Drivers & Barriers

Also known as: Purchase Drivers, Barriers to Purchase, Motivators and Inhibitors

Factors that drive or inhibit the purchase, adoption, or recommendation of a product or brand.

Drivers and Barriers analysis is a research methodology that identifies what factors motivate consumers to buy, use, or recommend a product or brand (drivers), and what factors inhibit or move them away from doing so (barriers).

Drivers can be functional (price, quality, convenience), emotional (trust, belonging, status), or social (peer recommendation, social norms). Barriers can be real (high price, lack of distribution) or perceived (switching risk, lack of awareness).

In quantitative research, driver analysis (statistical regression, importance-performance) is used to quantify the weight of each factor. In qualitative research, laddering and in-depth interviews are used to understand the why behind drivers and barriers.

Identifying and prioritizing drivers and barriers is fundamental to prioritizing marketing, communication, and product development actions.