Mapping the Initial Consideration Set in the Consideration Stage
This skill teaches you how to identify and analyze the small set of brands consumers already have in mind at the consideration stage—before they begin any active research—so you can ensure your brand earns a spot on that critical mental shortlist.
To map the initial consideration set at the consideration stage, survey target consumers to identify which brands they recall unprompted when a purchase need arises. Combine unaided brand recall data with competitive analysis and category entry point research. Then analyze which touchpoints—advertising, word-of-mouth, prior experience—drove each brand's inclusion, so you can prioritize the channels that earn a spot in buyers' mental shortlists.
Outcome: You gain a clear, data-backed picture of exactly which brands your target consumers consider before researching—and what drives inclusion or exclusion—so you can allocate marketing spend to the touchpoints that actually earn consideration.
Prerequisites
- Basic understanding of the McKinsey Consumer Decision Journey framework
- Access to brand tracking or consumer survey data
- Familiarity with brand awareness and recall metrics
- Working knowledge of your competitive landscape
Overview
In the McKinsey Consumer Decision Journey, the consideration stage is the critical first moment when a consumer recognizes a need and mentally assembles a small shortlist of brands. Unlike the traditional marketing funnel, which assumes consumers methodically narrow from many options to few, the CDJ reveals that most buyers start with just two to four brands already in mind. If your brand isn't on that initial list, you're fighting an uphill battle during active evaluation.
Mapping the initial consideration set means systematically identifying which brands your target consumers recall unprompted, understanding why those brands made the cut, and diagnosing what kept others out. This isn't a one-time exercise—consideration sets shift as advertising campaigns launch, competitors enter markets, and consumer experiences accumulate. Regular mapping lets you track whether your brand-building efforts are translating into real mental availability.
This skill sits at the foundation of the McKinsey Consumer Decision Journey framework. Without understanding the consideration stage, your downstream work on active evaluation, purchase triggers, and loyalty loops lacks the context it needs. Brands that master consideration set mapping consistently outperform those that focus only on lower-funnel conversion tactics.
How It Works
The initial consideration set forms through a combination of three forces: past experience with a brand, exposure to marketing and advertising, and recommendations from peers or trusted sources. When a consumer recognizes a need—say, they need a new project management tool—they don't start with a blank slate. They instantly recall a handful of brands shaped by these forces.
McKinsey's original research found that the average initial consideration set contains just 1.5 to 3.8 brands depending on the category. This means the consideration stage acts as an extraordinarily powerful filter. Brands that make the initial set have a disproportionate advantage: McKinsey found they are up to three times more likely to be purchased than brands added later during active evaluation.
The mechanism is rooted in cognitive psychology. Consumers rely on mental shortcuts—brand salience, emotional associations, and availability heuristics—to assemble their shortlist. They aren't rationally evaluating every option in the market. They're pulling from memory. This is why mapping the consideration stage requires measuring mental availability (what consumers recall) rather than just physical availability (what's on the shelf or in search results).
By mapping these sets across consumer segments, you reveal which competitors you're really fighting against (often not who you assume), which touchpoints are driving recall, and where your brand-building has gaps. This intelligence directly informs media strategy, messaging, and competitive positioning.
Step-by-Step
Step 1: Define Your Category Entry Points
Before you can map what brands consumers consider, you need to understand the situations, needs, and motivations that trigger category entry. These are called Category Entry Points (CEPs)—the specific moments when a consumer begins thinking about a purchase.
For a CRM tool, entry points might include: 'My team is losing track of leads,' 'We're scaling past spreadsheets,' 'Our current CRM contract is expiring,' or 'A colleague recommended switching tools.' Each entry point can produce a different consideration set because different triggers activate different brand memories.
Document 5-10 primary category entry points for your market. Use customer interviews, sales call transcripts, and support ticket analysis to identify them. The more specific and grounded in real language, the better.
Tip: Don't guess at entry points from a conference room. Pull actual language from customer conversations. Tools like Gong or chorus transcripts are gold mines for identifying the exact moments people start thinking about your category.
Step 2: Conduct Unaided Brand Recall Research
The core data for mapping consideration sets comes from unaided recall surveys. Ask target consumers to name the brands they'd consider for each category entry point—without showing them a list. The question format matters: 'If you needed to [category entry point], which brands or products come to mind?' This must be unaided because aided recall (showing a list) inflates numbers and masks actual mental availability.
