Page 41 - Decoding Decisions ~ Making sense of the messy middle

41 CHAPTER 3 INVESTIGATING THE MESSY MIDDLE

For example, the top 15 “sim only deals” searches in the UK in 2019
comprised 11 with a brand name (in red) and 4 without (in pink, figure 15).

Figure 15

sim only deals

Top 15 searches related to ‘sim only deals’

ee sim only deals, ee sim only, sim only vodafone, vodafone

sim only deals, o2 sim only, o2 sim only deals, sim only deals
virgin, virgin sim only, tesco sim only, sim only deals tesco,
best sim only deals uk, phone sim only deals, sim only deals
uk, mobile sim only deals, best sim only deals

Our other modifiers of this nature exhibit similar trends over time, albeit
with different category affinities. As “deals” is to telecoms, “offers” is to
grocery retail, especially with relatively high unit price purchases, such as
alcohol. Conversely, the word “sale” tends to be more associated with retail
categories such as clothing and furniture. 10

OK Google, does it have good reviews?

We’ve seen how the search modifier “best” can help people find out what
others consider to be worth doing or buying. An even more explicit way of
expressing a wish to investigate the views of others – be they peers, previous
buyers, vloggers, or category experts – is to include the modifier “reviews”
in a search. However, there’s an interesting distinction between searches

containing “best” and “reviews”, with searches containing “best” rarely
containing the name of a brand, while searches containing “reviews” often do.

10 Note that “sale” and “for sale” are search modifiers with very different meaning and usage. The term “sale” is associated with discounts
and price reductions offered by a business, whereas “for sale” typically denotes second-hand or private sales.
Data source: Top 15 queries related to “sim only deals”, Google Trends, United Kingdom, 2019, All categories, Web Search. Excludes related
queries not containing “sim only”