Fear is a negative emotional response to the presence of danger or threat. Speculative fear is a negative emotional response to the anticipation of danger or threat, which may or may not occur. Humans are hardwired to look for things to fear, forming a necessary part of our survival instinct from birth. 

The human response to danger or threat is flight, fight, or in extreme cases, immobility. However, people respond in several ways when trouble or threat is perceived only as a looming risk. Avoidance, hunkering down, freezing in place, and acting impulsively are responses to prolonged anxiousness caused by pending fearful situations.

While fear is ingrained in our nervous system, it can also be taught. Technology has dramatically changed the way people get information. Social media has become the primary source of news online, with more than 64 percent of internet users receiving breaking news from social media instead of traditional media.

These statistics may be a sign of modern times. Still, the challenge with most people getting their news on social media sites is concerning when coupled with the fact most people do not read past the headline, and the vast majority of headlines are negative. 

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Negative media coverage reports show that negative words such as “bad,” “worst,” and “never” are 30 percent more effective at catching people’s attention than positive words. Research studies also revealed that negative words improved the average click-through rate. Headlines with negative bias showed a 63 percent higher result when compared to positive ones. Most (59 percent) of all news article links shared on social networks aren’t clicked on, implying that most article shares are not read in their entirety. 

So, you’d be right if you think we live in an increasingly hostile world, and most news is bad news. We are increasingly exposed to negativity and fearful news, affecting our collective anxieties and behaviours.

Panic buying

When the Spanish flu arrived in Britain immediately after the First World War, people panicked and rushed to purchase quinine and other medications, leading to national shortages.

Since then, panic buying and hoarding have been observed during many crises. Panic buying is much more common in developed or industrialised countries where people expect they will always be able to access food and other essential items easily. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, psychologists observed that panic buying was associated with individuals with higher incomes, the presence of children in households, depression and death anxiety, and mistrust of others or paranoia.

Panic buying results from the perceived threat of the event and the perceived scarcity, fear of the unknown, and as a coping mechanism.

Retail therapy

Retail therapy is shopping primarily to improve the buyer’s mood or disposition. It is often a short-lived habit in people with depression or stress. 

Research has shown that shopping can help reinforce a sense of personal control and ease feelings of sadness.

In 2014 the Journal of Consumer Psychology found that retail therapy makes people happier immediately and can also fight lingering sadness. According to the study, the choices and outcomes inherent in the act of shopping can restore a feeling of personal control and autonomy. 

Another study by the University of Michigan showed that purchasing things you enjoy can be up to 40 times more effective at giving you a sense of control than not shopping. In this study, those who actually purchased items were also three times less sad compared to those who only browsed.

How brands can respond to environments of high fear and low trust

Listen to your customers. 

During times of financial stress, such as high inflation or recession, seek as much information as possible about your audience. 

Take a deep dive with multiple data streams to build a clear picture of behaviour and sentiment. It will likely be vastly different than it was a few months ago and will continue to change. Don’t leave questions out of your research about fear and perceived risk with your customers.

Words matter.

The world is changing faster than ever, with your buyers’ attention and priorities shifting quickly in response to stressful events. 

For brand marketers and product managers, understand that language that sounded good last month can mean something entirely different today.

Take action. 

With insights from your research, determine what your brand should do to address your customers’ wants, needs, and fears. Your target audience has expectations from brands during uncertain times. Discover what they are, and see if you can deliver while remaining authentic to your brand promise. 

Communicate authentically. 

Be bold and authentic when storytelling and communicate practical information to help reassure and educate your customers. Give your customers an added feeling of security and stability by providing in-depth information. Choose to be a voice of comfort, instilling confidence in your consumers and alleviating fears with the right message. 

Fear and anxiety aren’t going away anytime soon. Financial fear and stress can adversely affect buying behaviours, so it is essential to acknowledge these emotions and develop strategies to address them head-on. What was true of your target audience a few short months ago may not be true today. It all starts with an in-depth understanding of the perceived risks and barriers to purchase when it comes to your product or service. Great research is the first step for brands to develop compelling and compassionate messaging that helps customers feel empowered, confident, and comfortable with their purchase decisions during times of financial stress.

Kadence International helps leading brands make game-changing decisions. If you are looking for a research partner to help better understand your customers, we would love to help. Simply fill out our Request for a Proposal here.

India is a diverse country having 29 States and seven Union Territories covering more than 600 districts, roughly 8,000 towns, and more than 0.6 million villages. The villages are spread over 3.2 million square kilometres supporting 65% of India’s total population. There is vast heterogeneity in population characteristics due to socio-cultural factors, caste-based divisions, and religious and linguistic diversity. 

Specifically, in the Indian context, ensuring data capturing, and research methodologies are amenable to different languages, literacy levels, and differentiated access/familiarity with the internet is critical. 

For the above reasons, research and data collection become a challenging task and calls for a robust and representative methodology to mirror India’s diversity.

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Key Challenges in Research & Data Collection

Given India’s cultural and geographical diversity, some of the critical challenges for marketers and researchers in designing a survey for rural India are listed below:

1.   Reach: As per Census 2011, nearly 58 percent of India’s rural population resides in 115,080 villages having a population of 2000+. This effectively means that roughly 80% of the total villages in India are small or very small in size, inhabiting less than 2000 people. Looking at tapping rural markets, last mile connectivity with end consumers is a big challenge for FMCG players. Similarly, reaching the vast network of 33 million retail outlets in rural India is a challenge for companies, given the high distribution cost. Therefore, focused, and targeted reach is a priority in accessing rural markets. The survey design needs to factor in this critical consideration when designing the scope of research and sampling methodology.  

2.   Commercial Viability: It is estimated that 85,000 large villages in India account for 40% of the total population and 60 percent of the total consumption of FMCG categories. The skewness in demographic profile and purchasing power further limits the scope to cover the whole of Rural India for reasons of commercial viability. 

3.   High degree of heterogeneity: “A one size fits all approach” does not work well when designing a survey or methodology for rural India. For example, poor and backward States like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, and Madhya Pradesh have more than 75-80% of their total population living in rural areas, whereas urbanized States like Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, and Telangana and more equitable in terms of distribution. Therefore, each State has its unique demographic and socio-cultural profile, which must be kept in mind while designing the sampling methodology in any primary research survey. 

4. Gender Inclusivity: Females are vital consumers and influencers of product categories in Rural India, but men are likely to be key purchasers. Therefore, “whom to interview” becomes a pivotal question to answer while designing a survey. 

