Do you conduct research in the local language?
We believe that conducting research in the local language is crucial for gaining true depth of insight. Not only does it allow us to understand the intricacies of local nuance but also the wider culture that sits behind this. We’re proud of the multi-lingual team that enables us to do this. Between us, we speak over 40 languages!
How do you adapt international market research projects to account for cultural differences in each market?
As a global boutique market research agency, we have strong personal connections between our offices, fostered through secondments, international teams and regular global meetings. We collaborate with local market experts within our network on all international market research projects, harnessing their rich cultural understanding to guide the choice of methodology, shape the design of the study, and inform our analysis of the findings.
You have offices across the globe, but how do you approach research in countries where you don’t have a physical presence?
In addition to our global offices, we have an extensive network of trusted partners and local moderators. We work in close collaboration with these partners, conducting ‘cultural deep dives’ at the start of every project to ensure we have a rich understanding of the cultural context to inform the study. From Saudi Arabia to South Korea, we’ve worked with these partners to successfully deliver international market research projects across the globe.
What languages does your team speak?
We believe that local language moderation is key to gaining true depth of insight. In India, with its multiple, diverse languages, this is no exception. We have a trusted team of local speaking moderators that enable us to cover 12 languages - Hindi, Kannada, Telugu, Odia, Tamil, English, Marathi, Punjabi, Bengali, Malayalam, Gujarati and Assamese.
What methodologies do you offer?
We offer a range of qualitative and quantitative methodologies – spanning everything from focus groups and in-depth interviews to CATI and online quantitative studies. We’ll work with you to select the right approach based on the people you want to reach and the insights you need to uncover.
Are you able to reach rural areas as well as large cities?
We have vast geographical reach across India. We conduct research in the big cities but we’re no stranger to reaching respondents in tier 2, 3 or 4 cities and in rural areas too.
How diverse is Asia Pacific culturally?
The short answer is that Asia is incredibly rich and nuanced from a cultural standpoint: the multitude of religious beliefs, histories, languages, and other cultural markers means that each market is more different than similar. This can make Asia Pacific market research challenging without the right partner to help you understand the intricacies of each country. That said, though, the ‘urban Asia’ experience is similar to some extent, and popular culture does form the basis to link up a couple of the Asian markets, so there can be ways to seek out common threads amidst the vibrancy of difference.
Do I need to do all my market research in Asia in local / vernacular languages?
As a rule yes. By conducting research in the local language, consumers will have the capability and confidence to express their thoughts and feelings toward the brands, products or services in question. Unlike some market research agencies in Asia, Kadence has a range of languages in-house thanks to our network of Asian offices, so local language moderation is a service we can provide. That said, it is possible to carry out research in English in some markets (e.g. Singapore, India, Philippines), depending on the subject matter and education level of the respondents you want to reach.
For large Asian markets like China and India, how many cities do we need to cover with our research?
We recommend at least a combination of 1st tier and 2nd tier cities, as well as 3<sup>rd</sup> tier and rural locations, if possible. On top of getting a read on geographic and demographic differences in the reactions to your products and services, lifestyle / intra-market attitudinal variations exist, so the wider you are able to carry out your research, the more comprehensive your resulting understanding of the market will be.
Why do I have to do research across multiple cities in China?
Besides economic reasons (i.e. Tier 1 cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou are ‘wealthier’ than others), there are lifestyle / cultural / local language nuances that can have a bearing on how consumers live their lives / do business in these cities. Since products and services that have the strongest relevance in consumers’ lives generally do better, it’s important to ‘dig deep’ and understand how Chinese consumers differ. This will ensure that the launched product or service will have the greatest chance of success in the market at large, rather than only having a niche appeal in certain cities.
What are the advantages of making my online survey ‘mobile first’?
The mobile ecosystem in China is very advanced and the consistent use of ‘super apps’ by Chinese consumers in their daily lives means a ‘mobile first’ strategy will ensure a higher level of participation amongst respondents. Also, their familiarity with the mobile interface means that survey design / layout can benefit from thoughtful incorporation of interesting touchscreen features (e.g. swiping, pulling down, etc.), rather than relying on archaic interaction methods.
What are the best methodologies to use in China?
From our many years working in the region, we understand the best methodologies to use in China and those that should be avoided. For instance, CATI is a very inefficient way of carrying out quantitative studies, since the market is so huge whereas mobile surveys can be capitalised to greater effect. From a qualitative perspective, door-to-door tends to be ineffective, as interviewers may find themselves being rejected at the entrance of the gated communities common in China, whilst Chinese consumers are generally quite open to participate in other forms of qualitative research – such as online ethnography to offline shopalongs. Based on your objectives, we can work with you to select the best methodology to use, based on our extensive experience.
Which European countries do you serve?
As one of the leading market research companies in Europe, we can conduct market research in every country in Europe. We regularly help clients understand core European markets including Spain, France, Germany and Italy, but over the years, we’ve conducted research in every corner of the continent. We’ve interviewed tree surgeons in Poland, spoken to beauticians in Lithuania and explored the needs of vets in Norway.
What European languages to do you speak?
We’re proud of the international nature of our team. Between us, we speak over 15 European languages. We find having native speakers in house to be a valuable asset as it means we can ensure cultural nuances are accounted at every stage of the project – from questionnaire design to analysis.
Do you conduct fieldwork yourselves across different European markets?
Thanks to our multi-lingual team, we can conduct qualitative and quantitative interviews across a wide range of European markets. This keeps our team close to your target audience and emerging insights, helping to identify key market trends.
When you’re conducting multi-market studies, how do you maintain consistencies in approach?