Survey a representative sample of your target audience. Aim for at least 200-300 respondents per segment for statistical reliability. Record the order in which brands are mentioned—first-mentioned brands have stronger mental availability than third or fourth mentions.
Break results out by segment: new buyers vs. repeat buyers, different demographics, different entry points. The consideration set for a first-time buyer often looks very different from someone replacing an existing solution.
Tip: Online survey panels (Prolific, UserTesting, or Wynter for B2B) can get you unaided recall data in days, not weeks. If budget is tight, even 30-50 qualitative interviews yield directional insights.
Step 3: Analyze Consideration Set Composition
With raw recall data in hand, build a consideration set map. For each category entry point and each segment, calculate:
- Set size: How many brands does the average consumer recall? (Benchmark: 1.5-3.8 depending on category complexity)
- Inclusion rate: What percentage of respondents included your brand?
- Position: What's your average mention order? (First mention vs. third)
- Competitive overlap: Which brands most frequently appear alongside yours?
- Exclusion patterns: Which segments consistently leave you out?
Visualize this as a matrix: rows are consumer segments or entry points, columns are brands, cells are inclusion percentages. This immediately reveals where you're strong, where you're absent, and who your true consideration-stage competitors are.
Tip: Your real competitors at the consideration stage are often surprising. Enterprise software companies frequently find they're competing against 'doing nothing' or 'spreadsheets' more than against named rivals.
Step 4: Identify Drivers of Inclusion and Exclusion
For each brand in the consideration set (including yours), investigate what drove its inclusion. Follow up your recall survey with diagnostic questions: 'Why did [brand] come to mind?' Typical drivers fall into categories:
- Past experience: Previously used the product
- Advertising exposure: Saw ads recently
- Word of mouth: Friend, colleague, or influencer recommended it
- Content/thought leadership: Read their blog, saw them on a podcast
- Market presence: Encountered them at events, in directories, or in reviews
Equally important: ask consumers who didn't include your brand why it didn't come to mind. Common exclusion reasons include: never heard of it, perceived as too expensive, perceived as wrong category, or had a negative past experience. This diagnosis tells you whether you have an awareness problem, a perception problem, or a positioning problem—each requires a fundamentally different response.
Tip: Don't just ask 'why.' Use stimulus-aided follow-ups: 'Had you heard of [your brand] before this survey?' This separates true awareness gaps from salience gaps—you might be known but not recalled at the right moment.
Step 5: Map Touchpoints to Consideration Set Entry
Now connect the dots between marketing touchpoints and consideration set inclusion. For consumers who included your brand, trace back which touchpoints contributed. This isn't simple attribution—it's understanding which channels build the kind of mental availability that earns consideration.
Create a touchpoint influence map that cross-references your inclusion rate with marketing channel exposure. Consumers who recalled your brand after seeing your content on LinkedIn represent a different signal than those who recalled you from a Google search. The consideration stage is primarily won through brand-building channels (content, social, sponsorships, PR, word-of-mouth) rather than direct-response channels.
This analysis often reveals that the channels driving the most consideration stage inclusion are not the ones getting the most budget. Display advertising, podcasts, and community presence frequently punch above their weight for consideration set inclusion, while paid search captures demand that already exists rather than creating it.
Tip: Cross-reference your touchpoint data with the sibling skill on [identifying touchpoints across CDJ stages](/skills/identifying-touchpoints-across-cdj-stages) for a complete picture of how channels influence each phase.
Step 6: Benchmark Against Category Norms and Track Over Time
A single consideration set map is a snapshot. Its real value comes from benchmarking and trending. Compare your findings against category norms—industry brand tracking reports from sources like Kantar, YouGov BrandIndex, or Morning Consult provide baselines for typical set sizes and leader inclusion rates.
Establish a cadence for remeasurement. For fast-moving categories (consumer tech, DTC brands), measure quarterly. For slower categories (financial services, enterprise software), biannual or annual tracking is sufficient. Track these KPIs over time:
- Your brand's inclusion rate (overall and by segment)
- Your average mention position
- Set size trends (shrinking sets mean incumbents are strengthening)
- New entrants appearing in sets
- Correlation between campaign launches and inclusion rate changes
This longitudinal data becomes your most powerful argument for brand investment. When you can show that a content series moved your consideration stage inclusion rate from 12% to 23% among enterprise buyers, you've made an ROI case that brand marketers rarely get to make.
