Companies always aim to expand the market by introducing products and services catering to consumer needs. Exploring deeper insights beyond consumer needs makes it possible to discover new potential markets and make more precise strategic adjustments.

What are Consumer Insights?

"Consumer Insights" refer to the genuine thoughts and emotions that consumers unconsciously hold. It is distinguished as something that lies in a deeper, more unconscious realm than latent needs.

Why Consumer Insights are Valued

Consumers often find it difficult to provide specific answers to such survey questions as "Why did you purchase this product?" or "Why did you take this action?" This illustrates that consumers sometimes struggle to clearly explain their own desires or the reasons behind their actions. For companies, it is crucial to dig deeper into these unspoken thoughts of consumers, known as "consumer insights."

By capturing consumer insights, companies can develop products and services that resonate with consumers, leading them to think, "Come to think of it, this is exactly what I wanted." This, in turn, enables companies to gain new realizations and create effective sales strategies.

There is a notable success story in exploring consumer insights. A food company uncovered new consumer insights within the saturated Instant noodles market, which resulted in increased sales. This company’s Instant noodles had been a popular long-selling product since its initial launch, but they were aware that they had fewer senior customers. The food company then focused on the social media posts of active seniors and investigated, discovering that many of these posts featured photos of luxurious meals.

Although surveys targeting the senior demographic often highlighted "health consciousness" as a primary need, the actual insights revealed that they did not want to compromise the enjoyment and deliciousness of food solely for health reasons.

When this manufacturer developed an Instant noodles product for seniors that was both health-conscious and allowed them to enjoy the taste of high-end cuisine, it became a hot topic. Despite being priced higher than regular products, it surpassed fourteen million units in sales within about 6 months of its launch.

This is one example of discovering the insights that "seniors will eat Instant noodles if they taste good."

How to Gain Consumer Insights

By obtaining consumer insights in this way, companies can create previously unimaginable, untapped markets. The following four methods are considered effective in discovering consumer insights:

1. Social Media Analysis
2. MROC (Market Research Online Communities)
3. Behavioral Observation Studies
4. Interview Surveys

1. Social Media Analysis

Social media platforms, where people can post anonymously, are filled with honest thoughts that might be difficult to express in person. Social media can be effectively utilized to contact these genuine opinions.

• Search and examine posts related to the purchase of the product you want to investigate.
• Analyze the motivations behind the posts by asking "why" and "how."
• Investigate usage situations and user attributes based on the content of the posts.

2. MROC

MROC is an acronym for "Marketing Research Online Community." In MROC, a community exclusively for the target audience is created online, where participants interact over about 1 to 2 months. This research method aims to collect information from the interactions and opinions exchanged within this online community.

The words born from conversations among participants can lead to new realizations for the participants themselves, enabling the discovery of unexpected insights. In MROC, not only surveys but also discussions can be incorporated. It has gained attention as a data collection method that matches modern demands.

3. Behavioral Observation Studies

Behavioral observation studies involve observing the behavior of target consumers in real-life situations. For example, researchers might observe consumers while they shop in stores as part of their daily lives. By imagining questions like "Why did they take this action?" while observing, researchers can discover insights that the consumers themselves may not be consciously aware of or able to articulate.

4. Interview Surveys

There are two types of interview surveys: group interviews and in-depth interviews.

• Group Interviews
  Gather a group of 4 to 8 target participants in one place for a roundtable-style interview, and a moderator will ask the participants about their impressions of products and services. It allows researchers to capture the participants' frank opinions that are difficult to glean from online or paper surveys. The interaction among participants may trigger new opinions, leading to the discovery of unexpected insights.

• In-Depth Interviews
  This method involves a one-on-one, in-depth conversation between the participant and the moderator. The advantage of in-depth interviews is that the one-on-one format makes it easier to ask private and sensitive questions.

How to Utilize Consumer Insights

Based on consumer insights, companies can generate ideas to develop new consumer demands and explore various possibilities.

• Develop and offer products and services that the market and consumers have subconsciously sought.
• Create new markets in addition to existing ones.
• Improve recognition in new markets and quickly establish a leading position.

By understanding consumer insights in this way, companies can find hints for creating new value, not just in marketing but also by involving product development and sales strategies.

Exploring consumer insights is crucial for companies to establish strategies to break away from saturated markets.

Explore Consumer Insights and Discover New Value Creation Ideas in Marketing

At GMO Research & AI, we have a consumer network of 65 million people across 16 countries and regions in the Asia-Pacific area. We can find the right target audience tailored to your company's research needs.   Additionally, conducting surveys through Quick Survey or Custom Survey can be effective if you want to identify the potential target audience for your products or services before delving deeper into consumer insights. For more details, please contact us.