Market research would be a lot easier to pull off if we all lived in a homogenous society. Things would be simpler if we were all hailed from the same background, with the same cultural, ethnic, religious, and social touchstones.

Of course, that’s not the case in most parts of the world.

Attempting a “one-size-fits-all” approach to market research means the effort is likely doomed from the start. As demographics continue to change around the world, researchers must better grasp the diverse needs and circumstances of their target audiences. If your research project lacks diversity, it will fall short of being comprehensive and inclusive.

To demonstrate the importance of diversity in market research, consider these statistics compiled by Nexus A.I.:

  • Almost 60% of consumers have stopped supporting a brand because of a lack of LGBTQ+ representation in ads.
  • More than 40% of Americans would like to see more racial diversity in advertising.
  • Almost 40% of consumers say they are more inclined to trust brands that display diversity in their advertising efforts. 
  • More than 80% of consumers state that visible LGBTQ+ representation is proof a business seeks to offer products and services for all types of consumers. 

These statistics demonstrate that it’s ineffective to look at all consumers in the same light. Brands committed to diversity in marketing are likely to see a more significant ROI for their efforts than competitors who aren’t engaged in inclusive research.

Problems Arising from a Lack of Diversity in Research

If the projected cost and use of resources lead some businesses to avoid diversity research altogether, inevitable consequences may follow. 

For one thing, there’s no benefit in becoming known as a brand that doesn’t value diversity. Market research that doesn’t tap into diverse perspectives means a brand can easily stumble with broad-based marketing campaigns that inadvertently offend a particular group of people. 

And what about unforeseen situations where a crisis brings media attention to the brand, exposing a widespread lack of diverse perspectives within the organisation? The public relations fallout in such cases can be devastating.

As we have noted before, “Only by rooting out the nuances of different geographical areas, cultures, and consumers can you get an accurate picture of what people value and whether your products and services might succeed.”

“Diversity marketing is accepting the reality that consumer bases are no longer as homogenous as they once seemed,” notes Business.com. When consumers seek out brands that resonate with them, “brands that are slow to adapt their marketing to this reality can seem out of touch and dated.”

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What “Diversity” Means

What exactly is meant by “diversity”? Generally speaking, this involves assessing factors such as age, ethnicity, gender preferences, disabilities, and religious affiliation. 

Diversity in marketing and research “doesn’t necessarily mean trying to cater to every single possible demographic,” notes Stackla, a visual content engine. Instead, it means “knowing who is drawn to your brand and making sure those groups are represented” in marketing and market research efforts.

It’s also worth looking at the term “culture” in this context. Psychologists define culture as referring to “a set of ideas and beliefs which give people a sense of shared history,” says Psychologist World. Culture is found “in our language, art, daily routines, religion and sense of morality … and is passed down from generation to generation.”

There are many tangible benefits resulting from market research that emphasizes diversity. These include:

  • Making sure a brand identifies all possible demographics, ranging from age and gender to cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds.
  • Enabling brands to align diversity-based marketing efforts and a brand’s broader strategy.
  • Boosting awareness among diverse communities of a brand’s commitment to reaching out. 
  • Reducing the likelihood of bad will and bad press around a lack of understanding of the needs of varied target audiences.

When armed with the correct data, marketing and research teams can unveil new marketing campaigns or product launches with confidence, knowing the right message is delivered appropriately to a broad range of consumers.  

Perhaps just as importantly, diversity in market research ensures different voices are represented and heard, and differing perspectives are respected. This can make all the difference between brands poised to grow (based on what they have learned about diverse sets of consumers) and brands that eschew this approach. 

Diversity in Research Methodologies

Situations may vary, but in general, research methodologies translate into special consideration given to how to assemble a focus group that represents a truly diverse audience. Methods can also involve selecting a focus group moderator from a similar background to participants to help participants in the focus group feel comfortable about expressing their opinions.

It’s also customary to undertake diverse market research early, well ahead of unveiling a new campaign or product launch. Data gained through these efforts bring a higher degree of credibility to any sales or marketing campaigns that follow.

The same “diversity requirements” apply to others participating in market research. Look at the individuals who screen potential focus group participants. Do they represent a broad range of people with different backgrounds? It’s also a good idea to review the wording of the proposed survey to make sure no offensive cultural elements are featured.

Other market research factors to keep in mind:

  • Be realistic about the challenges involved. It’s impractical—and generally far too expensive—to move forward without applying any limits to the scope of the research. While it’s vital to understand which markets to investigate, a sharper focus on diversity can help estimate potential costs and the availability of funds and resources. 
  • Look at previous research activities undertaken by the organisation. Do these documented efforts reflect a diverse range of opinions, or are certain cultural “blind spots” obvious? 
  • Throw out cultural, racial, religious, and gender biases. Assuming that researchers know what’s best for communities other than their own is probably the biggest mistake a brand can make.
  • Language plays a key role. Whether the activity is moderating a focus group or drawing up a survey for participants, language must be considered. Tip: Relying on machine translation services like Google Translate is not the most effective approach. As we have noted before, “Machine translation is slowly improving in quality, but it lacks subtlety, it struggles with idioms, and it misses the emotional salience that’s important to be qualitative and even quantitative research.” 

By incorporating these and similar methodologies, brands gain insights into customer behaviours that help them design the most effective marketing strategies and campaigns.

Enlist the Skills and Knowledge of a Research Partner

By now, it’s clear that market research must operate on the principle that every customer group is different. A skilled market research firm can assist brands by developing a tailored approach that works for the right target audience. 

Drawing upon a toolkit of qualitative and quantitative methodologies, professional market researchers can: 

  • Help identify the right research objectives for a brand, whether those entail understanding how a product is used in the home via an online community or exploring how consumers perceive a brand through telephone depth interviews.
  • Embed a rich understanding of diverse communities across the organisation, facilitating quicker and more customer-centric decision-making.
  • Enable brands to avoid mistakes arising from a lack of understanding about diversity in research. 

Market research agencies also explore the broader market dynamics, identifying trends and anticipating a target audience’s changing needs. This strategy often leads to a competitive advantage through more informed customer knowledge and exciting new marketing messages.

Insights gained through diversity in research can result in fresh ways of thinking about a product or service—how they are used and valued by different communities. The broader a business’s understanding of those differences, the better equipped it is to develop fresh ways of thinking about potential new markets. The result? A win-win for everyone involved.

Back in the day, market research consisted mainly of tapping into as big a consumer pool as possible, with little thought given to culturally diverse demographics. In the past few years, as the struggle to achieve social justice and equality has gained prominence, market research experts have begun changing research methodology to more accurately reflect the vast array of consumers, some of who may have been excluded in the past.

This strategy is crucial for companies seeking to expand into international markets. As we have noted before, brands sometimes “fail to appreciate the diversity within a region or indeed a country.” Only by determining the nuances of different geographical areas, cultures, and consumers “can you get an accurate picture of what people value and whether your products and services might succeed.” 

The goal of this form of research is to achieve genuinely inclusive results. It involves reaching out to typically underrepresented minorities, irrespective of gender, age, race, sexual preference, religion, or disability status. 

By casting an increasingly wide net, market research methods can potentially lead to new demand for products or services and the opportunity to break into new markets. At the very least, the process can result in a deeper understanding of customers’ diverse perspectives and needs, which most experts deem crucial for business growth.

