Consumer Research 101: Cracking Your Target Market Behavior

Consumer research methods are goldmine of valuable information that can inform your marketing decisions. Consequently, helps you stay ahead of the competition and gain a strong market standing.

However, analyzing and interpreting survey data can be as challenging as solving a cryptic crossword puzzle. But don’t worry – all you need is the right approach and a bit of wit. Then you can turn those cryptic clues into a treasure trove of insights.

How?

In this guide, I’ll show you how to navigate the twists and turns of consumer research. Ultimately, extract the nuggets of wisdom hidden within.

Sit back, relax, and get ready to learn how to make sense of those cryptic survey questions.

Table of Contents:

1. 1. What is Consumer Research?
   2. Why Consumer Research Matters in Business Decision-Making?
   3. Key Objectives of Consumer Research
   4. How to Conduct Effective Consumer Research?
   5. Types of Consumer Research
   6. How to Craft Consumer Research?
   7. Identify Patterns and Trends in Consumer Research Data
   8. Wrap Up

Let’s get started.

What is Consumer Research?

Definition: Consumer research is like a deep dive into what people like, why they buy things, and how they feel about stuff they use or want. It’s a smart way for businesses to figure out what makes customers tick.

By collecting and analyzing consumer research data, businesses make sure they’re offering the right stuff to the right people.

Why Consumer Research Matters in Business Decision-Making?

Consumer research isn’t just a way to know your consumer’s mindset; it is the backbone of smart business decisions. It’s a process that helps businesses make data-driven decisions. By analyzing consumer behavior and creating a consumer journey map, businesses can shape their products and services to fit consumer needs, ensuring customer satisfaction and an increase in revenue.

Understanding the Consumer Mindset

By diving deep into the reasons behind why folks buy what they do, companies can craft products and services that folks actually want.

Consider a new restaurant planning its menu. Conducting consumer research helps them understand what their target market desires in their dining experiences such as ambiance, dietary preferences, or service style.

Consumer research will help them to ensure the menu caters to various tastes, dietary needs, and even cultural preferences within the community.

Key Objectives of Consumer Research

There is a reason why successful business owners do consumer research before making any business decision. Some key objectives of doing consumer research are:

1. Understand Consumer Behavior: Find out why people buy things and what they really want.
2. Identify Market Opportunities: Discover new groups of consumers and new trends to make better products or improve existing one.
3. Improve Product Development: Use insights to shape and enhance products or services to better align with consumer desires and requirements.
4. Optimize Marketing Strategies: To create marketing content that speak directly to what consumers want, ensuring more impactful and successful campaigns.
5. Improve Customer Satisfaction: Align offerings closely with customer expectations to boost customer satisfaction, loyalty, and repeat business.

How to Conduct Effective Consumer Research?

Before delving in, let’s explore various types of consumer research.

Types of Consumer Research

Consumer research is classified into two main types: qualitative consumer research and quantitative consumer research. These approaches differ in their methods, data collection techniques, and data analysis procedures.

1. Qualitative Consumer Research

Qualitative research is all about delving deep into the minds and experiences of consumers. The purpose is to understand their attitudes, motivations, and behaviors thoroughly. This approach seeks to gather rich and meaningful insights into consumers’ perceptions and experiences using non-numerical data.

• Focus Groups

Focus groups involve a small group of individuals who engage in a guided discussion led by a moderator. The moderator facilitates the conversation and encourages participants to express their opinions, experiences, and perceptions. They also probe further to gain deeper insights.

• One-to-One Interviews

A researcher interviews participants one-on-one to delve deep into their thoughts, emotions, experiences, and viewpoints. These interviews facilitate a thorough investigation of the participant’s perspectives, leading to a holistic comprehension of their stance.

• Content/Text Analysis

Content or text analysis involves the systematic examination and interpretation of textual data. For example, written documents, online reviews, social media posts, or other forms of consumer-generated content. Analyzing this content helps to identify themes, patterns, and insights related to consumer behavior, attitudes, and opinions.

2. Quantitative Consumer Research

Quantitative research employs numerical data to quantify and measure consumer behaviors, preferences, and attitudes. It involves collecting substantial sample data to ensure statistically meaningful outcomes. Surveys, experiments, statistical analysis, and data modeling are some methods utilized in quantitative research. They facilitate data analysis and draw conclusive insights about consumer behavior.

Researchers use closed-ended questions or rating scales to gather standardized responses, which can be easily analyzed and compared. The numerical data allows for identifying patterns, trends, and relationships and drawing generalizable conclusions.

How to Craft Consumer Research for Valuable Insights?

