Summary: Step 1 part 11 of our market research guide.
Step 1 – Part 11 – Now we look how the consumer chooses solutions.
Now we look at the process of the consumer assessing prospective solutions and choosing the best value from solutions. This helps us to identify value, create it, and enhance the effectiveness of our communications.
On the value line:
- Consumer Value line – Identify value – create value – look for value – choose value – get value – use value – evaluate value – sustain value
- Product Value Line – Identify value – create value – communicate value (level and focus) – communicate value (effectiveness) – deliver value –support value – monitor value – sustain value
Choosing solutions – Choose/Communicate Value (how consumers weigh up solutions to the value they need)
1) What part did you play in choosing and buying solutions and did other people get involved?
- Who were these other people and how did they get involved?
- If other people were involved in choosing and buying spilt up 100 points between them and yourself for influence on looking for solutions.
- Whose opinion did you value most in your choosing decision?
2) Did you decide to buy in the end and how long did it take you from start to finish to choose and buy?
3) Where you a first time buyer, potential buyer, regular user, or non user at this point?
4) Where did you eventually buy your solution?
- Where did you go to buy solutions? Rank all of these in terms of 1st best to last.
- Please tell us the 5 main factors you look at when you choose and buy solutions of this type, spilt 100 points up between them, rank each out of 10 on importance, and give each a satisfaction score out of 10.
5) Tell us what your ideal experience for choosing and buying solutions would be like.
- Please tell us the 5 main factors an ideal assessment and buying of solutions here would have, spilt 100 points up between them, rank each out of 10 on importance, and give each a satisfaction score out of 10.
- How close did your choosing and buying experience come to that ideal solution?
- In what 3 ways could it have been better?
6) Split hundred points between quality and price for how much they affected your buying decision.
7) What’s your attitude and sensitivity towards price (e.g. bargain hunter, price quality balance or very best)?
Where did your solution rank in terms of cost with out of 10, 10 being most expensive, 5 average and 1 cheapest?
9) Did you look at different types of products (e.g. disposal razor and electric shave) or just one?
- What was your attitude towards the different product types you were looking at – love, favourable, indifferent, unfavourable, hate?
- What features did solutions have to do just to be considered?
- What made you choose the product type of your eventual solution?
- How much did special offers play a part in your decision?
- After you decided the specific product type, what attitudes towards the different makes you were looking at – love, favourable, indifferent, unfavourable, hate?
- The one reason you choose the solution you did was….
- Did you find anything hard to understand, or information that was hard to find?
- Was their things in other solutions you would have loved in the solution you eventually chose?
10) What do you think about the brands of different solutions?
- Please tell us the 5 main factors of the best brands, spilt 100 points up between them, rank each out of 10 on importance, and give each a satisfaction score out of 10.
- Please tell us the 5 main factors of the worst brands spilt 100 points up between them, rank each out of 10 on importance, and give each a satisfaction score out of 10.
- Please tell us about the ideal brand.
11) What were the biggest 3 things the company did that made the solution that encouraged you to buy? Spilt 100 points up between them, rank each out of 10 on importance, and give each a satisfaction score out of 10.
- How much did communications such as advertising, play a part in your decision?
- What appealed to you in the way solutions were marketed to you?
- Who marketed best?
- What did you dislike about any solutions that were marketed to you?
12) Did staff play a part in your decision and how?
13) What 3 things did you hate the most about the experience of choosing and buying solutions? Spilt 100 points up between them, rank each out of 10 on importance, and give each a satisfaction score out of 10.
14) How does where you buy solutions affect the following –
- How other people see you
- How you feel
- How you think
- Time and energy
- Finances
15) How has how you choose and buy solutions here changed in the last 5 years?
16) How do you think it will change in the next 5 years?
(Experienced consumer? If you have not already, consider asking questions about solutions that will allow you to construct a Value Map)
Let’s take a look at an example of how consumers choose and buy solutions. Consumers seem to be buying cars based on 4 Value Factors in the segment we are looking at – price, size, green, and mpg. Yet the cars in this area seem to be competing more along the lines of speed and looks in the features they are trying to outperform on, as well as communicate in their promotions. We also find that the ideal solution and the current solutions are very far apart, meaning that there is a lot of value yet to create. We also find that although many people first look for cars on the Internet, they actually go and choose them in dealerships, and buy them in dealerships because the knowledge of sales people and the ability to get a test drive are big factors. We also notice that there is a trend where more and more people are looking on the Internet, choosing in dealerships, then buying on the Internet.
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