What happens if a brand chooses not to adopt an inclusive approach to surveying customers? This will: 

  • Engender resentment among potential survey participants who don’t see their interests represented in the questions.
  • Result in desired participants choosing to opt-out of the survey.
  • Engender a negative association with the brand sponsoring the survey

There is a huge untapped market for a brand’s products and services among under-served communities. It’s up to businesses to shift their focus and take a more inclusive approach to market research.

Engaging with Underrepresented Audiences

Is there any significant difference between “diversity” and “inclusivity” concepts? 

Yes, says Forbes, noting that diversity reflects “a variety of perspectives or customers.” At the same time, an inclusive focus “goes one step further, engaging those perspectives to improve product satisfaction and use, workplace culture and productivity, new product launches and marketing campaigns.”

To benefit from inclusive market research, brands must first acknowledge that all consumers do not view and use their products in the same fashion. It’s a big first step since marketing strategies often focus on tapping into as large a target audience as possible rather than complicate the process by focusing on one or another historically excluded population.

Inclusive research and design “invite more perspectives and uncovers previously unseen consequences of exclusion,” notes Medium. This approach “provides the opportunity to equalize, protect, uplift, connect, foster equity, promote truth, mitigate bias, instil dignity, empower and democratize.”

That may seem like a tall order, but inclusive research with people outside the mainstream can open the floodgates to new growth opportunities—a strategy no brand can afford to ignore.

Benefits of an Inclusive Approach

The more an organization learns about various target audiences, the more it can tailor its products or services to meet those differing needs. Benefits of inclusive research include:

  • Boosting profits. As Medium notes, “Inclusive product development will help to build products that more people can use,” which paves the way towards new sales and revenue.
  • Avoiding legal entanglements. In our litigious era, it’s not unusual for under-represented communities to seek legal redress when they feel their needs are not considered or met. Also, a brand that neglects specific built-in components of inclusive research (such as providing accessibility for disabled customers) runs the risk of being drawn into legal battles that are both costly and time-consuming.
  • Matching a brand’s mission with its actions. Most international brands hold themselves to high standards for “walking the walk” of their mission and value statements. Committing to an inclusive approach to marketing and design can help support those values by broadening the scope and impact of serving previously under-served communities.

Adopting an inclusive approach to market research will likely mean higher costs and use of resources, at least initially. But the potential for breaking into new markets (and reaping the financial rewards of that break-through) is more than justifying the expenses involved.

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Guiding the Way to Genuine Inclusivity

Adopting certain fundamental principles can help make inclusive market research efforts more informative and successful. Here are guides to foster research with a more significant pay-off:

  • Make a personal commitment to inclusivity. Business leaders who publicly advocate an inclusive approach to market research should make sure they reflect that commitment on a personal level. Educating yourself about the benefits of inclusive marketing research makes it easier to understand what these differing demographics hold essential. 
  • Watch your language. When was the last time you and your team looked hard at your marketing materials to determine if non-offensive language is employed? One option: Assign an internal “inclusivity czar” (with at least some rudimentary knowledge of under-represented communities) to closely review all the content on your website and in your marketing materials. If language exists that some communities find offensive or demeaning, chances are they will go elsewhere for their business needs.
  • Be on the lookout for “survey bias.” Be scrupulous in making sure that those individuals charged with creating a market research survey are as “bias-free” as humanly possible. A diverse team of researchers is probably the best way to avoid unintentional biases.
  • Get expert guidance. While there may be a handful of executives who “get” inclusivity right away, it’s likely true that the majority have a lot to learn on the subject. At the outset of an inclusive market research project, consider enlisting the services of experts in the field. This includes experts with knowledge of specific underrepresented communities, experts on the language and terminology popular within those communities, and others who are prominent within these groups of potential consumers who can speak with authority on their needs and challenges. 

RSA recommends that brands “include a diverse perspective at all stages of the research process and product/software/talent life cycle evaluation by incorporating inclusive testing parameters to ensure results are reflective of all users.”

Getting things right at the outset can help when it comes to reaping the rewards of comprehensive, inclusive market research. 

Build a More Inclusive Team

It stands to reason that if a brand seeks to broaden its appeal through inclusive market research, at least some of the people involved represent a diverse range of perspectives. This principle further justifies efforts to take a more inclusive approach to recruiting for the organization. 

As Inc. notes, “If representation only matters in your marketing, and not in your team building, then consumers get the signal that diversity, inclusion, and belonging aren’t as important to you as you would have them believe.” People can sense that brands “are only being representative in their marketing just to get diverse and niche consumers to spend money with them.”

A diverse team is more likely to understand differences in demographics and approach research with respect and sensitivity the process requires.

What Customers Want

Within the past few years, diverse communities have seen themselves reflected in brand marketing strategies. Their response to this change has been overwhelmingly positive, yet another compelling reason to commit time and resources to inclusive market research. 

According to Savy, a digital marketing agency, “a recent study conducted by Accenture found that 42% of ethnically diverse shoppers are more likely to switch to a brand committed to inclusion and diversity.” What’s more, “41% of LGBTQ shoppers would switch to a business dedicated to inclusivity and diversity.”

In other words, committing to inclusive market research paves the way to identifying—and then reaching out to—communities that have waited for generations to see themselves reflected in advertising and marketing. The likelihood of those communities flocking to a brand that emphasizes inclusive marketing is strong and can foster accelerated growth as a result. 

Every customer group is different. In many cases, a third-party research firm can partner with a brand to develop the best approach to inclusive marketing research. At Kadence, we draw upon our extensive toolkit of qualitative and quantitative methodologies to understand the needs of these under-served communities. The result is:

  • More productive research
  • Valuable insights into different demographics
  • Gaining a step on the competition 

By bringing companies closer to their customers, a third-party research firm can embed rich understanding across your organization and promote more effective, customer-centric decision-making. 

This summary of the report, “The Asian Consumer: 4 Key Trends for the Next Normal,” examines the purchasing trends, consumer characteristics, and brand preferences of major Asian markets that embody a unique national and cultural identity.

If you want to grow your company’s presence in Asia, make sure you read the full report here. 

This report is based on the analysis of local experts across Kadence International’s eight Asian offices: China, India, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Japan.

In this summary, let’s look at how four driving forces are changing the consumer landscape in major Asian markets.

Read the full report to determine what drives consumer interest and engagement in individual countries in the region. 

Trend One: Changes in food and shopping patterns

Since the beginning of 2020, wet markets have taken a hit in popularity and accessibility throughout the Asia Pacific region, just like the rest of the world. This trend is unlikely to change substantially in the coming years, and therefore, Asian consumers are starting to look for food and grocery alternatives.

Read the full report to learn more about the impact of COVID19 on wet markets across major South Asian countries, including China, India, the Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore, and Indonesia. 

There is a burgeoning demand for meal kits and prepared foods. Asian consumers are lured toward meal kits not only due to their convenience and simplicity but also the healthy food options and the high-quality food products included in these popular “Next Gen TV Dinners.”

Read the full report to discover the key players in the Meal Kits market in China. 

While most industry experts don’t predict the demise of wet markets and wildlife trade any time soon, changes in Asian consumer behaviors and preferences in what food they eat and how they purchase it continue to evolve.

Adopt a Cow, a new entrant in dairy within China, capitalized on these changes to capture the dairy market that two leading Chinese dairy brands previously dominated. Adopt a Cow connected with China’s consumers in a way that spoke to their evolving tastes and behaviors. 

Read this intriguing case study to discover how this new dairy brand broke into the market and faced its competition head-on, ultimately becoming the leading dairy company in China. 

