Editor's note: Felipe Korzenny is president, and Betty Ann Korzenny is executive vice president, of Hispanic & Asian Marketing Communication Research, Inc., a multicultural research firm in Belmont, Calif.
It's difficult to differentiate between what one would like to see in the future and what one believes will happen. Nevertheless, below we have listed what we consider to be trends in Hispanic qualitative marketing research. These trends are based about 20 years experience in conducting qualitative and quantitative research in the U.S. Hispanic market. Wishful thinking or a view into the future? Only time will tell.
Increased emphasis on culturally-based research
Increasingly, advertisers are understanding that merely adapting their communications to the Hispanic market is not enough. Up to now many marketers have sought to fit their general market campaigns into the Hispanic market, as opposed specifically targeting the Hispanic consumer.
Thus, more research will attempt to be motivationally based. That is, to understand the inner workings of the Hispanic consumer to obtain insights for positioning within the culture. For example, a brand can be positioned in the general market as the brand for the individual. The same brand in the Hispanic market, however, may need to be positioned as the brand for the group or family. A more complex example is that a brand could be positioned as the materialistic brand in the general market, but may need to be positioned as a mystical brand in the Hispanic market.
"Within" rather than "across"
Many who do research in the Hispanic market tend to see it as a relatively homogeneous mass. Matching the goals of the client to the specific segment within the Hispanic market will be an increasingly important consideration in the future. For example, Spanish-dominant consumers are not a homogeneous group. There are Spanish-dominant consumers who are very literate in their own language and those who are not. Clearly, conducting research with literate consumers is different from doing it with individuals who have not benefited from higher levels of formal education. Less-literate recent immigrants who come from the rural areas of Mexico and Central America can't be reached through the mail. But mail does work to reach those from urban areas who have higher levels of education. Similarly, qualitative research tasks that require writing and complex role playing may be beyond the reach of certain segments. Segmenting the Hispanic consumer can only lead to more accurate results.
Observational research
When attempting to understand other cultures, it is particularly important to obtain first-hand information from consumers. Observing them in their daily routines and natural habitat can be much more illustrative than just listening to consumers' words.
Observing behavior is more likely to render accurate and valuable information than attempting to extract oral responses . We feel there will be increased used of videotaped interviews in the homes and other contexts where these consumers operate. The need to observe behavior is more urgent in markets like the Hispanic market because so many habits stand in sharp contrast to behaviors of the general market. That way brand managers and decision makers can obtain a more accurate picture of their clientele. For example, we recently asked in focus groups about how much oil consumers use in their cooking. Most said a little. Then we conducted in-home interviews and discovered that little meant almost an inch depth of oil in the frying pan.
"Focused" qualitative research
Many focus groups are currently conducted as interrogation sessions or as game-playing sessions. Few Hispanic focus groups are now conducted in which ideas are debated to yield in-depth learning. It is anticipated that in the future more focus group sessions with Hispanics will be truly "focused." That is, in more focus groups respondents will be given assignments of activities to do before attending focus groups. Those assignments tend to provide a focus for the discussion and respondents then have vivid experiences to talk about.
For example, more respondents will be given the task of acting as mystery shoppers and then come to a focus group session to talk about their experiences. Also, respondents will more often be asked to try a product or idea at home with their families before attending a focus group discussion. Respondents will be asked to think about an issue before discussing it in a focus group session. Some would argue that such an approach may contaminate the responses. The answer is that in qualitative research one ideally wants to stimulate thinking and discussion to obtain qualitative insights. Quantitative research should usually follow to substantiate the qualitative insights obtained.
More quantitative and even qualitative omnibuses
Few quantitative omnibuses have succeeded in the Hispanic market and those that succeed find it difficult to keep to a schedule due to lack of demand. It can be anticipated that as the market continues to grow the demand for quality omnibuses will increase . That will clearly help clients with just a few questions or who want to track a particular issue over time at a reduced expense.
Another related trend will be to see the emergence of focus group clusters used to analyze issues in the Hispanic market. This may be a great tool for clients who have brief concerns or issues to obtain insights at affordable costs. Also, these groups could be used to study issues of general applicability to many clients, e.g., the study of Hispanic consumer values, lifestyles, and ways of thinking.
Shopping clinics
In the future more Hispanic qualitative research will be conducted in real or simulated shopping environments, similar to what car clinics have been up to now. In those environments, Hispanic families would be invited to look at merchandise and display arrangements and provide their opinions on their experience.
This type of environment would also serve for naturalistic observation on how decision making processes take place. This type of clinic could be conducted for retailing, banking and even for the purpose of understanding in-store decision making regarding specific brands.
Network analysis
Quantitatively and qualitatively, it is likely that more and more Hispanic research will include some type of network analysis. This is particularly important in the Hispanic market because the culture is highly gregarious and word-of-mouth is strongly influential.
Network analysis is a technique that has been around for about 40 years, and perfected in the social sciences over the last 25 years but it has not been exploited in marketing research. Just consider the importance of knowing who talks to whom about what in a community. Network analysis could help in understanding patterns of opinion leadership and influence. It could also help make sense of decision making processes. Further, it could help understand how advertising interacts with word-of-mouth to create the momentum for a brand.
Notes
1 Something that is accentuated in the case of less literate consumers.
2 The U.S. Hispanic market now is composed of about 30 million people with purchasing power of about $250 billion.