Qualitative research for consumer goods
In consumer goods, a qualitative study shows why someone picks a product in seconds at the shelf and what would make them switch brands. It works best with the product, the pack or the ad in the room, with buyers of the brand and of competitors in separate groups, and with every finding backed by a quote anyone can check.
What makes consumer goods different?
Purchases are fast, repeated and often automatic. Hardly anyone remembers why they took one product and not the one next to it, and yet there are reasons: the pack, the unit price, a promotion, a household habit, what someone in the family asked for. A focus group brings those reasons to the surface, reasons a person would not explain in a survey because they never said them out loud.
That is why real stimuli matter in consumer goods. Handling the pack, comparing it with a competitor's or trying the product triggers reactions a description cannot, and the conversation lets you keep asking until you reach the reason.
Which decisions can you hear about?
| Decision | What you hear in the group |
|---|---|
| Launch or line extension | Whether the new product is understood, what it is compared with and whether it takes the place of another product from the same brand |
| Pack and format | What the pack says at the shelf, what gets read first and which size fits each moment of use |
| Price and promotions | Which reference the price is judged against and when a promotion changes the brand people pick |
| Communication | What people take from an ad, what they believe and what they remember with the brand |
| Brand switching | What would make someone leave their usual brand, or come back to it |
Each of these decisions has its own page: product launch, campaign and message, price and value proposition and why they don't buy.
How is the study designed?
We start from the decision and define the profiles from there. In consumer goods it usually pays to separate people who buy the brand from people who buy competitors, and sometimes also whoever decides the household purchase from whoever uses the product, each profile in its own group. The recruitment screener asks which brand they buy today, how often and where.
We work with groups of 6 to 8 people and sessions of 90 to 120 minutes. Stimuli are products, packs, ads or prices, shown in an order worth rotating across groups. With the nominal group technique, each person writes down their first reaction before talking, so the first opinion does not sweep the rest along.
We run the groups in a room in Santiago, Chile, recorded in 360 with one microphone per person. The brand can follow the session live.
What experience does WAV have?
WAV (We Are Vision) is a Chilean company with 20+ years and 600+ experiential marketing projects: bringing brands into people's direct experience. WAV Research applies that closeness to audiences to qualitative research, with WR3, our software, which ties every finding to its quote, the profile of the person who said it and the exact minute.
Our qualitative research experience is in the automotive industry. The method does not change from one industry to another: the decision first, groups by profile and every quote verifiable. What changes are the profiles, the stimuli and the questions, and that is what we design with you.
What does the brand receive?
Findings that answer the decision, each with its literal quote, the profile of the person who said it and the exact minute of the session. WR3 separates who is speaking with 90.4% agreement with a human review, measured on 141 moments of a real session (how we measure it). The deliverables come in Spanish and English: 360 video of each session with English subtitles, web and PDF report, a deck for the board and an action tracker.
You can browse the format in the sample report. It is built from a fictional study of a car brand, but the structure is the same for any industry: neither the brand, nor the people, nor the quotes are real.
Frequently asked questions
Can the product be tried in the session?
Yes. Trying, handling or comparing products and packs is part of the design when the decision needs it. The guide sets when and in what order each one is shown.
Should groups be split by usual brand?
Yes. Buyers of your brand and of competitors go in separate groups, so each group explains its reasons without getting defensive.
Can a focus group choose between two packs?
It tells you what each one communicates and why one convinces more, not which would sell more. For a number, run a quantitative measurement afterwards.
Where do the groups take place?
In Santiago, Chile, in a room recorded in 360 with one microphone per person, in groups of 6 to 8 people and sessions of 90 to 120 minutes.
Can I watch the session live?
Yes. The brand can follow the session live, and also receives the 360 video of each session, recorded with one microphone per person.