Trend Two:  In the age of Zoom, work from home has altered how we work and live at home. 

The WFH employment trend is destined to stay in some form well into 2022 and beyond. Even after the pandemic, the Asian workforce will continue working 80% from home in some hybrid form. For Asian consumers, this translates into not just the way they work, but even more so, a new relationship with the space in which they now both live and work.

Unlike workers in both China and Japan, employees in India prefer video conferences rather than in-person meetings. It is also interesting that companies in Asia do not embrace remote working options for their employees as readily as businesses in the West.

Japan has some of the lowest WFH employees in all of Asia. Like many households throughout the region, Japanese remote workers deal with small, overcrowded home environments and cramped spaces that are less conducive to productivity. In many parts of Japan, space has always been tight and comes at a premium. 

Savvy homebuilders in Japan knew it was time to rethink the Tiny House model into Tiny Home Office structures.

Read the case study to learn how a real estate company found a market among those struggling to work in tight spaces at home with Tiny Home Office. 

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Trend Three: Gen Z and the demand for customizable consumer goods.

Gen Z is poised to set market trends for many years to come.

According to McKinsey & Company, Asia’s consumerism is rapidly growing and expected to reach 3 billion by 2030, a 50 percent increase from today’s consuming class.

Discover how the convergence of personalization and social media influencers drives consumer engagement for Gen Z Asian consumers in the full report here.

To build a personal brand on TikTok, Gen Z Asian consumers feel the need to create a unique personal online identity. This is why they gravitate toward products that allow room for personalization, customization, and exclusivity.

While many major luxury brands have jumped on the customization trend, the best example of the popularity of personalization comes from a rubber shoe company.

Learn how Crocs exploded in the Asian Marketplace through customization and celebrity influencers.

India is among the top five nations globally in beauty and cosmetics manufacturing and distribution. Mass beauty in India possesses a market value of more than $11 billion, with an additional $3 billion if you add hair care and personal hygiene products. There is also a growing market for customizable beauty products.

Discover the exceptional opportunities for industry innovators entering the Indian beauty market in the case study when you download the full report here.

Trend Four: The rise of Electric Vehicles. 

China is the global leader in electromobility, with a 5.75 percent market share of electric cars in the Asia Pacific region.

Even though September 2021 car sales in China took a 17 percent dip year over year, electric automobile sales in the country trended up with a jaw-dropping 355,000 registered electric vehicles that month. The year-over-year growth rate was more than 170 percent, and these Chinese consumer buying trends are expected to continue to grow well into the future. 

Japan is lagging in this category with a 0.64% market share. India follows Japan occupying the seventh position with a relatively low 0.06% market share.

On the other hand, Singaporean consumers welcome the onset of the age of electric cars. 

Sales of Teslas in Singapore have also substantially increased throughout 2021, rising from just 30 cars sold in the first six months of the year to nearly 500 in Q3 alone, even though these cars cost more than three times the cost of the US sticker price.

Read the full report to discover EV trends and consumer demand in all major countries in the region. 

Every shopper embarks upon a journey when purchasing desired goods or services. That journey can differ dramatically among various types of audiences. On the other hand, certain aspects of the shopper’s journey are similar, regardless of the product or service involved. This is where organizations can benefit dramatically by mapping the customer journey.

A comprehensive understanding of the customer experience enables businesses to: 

  • Refine offerings and identification of gaps in what a company offers 
  • Pinpoint relevant marketing channels and promote targeted offers
  • Deliver on customer expectations
  • Respond to ever-evolving customer preferences
  • Anticipate customer needs and boost retention

Agile adaptation is key to any business’s long-term success. As we have noted before, “many sales and marketing leaders take for granted that they know what their customers need.” Assumptions like these can prove costly and lose business and trigger a loss in customer retention rates.

By contrast, when you know your offerings suit current and emerging customer needs, your business will develop a reputation for being wholly customer-centric that your competitors can’t match. 

Digging Deep into Customer Needs and Preferences

What are you attempting to uncover through shopper research? Information that describes customer behaviour is key, with many elements that fit together for a broader picture. These elements include insights into:

  • Why do consumers contemplate buying a product? 
  • Why do they ultimately decide not to make a purchase?
  • Buying behaviours of different target audiences 

Conducting shopper research isn’t just about identifying shortcomings in how to deliver what people want. This information enables companies to undertake proactive steps that anticipate changing trends in shopper preferences and behaviours. Ultimately, pinpointing innovative ways to reduce gaps between your business and customer needs can result in a significant boost in customer acquisition and retention.

It’s essential to recognize that a wealth of data may already exist in your company. Everything gleaned from business analytics, and customer survey scores to the reasons behind customer service calls offer potential insights into customer behaviour. This is an excellent place to start with your research to reduce any duplication in data mining.

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Incorporate Quantitative and Qualitative Research

Broadly speaking, two types of research into customer experiences yield the most helpful insights. 

The first is quantitative, a kind of “view from 30,000 feet” of consumer behaviour. The process involves gathering numerical data points to help establish trends and patterns of behaviour. The benefits lie in a deeper understanding about:

  • Broad groups of individuals
  • How different groups of shoppers behave (designated, for example, by age, gender, or market) 
  • Reducing complicated issues around shopper behaviour into a clear-cut number of factors

Among the most useful tools to employ are online surveys, where consumers can be asked (a) about the decision that led to a purchase; (b) what obstacles prevented them from buying; (c) the type of research they conducted before purchase, and (d) what, if any, competitors they considered. 

Demographic data on the makeup of a “typical” shopper is also helpful. This can include information on age, gender, income level, etc., which can lead to creating buyer or shopper personas (more to come below). 

The raw data produced by quantitative research can be analyzed through a range of online tools that helps closely define who wants to buy a particular product or service and predict future customer behaviour. 

Qualitative research aims at drilling down for more precise insights than typically yielded by quantitative study efforts. In general, this approach is more human-focused and relies less upon numbers and figures. What counts is gaining a better grasp of what customers have to say. The objective is to explore “the more intangible and subjective reasons why customers behave the way they do.” 

While there may be occasional overlap in quantitative and qualitative research methods, the latter is designed to zero in on identified target populations to examine more closely what drives them to make specific buying decisions.

Tools include:

  • Open-ended questions in online surveys that require more than a simple “yes” or “no” answer and can also identify shopper pain points (specific problems or challenges that a given product or service can favourably address)
  • “Contextual” inquiries that focus on observing shoppers in their “native habitat” (retail outlet, e-commerce, etc.)
  • Social listening, where information is gathered from social media platforms and other online communities 
  • Shopper journals or diaries, where selected customers maintain a running record of their shopping preferences and behaviours

As part of qualitative research, direct customer interviews can be very effective. Key market questions to ask during this process may include:

  • What specific problem were you attempting to solve when you selected our product/service?
  • What made you choose us over a competitor?
  • How well did our product/service address your needs?
  • What do you like the most (and the least) about our product/service?
  • How would you rate your customer experience with our company?

A combination of quantitative and qualitative research efforts often generates the most accurate insights into why shoppers act the way they do.

Creating a Shopper Persona

What can you do with all the data you collect as part of your research efforts? One necessary action is creating a shopper (or buyer) persona—a fictional representation of your ideal customer. This can be achieved through a focus on your most loyal customers. What shopping patterns are common within this specific group? Do they share specific demographic qualities (such as age or gender)? In what ways are their experiences, motivations, and pain points alike? 