5.   Linguistic Diversity: India has 22 official languages besides numerous local languages, dialects, and colloquial words. Therefore, linguistic compatibility becomes essential for survey administration in Rural India. 

 Methodologies for Rural Research 

Some factors merit consideration while designing a methodology representative of the diversity of Rural India and are listed below:

  1. Regional Representation
  2. Adequacy of Sample Size
  3. Defining “Rural” and therefore a selection of villages 
  4. Other Imperatives

1.   Regional Representation 

In a vast and diverse country like India, robustly researching rural consumers requires reflecting heterogeneity and ensuring representativeness. For example, people in the North have attitudes and behaviours that are distinctly different from the population in the South. Similarly, other regions also have socio-cultural nuances that often colour their opinions and attitudes, especially on sensitive issues. 

Therefore, selecting Socio-Cultural Regions or SCR-s is often the starting point to decoding rural consumer behaviour. The regions make it easier to contextualize people and their behaviour for prevalent agrarian practices, social and cultural nuances, and crop-season-driven income and consumption patterns. 

2.   Adequacy of Sample 

The population spread for different States in India varies a lot. For example, the most populous State, Uttar Pradesh, accounts for almost 15% of India’s population. On the other hand, the tiny State of Goa accounts for less than 0.5% of India’s population. Therefore, in a pan-India or multi-State survey, stratification of a sample by State becomes essential. Generally, States are categorized into different population bands such as high population states, medium population states, and low population states. The sample is then fixed for each band in terms of their population size to ensure adequate representativeness. 

The sample size would also depend on other factors such as the granularity of data required within a State, and heterogeneity of population characteristics within a State et al.  

3.   Defining Rural 

The Census of India defines a rural village as a settlement that has the following three characteristics:

  • A population of fewer than 5,000 people
  • <75 percent of the male population employed in non-agricultural activities and 
  • Population density of fewer than 400 people per square kilometre

However, for commercial purposes, this vast and huge area coverage is logistically challenging to cover for any marketing company. Therefore, for practicality and feasibility, different definitions of rural are followed. For most companies, the “hub and spoke model” defines rural coverage as mapped to their distribution channels. They consider villages in the immediate vicinity or within a defined radius of the feeder towns. Last mile connectivity is a challenge for most companies in Rural India. Covering interior or remote parts of rural is not considered to be a viable option. Villages at the periphery of small towns/feeder towns that can be accessed easily become the “immediate” potential for targeting Rural India. This is also called the “Ringing Method” of village selection. 

The above has a profound implication for researchers in terms of designing a suitable methodology and, more importantly, for deciding on an appropriate sampling methodology for the research.  

4.   Other Imperatives: There are a few other imperatives that one must be cognizant of while designing rural research methodologies: 

o  Permissions: Before any fieldwork in villages starts, it is crucial to approach the village head called the “Sarpanch” to apprise them of the survey and its objectives and take approval to conduct fieldwork. This is a formal authorization from the village head that they have been informed about the study and grant their formal permission. 

o   Village Map: You are required to draw a rough map of the village before the start of fieldwork to understand the village’s layout and the critical physical structures —like the hospital, school, panchayat office, temple, or any other place of worship. The team supervisor generally does this exercise with the help of a local person from the village, such as the sarpanch/ schoolteacher or any other elderly person. As the rural dwellings/ households in a village are not structured or follow a pattern (unlike the urban dwellings), the maps also help sample and select clusters/households in that village. 

o   Use of colloquial terms: Given the linguistic diversity of Indian States, specific phrases or words have colloquial interpretations. Therefore, for ease of understanding and comprehension of questions by the respondents, it is generally recommended that local phraseology is inserted into the instrument basis inputs from an informed local person such as the schoolteacher. 

With the focus of multinational companies and marketers now shifting to rural consumers, rural market research in India will likely increase spending in the near future. It augurs well for market research companies to actualize this opportunity to sharpen their research methodologies with rural consumers in mind. At the same time, researchers should be mindful of some of the challenges of rural research, such as low literacy levels, low tech savviness, poor connectivity, and a heterogeneous population, while designing research methodologies for this group. 

Kadence International helps leading brands make game-changing decisions. If you are looking for a research partner to help better understand your customers, we would love to help. Simply fill out our Request for a Proposal here.

At Kadence International, market researchers are at the heart of our team. In this series, we honour some of our colleagues, asking them about their experience working within the market research industry and what the future holds for the industry.

Name: Arpan Jhingran

Position: Project Manager

Kadence Office: New Delhi, India

I joined the Kadence India office in February 2010.

What does a typical day or week look like for you in your current role? Or what are your primary responsibilities/duties?*

Client Servicing is a significant part of what I do for the project life cycle, starting from sharing the cost to the invoice raising and updating the client and senior management on a timely basis. Our responsibilities include solving the field operations query by speaking to the client and finding the best solution.

Tell us a little about your career so far. What was your first job or role? How did you get started with market research? What other roles (in market research) have you had?*

I had worked with ACC Concrete as a management trainee at their Mumbai location, then moved to Delhi. Kadence is my first company in the Market Research industry. I joined as Operations Executive and was promoted to Senior Field Executive. I have been a project manager for the past five years.

Did you always know that you were destined for a career in market research? Why? If not, what did you actually think your career would be, or what did you say you wanted to do “when you grew up” as a child?*

During my MBA, I was fascinated with the Market Research industry because of its involvement in every possible sector. I was also intrigued by the prospect of using different methodologies for deriving results and presenting those as findings and insights to brands.

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What is your favourite quote or the motto you live by?*

Live and let live

What is the best thing about the culture at Kadence?*

I love the open culture at Kadence, which allows you to work freely and use your experience to guide you in the right direction.

What essential skills are required to excel as a Market Researcher?*

Excellent and clear communication is paramount to building trust with the client.

What is unique about the market research field / and or consumers in your country/ region?*

There is much enthusiasm for trying new products or giving their opinions on topics we need data and insights on. 

What is it about the field of market research you wish everyone knew?*

Much hard work goes behind every outcome to improve any product or idea.

What piece of advice would you give someone looking to start a career in market research?*

Clear communication is the key in any service industry to building confidence, and I would like to advise anyone inclined to join market research to hone their communication skills. 

How have you seen consumer behaviour change in the past 2 – 3 years as a result of the pandemic? If so, what are your main observations?*

The expenditure pattern has changed drastically. People are ready to spend on what they want rather than save for the future. 

