Qualitative market research offers multiple benefits when building strategies –– from testing usability, consumer profiling to evaluating product and brand performance.

An important part of running any business is formulating strategy. Good planning is necessary not just to build the right marketing strategy, but also to pinpoint mistakes and overcome them. A strategy could be seen as a broad map that a business follows in charting its course.

Market research is an important tool in building this strategy. Research provides us with invaluable data on all business parameters –– from insight mining to social research. Qualitative market research takes it one step further by exploring and studying motivation –– Not just what your consumers are doing, but why they are behaving so.

Usability testing: Research is often deployed even before a product is launched to test its usability. This can expose serious flaws in the product design or the need for modifications. Qualitative market research focuses on why people are buying your product. Why are some switching over to your competitors? What will make your product easier to use and hence, more attractive?

For example, a car manufacturer founds a sudden dip in sales. Usability testing shows that a competitor has added cup holders in their design, attracting potential customers. Now production strategy can be changed to include and add-on to this modification.

Finding barriers: Whether a business is new or established, there are always going to be some barriers in the market. This is especially relevant in case of new markets. It is always advisable to be aware and ready to face these roadblocks. Research helps us pinpoint and find counter-measures.

For instance, an electronic company’s research into a potential market in another country reveals a fundamental flaw in their design –– incompatible plug pins. Consequently, the design is changed before the launch in the new market. Hence, the company avoids massive loss from the very beginning.

Evaluating performance: Marketing research is a continuous process. One of its main functions is to assess the performance of your product from time to time. Qualitative market research here focuses on consumer response to your product. It relies not just on questionnaires, but also on actual consumer behaviour while using the product.

This often exposes serious or minor flaws in design. Strategy then shifts to production where modifications are implemented.

Consumer profiling: An important function of qualitative market research is consumer profiling. Customers are broken down in different categories according to their goals, common characteristics or their interaction with the company. This gives one the profile of a typical customer.

For example, the customer profiling for an e-retail company shows the profile of a typical buyer who browses their website. By tracking their movement, we can improve the design, group common items of interests etc.

Evaluating brand image: A brand symbolises the trust that the common man places on the company name. Brands often go beyond a specific product and are evaluated mostly on the basis of how the consumer perceives you. A number of qualitative market research methods are used to evaluate the brand image, from questionnaire to the buzz generated in social media. Important strategic decisions are taken on the basis of brand evaluation.