Use the answers to these and related questions to put together a profile consisting of information on a typical shopper’s purchasing decisions and objections, competitors they consider, and final determining factors that lead them to become your loyal customer. For greater ease of understanding, companies often attach a fake name and stock profile to round out the shopper persona. 

A Map of the Shopper’s Journey

It’s often helpful to translate research findings into a visual representation of the shopper’s journey. Outlining the exact steps customers undertake from first becoming conscious of a brand to actual purchase and delivery. When depicted in visual form (map, diagram, etc.), the journey becomes clearer to understand and makes it easier to address any gaps or shortcomings in the process.

In general, the shopper’s journey proceeds from awareness (shoppers recognize a problem or challenge they must contend with) to consideration (shoppers seek ways to address those problems or challenges), culminating with a decision (shoppers determine a preferred solution and begin to act on it). 

You can pinpoint where each of your existing customers stands within these three stages through a well-crafted journey map. This can prove enormously valuable for tailoring your marketing and related communications where they can have the most impact.

Also included in a journey map are clearly defined touchpoints—that is, every possible place where a shopper comes into contact with (or becomes aware of) your business. Touchpoints cover a wide range, including:

  • Customer interactions with employees
  • Business website
  • Digital content
  • Product catalogues
  • Social media platform
  • Paid advertisements
  • Third-party review sites
  • Articles in print/electronic media

The shopper journey “can rarely be represented in a linear journey from point A to point B because buyers often take a back and forth, cyclical, multi-channel journey,” notes HubSpot. To facilitate visualization of this non-linear path, “savvy business leaders use a variety of methods [ranging] from post-it notes on a boardroom wall, to Excel Spreadsheets, to infographics.” It’s critically important that “the map makes sense to those who’ll be using it.”

Take a Tour of Your Shopper’s Journey

After marshalling your resources and analyzing your data, it’s time to create a shopper’s journey map. But the process isn’t complete until you and your team take the journey map for a “spin” and see what your customers experience.

“Take time once a quarter to go through every step of the customer experience yourself,” advises Forbes. Only by adopting a “do-it-yourself” approach to shopper journey mapping “can you understand and prioritize essential changes and improvements.” 

Two key points to keep in mind:

Shopper research always means more than merely locating and identifying problems along the customer’s journey. Adopting a broader view of this research enables businesses to become more proficient in terms of customer service. When the quality of this service improves, and disgruntled customers become satisfied customers, there’s more room for upsell and cross-sell opportunities. Another powerful marketing resource is favourable word-of-mouth from shoppers who feel a business anticipates and responds to issues quickly. 

Also, customer needs and priorities never remain static. (The ever-widening ramifications of the global pandemic are a stark reminder of this fact.) Customer loyalty remains a moving target, mainly when it’s relatively easy for shoppers to move from one company to another, claiming “more improved” products or services.

In-depth shopper research and mapping helps businesses anticipate, predict, and plan for future contingencies. Companies possessing detailed shopper research and a vibrant, real-time shopper journey map are unlikely to be caught wrong-footed when shopping trends take an unexpected turn. 

Do you think you know what your customers need and want from your business? Based on your company’s experience in the industry, you may have a general idea. Still, a comprehensive understanding will only occur when you and your team conduct extensive (and highly focused) shopper journey research.

Market research is an essential activity for companies of all kinds. When entering a new local market or category, it’s crucial to do as much research as possible in a multitude of areas to ensure you’re as prepared as possible to launch a successful entry with minimal risk.

When entering an international market, market research is no less important. In fact, it may be even more important, as the stakes are higher and you’ll be facing entirely new market conditions.

A question we often hear is, “why is it important for marketers to research the competition?” This article will examine international market research, how it typically differs from what you’re used to in your domestic market, and some of the main reasons why companies need to do it.

What is international market research?

International market research is a blanket term for all the research and preparation you do on a new market, usually before entering it. Unlike domestic market research, international market research is focused on an overseas market, often with completely different cultures, business conditions and consumer behaviors.

There are many different methods and stages involved in international market research. In many cases, the individual methods and techniques are the same as domestic market research, but your overall strategy will likely be very different.

What are the objectives of international marketing research?

International market research is a way of understanding a new, overseas market before you launch a product or service there. The main objectives are to understand your target customers, identify any challenges, get familiar with your competitors, and anything else that will boost your chances of success and avoid unpleasant surprises.

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How is international market research different from domestic research?

There are several key differentiating factors between domestic market research and international market research. Here are some of the key differences:

You’re entering a market with social and cultural differences

Domestic market research is already difficult, but the often vast differences between your home country and your target country make international market research much more challenging in many ways.

Often, the reasons for this difficulty are the exact same reasons why you need to do the research in the first place — you need to learn as much as possible about a region and culture that may be entirely unlike your own. 

The differences between countries can create many challenges for researchers. For example, a research method like one-on-one interviews that works extremely well in western countries like the UK and US may fail miserably in other parts of the world where it is treated with suspicion.

There may be more restrictions around research

In addition to cultural and social differences, international markets also come with legal differences. While you might have a good understanding of how the law (as it relates to market research) works at home, the reality abroad may be very different.

This means you’ll need to be aware of an entirely new set of rules in order to avoid breaking them and ending up in legal trouble. One example is the USA’s TCPA, which forbids calling a cellphone using an automated dialing system.

Legal differences make it imperative to conduct legal research and coordinate with lawyers in your target market before beginning any research. Ending up on the wrong side of the law could be catastrophic.

It requires much more investment

Market research on your home soil can often be done relatively cheaply. When doing the same research abroad, however, costs can quickly skyrocket. Seemingly simple things like hiring venues, running telephone interviews, and gathering people to interview can become exponentially more complicated when you’re doing it in a foreign country with people who speak another language.

You may find yourself needing to hire a small army of staff on the ground to help you carry out these tasks. To make things even more frustrating, the cheaper market research methods like email and online surveys don’t work nearly as well in developing countries with less widespread internet access.

8 reasons why companies need to research their international markets

Despite the additional challenges involved, international market research is simply unavoidable if entering a new market overseas. Here are some of the reasons why.

1. Differences in culture

The culture of your overseas target market may be similar to yours, but it could also be completely different. Failing to adequately research the culture of your target market could result in serious blunders, which could seriously harm your market entry and brand reputation.

Cultural differences don’t have to be vast in order to cause major problems. For example, in many African countries containers are labeled with a picture of their contents. When baby nutrition company Gerber entered this market with their jars labeled with photos of babies, the reaction was understandably negative and seriously impacted sales.

2. Differences in laws and regulations

Laws and regulations don’t just have an impact on your market research methods. They can affect every part of your market entry process and how you conduct your business in your new market.

If you enter a new market without a comprehensive understanding of the law and its relation to your activities, you risk ending up in legal trouble.

There are many different potential legal pitfalls to consider when entering a new market. Some examples are environmental regulations, tax laws, and laws that pertain to hiring new staff. On top of this, rules can change quickly, and what was completely legal five years ago might be a huge no-go today. This is one area where one-off research isn’t enough — you’ll have to conduct regular and ongoing research and work with legal experts in your target market.

3. Differences in customer preferences

Customers in one country may have completely different preferences to those in another. This can be due to the cultural issues mentioned earlier, but it can also result from other factors.

When China began allowing its citizens to buy and own homes a few decades ago, US DIY chain Home Depot quickly capitalised on this new opportunity. Six years later, they closed all their Chinese stores, never to return.