For one of our projects in the healthcare field, we had to visit government hospitals and understand the conditions and processes by speaking to doctors, medical staff, and patients. Also, we had to talk to doctors without medical degrees and use medication based on their experience. That was great learning of my career.

If you could time travel into the future ten years, how would market research evolve?*

I see market research moving online compared to the current scenario of being an offline-dominated industry.

What do you like to do in your free time when you are not working?  *

I enjoy spending time with my family or sometimes going out with my friends.

What is something you have accomplished in work or life that you are particularly proud of?*

A beautiful family.

What is your all-time favourite food or cuisine?

South Indian Food (particularly Dosas).

What is your all-time favourite travel or vacation spot, and why?

I love hill stations because of the drive up there and the weather. 

How has Kadence’s remote work opportunity allowed you to achieve a work/life balance? We would love an example.

It gives me some more time to spend with my family.

You’ve likely heard the term “agile decision making” in the business world, but what does it mean with reference to market research?

Agile market research is gathering consumer feedback quickly by utilizing technology at any point so you can discover, experiment, understand, and make decisions with more reliable and quick data. 

An agile market research methodology is a strategic approach that aims to address the continuous change in consumer behaviour and market trends as quickly as possible to deliver fast growth and improve Return On Investment (ROI). 

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Agile research is an approach to market research where feedback is collected continuously and quickly. This allows brands to test, iterate, and adapt their concepts using data and facilitates innovation. 

Brands leverage agile market research methodology to create products and messaging that resonate with consumers and have a customer-centric approach. 

Traditional Market Research vs. Agile Market Research

Traditional market research includes stages such as project kickoff, design, review, analysis, and reporting. Every step in the process has a time limit before moving on to the next phase.

On the other hand, agile market research starts small and proceeds in steps that build on the previous one. With agile market research, researchers gain more insightful consumer experience (CX) feedback faster and at a lower cost. 

Moreover, the research tasks are not time-bound, and consumers are free to respond as they like and on their own time. The seamless integration makes agile market research a shorter process, improving overall CX.

While traditional research methodology has its place in assessing customer feedback, agile market research helps move teams faster because they receive responses quickly across design stages. It also allows brands to pivot rapidly and will enable teams to act upon the data and insights quickly. That way, teams are not wasting time and effort on something that will fail when released. 

How to get the best out of your agile market research

For brands to get the most out of your agile market research, they need to be mindful of a few points detailed below:

  1. It is critical to always begin with strategy and first understand the objectives of your agile market research methodology. This will help you utilise consumer feedback and insights more effectively. 
  1. Ensure your team has the skill set for the agile research tasks that need to be done. 
  1. Utilise an efficient, fast, and user-friendly software that empowers you to conduct, analyze, and report data that supports your agile market research methodology effortlessly.

Three Ways Agile Market Research is helping brands obtain the rich insights they need

Faster Insights

The number one advantage of using agile market research is speed. Agile market research removes the friction that can slow traditional research studies to provide quick, helpful feedback that allows iterative improvement. 

With agile intelligence, brands can anticipate consumer behaviours faster and more accurately. This allows the data team to focus on more innovative efforts that help grow the organisation.

All the time spent creating a questionnaire is reduced, sampling is automated, and fieldwork is done quickly. The analysis is presented rapidly, and the process is efficient and seamless. 

Smarter Insights

Artificial Intelligence helps provide smarter insights in a fraction of the time taken by traditional research. 

Since it provides immediate data sets, agile intelligence offers brands powerful insights, answering critical questions like how to segment buyers, which products are likely to perform best, and which locations to open or close physical stores.

Greater accessibility

Another benefit of agile market research is how it makes insights more accessible. Agile market research allows results from a series of similar projects to be shared with your teams worldwide. Other team members can learn what was done and worked, which helps inform future brand decision-making. 

It democratises data and helps create seamless connections to various organisational functions, allowing for collaboration so each department can achieve its individual and overall business goals.

For example, for physical stores, marketing teams can work with real estate teams to identify areas where they should decrease or increase their presence based on store performance and other factors. 

With agile market research, brands can test concepts with a target audience, generate a prototype and get feedback, or gauge consumer response to an ad campaign much faster than if they followed the traditional research process.

Agile market research seamlessly integrates various data collection tools, offering a shorter response process and improving the overall experience. 

Agile market research helps brands invest in the right tools for decision-making to adapt quickly to market changes. It allows brands to transform data into an actual business asset. When armed with the correct data faster, brands can keep up with the speed of change.

Why do people camp outside Apple stores to be the first to access newly launched iPhones? Why do consumers pay more for branded products than for non-branded ones?

It has everything to do with consumer perception or brand equity. When consumers favour your brand over a competitor’s brand and show loyalty to your brand over time, they are contributing to your brand equity. Brand equity is defined as the measure of the perceived value of a branded product over time. Brands need to measure brand equity because boosting it can help them improve their market share and profit margins. 

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Brand equity is different from brand value

With an estimated brand value of about USD 355.1 billion, Apple has established itself as the world’s most valuable brand for 2022, followed by Amazon in second place with a brand value of approximately USD 254.2 billion.

So, what is brand value, and how is it different from brand equity?

Brand value is the price someone will pay for your brand if you were to sell it. There are many ways of measuring brand value and they include the costs associated with building the brand. The investment made in creating a brand, its identity, logo, graphics, brochures, and other assets is used in the brand valuation process. 

Brand equity is not the same as brand value but can positively raise the worth of a brand because as you build your brand equity, you achieve greater brand recognition and positive brand associations, which can boost revenue and brand loyalty. 

It should be noted that a brand can have value even if it has no equity. For example, a company may invest in developing a product and brand, so it will have a value attached to it even before it enters the market. Brand equity helps enhance and increase brand value. 

What drives brand equity, and how can you measure it? 

While brand value is easy to measure, brand equity can be vague and more difficult to calculate because it is influenced by opinions, perceptions, and behaviours, and not just financial metrics.

Let’s divide these drivers into three categories —namely, financial metrics, brand awareness metrics, and consumer sentiment. 

Financial metrics 

Although not the only factors responsible for brand equity, financial drivers like healthy profits help validate a brand’s equity to a great extent.

Metrics such as sales, average transaction value, customer lifetime value, profitability, growth rate, and the cost of doing business are essential data sets to measure overall brand equity. It is also important to calculate the competitive performance of a brand against other brands in the same space by measuring market share and customer acquisition rate.