Tip: Layer this data into your broader CDJ map. Feed consideration set insights into your work on [analyzing active evaluation behavior](/skills/analyzing-active-evaluation-behavior) to understand how your initial set position affects downstream conversion.
Examples
Example: B2B SaaS Company Mapping Project Management Tool Consideration Sets
A mid-market project management SaaS company (similar to Monday.com or Asana) wants to understand its consideration stage position among teams of 50-200 employees. They suspect they're losing deals before prospects even start evaluating because they're not making the initial shortlist.
The team identifies five category entry points from sales call transcripts: 'team outgrowing spreadsheets,' 'current tool too complex,' 'new team lead wants to standardize,' 'remote work coordination challenges,' and 'contract renewal trigger.' They survey 400 target buyers (operations managers and team leads at 50-200 person companies) using Wynter panels.
Results reveal an average consideration set of 2.8 brands. For the 'outgrowing spreadsheets' entry point, the most-included brands are Asana (67%), Monday.com (54%), and Trello (48%). Their brand appears at just 14% inclusion. However, for the 'current tool too complex' entry point, their inclusion rate jumps to 31%—respondents associate them with simplicity.
Diagnostic follow-ups reveal that 62% of non-includers have heard of the brand (aided awareness) but didn't recall it at the consideration stage. The primary exclusion reason: 'didn't think of them for teams our size.' This signals a positioning problem, not an awareness problem.
The team shifts their strategy: instead of broad awareness campaigns, they invest in content and case studies specifically targeting the 'outgrowing spreadsheets' and 'new team lead' entry points with messaging that emphasizes mid-market fit. Six months later, inclusion rate for 'outgrowing spreadsheets' moves from 14% to 28%, and pipeline from that segment increases proportionally.
Example: DTC Skincare Brand Analyzing Consideration Stage Drivers
A direct-to-consumer skincare brand competes in the crowded 'anti-aging serum' subcategory. They rank well on Google for key search terms but notice that consumers who reach their site often already have strong preferences—suggesting the consideration stage is being won elsewhere.
The brand conducts 150 unaided recall interviews with women aged 30-45 who purchased an anti-aging serum in the past 6 months. The primary category entry point is 'noticing signs of aging and deciding to try a serum.' Average set size is 2.2 brands.
The top three brands by inclusion rate are CeraVe (58%), The Ordinary (52%), and a prestige brand (41%). The DTC brand appears at 9% inclusion. Touchpoint analysis reveals the dominant drivers of inclusion: dermatologist recommendations (38%), TikTok/Instagram content (31%), and friend recommendations (24%). Traditional advertising drives just 7% of consideration stage inclusion in this category.
The brand realizes their SEO strength captures demand during active evaluation, but they're missing the consideration stage entirely. They invest in a dermatologist partnership program (getting product into dermatologist offices with samples) and a micro-influencer seeding campaign targeting skincare-focused creators. They track consideration set inclusion quarterly using a 300-person brand tracking panel. Within two quarters, their unaided recall rises from 9% to 19%, and they observe a corresponding increase in branded search volume—a leading indicator that more consumers now enter active evaluation with their brand already in mind.
Best Practices
Always measure unaided recall first before showing any brand lists—aided recall inflates numbers and hides your real consideration stage position.
Segment your consideration set analysis by category entry point, not just demographics. The same consumer assembles a different consideration set depending on why they're shopping.
Track mention order, not just inclusion. Being first-mentioned (top of mind) correlates much more strongly with purchase than being third or fourth in a consumer's list.
Pair quantitative survey data with qualitative interviews to understand the 'why' behind inclusion and exclusion—numbers tell you what's happening, interviews tell you why.
Resist the urge to map consideration sets only among your current customers. Survey the broader target market, including people who've never bought from you, to get an accurate picture.
Use consideration set data to challenge assumptions about competitive positioning. Your consideration stage competitors are defined by consumers, not by your internal strategy team.
