Usage and Attitude research (U&A)
Objectives of a usage and attitude study
The objectives of U&A research are more often than not exploratory. It is all about understanding the forces at work on a given market: consumption habits, target audiences, their motivations, their barriers, the brands that they buy and the different stages of their consumer journey.
The actual implementation of a programme of this kind will be linked to the categories that you wish to explore, the demand space opportunities that they represent and your ongoing level of awareness of the different countries that you wish to consider.
Setting up our U&A qualitative research processes
According to the issue in hand, different qualitative techniques can be used:
Log-book and diary: over a period of several days, consumers are invited to express their thoughts on a series of topics and specific items that they are asked to share (photos, videos, exercises). Specific tasks are assigned to them but they also keep a free rein on the way in which they express their point of view, their opinions and the insights that they wish to contribute.
Ethnographic observation and interview: we go right into the heart of consumers' lives, observing their home environment, the way in which they consume certain products or services and also their purchasing processes. Observation is always backed up by an interview with the consumer, with the aim of identifying their purchase drivers and barriers.
Shopping Safari: this method enables you to have a clearer understanding of the consumer's purchase journey, especially the experience within the actual point of sale, which, by means of a GoPro video recording, provides an opportunity to question the participant on certain behavioural traits and essential actions of which they may initially be unaware.
Focus groups: bringing people together is an essential requirement if your aim is to generate group dynamics in order to project a desired ideal experience on a category by different people, or even study how a consensus can be reached on a particular topic. A focus group session also provides the opportunity to inject certain stimuli as and when required during the group facilitation process.
Setting up our U&A quantitative research processes
The purpose of quantitative U&A research is to provide you with a clearly proportioned map of your market with key pointers for your marketing roadmap. Quantitative studies, generally conducted on line, provide the opportunity to dig deeper within the core target and to identify likely breakthrough opportunities.
Such an approach generally makes it possible to implement strategically-angled segmentation (for greater market awareness). Research of this kind often provides the founding basis for the strategy for developing new categories or for breaking into new markets since it provides key data (targets, preoccupations, stakeholders, existing brands, etc.) that you will require in order to undertake such actions.