Regardless of what business runs them, collectible programmes serve the same purpose, University of Auckland marketing senior lecturer Dr Bodo Lang says.
"The behavioural goals are very simple, they want you to come to the store more often and when you are there they want you to shop more," he said.
"There's some pretty clear research that shows what [businesses] want to do is increase the number of times people go shopping … and maximise the basket size."
The supermarkets claim the programmes are run as a reward for their customers, often a fun activity and something that's useful.
Little Garden and Super Insects will run over the next six weeks or so, while stocks last.
To collect the Little Garden sets, New World customers need to spend $40 on groceries and for Super Insects, Countdown customers need to spend $30.
In previous years, trading between sets has occurred at school, in workplaces, and even on social media as people try their best to complete them.
Lang told the Weekend Herald he believed there are seven main driving factors as to why collectible series is so sought after by consumers.
They are often free, serve a utility purpose, they are novel, scarce, create joy, they are tradeable and are very social.
Free: This one is pretty simple, Lang said, people like free stuff. Consumers like to score good deals, and collectibles are often free even though to get one you might need to spend a specific amount of money.
Utility: If a collectible product it could entice people to make more of an effort to get it. Take New World's Little Garden for example, which could be used to create a veggie-patch.
Novelty: Novelty is a big driver of human behaviour, Lang said. Collecting something that's only on the market for a short time is quite novel. Utilities rely on the thing having a purpose, whereas the novelty will help get people to collect the product no matter how boring or mundane it is.
University of Auckland marketing senior lecturer Dr Bodo Lang.
Scarcity: Consumers are hardwired to seek out things that are only available for a short time and people are more likely to buy something if it's scarce, Lang said. As soon as something has a limitation on it, it's likely people will buy more of it because it's difficult to collect.
Joy: People can experience joy when they collect something, especially if they complete a set.
Trade: Lang says if you're collecting something that is tradeable, people will take great pleasure of being able to do so.
Social: People are able to interact with others while collecting creates the social aspect that people will enjoy, especially when trying to complete the set and the fulfilment when they do.
Antoinette Laird, Foodstuffs head of corporate affairs, said collectible programmes are something they offer New World shoppers each year.
"It's an opportunity to reward customers with something we know they will love, just for doing their shop with us."
New World's Little Garden returns to stores from Monday. Photo / Supplied
A spokesperson for Countdown sang the same tune.
"We know that value for money is always important for our customers, and Super Insects is about rewarding families for choosing to shop with us," they said.
Both supermarket chains said the Covid-19 pandemic had been close in mind when kickstarting the new collectible programmes.
New World wanted to offer something that didn't require phones, tablets or technology following a tough year spent largely online for many Kiwis.
It also wanted to offer shoppers the experiences of growing their own food; Countdown says sustainable food and nature is top of its agenda.
Countdown teamed up with Ruud Kleinpaste, New Zealand's bug man, who says insects play a crucial role in our ecosystem and people needed to be educated about them.
"Insects play a critical role and without them, we wouldn't have food and life in Aotearoa as we know it," he said.
Lang said there was nothing manipulative about collectible programmes because they do not offer shoppers anything they do not receive.
He did warn parents of pester-power from children, however, who may try to entice their parents to buy more groceries in order to get a set.
"I think if you're an average consumer then there's relatively little chance of you becoming addicted to collecting plant seeds or even little card sets," Lang said.
"Of course, when you talk about more vulnerable consumer pools like children, I think that's where the real argument is.
"On the upside, you could say children don't make these purchasing decisions but they have pester-power as we all know and sometimes people give in."
