Consumers who say one thing but buy another are a pressing challenge for brands and retailers. With economic uncertainty, shifting priorities, and increasingly value‑driven decision-making changing consumer habits, this growing disconnect has cost the industry more than 13 billion unit sales over the past five years – losses many companies can no longer afford to overlook.

NIQ has launched the Say–Do Gap Measurement Framework to quantify the disconnect between consumer intent and real‑world buying behaviour, unlocking powerful paths to reclaim volume and fuel growth.

By unifying deep attitudinal insights with verified purchase data across 25+ global markets, the Say–Do Framework bridges this gap and exposes where brands are losing momentum, where unmet demand is hiding, and where opportunity is silently compounding.

Brands and retailers can now quantify the gap between what consumers believe and what they buy, and market or create products that deliver value with the correct consumer, maximize price retention, and deliver unit volume growth.

“Brands and retailers can no longer afford to navigate using half the compass,” said Marta Cyhan-Bowles, Chief Communications Officer & Head of Global Marketing COE, NIQ.

“The Say-Do Framework delivers behavioural truth rooted in real buying patterns in order to help our clients defend price, reclaim volume, and unlock growth with precision.”

The new framework applies seamlessly across categories, cohorts, markets, and claims, and can be weighted to reflect brand-specific priorities. Because it refreshes continually through NIQ’s globally connected panel network, businesses can track how shifts in sentiment, messaging, or macro forces reshape consumer behavior over time.

NIQ’s proprietary linkage methodology makes it possible for leaders to see not just where consumer intent falls short of action but also the “why”, and what it will take to close that distance profitably.

“This is the clearest bridge yet between what consumers believe and what they buy,” said Troy Treagan, Chief Product Officer at NIQ.

“For years, leaders could only guess why intent failed to translate into action. Now they can see the drivers of the gap, quantify its financial impact, and take data-driven steps to close it. Any company looking to regain momentum in 2026 should have this framework at the center of its decisions.”

The Say–Do Gap Measurement Framework is now available globally as part of NIQ’s Full View suite. To learn more, visit niq.com/say-do-framework.