Hardly any other field of research has such a strong influence on marketing strategy and requires such a wide range of tools as target group research. In order to strategically segment target groups, it is necessary to understand customers in their singular uniqueness and yet label their individuality in a way that they share with like-minded people.
Intelligent target group analyses make it possible to address customers individually according to their potential, needs, and expectations, and to define relevant market segments for marketing. Choosing the “right” segmentation criteria from the sea of possibilities requires not only intensive coordination in advance, but also sensitive analytical groundwork. Our research has shown:
Psychographic segmentation
Psychographic segmentation based on personality traits and attitudes is ideally preceded by a qualitative phase that identifies types of needs that differ in terms of product requirements, usage needs, and usage motives.
Segmentation approaches
Segmentation approaches that only take sociodemographic (B2C) or firmographic (B2B) criteria into account rarely lead to actionable results, as needs structures almost always cut across sociodemographics and firmographics.
Psychological behavioral differences
Every psychographic segmentation should correspond to real behavior (e.g., purchasing behavior, purchase history, sales categories) and be able to explain behavioral differences psychologically. This makes it possible to define meaningful and concrete measures for individual target group segments and easily assign previously unsegmented customers (e.g., new customers) to a segment.
We use analytics to decide which methods from our toolkit make the most sense to use, depending on the question and the circumstances. In practice, this might mean that a cluster analysis is supported by upstream factor analyses and validating discriminant or variance analyses.
Our basic approach is to find the best possible solution.
With Consumer Insights, we identify the hidden drivers of visible purchasing behavior. Our insight research uses psychologically sound methods to analyze customers’ purchasing motives, values, and expectations when dealing with products and services. This highly specific field of research always results in individually tailored solutions—guided by our experience:
Critical incident approaches
For experience-based approaches to services without a present moment of use, critical incident approaches in narrative interviews are recommended.
In-depth interviews
In-depth interviews are ideal for detailed analyses of the purchasing process.
Participatory observation
When it comes to understanding the actual usage situation of a product, participatory observation and other ethnographic methods are useful.
Group and individual explorations
Finally, comprehensive motive analyses should combine group and individual explorations.
Psychological analyses reveal your customers’ value systems and needs structures in order to sharpen your value proposition. The insights gained in this process are directly incorporated into your product development. The result is groundbreaking innovations, concrete optimizations, and clear positioning.
Consumer insights are the secret to long-term sales success: ideas for tomorrow arise from the perspective of customers.
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As a full-service market research institute, we will find a customized solution.
A holistic view of the topic of response and how this can be influenced in the phases of a project.
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