These competitive metrics also help your brand identify gaps in customer service, product features, pricing, marketing messaging, positioning, social media engagement and following, and distribution channels.

No matter how well or poorly your competition performs, it will directly impact your brand. Conducting a thorough competitive analysis to evaluate how your brand measures up is essential.

When these financial metrics increase, so does your brand value. 

Brand awareness metrics

A strong brand with a high level of recall and awareness will likely boost your brand equity. This is what sets successful brands apart as they endure even the most difficult economic conditions. 


Customer awareness of a brand and its products and services is essential to brand equity. Brands should aim for consumer advocacy and, more importantly, for their consumers to actively engage with and talk positively about their brand.

Conversation share, measured by the number of times a brand comes up in conversations about the brand’s offerings, is a massive indicator of how aware consumers are of your brand.

Market research helps evaluate brand awareness through various methodologies online and offline. Commonly used methodologies in market research include:

  • Surveys and focus groups
  • Local store traffic
  • Traditional media mentions
  • Online search volume
  • Customer reviews
  • Social media mentions 

Emotional metrics 

Knowing how your consumers perceive your brand is critical—the more positive their perceptions, the higher your brand equity.

Market research helps track consumer behaviour and sentiment to obtain reliable information about brand perception. This type of metric is much more challenging to measure. Market research using qualitative surveys and the right text analytics software to interpret open text is beneficial in data collection and analysis. 

Consumer preference and consumer perception of a brand are good indicators of brand equity. The former pitches the brand against its competition and gauges how consumers view it in relation to competing brands. The latter provides insights into the emotions and feelings associated with a particular brand. For instance, market research using qualitative methods can reveal how consumers react to a particular brand name. 

Consumer preference influences purchase decisions, like paying a higher price for a brand name or going the extra mile to access the brand. A case in point is the annual beeline outside Apple stores when it releases its newest iPhone.

Quantitative methods like sales data are an excellent way to gauge customer preference; however, they should be used alongside qualitative methodologies such as surveys to identify to what extent your customers agree your brand is superior to the competition and how much they are willing to pay for your brand name.

These surveys are also used to measure how emotionally invested your consumers are in your brand and the emotions associated with it. 

While a nebulous concept, brand equity provides the actual value of a brand beyond financial metrics.

Knowing how consumers feel toward a brand can open new opportunities for understanding key demographics within target audiences.

With a deeper understanding of the target audience, products and campaigns can be tailored to specific groups to improve ROI.

Utilizing quantitative methods, brands measure brand equity based on financial data, like sales, revenue, profit, and loss. Qualitative methods of measuring brand equity, on the other hand, include brand awareness, brand recognition, customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, and brand perception. 

Brands like Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft did not build their brand value overnight, but we know they have devoted many years to creating memorable brands that resonate with their target audience, and they continue to tirelessly do so even today. 

While tracking many of these metrics may be challenging, it is not impossible. Market research provides invaluable tools to etch out brands that stand out and shine using data, market intelligence, insights, and breakthrough technology. 

The phrase “Never judge a book by its cover” does not apply to product packaging design. When package design is the only reference a consumer has, he is bound to go for the most appealing option. Years of market research have established that what’s outside the package is as important as what’s inside it. How else will a product stand out in a sea of competing brands? Yes, brand loyalty, ingredients, and other factors can make a difference, but in the end, most of it comes down to consumer psychology. 

In a store, the package design is the gateway to the product. Successful brands use psychology in their product design and packaging, driving sales and brand loyalty. Consumers often perceive a product’s function and worth based on its packaging and design.

Product packaging is primarily dictated by the target audience and what they want. For brands targeting a younger demographic, for instance, it is essential to add personalization and brighter colours and fonts that appeal to the youth. 

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This can change when catering to the same demographic in different countries. For instance, the environmental impact of packaging is a relatively less critical purchase factor for Japanese consumers, yet 80 percent of the respondents in India factor the environmental impact of packaging into their purchase decisions.

Understanding Consumer Psychology

Any buying decision involves consumers going through several cognitive stages when looking for a product actively. Their perceptions and opinions are based on what they see during this stage. After they select and purchase a product, they continue to evaluate their decision based on the product’s performance and experience. 

When a product’s perceived value is high, consumers are less impulsive than when the value is lower. This explains why over 70 percent of supermarket purchases are not planned. Shoppers in supermarkets and grocery stores rely primarily on the instinctive cues they get from package design as they browse stores. These help them make quick judgments about the product’s quality and value and can be why they add it to their carts (or not). 

Choosing the right colours

Research shows that colour is one of the first things our brains see when they come across a brand and is often the first thing that pulls consumers in. 

Do you feel calm in a blue room, and does yellow make you anxious?

Pablo Picasso once said, “Colors like features, follow the changes of the emotions.” Colour is known to change emotions, moods, and feelings dramatically. Colours can have different meanings from culture to culture, as the idea of colour is deeply rooted in our experiences. 

Colour psychology is a hot topic in marketing, branding, and graphic design because colours play a huge role in brand perception and image. 

When selecting colours, it is imperative to look into the cultural significance of each colour. This becomes necessary for brands planning international market entry, as different cultures have different connotations and emotions attached to specific colours. For instance, while green is a colour of prosperity in many Muslim nations, it is a colour associated with illness and death in some South American cultures. 

It is also essential to consider how your brand colours align with your brand and its identity. Other considerations are whether these colours stand out in a crowded marketplace and how they would work for those who are colourblind. 

Format and materials

The format or shape of the packaging is often based on whether the package will be used or discarded. In case it’s part of the product, like a milk carton, the quality, materials, and function are important considerations. For instance, a square or rectangular base is better so it can fit in the refrigerator more efficiently, and an easy-to-pour spout enhances convenience and functionality.

Packaging design depends on many other factors as well. For instance. a luxury product needs to be packaged in a way that reflects the high price of the product. In recent years, sustainability has also become a huge factor in selecting packaging materials, and an exciting product design may encourage consumers to post the packaging or unboxing online.

Typography and labels 

Typography is the art of placing text to make the copy clear, legible, and visually attractive. It utilises font style, size, and structure to evoke feelings and emotions and convey a message. It also helps balance the graphics on a package. 

The font styles and sizes you use on your packaging play a huge role in the overall design and how consumers perceive your brand. The logo, typography, and fonts allow your brand to stand out from the competition. The typography helps catch your target audience’s attention and conveys the brand’s messaging. It also helps establish consistency, a vital aspect of brand identity. 

