The Middle East region has seen significant changes over the last few years, and these extraneous factors have shaped the lives and values of Arabs. A number of contradictions have occurred, behaviour that is difficult to explain at the outset, but of immense interest to marketers. This paper aims to provide insights into the Middle East Arab consumer in terms of the core consumer values at a socio-cultural level. It also identifies key trends and changes in society, as well as the psychographic segments that have emerged, consequent to these changes. It provides cues for marketing, positioning and brand communication strategies that are in synch with the cultural milieu and therefore have more impactful consumer appeal.
The following paper illustrates a methodological tool that addresses childrenâs targets, in pre-school (5 - 6 years), and early-primary-school age (up to 8 years). It âfacilitatesâ the gathering of useful-to-researcher indications, and actually stems from the search into new modes for interpreting the relationship between the child and the product. Kidâs Eye is a test that uses the characters of the classic fairy tales as archetypes of positive and negative values. The output of the test highlights the specific traits of the relationship, together with the values attributed to the product as such, and the fallout for the young user.
This paper calls for a reading of advertising discourse in the context of this overwhelming cultural specificity. It is proposed that, to create semiotically relevant discourses, advertising will have to invoke the cultural backdrop and build it into its communication strategy. This paper is based on the central hypothesis that advertising in India cannot escape the context-sensitivity that is so deeply intrinsic to Indian culture. It argues for strong diachronic analysis. It conceptualises modern advertising as one of the communicative variants on a parallel plane with classical literature, folklore, religion, etc. This paper proposes that, as advertising shares a base with other discourses, some significant psychological and thematic continuities should exist. It also calls for a culture-specific sensitivity to the modes of communication.
The paper describes key Japanese cultural aspects and the impact these may have when conducting focus group and one-to-one research methodologies. Many Western marketers (and Japanese, too) maintain a strong stereotype that you can't do that in Japan! as regards more progressive qualitative techniques. This attitude is particularly problematic when executing global template research. In fact, many Western qualitative techniques can be utilized effectively in Japan; perhaps more importantly, the environment is ripe for increased usage of such techniques in the future.
This paper examines the requirements for and issues occurring in designing and conducting research in a B2B (non-fast moving consumer goods) environment, and for non-researchers, on an international and qualitative research project. It examines the key learnings from the project, from the point of view of the changing requirements of research, moving away from data gathering and reportage, to offering analysis and recommendations for marketing, communications and product development to such a non-research audience. It concludes by offering comments on the future implications for research and research bodies in understanding client needs in the new millennium.
It is a well-established fact that with maturing product categories and hyperactivity in the marketplace, a marketer needs to constantly evaluate the productâs position and offer relevant and unique consumer benefits. This is achieved either through constant changes in the product and marketing strategies or through new product/communication development. Market research could act as a conduit for an innovative marketer driving such changes. Therefore, while most research focuses on understanding the consumer behaviour and attitudes related to specific issues, the methodology we suggest attempts at looking at issues from not just one, but various aspects. This paper focuses on a research process that takes a broad or holistic approach towards understanding the consumer as opposed to understanding the consumer in bits and pieces as and when required. We suggest a different approach for doing this, which has been supported with the help of a case study of a leading consumer durables company.
This paper describes a philosophical conflict that is underway and present at all levels of our culture today. The conflict is between a traditional framework for understanding truth and reality, and a second, increasingly important paradigm that valorises relative, subjective experience. In the light of this epic conflict, the authors look at consumer relationships with advertising and brands. This paper examines: popular culture and politics; The Truman Show, No Logo, The Matrix; the divergent approaches of contemporary consumer and brand theory; numerous examples from advertising, including Guinness and Budweiser campaigns; consumer language and behaviour; sociolinguistics and group dynamics. Tools to investigate and understand the struggle in the minds of todayâs consumers are proposed. The paper further speculates on the eventual resolution of this dialectic.
This paper describes an Ethnographic study involving the universe of women in different parts of Brazil and that portrayed the way in which cultural, historical, geographical and social aspects were decisive in the relationship these women established with a certain specific product category and its brands. The relevance lies in its presentation of the growing importance of Ethnography and its utilization as a powerful market research tool that is unique in the creation and elaboration of strategic paths, at times when traditional techniques group discussions and in-depth interviews are of limited use.
This paper covers similarities and differences between countries and cultures which can affect how qualitative methodologies can be applied to offer comparable, research data to international marketers. The paper describes three ways of helping to ensure that international deliverables are relevant, comparable and meaningful.
In the realm of advertising and communications, international research can be (and often is) criticized for only âskimming the surfaceâ or taking the lowest common denominator when researching creative work â particularly when dealing with multi-country issues. This paper examines the role qualitative research played in guiding (over two phases) the creative development process for the European Central Bankâs launch campaign for the euro. Particular emphasis is placed on how research was used to ensure that appropriate feedback was an integral part of the campaignâs development, execution and evaluation in order to ensure a credible and relevant communications solution for all euro countries.
Papers included in this volume examine the impact of local culture both within European markets and further afield, in countries such as the Middle East and India. To what extent can a brand that is successful in one culture be transferred to another seemingly distant one?
This paper draws mainly from the vast amount of qualitative work done for the European Commission since 1986 to provide a better understanding of what Europeans are, how they view Europe and the European Union, and what research reveals more generally about them. Among the studies conducted on behalf of the Commission, this paper refers notably to a recent major piece of research including the 15 member States as well as nine of the EU applicant countries in Central and in Mediterranean Europe. In all 24 partners were involved in the study and all contributed, directly or indirectly, to this paper. The European Commission joined this team of researchers to discuss how the results of qualitative studies are actually used by that institution, including at the highest political level, and what key functions qualitative research serves.