Sapphire is a high-end colored gemstone with a variety of colors, shapes and origins, and is loved and sought after by consumers. The market size and demand for sapphire continue to grow, but also face fierce competition and changing consumer demand. In order to better understand and meet consumer needs and preferences, the sapphire industry needs to conduct effective consumer research to obtain valuable market information and consumer insights. Consumer research is a market research method that helps companies develop or improve products, services, and marketing strategies by collecting, analyzing, and explaining consumer behavior, attitudes, opinions, and satisfaction. Consumer research can help the sapphire industry achieve the following goals:

Understand consumers' purchase motives, preferences, needs and expectations, as well as the factors that affect consumers' purchase decisions, such as price, quality, origin, optimized processing, shape, color, style, etc;

Evaluate consumers' awareness, attitude, satisfaction and loyalty to sapphire, as well as consumers' feedback and suggestions on different brands, channels and promotional activities;

Identify different market segments and target groups of consumers, such as age, gender, income, education, geography, lifestyle, etc., as well as the market size, growth potential and competitive dynamics of different market segments;

Predict the future demand and behavior trends of consumers, as well as the development direction and opportunities of the market, such as emerging consumption scenarios, consumption demand, consumption habits, etc;

Examine and optimize the effectiveness and effectiveness of products, services, and marketing strategies, such as product design, pricing, packaging, distribution, advertising, and public relations.

In order to conduct effective consumer research, the sapphire industry needs to follow the following key steps and techniques:

Step 1: Determine the purpose and object of research

The first step of consumer research is to clarify the purpose and object of the research, that is, what questions to answer and which consumers to target. The purpose of the survey refers to the main objectives and expected results of the survey, which is the basis for guiding the design and implementation of the survey. The purpose of the research should be specific, clear, quantifiable, achievable and meaningful. The research object refers to the main audience and participants of the research, that is, which consumers to collect information. The research object should be representative, accessible, distinguishable and operable. The methods for determining the purpose and object of the research are:

Analyze the strategic objectives, market environment, competitive advantages and problem points of the enterprise, and find out the key problems and information needs to be solved;

Identify opportunities and challenges to be explored with reference to industry best practices, cutting-edge trends, success stories and failures;

Drawing on the theoretical framework, models and methods of market research, the logical structure and content of the research are constructed;

Use existing data and information, such as historical data, internal data, external data, second-hand data, etc., to conduct preliminary analysis and assumptions, and determine the assumptions and supplementary data that need to be verified;

Determine the target market and target group of the survey, such as the national market or regional market, high-end consumers or low-end consumers, new or old customers, potential or existing customers, etc., as well as the main characteristics and classification criteria of the survey subjects, such as age, gender, income, education, region, lifestyle, etc.

Take Shangpu Consulting Company as an example. The company is an organization that specializes in providing market research and investment consulting in the sapphire industry. It has provided consumer research services to many sapphire manufacturers, distributors, processors, jewelers and other customers. One of the customers is a sapphire processor, mainly engaged in sapphire cutting, polishing, inlay and other processes, to provide jewelers with customized sapphire jewelry. The customer hopes to understand consumers' demand and preference for sapphire jewelry, as well as their brand awareness and evaluation through consumer research, so as to enhance the competitiveness and market share of their products and services. According to the needs of customers, Shangpu Consulting has determined the purpose and object of consumer research, as follows:

Research purpose: to understand consumers' demand and preference for sapphire jewelry, including purchase motivation, purchase frequency, purchase channel, purchase amount, purchase scene, purchase factors, purchase obstacles, etc.; to understand consumers' cognition and evaluation of sapphire jewelry, including awareness, awareness, preference, satisfaction, loyalty, recommend, etc.; to understand consumers' cognition and evaluation of customers' brand, including brand image, brand positioning, brand advantage, brand disadvantage, brand loyalty, brand recommend, etc.; Understand the future demand and behavior trend of consumers for sapphire jewelry, including demand change, behavior change, consumption upgrade, consumption innovation, etc.