For a successful packaging design that quickly moves the product off the shelves, brands need to know their target audience and stay abreast with the latest trends. The typesetting, fonts, and styles you use, just like the graphic and colour choices, are based on your target market —factors such as age, gender, language, culture, and preferences influence the typography of a product’s package design. 

By providing invaluable information regarding current market trends and the unique wants and needs of a brand’s consumer base, market research helps a brand develop its business and marketing strategy. Market research benefits many different facets of business, including product design and packaging. 

Brands need to have complete knowledge of consumer desires and the effect of specific product packaging on purchasing patterns and preferences. In market research, there are many different means for gathering this data, each with its own set of advantages. In most cases, it is best to use a combination of methodologies to understand the effectiveness of your packaging design and labels. 

Market research allows brands to tap into the psyche of their target markets to gain a deeper understanding of how a package design impacts purchasing decisions. 

This can be done in many ways by gathering data, each method with distinct advantages. 

Some common forms of gathering data:

1. Focus groups 

Market researchers often use focus groups and show them labels and packages to gauge their first reactions to the design, colours, typography, offers, and form. The focus group participants sample the product and look at the packaging and label to provide insights into what part of the packaging would influence their purchase decision. 

2. Interviews and discussions

Many brands conduct interviews with consumers as they browse competing products in a store setting. Questions like, “what made you add a product to your cart?” can uncover purchase decisions and the effectiveness of your product packaging. You may also interview employees from different departments who know the product well.

3. Surveys

Online surveys are a quick and easy way to conduct a survey. These can be carried out for in-store and online purchases on eCommerce sites and allow for anonymity, providing information and insights into purchase decisions and behaviour. A well-designed survey employs a rating scale and asks open-ended questions. 

4. Observation 

Market researchers often use direct observation by visiting the store and observing how the products on the shelf move. In this manner, it is possible to see how the placement of items in a store affects sales. It also allows brands to look closely at the competition to see what graphics, colours, and other visual elements affect purchase decisions. How would your product look in comparison to competing brands? Does it blend in or stand out? Does it stand out in a good way? Making frequent visits to stores can provide a window of opportunity and is a powerful way to conduct market research. 

Market research provides invaluable insights into market trends, consumer psychology, and behavior. It can help formulate the right business and marketing strategy for businesses, including package design. 

Package design research is more critical now than ever. In many cases, the retail package design is the only advertisement for the brand. The brand’s packaging has a few seconds to draw consumers to the product and evoke purchase intent. 

While brands use many quantitative and tried and tested package designs, they often tend to overlook the subjective side of research, which requires qualitative research methods and tools—knowing the “why” behind purchase decisions and consumer motivations can provide the essential piece in understanding the effectiveness of a new package design or redesign. 

Journaling or writing in a diary is an age-old process researchers use in qualitative research to become familiar with the participants before a focus group. While this methodology helps capture deep insights from people’s daily lives, it is a time-consuming and laborious process.

So how do you get rich data and insights without going through reams of paper?

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What are mobile diaries?

As the name suggests, a mobile diary is an online qualitative research tool that enables researchers to gather data from respondents via a mobile-friendly format like an app, email, or text over an extended period. 

In most cases, researchers ask users to complete a pre and post-survey to gauge changes in perspectives before and after the mobile diary surveys. 

How do mobile diaries work?

Mobile diaries ideally work in small groups of preselected participants, and typically, here’s what the process looks like:

  1. The market researcher selects a smaller group of participants from the online survey panel and sends them instructions.
  2. Participants use a mobile diary tool to upload photos and videos about their perceptions, attitudes, feelings, behaviours, and daily lives.
  3. Researchers review and interpret the data for insights. 


Mobile diaries are a time-saver for market researchers

Mobile diaries allow market researchers to collect and process more responses than traditional methods like paper journaling. 

But this is not all; there are many other advantages of mobile diaries in market research over traditional methods. This tool allows market researchers to collect highly personalised, reliable, and accurate data. Additionally, participants can effortlessly share photos, videos, audio, and text, so researchers capture the emotions behind behaviours and attitudes.

This information is not easy to capture through traditional diaries or journaling as people won’t always have a pen and paper to jot things down but (almost) always have their mobile phone on hand.  

Three reasons mobile diaries are a better alternative than traditional methods and tools:

  1. Record “in-the-moment” responses 

Mobile diaries provide qualitative data that allows researchers to peel through the layers and record the respondents’ experiences when interacting with or using a product. For instance, when researching a particular meal kit service, the researcher can frame the questions to gain valuable information and insights into who they are, what they do, who they are with, and how they feel, so there is a context to the story. Mobile diaries, therefore, bring researchers closer to their users’ daily lives. 

  1. Reduce the time, money, and effort


Mobile diaries improve efficiency by reducing the cost of printing and distributing surveys. They save researchers time as they don’t have to work through reams of paper. 

  1. Enhance productivity

They provide the researcher with the tools to review the results in real-time and enhance productivity and efficiency. 

The difference between a Mobile Ethnography and a Mobile Diary

A Mobile Ethnography is a qualitative research method that allows users to respond to research questions and share information using an app on their phones.

Therefore, a mobile ethnography enables “in-the-moment” responses and real-time tracking, reviewing, and moderating like a mobile diary. It also captures emotions and has the shareability factor. Mobile ethnographies can be used to evaluate user behaviour and response to advertising messages.

However, unlike a mobile diary, it lacks desktop capabilities, which limits the use of mobile ethnographies. In addition to responding to online surveys, mobile diaries enable users to log in to a desktop and participate in surveys, discussion forums, and focus groups.

These additional engagements can be invaluable for market research and provide rich nuggets of information to market researchers.

When should you utilise mobile diaries?

Mobile diaries are invaluable when collecting contextual and qualitative insights for market research. 

For instance, a mobile diary would be a good tool for researching the buying behaviour of working moms aged 30-45 years. 

Mobile diaries can present broad or targeted information depending on the nature and scope of the market research study. 

Mobile diaries are widely used for: 

  1. Demystifying user behaviour such as online shopping habits.
  2. Understanding user experience and interpreting user interactions with a website, product, device, or app. 
  3. Understanding how people search for and share information online or on specific topics like adopting a rescue animal.