The reason — they opened all their stores in the suburbs, but most middle-class Chinese citizens tend to live in apartment blocks in the cities, homes that don’t require or allow much renovation. This simple misunderstanding due to incomplete research led to the complete failure of Home Depot’s market entry attempt.

4. Understand competition

When you enter a new market, you’ll need to compete with the brands that are already there. This is not easy — you’re already at a significant disadvantage compared to companies who have been established in that region for a long time and are well-known to the local consumers.

It’s essential to understand who you are competing against, and — more importantly — how they have been able to succeed. What exactly is it that customers like about your competitors? What keeps them coming back? What has allowed them to gain and maintain a hold in your target market?

Answering these questions through research will give you valuable direction on what your brand has to do to succeed. It will also highlight weaknesses in your competitors that you can address in your marketing.

5. Mitigate risk

Entering any new market is a risky venture, and that risk increases when you expand abroad. According to research by the Harvard Business Review, companies operating abroad faced far lower Return on Assets compared to those in domestic markets. Many of these companies do not survive the attempt.

Market research allows you to mitigate your risk by being as prepared as possible for the myriad challenges involved in entering a foreign market. You’ll better understand your customers and what they want, be more prepared to take on your competition, avoid legal issues, and have a more viable strategy. Entering a new market overseas will never be risk-free, but research allows you to minimise that risk.

6. Logistical challenges

The logistical challenges involved in entering a foreign market can be enormous. You’ll need to do things like select and evaluate suppliers, hire new staff, find appropriate premises, learn about payment procedures and financial infrastructure, find ways to transport your products around your new market, comply with import and export regulations, and much more.

When entering a market in the developing world, these challenges become compounded. Regions without well-established transport infrastructure, financial systems, labour laws, government, and so on can create an endless series of logistical challenges.

To prepare for this, you’ll need to research your new market rigorously. Understand all the potential issues facing you so you have time to prepare and aren’t caught unawares by a problem that might set back your operations by a significant amount.

7. Prepare a solid strategy and budget

A well-established strategy and budget plan is an essential starting point for any market entry process. The only way to do this effectively is through diligent market research.

Market research allows you to understand the costs of your new market, including unexpected costs. It also helps you anticipate obstacles and challenges, and flesh out your strategy in a way that boosts your chances of success.

Suppose you need to win the support of high-level stakeholders in your organisation. In that case, a well-prepared and financed strategy is an excellent way to convince them that your market entry attempt is well-placed to go ahead.

8. Find available marketing channels

Marketing your product in a foreign market comes with a unique set of challenges and considerations. Channels that work well in your home country may fail abroad — for example, digital marketing in a country with poor internet access.

On top of that, your messaging will need to take into account all the cultural and linguistic characteristics of your target market. An advertising campaign that works well at home may very well perform terribly on the other side of the world.

Market research is a great way to identify the marketing channels and approaches that typically work well for similar products in your target market, helping you plan an effective marketing strategy and boost your chances of success from the start.

Market research is an essential and unavoidable task if you want to enter a foreign market successfully. Done right, it can help reduce the many risks involved and give your product the best possible chances of succeeding in a market that may be radically different from the ones you currently operate in.

Contact Kadence to learn more about how we can help you with international market research, along with all other kinds.

Considering expanding into an overseas market? If so, you’ll need to do international market research, and there are many different methods involved.

The difference between good and bad market research can make the difference between the success and failure of your product, and this is even more true when launching in foreign markets.

All the various challenges and obstacles of market entry are compounded when you enter a market with different cultures, customs, languages, laws, and infrastructure to what you’re used to dealing with in your domestic market. Without conducting rigorous research beforehand, you risk being poorly prepared for an already challenging process.

This article will look at some of the most effective methods for international market research, the things you’ll need to consider compared to domestic research, and some tips on how to make each one work.

The three main types of data

Before we explore the methods available to researchers, it’s important to look at the three main types of data you will be aiming to collect:

Secondary data

This refers to data that was not collected specifically for the task at hand (in contrast with primary data). It can involve things like government records, business reports, information from NGOs, and scientific publications. 

Secondary data is usually the easiest to collect and makes a good starting point for your international market research. When researching in a foreign market, it’s important to consider linguistic differences and the fact that certain data may be less accessible for political reasons.

Survey data

This is a blanket term for all the data you gather through speaking to real people in your target market. There are many ways to collect it, including face-to-face surveys and interviews, electronic methods like email surveys, via telephone, and more.

When dealing with an international market, surveys can be extremely effective as they offer a direct connection with your target customers in your new market. However, there are challenges to overcome around language barriers and cultural differences.

Experimental data

Experimental data is gathered through an experiment. In market research, this can take many forms. For example, you could divide customers into groups and offer one a full-price product and the other a discounted product, then measure which has more uptake.

Once again, experimental data is a useful tool when researching an international market, since it yields real-world findings and allows you to draw concrete insights about how your product will be received.

It’s worth noting that primary data simply refers to any information collected solely for the task at hand, so survey data and experimental data can be considered primary or secondary depending on the source.

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9 of the most effective methods in international market research

Now, let’s explore some of the most effective methods available to market researchers when getting started in a new, overseas market.

1. Overseas business research

The research conducted by other businesses can be an extremely useful starting point for your market research. This data may have been collected by businesses in your space, or not. It may have been collected by businesses based in your target market or some other location.

Business research is valuable because it’s an example of another organization that has done some of its work for you. You can learn a lot about the business trends, cultural differences, market, laws, and more from the research of other companies.

However, this is always just a starting point. No business in the world will have exactly the same set of questions, challenges, and needs as yours, and nobody will have the same product and audience for it. For effective market research, you’ll have to do your own work too.

2. Collecting foreign government information

Governments collect a tremendous amount of information about their populations and the business within their borders. This includes demographics, geography, and culture, which can be extremely useful when planning your marketing and choosing where to sell your product.

In addition, government data can provide valuable insights on the legal challenges you might face when entering a new market, and the various regulations you’ll be required to comply with as you market and launch your product. Much of this information is readily available on government websites.

3. Collecting information from NGOs

Non-governmental organizations like charities can be excellent sources of data due to their work in research. NGOs may provide more accurate and up-to-date data than governments in developing regions of the world, which can lack the infrastructure to collect information properly.

4. Face-to-face research

One-to-one interviews and focus groups can both be highly effective market research methods. They afford you a direct insight into what your customers think, what they want, what they worry about, what their pain points are, and how they feel about your competitors, among many other things.

However, doing face-to-face research in an international market comes with a unique set of challenges. The logistical demands are higher — you’ll need to locate and hire venues and work with interviewers on the ground, which may be harder than doing so back home. You’ll also need to consider linguistic differences, which means hiring interpreters or locally-based staff.

Another challenge here is cultural differences. For example, some Middle Eastern cultures treat interviews with suspicion and it may be difficult to gather a meaningful sample group. 

5. Attitude scales

Attitude scales — like the Likert scale — allow respondents to give a score on how they feel about a question or statement, usually on a scale of “Strongly Disagree” to “Strongly Agree”.

There are many benefits to using this type of research method in international markets. It tends to transcend language and questions can be easily translated. It’s also easy to distribute and can easily be done either in person or electronically.

However, there are still challenges. Some cultures, such as Japan, may be unwilling to give strong responses, leading to many neutral answers and no meaningful takeaway.