Research object: The subjects of this survey are consumers who have purchased sapphire jewelry in the past year, and consumers who are interested in purchasing sapphire jewelry. The main characteristics and classification criteria of the survey subjects are as follows:

Age: 18- 65 years old, divided into 18- 25 years old, 26- 35 years old, 36- 45 years old, 46- 55 years old, 56- 65 years old five age groups;

Gender: male and female;

Income: divided into three income segments: low income (monthly income less than 5000 yuan), medium income (monthly income 5000- 10000 yuan) and high income (monthly income higher than 10000 yuan);

Education: divided into junior high school and below, Senior high school, college, undergraduate, master and above five levels of education;

Region: divided into first-tier cities, second-tier cities, third-tier cities, fourth-tier cities and the following four city levels;

Lifestyle: divided into traditional, fashion, luxury, innovative four types of lifestyle.

Step 2: Design research programs and tools

The second step of consumer research is to design the research plan and tools, that is, what methods to use and what tools to use. The research plan refers to the specific implementation plan of the research, including the research method, scope, time, budget, personnel, etc. Research tools refer to the specific implementation tools of the research, including questionnaires, interview guides, observation forms, test items, etc. The research plan and tools should be consistent with the purpose and object of the research, and can effectively collect and record the required data and information. The design methods of research programs and tools are:

Select the appropriate research method, such as quantitative research or qualitative research, or a combination of both. Quantitative research refers to research methods that describe and explain consumer behavior and characteristics through numerical data and statistical analysis, such as questionnaires, experiments, and observations. The advantage of quantitative research is that it can obtain a large amount of data, has high objectivity and credibility, and is suitable for evaluating and predicting consumer behavior and characteristics. Qualitative research refers to research methods that use non-numerical data and subjective analysis to understand and explain consumers' motivations and feelings, such as interviews, focus groups, and case studies. The advantage of qualitative research is that it can obtain in-depth data, has high flexibility and sensitivity, and is suitable for exploring and explaining consumers' motivations and feelings.

Determine the appropriate scope of the survey, such as the sample size of the survey, sample distribution, sample sampling, etc. A survey sample is a representative group of consumers selected from the survey for use in conducting the survey. The determination of the research sample should be based on the purpose and method of the research, as well as the representativeness, accessibility, distinguishability and operability of the sample, using reasonable sampling methods, such as random sampling, stratified sampling, group sampling, convenient sampling, etc. The number of research samples should be based on the accuracy and reliability of the survey, as well as the variability of the sample, confidence level, error range and other factors, using a reasonable sample size calculation formula.

Design appropriate research tools, such as research questionnaires, interview guides, observation tables, test items, etc. Research tools are tools used to collect and record consumer data and information. The design of research tools should be based on the purpose and methodology of the research, as well as the validity, comparability, analysiability and other factors of the data, using a reasonable tool type, structure, content, format, etc. The types of research tools are: closed questions (e. g., single-choice questions, multiple-choice questions, scale questions, etc.), open questions (e. g., fill-in questions, quiz questions, scenario questions, etc.), and mixed questions (e. g., single-choice questions plus quiz questions, etc.). The structure of the research tool is: the introduction part (such as the purpose of the research, matters needing attention, thank you, etc.), the body part (such as the main problems and contents of the research, etc.), the end part (such as the conclusion of the research, contact information, reward methods, etc.). The contents of research tools include: basic information (such as age, gender, income, education, region, lifestyle, etc.), behavior information (such as purchase motivation, purchase frequency, purchase channel, purchase amount, purchase scene, purchase factors, purchase obstacles, etc.), attitude information (such as awareness, recognition, preference, satisfaction, loyalty, recommend, etc.), demand information (e. g. demand change, behavior change, consumption upgrade, consumption innovation, etc.). The formats of research tools are: paper version (e. g. printed questionnaire, interview guide, observation form, etc.), electronic version (e. g. online questionnaire, interview guide, observation form, etc.), physical version (e. g. actual test articles, samples, gifts, etc.).