Common Mistakes
Using aided brand awareness as a proxy for consideration set inclusion
Correction
Aided awareness ('Have you heard of X?') vastly overstates real consideration. Someone can recognize your brand name but never think of you when a need arises. Always use unaided recall framed around specific purchase situations to measure true consideration stage presence.
Assuming the consideration set is the same across all buyer segments
Correction
A first-time buyer, a switcher, and someone whose contract is expiring have very different consideration sets. Segment your research by buyer type, company size, geography, and especially by category entry point. One aggregate number hides the most actionable insights.
Mapping the consideration set once and treating it as static
Correction
Consideration sets shift as brands launch campaigns, competitors enter markets, and consumer experiences accumulate. Establish a regular measurement cadence—quarterly for dynamic categories, biannually for stable ones—and track trends over time rather than relying on a single snapshot.
Focusing only on brands included while ignoring why brands are excluded
Correction
Exclusion data is often more actionable than inclusion data. If 40% of your target market has heard of you but doesn't consider you, that's a positioning or perception problem—fundamentally different from an awareness problem and requiring a different solution.
Conflating search behavior with the consideration stage
Correction
The initial consideration set forms before active research begins. By the time someone types a query into Google, they've already assembled their mental shortlist. Search data reveals active evaluation behavior, not consideration stage composition. Use surveys and brand tracking to measure the consideration stage; use search data for the active evaluation phase.
Other Skills in This Method
Analyzing Active Evaluation Behavior
Techniques for tracking and understanding how consumers add and remove brands during the active evaluation phase through digital research, reviews, and peer input.
Optimizing Moment-of-Purchase Triggers
How to identify and influence the critical decision-stage touchpoints that convert active evaluators into buyers at the point of purchase.
Building Post-Purchase Loyalty Loops
Designing post-purchase experiences that create ongoing loyalty loops so customers skip re-evaluation and repurchase directly.
Identifying Touchpoints Across CDJ Stages
How to audit and catalog every brand touchpoint across the four CDJ phases to find gaps and high-impact interaction opportunities.
Creating Circular Consumer Journey Maps
Step-by-step process for building a circular customer journey map based on the CDJ model instead of a traditional linear funnel.
Replacing Funnel Thinking with the Decision Journey
How to transition your marketing strategy from a linear customer journey funnel to the non-linear CDJ model with practical examples.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many brands are typically in an initial consideration set at the consideration stage?
McKinsey's research found that initial consideration sets typically contain 1.5 to 3.8 brands depending on category complexity. Simple, low-involvement categories (like household cleaners) skew toward 1-2 brands, while complex categories (like automobiles or enterprise software) can reach 3-4. The key insight is that these sets are much smaller than marketers assume.
What's the difference between the consideration stage and active evaluation in the CDJ?
The consideration stage happens before any active research—it's the mental shortlist consumers assemble instantly from memory when a need arises. Active evaluation is the subsequent research phase where consumers investigate options, read reviews, and may add or remove brands. Brands in the initial consideration set are up to three times more likely to be purchased than those added during active evaluation.
How often should I remap the initial consideration set?
Measurement cadence depends on category dynamics. For fast-moving categories like consumer tech or DTC products, map quarterly. For slower categories like financial services or enterprise software, biannual or annual tracking is sufficient. Always remeasure after major campaigns, competitor launches, or market shifts.
Can a brand enter the consideration set during active evaluation instead?
Yes—brands can be added during active evaluation through search results, recommendations, or comparison content. However, McKinsey's data shows brands in the initial consideration set have a significant purchase advantage. Being added later means you're playing catch-up against brands the consumer already trusts enough to have recalled from memory.
How do I improve my brand's inclusion rate at the consideration stage?
Focus on building mental availability through consistent brand-building touchpoints: content marketing, PR, community presence, influencer partnerships, and advertising that reinforces your category association. Address specific exclusion reasons—if people know you but don't recall you, it's a salience problem requiring more distinctive brand assets and category entry point messaging.
Is the consideration stage the same as top-of-funnel awareness?
No. Top-of-funnel awareness is a broad measure of whether people have heard of you. The consideration stage is whether they actually think of you when a specific purchase need arises. You can have high awareness but low consideration stage inclusion if your brand lacks strong associations with relevant purchase triggers. This distinction is critical for choosing the right marketing tactics.