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Prepared and presented by:Prashant Sakariya

Introduction to Consumer
Research
Consumer

Research is a form of applied

sociology that concentrates on
understanding the preferences, attitudes,
and behaviors of consumers in a market
based economy, and it aims to
understand the effects and comparative
success of marketing campaigns. The
field of consumer marketing research as
a statistical science was pioneered by
Arthur Nielsen with founding of the
ACNielsen Company in 1923.

Introduction to Consumer
Research
(cont..)
The

consumer research focuses

more on the data collection and
relationship building and
strengthening between the
contracted consumer and the
company.
For the action part, the company
identifies the participants and
fixes their problems.

Evolution of Consumer Research

The early consumer researchers gave little
thought to the impact of mood, emotion or
situation on consumers decisions. They believed
that marketing was applied economics, and that
consumers were rational decision-makers who
actively evaluated the goods and services
available to them and selected those that gave
highest utility at the lowest cost.
In 1939, a Viennese psychoanalyst named Ernest
Dichter began to use Freudian psychoanalyst
techniques to uncover the hidden motivation of
consumers which is commonly known as
Motivational research that includes Qualitative and
Quantitative research.

Consumer Research
Paradigms
Usually

customers hesitates to reveal

their reasons or motivational factor
which made them to purchase a product
or service at that time the consumer
researchers use the two different types
of research methodology to study
consumer behavior:quantitative
researchandqualitative research.

Quantitative Research
It is descriptive in nature and this method is
used to predict the consumer behavior. This
method always consists of experiments,
surveys techniques, and observations. The
findings are empirical and if collected
randomly this can be generalized to large
populations and the data are quantitative,
they lend to sophisticated statistical analysis.
Designs used in Quantitative Research

Observational research
Experimentation
Surveys

Observational research
Here in this method the people or
customers are observed when they are
purchasing the product or using the
product

Mechanical observation
Uses a mechanical or electronic
device to record customer behavior or
responses to a particular marketing
stimulus.

Experimentation
It is possible to test the relative sales appeal of many
types of variables, such as package designs, prices
promotional offers, or copy themes through experiments
designed to identify cause and effect.

Surveys
There are various survey methods are there they are,
personal interview survey
telephone survey
mail surveys
online surveys

Qualitative research

This includes depth interviews, focus groups,

metaphor analysis, and projective techniques. Here
sample sizes are necessarily small so we cannot
generalized to larger population they are used to
obtain new ideas for promotional campaigns.

The important methods of data collection in this

research design aredepth interview, focus
group, discussion guides, projective
techniquesandmetaphor analysis.These
techniques are regularly used the early stages of
attitude research to pinpoint relevant product
related beliefs and to develop an initial picture of
consumer attitude.

Depth interview:
This is a lengthy non structured interview between a
respondent and highly trained interviewer, who minimizes
his own participation in the discussion after establishing
the general subject to be discussed

Focus group:
This consist of 8 to10 respondents who meet with a
moderator analyst for a group discussion focused on a
particular product or product category.

Projective techniques:
This is designed to tap the underlying motives of
individuals despite their unconscious rationalizations or
efforts at conscious concealment.

Metaphor analysis:
In the 1990, a stream of
consumer research emerged
suggesting the most communication is
non verbal and that people do not
think in words but in images.

Combining qualitative and

quantitative research

Marketers often use a combination of

quantitative and qualitative research to help
make strategic marketing decisions. For
Example, They use qualitative research
findings to discover new ideas and to
develop promotional strategy, and
quantitative research findings to predict
consumer reactions to various promotional
inputs. The combined findings enable
marketers to design more meaningful and
effective marketing strategies.

Scope of Consumer
Research
Market

Research:

Determining the size of current and potential

markets;
Assessing the purchase trends;
Assessing the strengths and weakness of the
competitors offerings;
Demand/Sales Forecasting

Product

Research:

Assessing modifications needed in the product;

Consumer acceptance/ rejection of the product;
Comparative study of competitive products.

 Advertising

Research:

Testing of:
Advertising message and appeal;
Effectiveness and add. Copy;
Media Related Research;
Over all effectiveness of the Ad.

Pricing

Research:

Consumers price expectations and reaction

to prices;
Testing of alternative price strategies.

Positive Aspects Of Consumer

Research
Here

Both consumers and marketers

can benefit from consumer research.
Consumers generally have better
consumption experiences, and
marketers can learn to build stronger
relationships by paying attention to
consumer research:
1. Better Consumption Experiences
2. Potential For Building Customer
Relationships

Negative Aspects Of Consumer

Research
Consumer

research is a very complex process, with

a number of potentially negative aspects. These
include the following difficulties:

1.Tracking Consumer Behaviors In Different

Countries.
Ex: Focus Group are not appropriate in all
countries or U.S. marketers often put husbands
and wives together in a focus group to explore
attitudes toward products like furniture. However,
this approach would not work in countries like
Saudi Arabia where women are unlikely to speak
freely and are highly unlikely to disagree with their
husbands.

2.Potentially Higher Marketing Costs.

3.Invasion Of Consumer Privacy.
4.Deceptive Research Practices
some unscrupulous researchers may
engage in deceptive practices. One such
practice is lying about the sponsor of the
research by, saying it is being conducted by
a non-profit organization when it is really
being conducted by a for profit company.