1. Background and Purpose

Electric blanket is a kind of blanket that uses electric energy to heat, which can provide people with a comfortable sleeping environment in the cold winter. The invention of the electric blanket can be traced back to the beginning of the 20th century. After continuous improvement and innovation, the electric blanket now has a variety of functions and characteristics, such as temperature control, timing switch, safety protection, energy saving and environmental protection, etc., to meet the needs of different consumers. Needs and preferences.

The market size of electric blankets has maintained steady growth in recent years. According to statistics, global sales of electric blankets reached about US $3 billion in 2019 and are expected to grow to about US $4 billion by the end of 2024, with a compound annual growth rate of 6%. As the world's largest producer and consumer of electric blankets, China accounts for nearly half of the global market, with sales of electric blankets in China of $1.4 billion in 2019 and is expected to grow to $1.9 billion by the end of 2024, a compound annual growth rate of 6.5 percent.

The market demand for electric blankets is large, but it is also facing fierce competition and diversification of consumer demand. There are many manufacturers of electric blankets, and the degree of differentiation of product quality, price, function and style is not high, which leads to the homogenization and low profit of the market. At the same time, consumers' purchasing behavior and use experience are also affected by many factors, such as personal characteristics, family status, living habits, health awareness, safety perception, environmental awareness, social influence, etc., which make consumers' needs and preferences show the characteristics of diversification and individualization.

In order to improve the market share and brand image of electric blankets, enterprises need to understand the purchasing behavior and experience of consumers, as well as the various factors that affect their decision-making, so as to formulate product design, marketing strategy and customer relationship management that meet the market demand and consumer expectations. Consumer research is a method of collecting and analyzing consumer data to understand their needs, preferences, satisfaction, loyalty, etc., and provide decision-making basis and suggestions for enterprises. Consumer research can use a variety of methods, such as questionnaires, in-depth interviews, focus groups, scenario simulations, etc., according to different purposes and objects, choose the appropriate method or combine a variety of methods to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the research.

This paper introduces the consumer research service provided by Shangpu Consulting Company for an electric blanket brand, adopts a diversified method, collects and analyzes consumer data from different angles and levels, and draws a series of valuable data.Conclusionand recommendations to help customers improve product design, marketing strategy and customer relationship management, and achieve performance growth and word-of-mouth improvement.

2. research methods and processes

Shangpu Consulting is a professional market research and consulting company with rich industry experience and professional team to provide customers with tailor-made solutions. The customer of Shangpu Consulting Company is a well-known electric blanket brand, mainly for the middle and high-end market. The products are characterized by excellent quality, complete functions, safety and reliability, energy saving and environmental protection, and are recognized and loved by consumers. The client's goal is to further increase market share and brand influence, enhance consumer loyalty and recommend willingness, while exploring new market opportunities and potential needs.

Shangpu Consulting has designed a set of consumer research programs for customers, using a variety of methods, including questionnaires, in-depth interviews, focus groups, scenario simulations, etc., to collect and analyze consumer data from different angles and levels. The specific research methods and processes are as follows:

1. Questionnaire survey

Questionnaire survey is a method of designing and issuing a series of questions to obtain basic information, attitudes, behaviors, opinions and so on. The advantage of questionnaire survey is that it can cover a larger sample range, collect more quantitative data, and facilitate statistics and analysis. The disadvantage of questionnaire survey is that it can not deeply understand the motivation, feeling and experience of consumers, and it can not explore the potential needs and unknown problems of consumers.

Champu Consulting has designed an online questionnaire for its clients, which includes the following aspects:

-Basic consumer information, such as gender, age, income, education, occupation, family status, etc;

-Consumer purchase behavior, such as purchase frequency, purchase channel, purchase amount, purchase factors, purchase decision-making process, etc;

-Consumer experience, such as frequency of use, duration of use, use scenarios, use functions, use feelings, use problems, etc;

-Consumer satisfaction and loyalty, such as the overall evaluation of the product, the evaluation of the attributes of the product, brand awareness and attitude, brand loyalty and willingness to recommend;

-Consumer needs and suggestions, such as product improvement opinions, expectations for new products, brand suggestions, etc.

-Other information of consumers, such as the awareness and attitude of the electric blanket, the perception of the safety and environmental protection of the electric blanket, the use and evaluation of other heating products, etc.