We regularly help clients with projects across multiple European markets, all centrally managed and controlled from our UK office. This means we can run consistent briefings for all moderators and collate progress. We acknowledge the rich nuances of each market and how vital it is not to generalise for your brand, visiting every market to add a contextual layer to the findings where possible. What’s more, we are committed to ensuring data quality and integrity across markets, having achieved the ISO 20252 accreditation.
Do you have experience with consumers and B2B audiences?
We can help you reach both consumers and B2B audiences – and often both within the same project. Our team has extensive experience engaging senior stakeholders to rural farmers, tailoring research to each audience's unique needs.
What methodologies do you offer companies looking to conduct market research in Europe?
We offer a broad range of quantitative and qualitative methodologies spanning online and offline approaches. That’s everything from focus groups and expert interviews to online communities and online surveys. All of our team are dualists, meaning that their skills span qualitative and quantitative approaches. Because of this we’re able to work as one core team, meaning that no insights are lost. Beyond our standard toolkit, we are always looking for the next big thing in market research. We’ve used augmented reality to test new pack concepts, virtual reality to optimise shopping environments and piloted the use of blockchain technology in market research.
How do you facilitate communication with our Japanese customers and stakeholders?
Our team speak both Japanese and English, meaning that we can moderate in the local language, and help embed learnings across your business – regardless of the language your team speaks. We can run debriefs with your Japan branch in Japanese to make sure all the key stakeholders are on the same page or do so in English to reach colleagues across multiple countries.
What methodologies do you offer in Japan?
We offer a range of qualitative and quantitative methodologies – spanning everything from focus groups and in-depth interviews, shop-alongs and mystery shopping right through to online quantitative studies. We’ll propose the best methodology to maximise your research investment based on the project objectives.
Do you have experience in my industry?
Our team has experience across a wider range of industries for both B2C and B2B research. This includes automotive, consumer electronics, consumer goods, IT, media and healthcare, where we have our own dedicated team and panel.
What methodologies do you offer in the Americas?
We offer a range of qualitative and quantitative methodologies – spanning everything from focus groups, in depth interviews and quantitative surveys, right through to cutting-edge methodologies such as passive tracking and neuroscience.
Where can Kadence conduct research?
Pretty much anywhere! From our East and West Coast hubs, we cover the length and breadth of the Americas. And for brands looking to conduct multi-market projects or grow their presence further afield, we collaborate with our offices in Europe and across Asia, to meet your needs.
What is it like working with Kadence?
Our customized and flexible approach to answering your business questions separates us from the pack! From project design to delivering actionable insights, our team customizes a solution that meets your specific needs. Our findings are delivered in a visually impactful way, ensuring your stakeholders are highly engaged & ready to act on the insights we’ve shared.
How do you help clients leverage research to turn insight into action?
We are passionate about raising the impact of market research in organisations and work closely with our clients to achieve this. When we’re designing projects, we focus on creating opportunities for you to engage your team in the research up front, such as stakeholder interviews or hypothesis sessions. This is also an emphasis on this once fieldwork has finished. Thanks to our own in-house design team, we can create stand-out deliverables that bring findings to life for your business. We can also run workshops designed to align your team around the insights and build a strategy to capitalise on them. We’re specialists in doing this and have even written a book on this topic!
What is it like to partner with Kadence?
Kadence is not a templated research vendor—we are a strategic partner. We tailor every study to your business objectives, from designing the research framework to delivering insights in a way that resonates with key decision-makers. Our visual reporting style ensures findings are clear, memorable, and actionable. We’re flexible, responsive, and focused on helping you make smarter decisions that drive business impact.
What market research methodologies do you offer in the UK?
Our UK office delivers end-to-end insight work, not just fieldwork. We design and manage both qualitative and quantitative studies tailored to your research goals. This covers everything from product testing and message development to brand health and customer experience. We also support multi-market research across Europe, partnering with clients to uncover deep insights that inform confident business decisions.
Do you specialise in qualitative or quantitative research?
We’re experts in both. We pride ourselves on being dualists. This means that everyone is our team is experienced in both qualitative and quantitative methodologies and regular works across the two disciplines. This has distinct benefits for our clients. By operating as one core team, we can ensure that no insights are lost between different phases of the research.
How do you approach international projects?
We conduct market research in the UK and beyond, helping our clients to develop strategies to succeed in multiple markets. We regularly work with clients to help them understand consumers in the UK alongside their counterparts in European markets, the US and Asia drawing on our network of global offices across these continents. This allows us to tap into rich cultural understanding of your core growth markets to shape the research design and inform our analysis.
Are there certain research approaches or methodologies that work better in one Asian market, compared to another?
Yes. Cultural differences between Asian markets mean that you need to carefully consider your methodology. For instance, we find that in-depth interviews, rather than group-based discussions, can work better for some topics in markets like Japan, where there can be a tendency to ‘self-censor’. In contrast, the one-on-one format lends itself better to building trust and establishing bonds between interviewer and respondent, often leading to more productive conversations.
You’ll also need to consider the technological infrastructure of the markets you’re researching. In India, for instance, you’ll need to take a mobile first approach for reaching those outside metros and tier 1 cities. This is also true of mobile-first markets like Indonesia and China. Whilst cultural considerations can be diverse and numerous, we’re on hand to help, based on our long history of conducting market research in Asia.
Does the sequence of which markets I do my research first in Asia matter?
Unless there are specific roll-out plans that have strategic importance for your product or service across markets, our experience has taught us that any order comes back down to organizational preference. Your internal stakeholders may want to start the research in a market that is a stronghold for the brand to establish ground understanding, then venture into unfamiliar grounds to gather ‘new news’, or vice versa. Ultimately, Kadence is flexible in terms of how / when / where to start a piece of research, and in the absence of real preference, is willing to provide our suggestions and justifications for any arrangements.