Four examples of the use of Mobile Diaries in Market Research:

Use case 1

A grocery store brand wants to collect meaningful data on consumer experience. The researcher recruits a select group, and they have to enter their experience in a mobile diary every time they visit the store. 

Use case 2

A juice brand wants to learn more about its customers’ habits. They use mobile diaries to collect insights on when their customers drink juice, their favorite flavors, and other ways they use juice, such as in cocktails. 

Use Case 3

A high-end shampoo brand is rebranding and has new packaging. A select group is asked to answer questions regarding the packaging, dispenser, look, and feel of the packaging and the product.  

Use case 4

A meal delivery service has launched an app and wants to test the user experience. A select group of people uses a mobile diary to answer questions on how easy it is to navigate and the overall experience. 

Challenges presented by mobile diaries in market research

Like all good things, mobile diaries also present some challenges, like:

  1. It can become an annoyance for the respondents with too many notifications or alerts. 
  2. Data privacy issues 
  3. Long surveys 
  4. Not enough incentives for users

Market researchers can overcome these challenges by setting up surveys to make things easy for the respondents. They should also take the steps needed to protect user privacy. It is also essential to recruit the appropriate group for any study and incentivise them to complete the surveys. 

In a world of smartphones and connectivity, mobile diaries are a great alternative to traditional methods.

Smartphones are commonly used, and most people always have their phones on hand. Therefore, mobile diaries are a great way to gain valuable and qualitative insights from consumers as they are always within reach. They provide in-the-moment information regarding behaviours, attitudes, perceptions, and changes over an extended time. 

Market researchers can provide rich insights that facilitate better decision-making with real-time qualitative feedback. A mobile diary is easy for respondents to share more authentic and reliable information through images, videos, audio clips, and texts. 

With a GDP of $5.15 trillion, Japan is well-positioned for international expansion and offers substantial business opportunities for brands in various industries. 

The country has dramatically bounced back from the disruption caused by the 2011 natural disasters, like the earthquake and the Tsunami.

Japanese motor vehicles and electronics are prevalent globally. It is also among the world’s largest producers of steel. 

The country is among the world’s largest exporters of motor vehicles and electronic equipment. The service sector makes up the highest percentage of the economy in terms of gross domestic product and employment.

Major Industries in Japan

Japan’s five largest companies by market capitalization are Toyota, Sony, Keyence, Recruit Holdings, and SoftBank Group. Sony’s portfolio includes a distinctly non-Japanese Hollywood movie and music business originally acquired through a merger and acquisition over 30 years ago. SoftBank, in recent years, has morphed into a massive tech fund run by foreign fund managers invested almost entirely in non-Japanese startups. Recruit’s new CEO spent ten years acquiring and growing recruitment businesses in the U.S. before his promotion earlier in 2022.

Japan is focused on manufacturing precision and technology products such as hybrid vehicles, robotics, and optical instruments.

Other industries prominent in Japan are agriculture, fishing, and tourism. 

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What makes Japan an excellent choice for international expansion

Large World economy

The third-largest economy in the world, after the United States and China, and the fourth largest importer of U.S. products, Japan is open for international business. It is also one of the world’s most literate and technically advanced nations.

Robust Consumer Economy

Japan has a robust consumer economy with a per capita income of $42,197 and is a haven for brands that want to expand internationally. Japan’s massive consumer economy, in which consumers with considerable purchasing power seek high-quality and innovative goods and services. 

Protections and Compliance

An essential member of the international trade system, Japan complies with the law, and its efforts to maintain the rule of law is one of the pillars of its foreign policy. It also provides intellectual property protection and rights. 

Easy and inexpensive to set up an office 

According to the World Bank’s “Ease of Doing Business” report, it takes about 11 days to incorporate. It costs 0.7 percent or JPY 60,000, (approximately USD 470 million), whichever is higher, and registration and seal fees. For companies that want to set up a branch office, the costs are low and procedures simple. Co-working spaces are also an option in bigger cities. 

Rapidly Aging Population

Japan is ageing fast. One in three people is estimated to be 65 years and older by 2036, conferring the title of the world’s leading “super-aged society.”



While the nation’s rapidly ageing and declining population pose risks of an economic crisis, it also presents massive opportunities. As a result of the declining population, individual income has risen, surpassing U.S. citizens.

Fewer people in Japan mean larger living spaces, more arable land capital, more disposable income, and higher quality of living. This fuels the growth in several industries, such as pharmaceuticals, healthcare, franchising, and real estate, to name a few.

Seniors in Japan are financially secure and healthy overall and big consumers of various products and services. 

Innovation and Research 

Japan reigns supreme in research as a nation with a large senior population. It has a goldmine of data on ageing, medical data, and medical assessments—these datasets are beneficial for local governments worldwide. The nation ushers innovation and technological advancement in many sectors. 

Just as countries can look up to Japan to help their ageing population and fill technological gaps, foreign brands can view this as a great time to expand and invest in such fields.

Significant obstacles to consider before entering the Japanese market

Entering the Japanese market is lucrative and full of opportunities, but it is not without many obstacles and challenges. It is noteworthy here that Japan is one of the few Asian countries that never had a western country rule over them, and this is because of Japanese are strong-willed and are rooted in tradition. 

Although tariffs are generally low, Japan has other barriers to entering the market that may hinder foreign products’ importation into the country. 

It is essential to factor in some of the most significant obstacles before entering the Japanese market. These hurdles can be measured against the brand and company goals to make the right decision and market entry plan. 

  1. Japan’s size makes it essential for brands to invest substantially, increasing risks.
  2. Japan is a highly competitive market, and domestic brands have a strong presence. Therefore, it is not easy to compete with local Japanese companies. However, thorough market research before creating the market entry plan can help brands overcome the challenge of competing with local companies.
  3. Japanese are discerning and look for value for money and high quality when making purchase decisions. Additionally, the Japanese culture and tastes are very different from the Western world. Therefore, brands have to redesign and redevelop their products and services to tailor them to local tastes and preferences in most cases. Market research and product testing methodologies can help brands create and tweak products to fit the Japanese lifestyle and culture.
  4. Japan has very little foreign investment for an advanced nation, keeping the Japanese business sector isolated. As a result, only about 3-5 percent of Japanese speak good English, which can be a barrier for some countries.
  5. Japan has a strong network of regulations, permissions, and extensive procedures as a bureaucratic country. These strict regulations keep new entrants from competing with established industries. However, these regulations are being slowly relaxed.
  6. Management and H.R. policies are very different in Japan, and organizations entering the country must consider and adapt to the management style in Japan, because failing to do so, is a recipe for disaster. 