Through online platforms and social media, Shangpu Consulting distributed questionnaires to target consumer groups and collected a total of 1000 valid questionnaires. After data cleaning and analysis, the following main findings were obtained:

-Basic information of consumers: 48% of the survey samples are male and 52% are female; The age distribution is 18-25 years old accounting for 18%,26-35 years old accounting for 32%,36-45 years old accounting for 28%,46-55 years old accounting for 14%, and over 56 years old accounting for 8%; Income distribution is 12% below 3000 yuan, 24% between 3000 and 5000 yuan, 36% between 5000 and 8000 yuan, 8,000-12,000 yuan accounted for 20%,12000 yuan accounted for 8%; Education distribution is Senior high school and below 16%, junior college 28%, undergraduate 40%, master and above 16%; Professional distribution is 12% for students, 8% for civil servants, 10% for teachers, 6% for doctors, 14% for engineers, 12% for sales and 10% for managers, freelancers accounted for 10% and others for 18%. Family status distribution is 22% single, 18% married without children, 48% married with children, 8% divorced and 4% widowed.

-Consumer purchase behavior: 72% of the survey samples have had electric blanket purchase experience and 28% have not had electric blanket purchase experience; Among consumers who have bought electric blankets, the purchase frequency is 12% once a year, 24% once every two years, 36% once every three years, 16% once every four years and 12% once more than five years. The purchase channel is online, accounting for 64%, 36% offline; The purchase amount is 8% below 100 yuan, 24% between 100-200 yuan, 32% between 200-300 yuan, 20% between 300-400 yuan and 16% above 400 yuan. The purchase factors are brand accounting for 28%, price accounting for 24%, function accounting for 20%, quality accounting for 16%, style accounting for 8%, and others accounting for 4%; the purchase decision-making process is 48% for oneself, 24% for family, 16% for friend recommend, 8% for online evaluation and 4% for shop assistant suggestions.

-Consumer experience: 76% of consumers have used electric blankets and 24% have not used electric blankets in the survey sample. Among consumers who have used electric blankets, the frequency of use is 48% per day, 32% per week, 12% per month and 8% occasionally. The duration of use is 1-2 hours, 16%,2-4 hours, 24%,4-6 hours, 32%,6-8 hours accounted for 20%, more than 8 hours accounted for 8%; The use scene is 64% for bedroom, 24% for living room, 8% for study and 4% for others. The use function is temperature control accounting for 36%, timing switch accounting for 28%, safety protection accounting for 20%, energy saving and environmental protection accounting for 12%, others accounting for 4%; The feeling of use is comfortable, accounting for 40%, warmth accounted for 32%, safety accounted for 16%, energy saving accounted for 8%, other accounted for 4%; The use problems were overheating accounted for 12%, leakage accounted for 8%, failure accounted for 16%, odor accounted for 24%, and others accounted for 40%.

-Consumer Satisfaction and Loyalty: In the survey sample, the overall evaluation of electric blanket is very satisfied accounting for 12%, satisfied accounting for 36%, generally accounting for 40%, dissatisfied accounting for 8%, and very dissatisfied accounting for 4%; The evaluation of various attributes of electric blanket is that brand accounts for 28%, price accounts for 24%, function accounts for 20%, quality accounts for 16%, and style accounts for 8%, others accounted for 4%; The cognition and attitude towards the brand are highly recognized by 16%, recognized by 32%, generally by 36%, not recognized by 12%, and very not recognized by 4%. The loyalty to the brand and the willingness to recommend are very loyal by 8%, loyal by 24%, generally by 48%, unloyal by 16%, and very unloyal by 4%; very willing to recommend 12%, willing to recommend 28%, generally 40%, unwilling to recommend 16%, very unwilling to recommend 4%.

-Consumer Needs and Suggestions: In the survey sample, the improvement suggestions for products are 28% to increase functions, 24% to improve quality, 20% to reduce prices, 16% to improve styles and 12% to others. Expectations for new products are 36% for smart electric blankets, 28% for healthy electric blankets, 20% for environmentally friendly electric blankets and 16% for others; suggestions for brands are to increase publicity by 24%, improve services by 20%, expand channels by 16%, and others by 40%.

-Other information of consumers: in the survey sample, the cognition and attitude towards electric blanket are very understanding, accounting for 8%, understanding accounting for 32%, generally accounting for 48%, not understanding accounting for 8%, not understanding accounting for 4%; 12% like it very much, 36% like it, 40% don't like it very much, 8% don't like it very much, 4% don't like it very much; the views on the safety and environmental protection of electric blankets are very safe, accounting for 8%, safe for 24%, generally accounting for 48%, unsafe for 16%, and very unsafe for 4%; Very environmental protection accounts for 12%, environmental protection accounts for 28%, generally accounting for 40%, environmental protection accounts for 16%, and very environmental protection accounts for 4%; the use and evaluation of other heating products are 64% used and 36% unused. Among the used consumers, the heating products used are air conditioners accounting for 32%, heating for 24%, electric heaters for 16%, hot water bags for 12%, and others for 16%. The evaluation of the heating products used was that they were very satisfied with 8% and satisfied with 24%, generally 48%, dissatisfied 16%, very dissatisfied 4%.