Some 67% of consumers now consider that price is more important to them than brand names, compared to 58% in 2010, a survey by Bord Bia has found.

‘The Irish Consumer 2015’, focused on consumer sentiment and outlook in Ireland shows that todays consumer is empowered, self-reliant and seeking life balance.

The survey found that consumers are also taking extra care when making purchases with 72% of people increasingly likely to spend time researching a product before making a purchase (up from 67% in 2010).

Reduced levels of trust towards institutions, brands and businesses, Bord Bia says is creating a desire for self-reliance, leading consumers to make more considered purchase choices.

Consumers are now looking for the human face behind everything with increasing expectations around transparency and responsibility, it says.

Ultimately, it found that consumers are becoming as self-reliant as possible (63%), instead of seeking help and guidance from experts or professionals (37%).

While today’s consumers are living increasingly time pressured complex lives and are less interested in exclusivity and status, one value in particular is just a strong in today’s Ireland as it was in the past.

That is collective kinship or a meitheal, a tradition in rural Ireland where people gathered together on local farms to save hay or harvest crops and build relationships, Bord Bia says.

Consumers are embracing the opportunities to collaborate with others, the survey found.

Speaking at the launch of the survey, Helen King, Bord Bia’s Director of Consumer Insight, said Ireland has experienced huge changes in the past decade at social, economic and technological levels which have impacted on consumer attitudes.

“Insight such as this assists companies to be future-focused and consumer driven to anticipate changes in people’s lives, whilst allowing the business to make plans for change and act as a catalyst for innovation,” she said.