Esomar Congress Preview: Marketing's Most Expensive Unseen Gap

Here’s a preview of what you can expect to learn about at our talk across two areas based of their 2026 Silent Spenders research:

1. How to create an ADHD-specific research approach

2. The opportunity ADHD audiences have for brands

1.     How to create an ADHD-specific research approach

Do your research before you do your research
Silent Spenders 2026 initially hoped to focus on a broader audience – people classified as neurodivergent.

However, we felt  that different forms of neurodiversity would have different relationships with brands. And that it’d be best to focus on a specific form of neurodivergence. A hypothesis that was proved correct via an online community.

Be flexible
We started with an initial plan to use an online community discussions purely to inform later stages of research. But the discussions were so insightful, that we pivoted and decided that there was value in keeping the community live for the duration of the project to engage with continually and also to feed results back to.

Re-shape the norms of asking questions
In our qualitative interviews, we decided that it was best to shift away from direct questioning. And instead use questioning that was reflective and projective. This is because direct questioning puts heavy demands on the cognitive functions that ADHD affects most. 

For example, a question like "why did you do that?" requires holding the question in working memory, retrieving memories, evaluating them and organising a response. For people with ADHD, this risked testing their working memory. And if we tested it to much, we’d risk making the interview an uncomfortable experience.   

Give up control of the interview
In our interviews we wanted to let the ADHD participants control the pace of the discussion. This was done to ensure that we didn’t ask questions that had an excessive cognitive load. And because we wanted our participants to feel like it was a conversation, not an interrogation. 

Build a continuous feedback loop
Because our community was so engaged, and because we wanted to make sure we were interpreting our results accurately, we used our community as an ongoing feedback loop to adapt our thinking across three research stages.

• After our qualitative interviews/before our quantitative survey – to ensure our qual-to-quant translation was accurate and fair

• To test our core insights – to be confident ADHD people felt this fairly reflected them

• To make sure our insight content was designed and communicated appropriately – so our communication style would resonate with ADHD audiences  

2.     The opportunity ADHD audiences have for brands

Our research uncovered six key insights for brands regarding the value of ADHD audiences. Here’s an overview of three of them. 

The ultimate (but unexpected) brand loyalists
Insight 1: They’re not unpredictable spenders; once in love with a brand, they remain loyal. This is linked with their aversion to risk (and the potential disruption to their routines a new change can lead to), but also they seek comfort and reassurance from brands they love.

Brand opportunity: Much has been spoken about declining loyalty to brands, specifically amongst younger cohorts. However, perhaps this desire to switch is better explained by the brand's failure to provide comfort and reassurance to existing customers. For instance, 44% of Gen Z shoppers are convinced that product quality is getting worse, and the same proportion of consumers think customer service is going downhill.

Fold in the idea that shrinkflation leads many to think that quality ingredients are being swapped out for cheaper ones, or worse still, that the size of the beloved chocolate bar is getting smaller!

Therefore, perhaps brands should spend more time and effort reminding consumers of the quality of the products they already have, instead of relentlessly focusing on innovation or product refreshes.

Convenience is the ultimate currency for them
Insight 2: Despite best efforts, many with ADHD struggle to keep track of time. Therefore, time becomes a scarce commodity. 

Brand opportunity: Flip this idea on its head. This isn’t about losing time; this is about making things as efficient as possible. Look at your brand, product or service. Are there ways you can streamline the customer journey (whether in physical stores or online)? If you have a loyalty program, are there any ways you can allow people to feel like they’re progressing through the tiers so it doesn’t feel like a waste of their time? Strip away the pain points and enhance the consumer experience. Perhaps there are ways for the shopping process to be automated via predictive ordering or auto-replenishment.

Use of classic scarcity marketing techniques leads to deep anxiety
Insight 3: Those with ADHD dislike the pressure marketing tricks that play on time or scarcity – leading to intense anxiety. They much prefer to be empowered to shop at their own pace/ terms.

Brand opportunity: Scarcity tactics have existed since ancient marketplaces, but in 2026 we should expect more inclusive approaches. Therefore, brands should reconsider marketing techniques that, for some (such as those with ADHD), trigger deep feelings of insecurity and anxiety, and for many others quietly erode trust. If we go back to the core idea of building consumer trust, removing these pressure tactics is a crucial first step.

Want to hear more? Then come and find us at the Esomar Global Congress, Valencia, on the 3rd September, 14:05, Stage 4/Core.