Marketing to the Japanese consumer

Japan is a unique market, and it is crucial to understand the cultural nuances and the Japanese consumer. You cannot become a Japanese marketing expert overnight, and it is helpful to hire local advertising agencies when marketing in Japan. 

For the same reason as above, it is critical to regionalise everything. Labels on products and marketing and sales materials, digital campaigns, and the website need to be in the Japanese language.

The Pepsiman commercial is an excellent example of regionalizing a brand. When Pepsi’s Japan branch decided to create something regional for Japan, they contacted Travis Charest to create a superhero mascot to promote Pepsi. This faceless superhero managed to get a cult following in the country. They developed an action game for the Playstation and created several successful commercials using Pepsiman. 

Nike’s attempt to extend its marketing message to include social activism in Japan was met with criticism. Nike Japan released a video depicting the struggles of women athletes in Japan that faced bullying and racism, topics that are not openly discussed in the country.

Martin Roll, a business and brand adviser, says that Japanese consumers are not as vocal and will not express dissent unless they feel brands cross a red line. Therefore, it is important to have a deep understanding of the culture, the sentiment of the people, the root of homogeneity in Japan (post-Hiroshima Nagasaki, there was a focus on a homogeneous society), and how to carefully tread the delicate line. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkFaQuhHOtw

As in any other new country, it is also essential to have a local marketing plan and calendar.

Distribution and Sales Channels in Japan

The choice of distribution channels depends upon the product. Due to space limitations, small retail stores often stock limited inventory, and wholesalers deliver smaller amounts more frequently. 

Culturally, the Japanese prefer face-to-face interactions and place a high value on building and maintaining business relationships. This distribution system is costly and increases the price of goods. The growth of big box stores and e-commerce is challenging this status quo. 

In 2021, approximately 2.25 million vending machines in Japan were beverage vending machines, selling drinks like cooled beverages or coffee. 

The primary distribution and logistics points are found in the major port cities, like Tokyo, Yokohama, Kobe, Osaka, and Fukuoka.    

Market entry strategy for Japan

Brands need to develop and maintain strong relationships with local partners to gain a foothold and succeed in the Japanese market. The local partner can act as an agent, representative, or distributor and manage a branch office or subsidiary in Japan. 

Since the business culture is unique in Japan, visiting the country several times before entering the market is good. This can help familiarise the organization with the culture and business climate. 

Japan has a stable economy and is a dream destination for foreign investment. The key to successful business entry in Japan is doing the leg work using market research to understand the culture, localise the product and messaging, and find the right partner to expand the given brand in this unique marketplace full of opportunities.

Emerging technological advancements are transforming market research forever. As many consumers move online, the way brands identify and understand consumer needs is being reimagined.

Many technology trends disrupt the market research industry —from data collection and new product launches to tracking brand performance. This blog post will focus on the breakthroughs in technology impacting brand tracking and product performance tracking.

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Brand and performance tracking refers to the process of continually measuring brand health over a period within the target audience. It allows brands to measure the performance of a product in relation to its competition. After a new product is launched, market research helps brands gauge performance to stay competitive. 

With consumers increasingly moving online, brands can tap into new, vast, and reliable consumer behaviour data in real-time. This has also made Direct to Consumer marketing much more common. Brands like Happy Human (Singapore), Dime Beauty (U.S.A.), Joi (Malaysia), Sleepy Owl (India), Recess (Philipines), Adopt a Cow (China), and Knot (Japan) have eliminated the middleman to create, develop, sell, and distribute their products directly to the end-user. The absence of middlemen and brick-and-mortar stores allows them to maintain quality and reduce prices. But this is not all. These brands also have the added advantage of measuring performance directly without employing market research across several retail outlets. They can discover brand sentiment directly, making them more agile, nimble, and competitive. 

While there is still a place for traditional research methodologies, technologies like machine learning, Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality, and chatbots continue to reinvent the market research industry. 

Let’s look at the primary technologies in brand tracking and competition analysis that are changing the face of market research. 

E-commerce brands utilise price monitoring software technology to track competitor pricing.

In the fiercely competitive E-commerce world, the key to outperforming the competition is tracking and monitoring the price competing brands charge for similar products and services. Brands need to keep a keen eye on their competitor’s pricing strategy and price changes over several products to stay competitive, and that’s not an easy task even for larger companies. 

This is where e-commerce price monitoring technology comes into play. 

Ecommerce price monitoring software allows brands to track their competitor’s price changes and dynamically adjust their pricing. 

By employing this type of software, brands can stay abreast with competitor pricing and adjust pricing based on demand, competition, and inventory levels. 

Many such tools are available in the market, including Minderest, Price2Spy, and Prisync, with sophisticated matching technology and high levels of accuracy. 

Market research utilises machine learning and A.I. for brand and performance tracking to revamp advertising and messaging. 

While some grey areas are associated with A.I. in other fields, the market research industry has embraced this technology.

One of the things brands need to track constantly is how their messaging is resonating with the target audience and how the market perceives their brand. This is because a brand is not just the logo and tagline. It is a sum of all parts and is an overall feeling that tells a narrative and evokes sentiment and emotion in the audience. 

Technology helps brands better understand brand performance and perception to inform better decision-making. It allows brands to measure and bridge the gaps between their intent and how the audiences interpret and perceive their message.

The use of A.I. in brand tracking has allowed market researchers to analyze qualitative surveys at a fraction of the time taken by manual data collection methods. Furthermore, this enables them to ask more open-ended and follow-up questions, find the right panellists faster, eliminate bias, write reports quickly, and significantly improve the quality of their surveys and reports. 

In today’s dynamic digital marketplaces, A.I. is powering brand tracking to gauge the changing consumer perceptions. 

Sentiment analysis is a sub-category of A.I. and N.L.P., which automatically uncovers feelings, emotions, and sentiments behind plain blocks of text. It is extensively used in brand tracking because it is efficient, reliable, and accurate. 

Over 45 percent of the world is on social media. There are about 500 million tweets per day, and about 1.96 billion people worldwide use Facebook every day. Consumers constantly call out brands on these social media platforms and review sites. It would be overwhelming and near impossible to collect data manually. Brands can effectively gauge overall brand sentiment across platforms and channels online using automated tools. 