In the case of Shangpu Consulting, the company has designed consumer research programs and tools based on customer needs, as follows:

Research Program: This research uses a combination of quantitative research and qualitative research methods, divided into two stages. The first stage is quantitative research, through online questionnaires, to collect consumer demand and preferences for sapphire jewelry, as well as customer brand awareness and evaluation of data. The second stage is qualitative research, through telephone interviews, in-depth understanding of consumer motivation and feelings of sapphire jewelry, as well as customer brand feedback and suggestions. The scope of this survey is consumers across the country. The number and distribution of the survey samples were determined by stratified sampling according to age, gender, income, education, region, lifestyle and other characteristics. The survey will be conducted from February to March 2024 and is expected to take one month. The survey is conducted by the market research team of Shangpu Consulting, which consists of a project manager, two data analysts, two interviewers and a report writer.

Research tools: The main tools of this research are online questionnaires and telephone interviews. Online questionnaire is a kind of survey questionnaire sent and recycled to consumers through the Internet platform, which can collect a large amount of data quickly, conveniently and at low cost. Telephone interview is a kind of one-to-one communication with consumers through the telephone, which can collect quality information in depth, flexibly and effectively. The online questionnaire was designed as follows:

Questionnaire type: mixed questions, including closed questions and open questions;

Questionnaire structure: the introduction part (introduces the purpose of the research, matters needing attention, thank you, etc.),TextPart (including basic information, behavior information, attitude information, demand information and other four modules), the end part (conclusion, contact information, reward methods, etc.);

Questionnaire content: basic information module (collect consumers' characteristics such as age, gender, income, education, region, lifestyle, etc.), behavior information module (collect consumers' purchase motivation, purchase frequency, purchase channel, purchase amount, purchase scene, purchase factors, purchase obstacles, etc.), attitude information module (collecting consumers' awareness, awareness, preference, satisfaction, loyalty, recommend and other information about sapphire jewelry), demand information module (collecting consumers' future demand and behavior trends for sapphire jewelry and other information);

Questionnaire format: electronic version, sent and recycled through WeChat, QQ, email, etc., using professional online questionnaire platforms, such as questionnaire star, Tencent questionnaire, Baidu form, etc., to carry out questionnaire design, release, collection, analysis and other operations. The telephone interview was designed as follows:

Interview type: open-ended questions, including fill-in questions, quiz questions, scene questions, etc;

Interview structure: the introduction part (introduces the purpose of the interview, matters needing attention, thank you, etc.),TextPart (including basic information, behavior information, attitude information, demand information and other four modules), the end part (conclusion, contact information, reward methods, etc.);

interview content: basic information module (confirm the characteristics of consumers, such as age, gender, income, education, region, lifestyle, etc.), behavior information module (in-depth understanding of consumers' purchase motivation, purchase frequency, purchase channel, purchase amount, purchase scene, purchase factors, purchase obstacles, etc.), attitude information module (in-depth understanding of consumers' cognition and evaluation of sapphire jewelry, including awareness, awareness, preference, satisfaction, loyalty, recommend and other information), demand information module (in-depth understanding of consumers' future demand for sapphire jewelry and behavior trends and other information);

Interview format: telephone version, one-on-one communication with consumers through telephone, using professional telephone interview platform, such as easy access, visitor access, interview treasure, etc., to make appointment, dial, record, transfer and other operations of interview.

Step 3: Collect and analyze research data

The third step of consumer research is to collect and analyze the research data, that is, how to obtain and process the data. Research data refers to consumer data and information collected and recorded through research tools, including quantitative and qualitative data. The collection and analysis of research data should ensure the completeness, accuracy, consistency, comparability and analysiability of the data. Research data collection and analysis methods are:

Collect quantitative data, such as consumer numerical data, such as age, income, purchase frequency, satisfaction, etc., through online questionnaires. Methods for collecting quantitative data are:

Sending and recycling questionnaires, such as sending questionnaire links to consumers through WeChat, QQ, email, etc., inviting consumers to fill in the questionnaire, and recycling the questionnaire within the specified time;

Check and clean the data, such as through the online questionnaire platform, to check the quality of the collected data, eliminate invalid questionnaires, repeated questionnaires, abnormal questionnaires, etc., to ensure the validity and accuracy of the data;

Organize and export data, such as through the online questionnaire platform, organize the collected data, generate data tables, charts, reports, etc. according to different questions and dimensions, and export data files, such as Excel, SPSS, Word, etc.

