stay in the neighborhood?
Basically, do you have a happy customer? Would they use the product or service again. Frequent, faithful customers are usually the most profitable.
So as the research went, in order: Stimulus, 1st Moment, 2nd Moment, as shows in the original report illustrating a traditional mental model of marketing:
The Zero Moment
Missing in this equation is consumer research. In 2011 Google summed that step up by inserting a new Moment of Truth right after Stimulus — the Zero Moment of Truth — capturing not only word-of-mouth, newspaper articles and other forms of traditional research, but also being one of the first to measure the new world of online research.
Basically, not only what has the consumer heard about you, but what can they find out about you (and your product or service) online?
Online presence becomes as important as word-of-mouth.
Google updated its first illustration of the traditional mental model with a new mental model:
Google quantified this moment as the most important and influential step based on a study conducted by Shopper Sciences of 5,000 consumers who had made large purchases across 12 major categories.
As the original ZMOT report states in its first chapter [brackets added for clarity]:
“That exception [a well-researched consumer] is now the rule.
“There are no barriers to access. Today’s shoppers carry access in their pockets. They
create their own consumer guides a million times a minute with reviews, tweets, blogs,
social network posts and videos for products [and services] of all kinds.”
In its 2012 ZMOT Handbook, Google shows the interplay between Stimulus and the Zero Moment in a multi-channel journey, theorizing the top of the purchase funnel is really more like a flight map.
Read more to find out about the 3 Most Important Searches in ZMOT