The consumer research process involves the following steps to ensure accurate and valuable data collection:

1. Define your research objectives: Start by clarifying the goals and objectives of your survey. What specific information are you looking to gather? Defining the purpose and scope of your research guides the rest of the survey creation process.
2. Identify your target audience: Determine the specific group of consumers you want to survey. Consider demographic factors or other relevant characteristics that align with your research objectives. This will help you tailor your questions accordingly.
3. Select a survey method: You can choose from online surveys, telephone interviews, face-to-face interviews, or use a blend of techniques. The popularity of online surveys is on the rise. This is attributed to their convenience, ease of distribution, and efficient data collection capabilities.
4. Craft clear and concise questions: Formulate your questions carefully to ensure clarity, conciseness, and zero bias. Use simple language and avoid technical jargon. Consider using a combination of question types, including multiple-choice, rating scales, open-ended questions, and demographic questions.
5. Sequence your questions logically: Organize your questions in a logical flow. Begin with general and introductory questions to engage respondents and gradually move towards more specific areas of inquiry. Consider grouping related questions to maintain coherence and ease of understanding.
6. Keep the survey length reasonable: Respect respondents’ time by keeping the survey length reasonable. Long surveys may lead to respondent fatigue and decreased completion rates. Focus on the most important questions that align with your research objectives. Also, consider using skip logic to tailor the survey based on respondents’ previous answers.
7. Pilot test the survey: Conduct a pilot test with a small group of individuals who match your target audience characteristics. This will help identify confusing or problematic questions, allowing you to make revisions before launching the survey.
8. Distribute the survey: Choose the most appropriate method to distribute your survey to your target audience. You can share the survey via email, social media, website embeds, or targeted advertisements. Ensure the distribution method aligns with your target audience’s preferences and accessibility.
9. Analyze and interpret the data: Once you’ve collected sufficient responses, analyze the data using statistical analysis tools or qualitative coding techniques. Look for patterns, trends, and key insights that align with your research objectives. Present the findings clearly and concisely, using charts, graphs, and supporting narratives.

How to Identify Patterns and Trends in Consumer Research Data?

They say opinions are like smartphones – everyone has one. But how do you make sense of all those opinions to make informed business decisions? That’s where consumer research analysis comes to the rescue.

How do you analyze the survey results of a consumer research?

Use ChartExpo for Excel. With its simple user interface and customizable visualizations, ChartExpo makes turning survey results into actionable insights a breeze.

Benefits of Using ChartExpo

• ChartExpo provides a vast array of visualization options, allowing you to cherry-pick the best one for your data.
• You don’t need to be a coding genius to create insightful visualizations with ChartExpo. Its user-friendly interface takes the headache out of data visualization.
• With ChartExpo’s extensive customization options, you can make your visualizations stand out and match your brand’s unique style.
• Give ChartExpo a try with the free 7-day trial, then sign up for an affordable $10 monthly plan. Your data will thank you.

How to Install ChartExpo in Excel?

1. Open your Excel application.
2. Open the worksheet and click the “Insert” menu.
3. You’ll see the “My Apps” option.
4. In the office Add-ins window, click “Store” and search for ChartExpo on my Apps Store.
5. Click the “Add” button to install ChartExpo in your Excel.

ChartExpo charts are available both in Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel. Please use the following CTA’s to install the tool of your choice and create beautiful visualizations in a few clicks in your favorite tool.

Example

Let’s say you own a restaurant and want to gauge customer satisfaction. This necessitates you to conduct consumer market research. You create a consumer survey with the following questions.

• Are you satisfied with the quality of the food?
• Are you satisfied with the staff’s behavior?
• Are you satisfied with the overall quality of the service?

You embed the response scale below to allow your customers to provide an answer to each question.

1. Very dissatisfied
2. Somewhat dissatisfied
3. Neither dissatisfied nor satisfied
4. Somewhat satisfied
5. Very satisfied

Assume that your survey yields the data table below.