Analysis of quantitative data, such as statistical analysis, to describe and interpret the numerical data collected, such as calculating averages, standard deviations, correlation coefficients, regression equations, etc. Methods for analyzing quantitative data are:

Descriptive analysis, such as through Excel, SPSS and other software, the basic description of the data, such as calculating the distribution, center, dispersion, shape, etc., to generate descriptive statistics, such as frequency, percentage, mean, variance, maximum, minimum, etc;

Inferential analysis, such as through Excel, SPSS and other software, to infer and test the data, such as inferring the overall characteristics of the sample data, testing the validity of the hypothesis, generating inferential statistics, such as confidence intervals, hypothesis tests, significance levels, p-values, etc;

Correlation analysis, such as through Excel, SPSS and other software, to correlate and compare data, such as analysis of quantitative data between different variables, such as statistical analysis, to describe and explain the collected numerical data, such as calculation of mean, standard deviation, correlation coefficient, regression equation, etc. Methods of analyzing quantitative data are:

Descriptive analysis, such as through Excel, SPSS and other software, the basic description of the data, such as calculating the distribution, center, dispersion, shape, etc., to generate descriptive statistics, such as frequency, percentage, mean, variance, maximum, minimum, etc;

Inferential analysis, such as through Excel, SPSS and other software, to infer and test the data, such as inferring the overall characteristics of the sample data, testing the validity of the hypothesis, generating inferential statistics, such as confidence intervals, hypothesis tests, significance levels, p-values, etc;

Correlation analysis, such as through Excel, SPSS and other software, to correlate and compare data, such as analyzing the correlation, causality, difference between different variables, etc., to generate correlation statistics, such as correlation coefficients, regression equations, t-tests, variance analysis, etc.

Collect qualitative data, such as non-numerical data of consumers, such as motivation, feelings, feedback, suggestions, etc., through telephone interviews. Methods of collecting qualitative data are:

Make appointments and make phone calls, such as sending interview invitations to consumers through the telephone interview platform, confirming consumers' willingness to participate and time arrangement, making phone calls, and communicating with consumers;

Recording and transferring data, such as recording the interview process through the telephone interview platform, saving the recording file, converting the recording file into a text file, and generating the interview record;

Check and organize the data, such as through manual or software, to check the quality of interview records, eliminate invalid interviews, repeated interviews, abnormal interviews, etc., to ensure the validity and accuracy of the data.

Analyze qualitative data, such as through content analysis, to understand and interpret the collected non-numerical data, such as extracting topics, opinions, emotions, etc. Methods of analyzing qualitative data are:

Coding and classification of data, such as manual or software coding of interview records, that is, giving meaning and labels to the data, such as topics, opinions, emotions, etc.; classifying the coded data, that is, grouping the data according to similar or related labels, such as grouping according to topics, opinions, emotions, etc;

Compare and explain the data, such as comparing the classified data by manual or software, that is, comparing the data according to different dimensions or standards, such as age, gender, income, etc.; Explaining the compared data, that is, linking the data with theories, assumptions, purposes, etc., such as explaining the meaning, causes and effects of the data;

Inducing and summarizing data, such as by manual or software, to summarize the interpreted data, that is, to abstract the data into higher-level concepts or laws, such as the main findings of the summarized data,Conclusion, suggestions, etc.; summarize the summarized data, I .e., summarize the data in concise language or charts, such as the main points, highlights, and difficulties of the summarized data.