6. Text message (SMS) survey

Text message surveys involve sending out a series of questions to a group of respondents via SMS. It’s quick, easy, cheap, and allows you to reach a large number of people. You won’t get detailed responses from this kind of survey, and it tends to miss out on nuances, but it’s potentially a good way to get lots of feedback with minimal effort.

The drawbacks are that it’s dependent on mobile access. Many countries around the world lack this — Laos, for example, has a mobile phone penetration of just 53.4%. This makes it harder to distribute your surveys to a significant number of people.

7. Online survey

There are many different types of online surveys available to you when conducting international market research. Email, social media, and web forums are just a few examples of places you can connect with respondents and distribute surveys and questionnaires.

Online surveys are one of the cheapest and easiest ways to gather information and can be done from anywhere in the world with no need to hire additional staff or deal with logistics in your target market. You’ll get fast responses, and surveys are also easy to translate into multiple languages.

There are some challenges involved, however. Anything involving the internet is dependent on internet access in your target market, which may be very low in some parts of the world. This method works well in areas like North America and Europe but is poorly suited to countries like Eritrea, where only 14% of the population uses the internet.

8. Mobile web survey

This method involves distributing surveys via smartphones through applications or some of the other online methods mentioned above. In many countries, smartphone ownership exceeds computer ownership, making this a valid alternative.

In other countries, however, very few people own smartphones. Pakistan is one example — smartphone penetration here is just 18.4%. However, if your target market has a high smartphone penetration, this can be a very reliable research channel.

9. Remote Face-to-Face

In recent years, we’ve all seen an explosion in the use of video chat software like Zoom and Microsoft Teams. Today, this is used regularly to communicate with friends and family, attend work meetings, and even see your doctor. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated this trend and forced us to rely on remote communication for almost all of our social interactions.

This technology applies to market research and is ideally suited to researching foreign markets. Now, face-to-face interviews and focus groups can take place entirely digitally, removing the need to send team members abroad or hire people in your target market.

There are still limitations, of course — it relies on your audience having access to electronic devices which can lead to skewed results (for example, you end up interviewing only younger and more affluent people). It should be combined with other methods for best results.

Market research is an essential but often challenging process, and it becomes harder when you try to do it in a completely new market far from home. Fortunately, market researchers today have access to a wealth of methods and tools, many of which did not exist even in the recent past.
Get in touch to learn how Kadence can help you conduct international market research as effectively as possible, allowing you to mount a confident and informed market entry.

Global manufacturing leaders are carefully considering the pros and cons of both.

China still leads the world in manufacturing, with close to 30% of the country’s economic output coming from this sector. Many industry experts and leading economists believe that China will no longer be the manufacturing powerhouse it once was within the next five years.

How the pandemic changed the manufacturing industry

The global pandemic caused a notable decrease in manufacturing production in 2020 due to containment strategies in economic and social lockdowns. Both had a significant impact on both supply and demand. 

Consumer demand declined overall due to uncertainties triggered by travel restrictions, remote working, business cessations, and job losses. At the same time, the production of many goods came to a halt worldwide for many months. 

A shift away from Made in China

For some major manufacturing companies, the pandemic spurred a sea-change in where they manufactured their product. The American Chamber of Commerce in Shenzhen, China, surveyed its manufacturing membership and learned that over 30 per cent were in the process of moving some of its manufacturing out of China.

In July 2020, Apple announced it was shifting the assembly of its iPhone 11, the most advanced model in its product line, from China to India.

A couple of weeks later, Samsung and several other Apple suppliers applied for the Indian government’s incentive program targeted towards large-scale manufacturers of electronic products, which would see a significant part of these companies’ manufacturing transferred to India.

In recent years, China has attempted to replace the term “Made in China” with “Engineered in China”: the country would no longer be known as the world’s factory, a cheap place for countries to outsource manufacturing. Chinese manufacturers have increased automation and switched to using robots instead. In these instances, up to 80 per cent of workers were sent home and replaced with specialized production line workers — typically experts in machine maintenance and machine learning. Mechanised factories boast much higher output with fewer errors and accidents, and a higher dependence on technology and automation meant wage costs were no longer critical.

With these changes, China is slowly losing its foothold in the global manufacturing sector for reasons with nothing to do with costs and output.

Other factors affecting this shift also include; trade tensions between China and the US (along with its western allies), the realization by global manufacturers during the pandemic of the flaw in the supply chain delivery due to over-reliance on one country for production, increased costs, and tariffs, and consumer sentiment of products made in China.

Even so, manufacturing in China is expected to recover in 2021, growing by 9 per cent.

The growth in manufacturing in India

By comparison, India is expected to grow by 10 per cent, recovering from significant economic strain during the pandemic.

The average age of a citizen in India is 28 years versus 38 years in China. This country has a massive population, and the demand for technology is high. Manufacturing overseas is not always about importing; it is also about global supply. If you have a product that appeals to 20 somethings or 30 somethings, manufacturing locally in India makes sense.

India is a lot less controversial geopolitically, and the Indian government is poised to capitalize on that notion.  

The government of India has launched several policies over the past few years to create a favourable environment and attract investment in manufacturing, with a focus on electronics manufacturing, including mobile phones, industrial electronics, consumer electronics, electronic components, computer hardware, and LED products.

Due to these commercially favourable initiatives, India’s electronics production has more than doubled in the last five years (2015-2020). According to the Indian Ministry of Electronics and Information technology, India’s electronics market is expected to reach US$132 billion by the end of 2021.

In China, manufacturing labour wages by location (in USD per hour) is $3.80 compared to India’s 0.70. Even with China’s focus on automation and robotics, labour in India is five times less than in China.

While the shift from solely or wholly manufacturing in China has seemingly begun, China will still be a global manufacturing hub. 

Perception of manufacturing locale 

Supply is synonymous with manufacturing. In economics, the rule of supply and demand states that if all other factors remain equal, the higher the price of a good, the fewer people will demand that good. For most, regardless of generation, price and availability are essential, if not the most important, in buying decisions. 

However, in economics, “movements” and “shifts” represent different market phenomena concerning supply and demand. 

In the past, companies chose to manufacture from an outside country due to price. Now other factors could negatively affect demand and brand perception.

Price, or cost of goods sold, is an easy measurement to evaluate in manufacturing. However, more and more companies see that consumer sentiment is a factor contributing to growth and demand.

Consumer sentiment is becoming an essential factor in manufacturing. After all, it does not matter how cheaply you can manufacture a product, whether that is in China or India, if the demand is not there or if consumers will choose a different, competitively priced product based on the manufacturer’s location.

A key question a company should ask is whether consumers would feel differently and ultimately decide to buy a product based on a “Made in India” label versus “Made in China.” 

For Gen Z and millennials, these two generations are much more brand conscious. In one study, 62% of millennials surveyed said buying from brands that support their own political and social beliefs is essential. In another study, Gen Z consumers are more likely to switch brands that meet specific values like sustainability. 

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The role of research in manufacturing 

Moving the manufacture of parts or components to multiple countries is a huge undertaking. Deciding to enter a new market, along with evaluating manufacturers, can be incredibly daunting if “on the ground” knowledge is limited or non-existent. Commissioning a research agency to find out where to direct your attention is a crucial first step. Selecting a research company with direct market knowledge can save time and capital investment.

Understanding how your target audience perceives where your product is manufactured, alongside any impacts on demand, should be researched and evaluated. 

Read case studies from the Manufacturing sector here

Kadence International is proud to be announced a finalist for the 2021 Marketing Research and Insight Excellence Awards.