For instance, when the popular ride-sharing service, UBER, launched a new version of its app, it used social media monitoring and text analytics to measure user sentiment about the new version of the app. Eye-tracking technology works similarly and can track users’ engagement scores and emotions on a website. 

There are several brand tracking tools available for brands. Candymaker Mars used one such tool that combines the standard digital video metrics, like view-through rates and skip rates, with facial expression tracking of the viewers while watching the ad using an A.I. algorithm.

While the tool measures digital behaviours, it puts enormous weight on gauging emotion and sentiment. This technology is essential to track brand performance in a world plagued with minuscule attention spans. It allows brands to obtain a complete picture of consumer perception. 

Many technologies use participants’ webcams to track their facial and emotional responses while viewing ads, providing invaluable data used to inform sales forecasts. 

Chatbots are aggregating vast amounts of consumer data.

The usage of chatbots as a communication channel between brands and consumers has increased by 92 percent since 2019. 

As many consumers shop online, they engage with chatbots, making them the fastest-growing brand communication channel.  

A survey found that up to 80 percent of users answered questions, three times higher than responses from email surveys. 

Brands like IKEA are using chatbots to gather valuable consumer feedback. Companies use Whatsapp and Facebook messenger to measure consumer sentiment and feedback efficiently. 

The use of brand tracking cannot be overemphasised. It allows brands to understand how their current audience perceives the brand. It can also lead brands to uncover until now undiscovered target audiences. 

With brand tracking software, brands can see the true impact of their campaigns. Brand tracking holds the key to insights any brand needs to thrive. Using the right tools and technology, brands can obtain actionable information about the brand perception among the target audience and how it scores against the competition.

A brand is one of the most valuable assets of an organization. It is, therefore, critical to continually measure satisfaction, awareness, and perception. Incorporating brand tracking into their marketing strategy can help brands understand their target audiences and consumer needs and make more profitable marketing decisions. Technology has made it easier to uncover massive data sets to monitor a brand effectively and accurately. By combining this technology with digital metrics, brands can increase their competitive advantage.

Just like we need a GPS to take us from point A to Point B, businesses need to intuitively map their customer’s journey to ensure they are moving through the process. But instead of plotting it physically on a map, brands need to use technology to visualise each touchpoint the customers interact with when they engage with them. 

Today, customers interact with brands multiple times on various platforms, and brands need to funnel them to continue moving forward. 

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What is customer journey mapping?

A customer journey map is a visual plotting or representation of customers’ experiences and touchpoints with a brand. It tells the complete story of a brand’s relationship with a customer, starting with the first engagement and moving toward a path to purchase and becoming a loyal customer. 

Journey mapping is not a single instance or solution; it is a process that integrates every facet of an organisation, from marketing to sales to customer service.

Why Customer Journey Mapping is Invaluable for Brands

Today, customers expect a lot from each interaction with a given brand. Personalisation, consistency at each touchpoint, and relevance are not just “good to have” anymore; they are necessary to drive conversions and brand loyalty. 

Customer Journey Mapping is beneficial not only for sales and marketing but also for the creative team. Armed with this information, content creators can develop timely, relevant, personalised copy and speaks to the customer at each touchpoint. Designers can derive context from this information and design an elevated customer experience. 

Customer Journey Mapping is helpful for many reasons, and it primarily helps with the following three steps:

1. Identify all touchpoints to understand the customer experience better.

Customer Journey Mapping helps you construct a seamless and intuitive customer experience through every touchpoint. This is often missed by quantitative research.

For instance, a journey map may uncover a tremendous amount of online research in the discovery phase of a particular product or service. This would lead a brand to question how it appears on search engines and the content customers find when researching the product online. 

2. Get in tune with your customers at every step of the way.

Customer Journey Maps are visual aids that help understand the customers better at each touchpoint. It visually reveals patterns in customer behaviour and emotions, and once these are identified, brands have an account of the steps that are working and those with gaps.

3. Identify gaps in your CX and lead your customers intuitively through the funnel.

Customer Journey Mapping aims to understand each touchpoint and ensure measurement tools are in place to help monitor each customer interaction. 

For instance, for a travel website, a customer’s journey starts when they search for airline tickets and cover all the steps through research, queries, finding tickets, booking them, making a payment, and receiving confirmations and other travel-related information. It includes signing up for a newsletter, recommendations to book hotels, prompting the user to check-in, and offering additional information. In a retail setting, Customer Journey Mapping would include the signage, lighting, store layout, temperature, smell, comfort, and other physical elements in addition to interactions with the employees. 

Customer Journey Mapping helps you fill gaps and focus on areas that need improvement for an intuitive and seamless customer experience. 

How to Get the Most out of Your Customer Journey Map

The ultimate goal of a Customer Journey Map is to improve the customer journey and move prospects through the funnel. This is because inefficient systems and interactions cause frustration amongst users and prospects, impeding conversions and sales. 

Below are a few tips to keep in mind when researching your customer journey.

  • Some brands do a great job acquiring customers but are not good at activating. Therefore, brands should include every touchpoint, like packaging, labels, messaging and ads, and social voice.
  • A Customer Journey Map should be a combination of analytics and customer feedback. Therefore, brands must gather quantitative data from multiple sources, including call centre and CRM software, QR codes scanned, website and social media analytics, and other metrics.
  • It is essential to include post-purchase components into the Customer Journey Map. The relationship with the customer continues long after they purchase something. This helps you get repeat business, loyal customers, favourable reviews, and raving fans who will refer the product or service to others. 

How Market Research can help brands build Customer Journey Maps

So how do you use market research to help improve the customer experience? 

Let’s examine this with the example of a retail shoe store. You identified the salesperson as a critical touchpoint. You can use a focus group to experience the store just as they would if shopping for shoes. 

Ask them to identify the experiential element of each touchpoint, including what they see, smell, hear, and feel. The focus group will then prioritise what parts of the journey need improvement. They will provide insights on how easy it was to find what they were looking for, the annoying details, how the store stacks up to a competitor, and the customer satisfaction score. The brand can then build an action plan to improve the customer experience at their store. 

This is how the brand identifies gaps, determines development priorities, builds a plan to remedy the issues and bottlenecks, and allocates funds to optimise sales and Return on Investment (ROI). 

Customer Journey Mapping should be a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. 

Market research and building Customer Journey Maps allow brands to compare what they believe the customer journey looks like and what it is like in reality. When you combine the metrics and data with sensory components, you can experience the journey through your customer’s eyes. This “outside looking in” approach will significantly improve the customer experience and revenues.