Qualitative research for target consumer

 Identify who the target consumer is for your brand (The brand you are working on for the brand audit project.) Conduct qualitative research with your target consumer to understand the brand imageand brand personality. If you are able to find enough people who fit into that target, great! If not, find as close to the target as possible. (Of course, in real life you would shoot for the actual target, but the limitations of our time and other resources make this necessary.) Talk to at least 10 people. To conduct good qualitative research, here are the steps: Identify and operationally define the appropriate people to talk to based on your learning objectives. –If you are looking for the target of a current brand, one criterion is usually that they purchase/participate/use that brand. We usually define usage based on frequency in a particular time frame (if you work on the brand, you probably have data about how often people tend to buy/use/participate…) –Sometimes the objective of the research warrants talking to non-users as well, to see if they have a different perspective on the brand. This can help identify opportunities and problems. –In the real world, this step would include creating a questionnaire/screener to get the right people without tipping off yoru objective. Sometimes people are influenced by things like wanting to participate in the research, wanting to please the interviewer, etc. so the screener should mask the objective. For this project, you don ‘t need to write a screener but I would like to see a set of bullet points that you think would be appropriate for a screener if you had the time and money to do this full-out. Find people who fit that definition –In the “real world” there are companies with databases, and they use phone or e-mail to reach people to screen them. Sometimes people are asked in-person. Design a qualitative interview based on your learning objectives. Things to keep in mind: –Be curious. Do not assume you know anything, ask them to elaborate, clarify using questions such as, “Tell me more about that.” Or “When you say ‘convenient’, what do you mean?” –Avoid leading questions – and use body language that is as neutral as possible. Being curious can help with this too. We are usually unaware when we are leading. –Notice when you think you might have led them, or if they seem to be answering with some other motivation. –Start by setting up the interview for success. Explain to them that whatever they think is what you want to know, there are no right or wrong answers, and that their honesty will be the most helpful thing. –The guide should be shaped like a funnel in terms of order – Ask the broadest questions first, such as category questions. End with the very specific questions, such as pointing out a particular word or color or feature and asking what they think of it. Conduct the interviews. Be curious. BE curious. Wonder what they think, what they mean.