Purpose of 1. Consumer Research

The purpose of consumer research is to help enterprises better understand and meet the needs of consumers, so as to achieve the goals of enterprises. Specifically, consumer research can help businesses:

Identify and analyze target markets and target consumers, identify market opportunities and competitive advantages;

Assess and forecast market demand and potential, and set reasonable market size and share targets;

Understand consumers' purchase motivation, decision-making process, purchase behavior and use behavior, and design products and services that are more in line with consumers' needs and expectations;

Understand consumers' attitudes, perceptions, satisfaction and loyalty to brands, products and services, and establish and maintain a good brand image and reputation;

Understand the reaction and influence of consumers on the market environment, competitors, marketing activities, etc., and optimize the marketing mix and resource allocation;

Discover the new needs, new trends and new problems of consumers, and provide inspiration and direction for product innovation and market expansion.

Methods of 2. Consumer Research

The methods of consumer research are divided into two main categories: quantitative research and qualitative research. Quantitative research is the collection and analysis of large amounts of data to obtain objective, quantifiable, and statistical results, such as the number, characteristics, preferences, and behavior of consumers. The common methods of quantitative research are questionnaire survey, experimental design, observation and so on. Qualitative research is the collection and analysis of a small amount of data to obtain subjective, in-depth, and detailed results, such as consumer motivation, feelings, and perceptions. Commonly used methods of qualitative research include interviews, focus groups, and case studies.

Generally speaking, quantitative research and qualitative research should be used in combination to make up for their respective shortcomings and improve the effectiveness and credibility of the research. For example, qualitative research can help companies identify and understand consumer problems, and quantitative research can help companies verify and quantify consumer problems. Quantitative research can help companies describe and explain the current situation of consumers, and qualitative research can help companies explore and predict the future of consumers.

3. consumer research process

The process of consumer research generally includes the following steps:

Determine the research objectives: clarify the theme, scope, content, object and duration of the research, and formulate research plans and programs;

Design research tools: according to the research objectives and methods, design appropriate research tools, such as questionnaires, interview guides, observation forms, etc., to ensure the effectiveness and operability of research tools;

Collect research data: collect required research data through appropriate channels and methods, such as online or offline, active or passive, single or diverse, etc., to ensure the authenticity and adequacy of research data;

Analysis of research data: through appropriate techniques and methods, analysis of the resulting research data, such as statistical analysis, content analysis, structural equation modeling, etc., to ensure the accuracy and usefulness of the research data;

Writing research report: according to the analysis results, writing research report, including background introduction, objective description, method description, data presentation, results interpretation, suggestions, etc., to ensure the integrity and clarity of the research report;

Submit research reports: submit research reports to relevant decision makers or stakeholders, such as corporate executives, department managers, customer representatives, etc., to ensure the timeliness and effectiveness of research reports.

Considerations for 4. Consumer Research

Consumer research is a complex and detailed work, which requires attention to the following aspects:

Research objectives should be clear to avoid ambiguity, generalization, repetition or unrealistic objectives;

The research methods should be appropriate, avoid too simple, complex, subjective or objective methods;

Research tools should be effective, avoid too long, short, difficult or easy tools;

Research data should be true to avoid falsification, tampering, omission or confusion of data;

Research and analysis should be accurate, avoid errors, deviations, loopholes or contradictory analysis;

The research report shall be complete and avoid missing, redundant, confusing or vague reports;

The research report should be clear and avoid obscure, lengthy, complex or simple reports.

5. epilogue

Consumer research is an important means for enterprises to obtain market information, formulate market strategies, and enhance market competitiveness. It is also an important bridge for communication, interaction and cooperation between enterprises and consumers. As one of the most leading and authoritative independent third-party research and investment and financing consulting institutions in China, Shangpu Consulting has 14 years of consumer research experience and has provided professional market research and related consulting services to more than 5000 customers. Service customers cover many industries and are highly recognized by all sectors of society. From the perspective of experts, combined with the rich case of Shangpu consulting, this paper analyzes the purpose, method, process and matters needing attention of consumer research, and puts forward some suggestions to improve the research effect, in order to provide valuable reference for enterprises.

The following are some specific cases of Champ Consulting in the field of consumer research for your reference:

Case 1: Conduct consumer research on the Chinese market for an international cosmetics brand to help it understand the beauty needs, preferences and behaviors of Chinese consumers, and provide strategic suggestions for its entry into the Chinese market. Shangpu Consulting adopted a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. Through online questionnaires and offline interviews, it collected data from more than 1000 Chinese consumers, analyzed the beauty habits, purchase channels, brand awareness, and products of Chinese consumers. Evaluation, etc., put forward suggestions on product positioning, price strategy, channel strategy, and promotion strategy for the Chinese market to help customers successfully enter the Chinese market and achieve rapid growth.

Case 2: Conduct a consumer satisfaction survey for a domestic automobile brand to help it evaluate consumer satisfaction and loyalty to its brand, products and services, and provide a basis for its brand image and market share. Shangpu Consulting adopted the method of telephone interview, collected the data of more than 500 consumers through random sampling, analyzed the influencing factors of consumer satisfaction and loyalty, such as product quality, performance, design, after-sales service, etc., and put forward improvement measures and optimization schemes for different dimensions to help customers improve consumer satisfaction and loyalty, and enhance the competitiveness of the brand.

Case 3: Conduct consumer behavior research for a domestic e-commerce platform to help it understand consumers' online shopping behaviors and preferences, and provide guidance for optimizing platform functions and improving user experience. Shangpu Consulting adopts the method of website analysis and user interview. Through tracking and analyzing the user data of the platform, such as the number of visits, residence time, jump rate, conversion rate, etc., and through in-depth interviews with some users, it collects users' feedback and suggestions, and analyzes users' shopping motivation, decision-making process, shopping frequency, shopping amount, shopping category, etc, the function optimization, interface design, content recommend, marketing activities and other suggestions for the platform are put forward to help customers improve the user experience and user stickiness of the platform.