What is consumer research?
Consumer research, also referred to as “business-to-consumer (B2C) research”, is the systematic collection, analysis and interpretation of data about consumers’ behaviours, preferences and needs to drive informed decision making. It involves:
- Analysis of consumer insights: Evaluating consumer motivations, needs, pain points and purchasing behaviours to uncover actionable insights.
- Product and concept testing: Conducting product and concept testing and gathering feedback from consumers to assess product perceptions and performance, as well as concept resonance.
- Monitoring consumer trends: Tracking shifts in consumer preferences, market dynamics and emerging trends to anticipate market changes, coupled with consumer behaviour analysis.
- Consumer segmentation: Identifying distinct consumer segments based on demographics, psychographics and behavioural characteristics to tailor marketing strategies and offerings.
Some of the main benefits of B2C/consumer research are:
Gain insights into consumer behaviour and preferences
Identify market opportunities and emerging trends
Inform strategic decision making and product/ service development
Enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty through consumer insights
Optimise marketing effectiveness and ROI
Key questions that are answered by consumer research
Consumer research aims to answer several key questions to help guide strategic decision making:
- What are the demographics, behaviours and preferences of our target consumers?
- What are the emerging trends and shifts in consumer preferences in our target market?
- How can we improve our products or services to better meet the needs and preferences of our target audience?
- What channels and touchpoints do our target consumers prefer for engaging with our brand?
- How do consumers perceive our brand compared to competitors, and what factors influence their purchasing decisions?
In On Africa’s consumer research services
In On Africa (IOA) has more than a decade of experience in conducting large-scale, multi-country and niche consumer research studies across the African continent. With this experience, we guide our clients in their understanding of consumers to inform their strategic planning and decision making.
Our team has the expertise, experience and dedication to not only answer our clients’ consumer-related research questions through targeted consumer research but to also work with our clients in the refinement of their marketing strategies, product development plans and market expansion ambitions.
Driven by a team of highly skilled research professionals, coupled with access to various consumer panels, survey technology and field research partners across Africa, we provide our clients with a wide range of primary research services (e.g. in-depth interviews, focus groups, online surveys, CAPI and CATI) and secondary research (e.g. desktop research, media monitoring and social listening to inform consumer sentiment analysis).
Our consumer research ranges from once-off or topic-specific consumer research studies with samples as high as 5,000+ respondents through to more on-going consumer research, such as consumer segment trackers and customer experience research.
Consumer research project case study:
Large-scale consumer research study and consumer segmentation analysis
Client:
Major retail bank
Country:
South Africa
Methodology:
Quantitative research survey with +3,000 South Africans aged 12-65+, nationally representative across age, race, gender and income (earning R0-R40k p/month)
IOA was contracted by one of South Africa’s fastest growing retail banks to conduct consumer research with the aim of helping our client to better understand the low-to-middle-income market in the country and to guide their product and marketing strategies going forwards.
A total of 3,114 respondents were surveyed across nine consumer segments, spanning children as young as 12 years old up to retired South Africans aged 65+. The sample was nationally representative and provided our client with detailed insights on topics, such as living circumstances, ambitions, challenges, purchasing behaviour, money attitudes and financial services, to name a few.
Following the reporting of the consumer research results – that included a detailed +300-page research report, an executive summary presentation with wide-ranging consumer insights and raw data – IOA conducted a cluster analysis, focusing on financial behaviour and attitudes, to guide our client in their customer segmentation.
Key project outcome:
Together with the final research deliverables outlined above, IOA provided our client with a customer segmentation report and proposed customer archetypes to inform their marketing strategies and product development planning.
Find out more about how IOA can help you with your consumer research needs.
Read more about IOA’s various service offerings and examples of our past work.