International Consumer Research

The global economy is changing rapidly, presenting new opportunities to companies.   

With technology and transportation, it is easier than ever to build brands in multiple markets overseas.  Emerging markets are growing and providing new customer bases.  Yet, challenges exist with language, culture, norms and rules.  SIS helps companies understand their strategic opportunities and challenges.   

Emerging Markets

Consumer behavior varies from market to market. Brazil, Russia, India, and China, known as the “BRIC” countries, are home to two-thirds of the world’s population. Together they contribute a sizeable sum to the world’s gross domestic product. Countries such as Mexico, South Africa, and Turkey also fall within this group.

Emerging markets have become the engines of economic growth, rapidly gaining share of the world economy. These markets also continue to have fast-growing “new rich” sectors existing alongside large “poor” populations.  Also relevant are the developing and developed markets such as South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and those Eastern European nations that recently changed from centrally planned to market economies.  We provide a thorough understanding of these markets. 

When researching emerging markets, companies gain vital knowledge to ensure they do not waste time – or worse, make poor decisions based on incorrect analysis or misinformation. Businesses should research and heed the do’s and don’ts of every market. Some methodologies that work in certain markets will not work in other markets.  We provide that insight.

Trends in Consumer Research

Artificial intelligence (AI), along with machine learning, may have a significant influence on the market research industry. AI has already entered the consumer landscape thanks to Amazon Echo and Google Home. It is a game changer that is disrupting processes, allowing researchers to deliver more cost-effective and faster insight.

Most Internet users already possess a smartphone, and more will follow. When respondents receive an invitation to participate in a survey, it is common for them to complete it on a smartphone. Market researchers must, therefore, adjust their approach to smartphones. The alternative, disallowing these devices from participating in the first place, is usually not desirable.

Online data sampling has now become a vital focus of the market research industry. Online is usually quicker than all other methods of gathering data, particularly for large sample sizes, since respondents save time by reading and replying to the questions swiftly by themselves.

Research Tools

• The rise of online methodologies. The prominence of the Internet and other, similar technologies, have given us more innovation and flexibility to improve research design, to link up with millions of people, and to communicate with them much faster. Online market research is less expensive than offline analysis. It is also faster than offline, and subject matters are more flexible.

• The rise of digital marketing. China leads in mobile Internet users, with more than three times that of the United States. Chinese consumers have adopted super apps, which incorporate many aspects of their life into a single mobile platform. Knowledge of these and similar trends presents marketers with unique opportunities to reach different markets.

• New designs for in-store research. In-store market research has several benefits, for example, it impacts product placement and that of advertising and promotions, and it provides insights into consumers’ behavior. It also gives the store owner an idea of daily, weekly, or monthly traffic, and it helps determine product pricing.
• Face-to-Face Methodologies.  Depending on the market, we employ many other methodologies such as Focus Groups, Interviews, Surveys, Telephone Interviews, Ethnography and Intercepts.

It’s a Global Economy

Businesses often make the decision to take a company international out of necessity, but companies can suffer if there is insufficient information on a market, or if forecasts concerning demand are erroneous. They need insights into their own, and their competitors’ strengths and weaknesses to carefully seize opportunities and move through the rapid transformations in the global economy.

SIS is widely recognized as a world leader in International Market Research.  We provide over 40+ years experience, extensive market coverage, our best practices and many other advantages.