Known as the Quirk’s Awards, Kadence learned that placed as finalists under the Best New Product/Service Innovation category. The category honors a research product, tool or service making an impact on the marketing research industry.

The award nominations are open to all researchers worldwide. All attempts are made to ensure the judging is blind so that the judges do not know the name or company they are evaluating.

“Being named a finalist for a Quirk’s award is a huge accomplishment in itself” said Darren Lewis, Kadence International’s UK Country Manager.

“To be judged by your peers in the research industry, who know firsthand what “best in show” research truly looks like, means to be named a finalist is a badge of honor,” he said.

Even so, Lewis and the entire Kadence International team are hopeful of a win. Winners will be announced at a virtual awards ceremony held on November 9, 2021.

“Being a finalist in an award category that acknowledges an impact in the industry is humbling,” said Ramsey Yomen, who leads the Kadence International brand through the 10 countries it operates.

“Kadence has always been about pushing the boundaries in the research data and insight industry. Being named a finalist, and hopefully a winner, will prove we continue to be on the right track and forefront of innovation in research.”

Kadence International has won multiple industry awards in recent years including winning Gold as Consultant of the Year – Agency of the Year Awards, 2021 and Market Research Agency of the Year, Agency of the Year Awards, 2021. The international agency last won a Quirk’s Award in 2019 for Market Research Supplier of the Year.

Kadence International prides itself as a being a boutique, yet global marketing research agency. Whether it be strictly for delivering well-sourced data for company’s research divisions or conducting end to end full data research and insight reporting, Kadence delivers it all. With offices in 10 countries (USA, UK, India, Malaysia, Sinapore, Phillipines, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia and China), Kadence is provides research expertise across the globe.

Exploring the priorities of APAC’s business decision-makers —past, present, and future 

Download the summary of our latest report

The global business community was hit hard in 2020, with COVID-19 creating unprecedented challenges for organisations worldwide. 

Supported by Kadence International, Bloomberg Media embarked on a research program with 3800 executive business decision-makers in six markets across APAC —Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Japan, and Australia in waves 1 – 4 and India and Vietnam in wave 5. 

Wave 1: 22nd April – 3rd May 2020 (n=714) 

Wave 2: 16th – 22nd June 2020 (n=700) 

Wave 3: 17th – 25th August 2020 (n=700) 

Wave 4: 2nd – 9th November 2020 (n=729) 

Wave 5: 5th – 23rd February 2021 (n=969)

Spanning five waves – from April 2020 to February 2021, we’ve stayed with business decision-makers at every step of the way —from the immediate aftermath of the outbreak to the economic reopening and beyond.

Not only does this research provide unparalleled insight into how organizations adapt during uncertain times, but it also helps us anticipate the key trends, challenges, and strategic focus areas for the future, which we will explore in this report.

Overall Business Outlook

The sustained roll-out of vaccines in major economies and more informed knowledge of controlling the virus has led to a positive outlook amongst decision-makers. More than half of the decision-makers (55%) anticipate a recovery period following the uncertainty of 2020. 

The pandemic has spurred the speed with which organisations embraced specific ideas and priorities, most notably in the areas of new technology, flexible work, commitment to staff wellbeing, and businesses’ roles in contributing towards a more sustainable and equitable world. 

Get more insights into how business decision-makers perceive the overall business landscape here by downloading our free report.

Critical concerns for business decision-makers 

For decision-makers, there has been a shift in areas of focus. During the first wave of this research conducted in April 2020, their top three concerns centred around the protection and safety of their employees, guarding against disruptions to business operations, and working capital and funding. 

Concerns around protecting employees against disease have remained consistent throughout the five waves; however, other focus areas have shifted. The fear of disruptions to business operations is far less prevalent today as organisations have innovated and painstakingly adapted to continue operating despite challenging conditions.  

Focus has shifted to facing the unknown, data security, and overcoming work visas and international travel issues. Compared to the pandemic’s start, more business decision-makers cite facing the unknown as a critical concern. Data security has come into sharper focus as a result of working conditions in the new normal. 

For 68% of the decision-makers, overseas business travel is either very or of utmost importance for meeting new and prospective clients and for training and development. This has brought the importance of mitigating work visas and international travel challenges posed by the pandemic. 

As decision-makers actively follow COVID news coverage to navigate the challenges posed by the pandemic, news organizations have played a significant role in supporting businesses. With 77% of business decision-makers telling us they use their smartphone more often to follow the news, we see smartphones playing an increasingly important role in accessing information. 

Get more in-depth analysis of the most significant business concerns for decision-makers. Download our free report here.

Priorities for the future —Harnessing technology is a top priority.

In the final research wave, we asked decision-makers to reflect on how their priorities have changed now compared to before the pandemic. Digital transformation was the predominant theme as businesses have had to make rapid changes to ride the pandemic and survive it. In fact, 82% attribute their company’s increased prioritisation of digital investment to COVID-19. This is not a short-term trend, and decision-makers will continue to harness technology for their companies in the future.  

According to the report, 77% expect their company’s overall technology budget to increase in the next 1 to 3 years. 

So, where do companies expect to be investing their digital spending? IT support tops the list as organisations recognize the importance of securing and installing new tools. 

Download our full report to find out what other areas are envisioned for increased tech budgets in 2021 and beyond.

Attitudes towards foreign investment

In the near future, business decision-makers are most confident that Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan are the markets they would like to invest in. 

This is because these top five countries are perceived to prosper across four critical pillars of market confidence: political stability, economic reopening, virus containment, and society’s resilience. 

Discover how APAC business decision-makers rate the factors that will play a critical role in informing which foreign countries to invest in the future by downloading our free report.

The role of the office

The pandemic caused a significant shift in the office’s role, with many companies moving fully remote and others offering the flexibility of a hybrid work model. 

Read the full report to learn what percentage of companies allowed the flexibility to work from home or office over the three waves.

Flexibility is not limited to where people work from, but also the hours they work. Working from home during the pandemic meant juggling household responsibilities, like childcare while schools were closed. Again, this trend is not short-term as many companies have made flexible work a part of their long-term strategy. 

Flexible work has not been without its share of challenges. Therefore, decision-makers are adopting new tools and methodologies. 

Find out which areas companies are focused on developing and how they are planning to overcome post-pandemic human resource challenges by downloading our full free report.

People Management

There has been an emphasis on physical and mental health both in their personal and business lives. Throughout the research, decision-makers have placed health and wellbeing on top of their list, considering it more important than their career and business, financial stability, and even relationships with family and friends.  

According to the research, 79% of business decision-makers say that their company has become more aware of safety, personal values, and their employees’ wellbeing. 

Read the full report to find out how decision-makers are translating this awareness of the health and wellbeing of their employees and how they plan on continuing to increase investments in their company’s healthcare and wellness programs. 

Decision-makers have also made helping employees manage their mental health a priority.

Companies are increasingly engaging with an expert or vendor to provide healthcare/wellbeing training or services for their staff. According to the research, this percentage has jumped from 55% in wave 4 (November 2020) to 66% in wave 5 (February 2021).

Businesses are considering several options to support staff, but mental health and stress management are on top of their list, with almost half (49%) of firms considering this. 

Discover the other top areas considered to enhance the company’s corporate wellness program by downloading our free report here.

Aligning personal and business values 

The pandemic experience has caused many people to re-evaluate what’s important to them, extending to the world of business. 

According to the research in wave 5 (February 2021), 75% of business decision-makers say they have placed greater emphasis on giving back to society. 

