The Say-Do Gap Measurement Framework
Validate strategy. Mitigate risk.
Personalize and defend premiumization.
Identify and unlock new consumer opportunities.
Your Consumers Say One Thing. Their Carts Tell Another Story.
For leaders making difficult innovation and brand renovation decisions, it’s never been more important to get it right. Compounding this challenge, what consumers say rarely matches what they do.
The Say–Do Measurement Framework links attitudes to verified purchasing across 25+ countries—providing a consistent, scalable view of where intention aligns with action, where it breaks, and why.
Spanning every attribute NIQ tracks—health, sustainability, value, convenience, indulgence, functionality, packaging—it clarifies which claims will convert, which won’t, and where demand is headed next.
If you want to know which claims will win with consumers,
start here.
What consumers say:
What consumers do:
What It Is
A behavioral truth metric for modern brands
Consumers communicate what they value—but their purchasing behavior often doesn’t align.
The Say–Do Measurement Framework quantifies and links that difference, revealing where strategies truly reflect consumer priorities, where they fall short, and where incremental opportunity is hiding.
It offers a unified, consistent metric to gauge the strength of any claim or attribute across categories, markets, and cohorts—equipping leaders to invest with precision.
What It Is
A behavioral truth metric for modern brands
Consumers communicate what they value—but their purchasing behavior often doesn’t align.
The Say–Do Measurement Framework quantifies and links that difference, revealing where strategies truly reflect consumer priorities, where they fall short, and where incremental opportunity is hiding.
It offers a unified, consistent metric to gauge the strength of any claim or attribute across categories, markets, and cohorts—equipping leaders to invest with precision.
How It Works
A proprietary linkage framework across NIQ’s global panel network
Connecting NIQ’s attitudinal data with verified sales behavior across 25+ markets—creating a unified behavioral metric that shows:
- Where consumers follow through
- Where they overstate interest
- Where unmet demand or whitespace exists
- How preferences and behaviors shift over time
Because the framework operates across every coded attribute and claim in NIQ’s panel it applies seamlessly across:
- Health & wellness
- Value & affordability
- Sustainability & responsible sourcing
- Convenience & ease-of-use
- Indulgence & sensory experience (taste, texture, mouthfeel)
- Functional benefits (energy, digestion, satiety, performance)
- Protein, fiber & nutrient density
- Clean label & “free-from”
- Plant-based & natural origin
- Plant-based & natural origin
- Better-for-you positioning
- Packaging, format & portioning
- …and any other attribute NIQ tracks
Weighting can be applied to mirror brand or category priorities, ensuring the measurement aligns directly with strategic and commercial objectives.
Designed for continuous
refresh, the model allows
clients to monitor how
the Say-Do Gap score
trends over time.
Why it matters
Category growth is increasingly won or lost in the gap between what consumers say and what they actually buy.
Say–Do brings those two worlds together—turning yesterday’s ambiguity into today’s commercial advantage.
It enables leaders to:
- Spot which consumer signals are real and which are overstated or misleading
- Identify table-stakes attributes that quietly drive loyalty
- Size white space and unlock incremental volume
- Build price, innovation, messaging, and formulation strategies that match how people actually behave
- Forecast the commercial impact of maintaining or closing Say–Do gaps
If demand is shifting, Say–Do shows where—and what it takes to win it back.
Why it matters
Category growth is increasingly won or lost in the gap between what consumers say and what they actually buy.
Say–Do brings those two worlds together—turning yesterday’s ambiguity into today’s commercial advantage.
It enables leaders to:
- Spot which consumer signals are real and which are overstated or misleading
- Identify table-stakes attributes that quietly drive loyalty
- Size white space and unlock incremental volume
- Build price, innovation, messaging, and formulation strategies that match how people actually behave
- Forecast the commercial impact of maintaining or closing Say–Do gaps
If demand is shifting, Say–Do shows where—and what it takes to win it back.
Trusted Worldwide
Validated across categories, countries, and consumer contexts
The Say–Do Measurement Framework scales across markets, cohorts, and categories, enabling global, regional, and local teams to work from a unified behavioral standard.
About NIQ
NIQ is a leading consumer intelligence company, delivering the most complete understanding of consumer buying behavior and revealing new pathways to growth. Our global reach spans over 90 countries covering approximately 85% of the world’s population and more than $7.2 trillion in global consumer spend. With a holistic retail read and the most comprehensive consumer insights—delivered with advanced analytics through state-of-the-art platforms—NIQ delivers the Full View™.
© 2026 Nielsen Consumer LLC. All rights reserved. The Say-Do Gap Framework is proprietary. Unauthorized use or replication is strictly prohibited.