Societies all over the world are changing at a rate faster than ever before, affecting virtually all levels of social, political, and economic life. Markets are going through similar processes, moving increasingly from mass products to products designed for niche markets and highly discerning consumers. Hence it is crucial to understand the dynamics and the effects of social change. These insights need to be transformed into innovative products, marketing, and communication strategy. Equally important, understanding social change must become an integral part of management culture in order to effectively pilot companies through the turbulence of change. SocioConsult uses a socio-cultural approach designed specifically for the purpose of assisting companies in the management of social and economic change. Created by Cofremca (France) and SINUS (Germany), two of Europe's leading agencies in strategic and marketing research, SocioConsult draws on nearly two decades of experience. It combines the best of Europe's know-how and research methodologies (i.e. 3SC and Everyday-Life Research) to address the needs of companies operating within complex markets both nationally and internationally.
With the growing internationalisation of markets it is not surprising that both researchers and marketers are more often intrigued by European communalities than differences. But generalisations across markets and countries, although quite plausible conceptually and intellectually, prove sometimes much less useful at an operational level. In fact, the growing fragmentation of individual demand calls for a profound understanding of consumer cultures and the dynamics of change. Markets are moving from mass products to products designed to meet highly differentiated consumer needs in various cultural settings. This calls for an equally sensitive and flexible approach to cross-cultural research.
This paper is about a new international approach to consumer research. The Approach uses the concept of Everyday-Life Research (EDL) which is derived from the principles of phenomenology, ethnomethodology, and social psychology seeking to understand the world as people experience it. The research covered four European key markets: Great Britain, France, Italy, and West Germany. Using fundamental values, beliefs and attitudes, it identified eight distinctive Multinational Target Groups which share similar views on life, enjoy comparable life styles, and are subject to similar codes and rules in spite of different national flavours. In combination, the Multinational Target Groups constitute a Euro- Positioning Model for marketing and communication. The Model provides the methodological flexibility and cultural insights needed to adjust global marketing to different local requirements. Together with product and brand related attitudes and behaviours, the Multinational Target Groups have proven to be very powerful tools in marketing and communication strategy.