Not only is an increasing focus on altruism informing business strategy, but it’s also influencing brand choice. 

Read the full report to discover the two most prominent social causes that are the focus of decision-makers. 

After witnessing what might be the most challenging year in recent history, there’s a sense of optimism from APAC’s business decision-makers. 

With new shifts in the way we work and feel, there are evolving challenges. However, flexibility, wellbeing, and altruism are here to stay long-term, allowing business decision-makers to align their values with their commercial goals. 

In this research, we take a deep dive into major focus areas within each trend and discover what decision-makers consider their top priorities in the near future. If you need more detailed information to help make decisions for your organization or brand, download the full report here. 

Download the summary of our latest report

The automotive industry has a clear, shared vision of a dramatically transformed future with electronic vehicles, autonomous vehicles, connected cars, shared ownership, and subscriptions. But are consumers ready to transition just yet? The pandemic has changed how much people travel, and this leaves us with the big question: how will the economic damage caused by COVID impact the car industry?

To further understand where consumers stand and what economic recovery looks like for the automotive industry —one of the hardest hit by the pandemic —we looked at five significant trends. We explored what’s at stake for each of these five trends, evaluated the rate of progress, and put the spotlight on innovative brands and solutions leading the way.

  1. Post-COVID caution: A battered industry navigates massive uncertainty.
  2. Plugged In: The electronic vehicle revolution is happening but still powered by subsidies.
  3. In Control: Artificial Intelligence is enhancing, not replacing, human driving abilities.
  4. Connected Vehicles
  5. Older Drivers, Younger Drivers

Ｄownload the full report and read the summary of the top 5 trends shaping the future of the automotive industry, with a spotlight on the brands that are capitalising on these trends with their cutting-edge innovative solutions.

#1 Post-COVID caution: A battered industry navigates massive uncertainty.

According to analysts, Jato Dynamics, global new car sales fell by over 12% in 2020, that’s around twice the drop recorded in IEA figures for the worst year of the last financial crisis (2007-2008).

While this drop was only 2% in China, the automotive industry felt a heavy blow globally. France, Germany, the UK, and Brazil saw declines of over 20%.

Consumer behaviour changed dramatically, and while new car sales declined due to the pandemic, the automobile aftermarket flourished as people tried to preserve their existing vehicles. Consumers started putting off purchases of luxury cars, hybrids, and EVs.

The early COVID-19 spread brought with it a new innovative trend —virtual showrooms, whereby consumers could move all or at least some part of their car buying experience online. In many parts of the world, COVID restrictions will become a part of life indefinitely, and therefore, this trend is here to stay.

Learn more about how the pandemic has reshaped the automotive industry here by downloading our free report.

#2 Plugged In: The electronic vehicle revolution is happening but still powered by subsidies.

As with much of the electronic vehicle (EV) revolution, subsidies and regulation may be needed for mass EV adoption.

In Norway, subsidies and tax breaks make the cost of an EV virtually identical to that of a non-electric car. 74% of the new cars sold in Norway are EVs, whereas it’s just 2% in the US. In the USA and China, EV sales plateaued when subsidies were reduced or phased out.

In 2021, US President Joe Biden took a step toward cutting greenhouse gas emissions signing an executive order aimed at making half of all new vehicles sold in 2030 electric, a move made with backing from the biggest US automakers.

Amazon is started testing electric delivery vans in 2021. The vehicles were developed in partnership with start-up Rivian, which raised $8 billion from investors, including Amazon through its $2 billion Climate Pledge Fund. The fund includes an agreement to purchase 100,000 electric vehicles from the start-up as part of its ambitious push to make Amazon’s fleet run entirely on renewable energy. Each van has a range of 150 miles per charge.

Before consumers join the EV revolution, they want to know there is a plan for infrastructure for charging stations.

A Deloitte study showed that consumers were putting off plans to buy EVs due to price and driving range. With ranges for EVs now often well over 400km, that is taken care of, but there needs to be a visible EV infrastructure in terms of charging stations. Therefore, at the moment, innovators need to tackle the two most critical factors —price and infrastructure.

Wireless charging stations are an essential solution. Although the technology exists, firms don’t want to build the infrastructure without enough cars; and manufacturers don’t want to create more expensive wireless options without that infrastructure.

Learn more about how Electronic Vehicles or EVs are perceived and the challenges ahead here by downloading our free report.

#3 In Control: Artificial Intelligence is enhancing, not replacing, human driving abilities.

Even though Tesla has made huge strides with its self-driving cars, the adoption is still slow due to consumer trust issues.

Moreover, driverless cars pose problems —of AI, of laws and ethics, and public perception. 

In this scenario, autonomous vehicles with Driver Assistance Systems are becoming the norm in many markets. 

The ultra-high-end Cadillac Escalade Platinum, launched in Summer 2021, is the first vehicle to boast GM’s Super Cruise technology. The vehicle handles your highway driving for you on major mapped roads. However, your car monitors you and will warn you if you stop paying attention to the road for more than five seconds before switching back to manual.

AI is set to become more prevalent in vehicles, learn more about the challenges for these enhancements here.

#4 Connected Vehicles

So far, automotive and infrastructure innovation has happened chiefly at the individual car level. However, traffic jams and rush hours occur at a network level when all those individual cars interact.

We see a change in this direction as businesses and transportation planners recognize the idea of the “mobility ecosystem” —where software platforms can connect, manage and mitigate network-level inefficiencies between transport services and their users.

Navigation apps showing real-time traffic data are already being used widely. We also see more adoption of smart speed limits and smart traffic light systems.

The next generation of connected vehicles goes deeper and broader with tools that allow bikes or mobility scooters to connect to the same systems cars use. Connected vehicles also make fleet management —of buses or utility vehicles, more efficient.

What are the implications for individual drivers? For the mobility ecosystem to work, each car requires a digital identity. They do, however, present the issue of privacy.

Your car’s digital identity can also be linked to your own distinct identity as a driver, which makes the car more secure with keyless entry using facial or voice recognition and biometric sensors.

Our innovation spotlight is on Foxconn, the Chinese manufacturing giant which makes the iPhone. Foxconn is developing an EV platform that any brand can use to bring vehicles to market —in the same way as the Android phone platform. Foxconn bets that the real differentiator in the future EV market won’t be looks or performance; it’ll be the array of connected features and AI capabilities they possess.

A connected mobility ecosystem is one of the trends emerging in the transportation and automotive industry. Download our report to discover more about this emerging trend.

#5 Older Drivers, Younger Drivers

The automotive trends influenced by the ageing population and the changing expectations of Gen Z are creating significant changes. For older people, AI can help extend their driving lifetime. For the young, the big question is whether ownership will decline in favour of sharing and subscription mobility.

Late Millennial and Gen Z consumers are a post-ownership generation —they prefer renting to buying houses or vehicles. Car manufacturers have been trying to introduce the idea of Mobility-as-a-Service solutions, which replaces car ownership with car-sharing or subscription-based offers at a lower cost.

However, while Mobility-as-a-Service has had some successes in the bikes and e-Scooter sectors, especially in busy cities, it’s been tougher ask for cars.

Overall, we see a shift away from the brand to features and capabilities.

If you need more detailed information to help make decisions for your organisation or brand, download the full report here.

To learn more, download the full report: Automotive Trends For 2022

To learn more about how these trends, download the full report. Alternatively if you’d like to speak to us to understand more about how these trends are playing out in your market, get in touch.