Are you satisfied with the quality of the food?	Are you satisfied with the staff’s behavior?	Are you satisfied with the overall quality of the service?
Very satisfied	Somewhat satisfied	Somewhat dissatisfied
Neither dissatisfied nor satisfied	Very dissatisfied	Very satisfied
Somewhat satisfied	Somewhat dissatisfied	Neither dissatisfied nor satisfied
Very dissatisfied	Neither dissatisfied nor satisfied	Very dissatisfied
Neither dissatisfied nor satisfied	Very dissatisfied	Somewhat satisfied
Very satisfied	Very satisfied	Somewhat satisfied
Very dissatisfied	Somewhat satisfied	Very satisfied
Somewhat satisfied	Somewhat satisfied	Somewhat dissatisfied
Very dissatisfied	Somewhat dissatisfied	Very satisfied
Very satisfied	Somewhat satisfied	Very dissatisfied
Neither dissatisfied nor satisfied	Neither dissatisfied nor satisfied	Very satisfied
Somewhat dissatisfied	Very satisfied	Neither dissatisfied nor satisfied
Somewhat dissatisfied	Somewhat satisfied	Somewhat dissatisfied
Neither dissatisfied nor satisfied	Very dissatisfied	Somewhat satisfied
Somewhat dissatisfied	Somewhat satisfied	Very dissatisfied
Very satisfied	Very dissatisfied	Neither dissatisfied nor satisfied
Somewhat dissatisfied	Somewhat dissatisfied	Very satisfied
Very satisfied	Somewhat satisfied	Somewhat satisfied
Very satisfied	Neither dissatisfied nor satisfied	Very satisfied
Somewhat satisfied	Very satisfied	Very dissatisfied

This table contains example data. Expect many responses and questions in real life.

• To get started with ChartExpo, install ChartExpo in Excel.
• Now Click on My Apps from the INSERT menu.

• Choose ChartExpo from My Apps, then click Insert.

• Once it loads, choose the “Likert Scale Chart” from the charts list.

• Click the “Create Chart From Selection” button after selecting the data from the sheet, as shown.

• When you click the “Create Chart From Selection” button, you have to map responses with numbers manually. The Likert scale has this arrangement:

• • Very dissatisfied=1
  • Somewhat dissatisfied=2
  • Neither dissatisfied nor satisfied=3
  • Somewhat satisfied=4
  • Very satisfied=5
• Once all is set, click the “Create Chart” button.

• ChartExpo will generate the visualization below for you.

• If you want to have the chart’s title, click Edit Chart, as shown in the above image.
• Click the pencil icon next to the Chart Header to change the title.
• It will open the properties dialog. Under the Text section, you can add a heading in Line 1 and enable Show.
• Give the appropriate title of your chart and click the Apply button.

• Let’s say you want to add text responses instead of numbers against every emoji.
• Click the pencil icon next to the respective emoji. Expand the “Label” properties and write the required text. Then click the “Apply All” button.
• Click the “Save Changes” button to persist the changes.

• Your final chart will appear below.

Insights

• 50% of customers are satisfied with the quality of service provided. 35% are not satisfied, and the remaining 15% are neutral.
• Similarly, 50% are satisfied with staff behavior, 35% are unsatisfied, and 15% maintain neutrality.
• Regarding the quality of ingredients in food, 45% are satisfied, 35% are not satisfied, and 20% remain neutral.
• Overall, 48% of customers provided positive responses to the survey questions. 35% gave negative responses, and 17% remained neutral.

FAQs

What is consumer research?

Consumer research is the systematic study and analysis of consumer behaviors, attitudes, preferences, and decision-making processes. It aims to understand and predict consumer needs and desires. As a result, it enables businesses to make informed decisions and develop effective marketing strategies.

What are the two methods used for consumer research?

Two commonly used methods for consumer research are quantitative research and qualitative research. Quantitative research involves collecting and analyzing numerical data to measure and quantify consumer behavior. Qualitative research gathers in-depth insights and understands consumer perceptions and motivations through open-ended questions and observations.

How do you run consumer research?

To run consumer research, define your research objectives, and select appropriate research methods. Then design surveys or conduct interviews, collect and analyze data, and draw meaningful insights. The process involves careful planning, execution, and interpretation to gain valuable consumer insights for business decision-making.

Wrap Up

Exploring the minds of consumers is a crucial step in understanding their decision-making process. Consumer research offer valuable insights into consumers’ desires, needs, and progress on their buying journey.

It’s crucial to bear in mind that survey data only offer an approximation of consumer behavior. Therefore, it’s essential to approach the results cautiously and carefully interpret them to avoid drawing inaccurate conclusions.

First, organize and clean the data by removing incomplete or irrelevant responses. Next, apply appropriate statistical analysis techniques to identify patterns, correlations, and trends within the data. This quantitative analysis can provide valuable insights into consumer preferences, behaviors, and market trends.

Additionally, qualitative analysis is essential for understanding the context behind the data. Thoroughly review open-ended responses, interview transcripts, and observational notes. Identify recurring themes, sentiments, and unique perspectives to better understand consumer motivations, opinions, and experiences.

Consider the research objectives and overarching business goals. Look for actionable insights and recommendations that can drive decision-making. Present the results using visualizations, charts, and concise summaries to communicate the key findings to stakeholders effectively.

Luckily, we have ChartExpo for Excel to make this analysis a breeze. With ChartExpo, you can create insightful, appealing charts without requiring any coding knowledge.