California Cannabis Vapor Pen Consumers Teach a Lesson in Brand Loyalty
Adding to the complexities of cannabis regulation, today’s cannabis business owners face the challenge of marketing their products to a growing and diverse customer base. Current trends in the cannabis vapor pen niche offer key insights into successful cannabis marketing, wherein customers are empowered to select products that align with their values and goals for recreational marijuana use.
Compared to other cannabis product categories, customers who regularly purchase cannabis vapor pens express more loyalty for a single brand, according to a December Headset review of cannabis brand loyalty based on the purchase patterns of California consumers in a pre-period (August 2020 to April 2021) and post-period (February to July 2021). Noting that cannabis
variable of consideration illustrates that high brand loyalty is not always the goal. Consider the vapor pen brand Legion of Bloom: because the brand fills Pax pods, their customers often switch with other brands that also fill Pax pods. Legion of Bloom customers tend to be loyal to their Pax batteries, but not necessarily to the brand filling the pod: therefore, filling Pax pods might result in lower brand loyalty to Legion of Bloom, but strategically open up the brand up to a larger pool of consumers seeking Pax batteries. Analyzing these switches can help brand managers determine other brands and products that serve as quality substitutes for their brand, helping them improve and expand their product portfolio.
While cannabis brand managers should consider these consumer behaviors when strategizing their customer base and marketing plans, Philip Wolf, CEO of the culinary cannabis company Cultivating Spirits, implores brand managers to prioritize the intention and conscious consumption of cannabis products. Because the individual effects of cannabis vary greatly, Wolf argues that cannabis companies should empower customers to develop a constructive relationship with cannabis: one that honors the nuanced effects of the plant and provides customers a rich experience.
vapor pen consumers tend to exhibit high brand loyalty, cannabis businesses can learn how to assess brand loyalty by examining three consumer variables. The first, repeat purchase rate, references the percentage of customers that continually repurchase from a single
brand. CA data suggests that vapor pen brands have fairly high brand loyalty: 32.6% of customers will repeat the brand purchase along with other brands, while 12.6% only purchase from a particular brand. Wallet share, or how much customers spend on a given brand, is another key indicator of brand loyalty: among CA vapor pen customers, brand loyalty again skewed high, with the average customer spending nearly 40% of their wallet on their top vapor pen brand.
Analysis of switching behaviors, our third
Industry data from Headset and other analysts is essential for cannabis marketers; nevertheless, companies must remember that consumers are individuals with unique usage behaviors that may fluctuate more than aggregate data suggests. Particularly for cannabis vapor pens, which have been subject to legal scrutiny and health concerns, it is vital that cannabis companies commit to education about vapor pens and consider related product niches to empower a growing customer base.
Takeaways:
- Based on December 2021 Headset data, we review the behaviors of cannabis vapor pen consumers in California, who tend to exhibit high brand loyalty.
- As a marketing strategy, brand loyalty can be analyzed using three consumer behaviors: repeat purchase rate, wallet share, and switching behaviors.
- Assessing loyalty to vapor pen brands may help cannabis companies determine their marketing strategies to foster higher or lower brand loyalty, depending on their economic goals and their customers’ values.
- In addition to brand loyalty, cannabis brand managers are called to incorporate consumer education and conscious consumption into their marketing strategies.
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