The development process and future trend of 1. consumer research

Consumer research refers to the process of collecting, analyzing and interpreting consumer-related data and information to understand consumer needs, preferences, behaviors and values, so as to provide a basis and guidance for a company's market strategy and product innovation. Consumer research is an important tool in the consumer goods and retail industry, which can help enterprises seize market opportunities, meet consumer expectations, and enhance competitiveness and profitability.

The development of consumer research can be divided into four stages:

-Phase 1: Traditional research. From the beginning of the 20th century, this stage mainly uses qualitative and quantitative methods such as questionnaires, interviews and observations to collect basic information and feedback from consumers in order to understand consumer satisfaction and loyalty and provide reference for marketing and brand management.

-Phase II: Relationship research. This stage began in the 1980 s, mainly using database marketing, customer relationship management, membership clubs, etc., to establish and maintain long-term relationships with consumers in order to understand the individual needs and preferences of consumers and to provide support for differentiated competition and customer segmentation.

-The third stage: experience research. From the beginning of the 21st century, this stage mainly uses neural marketing, emotional design, scene simulation and other technologies to deeply explore the psychology and emotion of consumers, so as to understand the experience feelings and values of consumers, and provide inspiration for product innovation and brand building of enterprises.

-The fourth stage: intelligent research. This stage has started in recent years, mainly using technologies such as big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things to achieve real-time and comprehensive monitoring and analysis of consumers to understand consumers' behavior patterns and potential needs. Provide a basis for intelligent decision-making and personalized services.

With the rapid development of China's consumer market and the diversification of consumers, consumer research is also facing new challenges and opportunities. It needs to constantly adapt to changes, improve quality and efficiency, and create more value. According to research reports from Deloitto and Accenture, we summarize the future trends of consumer research as follows:

-Trend 1: People-oriented. Consumer research needs to shift from product-centered to people-oriented, pay attention to consumers' internal needs and values, understand consumers' comprehensive and dynamic portraits, and provide meaningful and warm products and services.

-Trend two: multi-dimensional integration. Consumer research needs to shift from a single method and channel to a multi-dimensional integration, using multiple data sources and technical means to achieve comprehensive and in-depth insights into consumers, and provide comprehensive and accurate information and suggestions.

-Trend 3: Continuous innovation. Consumer research needs to shift from passive response to active innovation, grasp the changing trends and potential needs of consumers, explore new market opportunities and product solutions, and provide valuable and attractive solutions.

-Trend four: sustainable development. Consumer research needs to shift from short-term benefits to long-term development, pay attention to consumers' social responsibility and environmental awareness, promote green consumption and circular economy, and provide sustainable and socially beneficial products and services.

Core Elements and Methods of 2. Consumer Research

The core elements of consumer research include objectives, objects, content, methods and results [^ 5 ^][5]. The goal of consumer research refers to the purpose and significance of the research, which is the starting point and destination of the research, and determines the direction and scope of the research. The object of consumer research refers to the subject and scope of the research, which is the basis and basis of the research, and determines the effectiveness and representativeness of the research. The content of consumer research refers to the problems and indicators of the research, which is the core and focus of the research and determines the depth and breadth of the research. The method of consumer research refers to the tools and techniques of research, which are the means and ways of research, which determine the quality and efficiency of research. The results of consumer research refer to the data and information of the research, which is the result and value of the research, and determines the application and impact of the research.

The methods of consumer research can be divided into two categories: qualitative and quantitative [^ 6 ^][6]. Qualitative methods collect consumer speech and behavior mainly through interviews, observations, focus groups, etc., to understand consumer psychology and emotions, discover consumer needs and problems, explore consumer motivations and reasons, and generate consumer insights and assumptions. Quantitative methods collect consumer data and indicators through questionnaires, experiments, and tests to understand consumer characteristics and patterns, verify consumer assumptions and theories, assess consumer satisfaction and loyalty, and provide consumer evidence and recommendations. Qualitative and quantitative methods complement each other and usually need to be used in combination to achieve the best results in consumer research.