Step 4: Write and present the research report

The fourth step in consumer research is to write and present the report of the research, that is, how to present and communicate the data. A research report is a document that systematically organizes and presents the data and analysis results of the research in the form of text, charts, pictures, etc., and is used to show the process, methods, results, and,Conclusionrecommendations, etc. The writing and presentation of the research report should ensure the clarity, completeness, accuracy, persuasiveness and value of the report. The methods of writing and presenting the research report are:

Write research reports, such as through Word, PPT and other software, to systematically organize and present the research data and analysis results in the form of text, charts, pictures, etc. The methods of writing research reports are:

Determine the purpose and audience of the report, such as determining the main purpose and expected effect of the report, as well as the main audience and reading method of the report, based on the information needs and decision-making objectives of the client or other stakeholders;

Design the structure and content of the report, such as the logical structure and content scope of the report according to the purpose and audience of the report, including the title, summary, table of contents, body, appendix, etc. of the report. The main body of the report generally includes the following parts: background and purpose (introducing the research background, purpose, object, etc.), method and scope (introducing the research method, scope, time, budget, personnel, etc.), data and analysis (introducing the research data, analysis, results, etc.), conclusion and suggestion (introducing the research conclusion, suggestion, limitation, etc.);

Write the text and charts of the report, such as according to the structure and content of the report, write the text and charts of the report, pay attention to the simplicity, clarity, accuracy and persuasion of the text, the intuitive, beautiful and auxiliary role of the chart;

Review and modify the report, such as manual or software, quality audit of the report, check the format, language, logic, data, charts, etc. of the report, modify the errors, deficiencies, inconsistencies, etc. of the report, and improve the quality and level of the report.

Presentation of research reports, such as through emails, meetings, presentations, etc., to present and communicate research reports to customers or other stakeholders. The methods of presenting the research report are:

Select the appropriate presentation method, such as email, meeting, presentation, etc. according to the reading habits and communication methods of customers or other stakeholders;

Prepare materials for presentation, such as report documents, presentations, samples, gifts, etc. according to the manner of presentation;

Perform the presentation process, such as according to the presentation method, perform the presentation process, such as sending emails, holding meetings, conducting presentations, etc., and pay attention to controlling the presentation time, rhythm, focus, interaction, etc;

Collect and present feedback, such as according to the way of presentation, collect and present feedback, such as answering emails, recording meetings, evaluation presentations, etc., pay attention to listening to the opinions, suggestions, evaluations, etc. of customers or other stakeholders, and conduct subsequent communication and improvement.

Take Shangpu Consulting Company as an example. According to the needs of customers, the company writes and presents consumer research reports. For example, through Word, PPT and other software, the research data and analysis results are systematically organized and presented in the form of text, charts, pictures, etc. The methods of writing research reports are:

Determine the purpose and audience of the report, such as determining the main purpose and expected effect of the report, as well as the main audience and reading method of the report, based on the information needs and decision-making objectives of the client or other stakeholders;

Design the structure and content of the report, such as the logical structure and content scope of the report according to the purpose and audience of the report, including the title, summary, table of contents, body, appendix, etc. of the report. The main body of the report generally includes the following parts: background and purpose (introducing the research background, purpose, object, etc.), method and scope (introducing the research method, scope, time, budget, personnel, etc.), data and analysis (introducing the research data, analysis, results, etc.), conclusion and suggestion (introducing the research conclusion, suggestion, limitation, etc.);

Write the text and charts of the report, such as according to the structure and content of the report, write the text and charts of the report, pay attention to the simplicity, clarity, accuracy and persuasion of the text, the intuitive, beautiful and auxiliary role of the chart;

Review and modify the report, such as manual or software, quality audit of the report, check the format, language, logic, data, charts, etc. of the report, modify the errors, deficiencies, inconsistencies, etc. of the report, and improve the quality and level of the report.

Presentation of research reports, such as through emails, meetings, presentations, etc., to present and communicate research reports to customers or other stakeholders. The methods of presenting the research report are:

Select the appropriate presentation method, such as email, meeting, presentation, etc. according to the reading habits and communication methods of customers or other stakeholders;

Prepare materials for presentation, such as report documents, presentations, samples, gifts, etc. according to the manner of presentation;

Perform the presentation process, such as according to the presentation method, perform the presentation process, such as sending emails, holding meetings, conducting presentations, etc., and pay attention to controlling the presentation time, rhythm, focus, interaction, etc;

Collect and present feedback, such as according to the way of presentation, collect and present feedback, such as answering emails, recording meetings, evaluation presentations, etc., pay attention to listening to the opinions, suggestions, evaluations, etc. of customers or other stakeholders, and conduct subsequent communication and improvement.