Qualitative research for the automotive industry
In the automotive industry, a qualitative study shows why people choose or rule out a model before the brand invests in launching it. It works best with customers and non-customers in separate groups, with the car or the stimulus in the room, and with every finding backed by a quote anyone can check.
Why run a qualitative study before launching a model?
Buying a car is a long, expensive decision with a lot of people weighing in: family, the salesperson, the friend who knows about cars, online forums, the neighbour who already owns one. Sales data shows what sold, but it does not explain why someone went to another brand after a test drive, or which belief kept the brand off their list in the first place. That explanation, in the buyer's own words, is exactly what a focus group delivers.
At WAV we have run focus groups for the automotive category, and the pattern repeats: the questions that weigh most in a launch are few, and they are worth hearing before setting price, message and dealer network.
Which decisions are worth hearing before a launch?
| Decision | What you hear in the group |
|---|---|
| Price and trim | Which models it is compared with, which features justify the gap, and at what price the brand drops off the list |
| New technology | What people believe about range, charging, servicing and battery life in electric and hybrid cars, and which of it is myth |
| Dealer experience | What makes people feel well or badly treated, before and after buying, and how much after-sales service matters |
| Resale value | How much the car's value in a few years worries them, and what would reassure them |
| Message and brand | What they associate with the brand today, which promise they believe and which one sounds like advertising |
Why keep customers and non-customers apart?
A customer defends their purchase; a non-customer defends theirs. Put them in the same group and one side tends to go quiet or get defensive, and the conversation turns into a debate between brands instead of an explanation of motives. In separate groups, customers say what convinced them and what let them down later, and non-customers explain what stopped them from considering the brand, which is usually what the brand knows least.
Who counts as a customer is set by what each person declares in the recruitment screener: the brand they drive today, not an old database.
How do you work with beliefs about electric and hybrid cars?
Categories with new technology carry many beliefs nobody has checked. A useful approach is to have each person mark, in writing and before any discussion, whether they think each statement on a list is true, false or that they do not know. Then each statement is discussed. That shows what people believed before the group influenced them, what changed during the conversation and which questions stay open, which is usually the most direct input for launch communication.
In person or online for an automotive study?
When there is something to touch, go in person. Seeing the car, sitting in it, opening the boot or trying the screen triggers reactions a photo never will, and a face in front of a price says as much as the answer. We compare both in in-person or online focus group. We run the groups in a room in Santiago, Chile, recorded in 360 with one microphone per person, so every sentence keeps its speaker.
What does the brand get at the end?
Findings that answer the launch decisions, each with its literal quote, the profile of who said it (for example "Man, 45-54 · Non-customer") and the exact minute of the session. WR3, our software, separates who is speaking with 90.4% agreement with human review, measured on 141 moments of a real session (how we measure it). Everything arrives in Spanish and English: web report and PDF, a deck for the board, 360 video with subtitles and an action tracker.
You can browse an example in the sample report: it is the same format a client receives, built from a fictional study of a car brand. Neither the brand, nor the people, nor the quotes are real.