Consumer behavior research has become important in many industries. This is reasonable because by knowing consumer behavior towards a product, a company will get a glimpse on how to develop their products.
By doing a research the company may figure out that, for instance, the product needs a new packaging or that they must expand their marketing area. Read some steps below to know how to conduct a consumer behavior research.
• Before starting an observation on the consumer behavior, choose one out of two types of approaches; qualitative or quantitative. In case the object of your study is a completely new product, the second approach will work better as there are not many people know the product yet. On the other hand, qualitative approach should be selected in case your object of consumer behavior study relates with a few alternations you are going to apply on your product.
• Ask for permission from the owner of the supermarket, shopping mall or store where you are conducting your consumer behavior study. A permission is required not only to “officially approve” you doing it in other’s places but also to grant you a good image as a professional researcher. There is a little chance of you are going to be rejected as long as you can assure them that the observation will not perturb consumers’ activities.
• While doing the observation, choose the right spot that gives you comfort in watching consumer behavior. You will have to move, though, so do not remain static in one location only. Move along with the consumers while pretending to do something else. You may want to greet them and ask a few questions about your product. Some researchers choose to keep their information secret while doing so in order not to scare them away.
• Once you have done with the consumer behavior research, look at the data you have collected. Check out whether your new released product is purchased with any certain product—perhaps as a complementary. In case such thing happens, there is a chance for you to create an additional product.
• Make a distinction between objective and subjective data. Consumer behavior research may require you to interview several respondents in which different circumstances affect the quality of their responses. For this reason, you will have to collect as much data to prevent your research from bias.
Measuring consumer behavior through a direct research will work fine if you keep the core question of the research to be clear and measurable. Even you can make a more focused question that includes a range of prices.