Successful Cases of 3. Consumer Research

Shangpu Consulting is a consulting company specializing in the consumer goods and retail industry. It has rich consumer research experience and capabilities, and provides high-quality consumer research services and solutions for many well-known companies. The following are some of the success stories of consumer research conducted by Champ Consulting:

-Case 1: Provide consumer research services for an international fast fashion brand to help it understand the characteristics and needs of consumers in the Chinese market, and formulate targeted market strategies and product innovations. Shangpu Consulting uses a variety of qualitative and quantitative methods, including online questionnaires, in-depth interviews, neuromarketing, scene simulation, etc., collects a large amount of consumer data and information, and analyzes consumer behavior patterns, psychological motivation, and experience Feelings and values generate consumer insights and assumptions, and provide consumer evidence and suggestions. Shangpu Consulting's consumer research services have helped the brand effectively grasp the opportunities and challenges of the Chinese market and enhance its competitiveness and profitability in the Chinese market.

-Case 2: Provide consumer research services for a leading domestic e-commerce platform to help it understand consumers' shopping behaviors and preferences, optimize the functions and design of its platform, and improve the user experience and satisfaction of its platform. Shangpu Consulting adopts a variety of qualitative and quantitative methods, including online tracking, experiments, tests, user feedback, etc., collects a large number of consumer data and indicators, and analyzes consumers' shopping processes, decision-making factors, use barriers and Improvement opinions verify consumer assumptions and theories, evaluate consumer satisfaction and loyalty, and provide consumer evidence and suggestions. The consumer research service of Shangpu Consulting has helped the platform effectively improve the function and design of its platform, and enhance the user experience and satisfaction of its platform.

-Case 3: Provide consumer research services for a well-known domestic food and beverage company to help it understand consumers' health awareness and needs, develop new products and categories, and expand new markets and consumption scenarios. Shangpu Consulting adopts a variety of qualitative and quantitative methods, including online questionnaires, interviews, observations, emotional design, etc., collects a large amount of consumer data and information, and analyzes consumers' health concepts, demand levels, consumption habits and values, Discovering consumer needs and problems, exploring consumer motivations and reasons, generating consumer insights and assumptions, and providing consumer evidence and suggestions. Shangpu Consulting's consumer research services have helped the company effectively develop new products and categories, and expand new markets and consumption scenarios.

Innovation Direction and Prospect of 4. Consumer Research

Consumer research is a field of continuous development and innovation. With the change of consumers and the progress of technology, consumer research needs to constantly explore new directions and methods to provide more efficient and valuable services and solutions. According to the professional observation and experience of Shangpu Consulting, we believe that the innovation direction and prospects of consumer research mainly include the following aspects:

-Direction one: Intelligent. Consumer research needs to use artificial intelligence, machine learning, deep learning and other technologies to realize the automatic collection, analysis and interpretation of consumer data, improve the efficiency and accuracy of consumer research, and generate smarter and more insightful consumer research results.

-Direction 2: Interactive. Consumer research needs to use virtual reality, augmented reality, interactive games and other technologies to realize immersive and situational simulation and testing of consumers, improve the authenticity and interest of consumer research, and generate more dynamic and more experiential consumer research results.

-Direction 3: Personalization. Consumer research needs to use technologies such as big data, cloud computing, and the Internet of Things to achieve personalized and segmented identification and analysis of consumers, improve the pertinence and difference of consumer research, and generate more accurate and targeted Consumer survey results.

-Direction 4: Socialization. Consumer research needs to use social media, community platforms, co-creation space and other technologies to achieve social and collaborative connections and exchanges with consumers, increase the participation and influence of consumer research, and generate more open and valuable Consumer research results.

The prospect of consumer research is bright, the value of consumer research is huge, and the innovation of consumer research is necessary. As a professional consumer research service provider, Shangpu Consulting will continue to adhere to the concept of people-oriented, multi-dimensional integration, continuous innovation and sustainable development, and constantly explore new directions and methods of consumer research. to provide more efficient and valuable consumer research services and solutions for enterprises in the consumer goods and retail industry, and provide consumers with more meaningful and warm products and services.