INsights
The way people make purchasing decisions has fundamentally changed — but most marketing strategies haven’t caught up.
The way people make purchasing decisions has fundamentally changed — but most marketing strategies haven’t caught up. Traditional marketing funnels suggested a clear path from awareness to consideration to conversion, but that structure no longer reflects how people actually behave.
Instead of moving in a straight line, consumers jump between platforms, revisit ideas, compare options, and make decisions at unpredictable moments. This shift has led to a new way of understanding behaviour, often referred to as 4S shopping.
Research from Google, based on analysis by Boston Consulting Group, highlights that four key behaviours now define how people discover and engage with brands: streaming, scrolling, searching, and shopping. Together, they form a far more accurate picture of how decisions are made today.
This isn’t a trend — it reflects how real buying behaviour now works across platforms.
4S shopping refers to four core behaviours:
These behaviours do not follow a fixed sequence. They overlap, repeat, and influence each other continuously. There is no linear path — only moments of influence.
A person might discover a product while watching a video, notice it again while scrolling social media, search for more information later, and then purchase it instantly when the opportunity feels right. Just as easily, they might begin with a search, return to content for validation, and delay the decision.
The key shift is that decisions are no longer tied to a single stage. They are shaped across multiple interactions, often happening at the same time.
The traditional funnel didn’t disappear — it became compressed, fragmented, and far less predictable.
For decades, marketing strategies were built on the assumption that consumers move step by step through a funnel. Awareness leads to interest, then consideration, then purchase.
In reality, behaviour is far more fluid.
Google’s research shows that consumers now navigate a dynamic web of touchpoints rather than progressing in a straight line. They move between discovery and evaluation, often looping back before making a decision.
This creates a compressed decision journey. Instead of clearly defined stages, there are clusters of influence happening across different platforms.
No single interaction is responsible for the outcome. Instead, each touchpoint contributes to building familiarity, trust, and relevance over time.
Each behaviour plays a distinct role in how decisions are formed.
This is where brands are remembered — often before they are considered.
Streaming reflects always-on content consumption across platforms like YouTube, connected TV, and podcasts. While users are not actively looking to buy, they are constantly being exposed to products, ideas, and recommendations.
This is where early impressions are formed. Content, storytelling, and creator influence shape perception long before a user shows intent.
This is where brands enter the shortlist, often subconsciously.
Scrolling is the modern version of browsing. Whether on social media or marketplaces, users are exposed to a constant flow of content.
There is usually no clear intent to purchase, but attention can shift quickly. The right visual, message, or recommendation can spark interest within seconds.
This is where curiosity begins, and shortlists start to form, even if users are not consciously making decisions yet.
By this point, many decisions are already partially formed.
Searching signals a stronger level of intent. Users are now actively looking for information, comparisons, and reassurance.
However, search itself has evolved. It now includes not only traditional search engines, but also video platforms, AI-driven tools, and visual search.
At this stage, clarity and trust matter most. Brands that provide relevant, reliable information are more likely to stay in consideration.
The gap between intent and action is now smaller than ever.
Shopping is no longer the final step. It can happen at any point in the journey.
Consumers now expect seamless, frictionless transactions, whether through social platforms, video content, or traditional ecommerce experiences. A well-timed interaction can trigger an immediate purchase, even without prior research.
At the same time, uncertainty or friction can just as easily delay or stop a decision.
The shift to 4S behaviour requires a different approach to marketing strategy.
First, influence begins earlier than many brands realise. By the time someone is searching, their preferences may already be shaped by what they have seen while streaming or scrolling.
Second, consistency matters more than isolated visibility. Seeing a brand once is rarely enough. Repeated exposure across different behaviours builds familiarity and trust over time.
Third, every interaction needs to contribute to the decision. Whether it is a video, a social post, a product page, or a search result, each touchpoint should inform, influence, or reduce friction.
Finally, marketing strategies need to align with behaviour rather than channels. Consumers do not separate their experiences into social, search, and e-commerce. They move between them fluidly, and brands need to reflect that.
Many marketing strategies still rely on outdated assumptions about how decisions are made.
This often leads to overinvestment in one area, such as conversion optimisation, while neglecting earlier moments that shape intent. Brands may focus on driving traffic without considering how that traffic was influenced, or prioritise search visibility without building familiarity beforehand.
The result is inconsistent performance and missed opportunities to influence decisions earlier in the journey.
4S shopping reflects a shift from linear decision-making to continuous influence.
The brands that perform best are not just visible at the point of search — they are present across streaming, scrolling, and discovery moments long before intent appears.
This changes how marketing should be approached:
Most strategies still optimise for isolated moments.
The ones that win understand how those moments connect.
