Cultural Framing: Why Traditional Research is Limited

When we conduct market research in traditional ways we at best paint only partial pictures With a nod to Mr Asimov we paint noseless portraits The best researchers are adept at conducting research with small qualitative or large quantitative populations of people and interpreting what they observe to inform important business decisions And yet even when interpretations are at the peak of insightfulness drawing conclusions without considering context misses a fundamental piece of the puzzleWith this in mind it39s time for a market research quotshake upquot At MaruMatchbox we are passionate about understanding culture and adamant that effective business decisions should take account of both the research and the cultural dynamics and nuances that affect those we study We call this quotcultural framingquot quotframingquot research with the cultural factors that play such an important role in determining how consumers interact with brands products and categoriesRitanbara Mundrey of Nestlamp233 India recently provided a great example of the power of cultural framing to shine a fresh light on an important research problem in a paper she presented atamp160ESOMAR Congress 2017The question she faced was this quotWhy is coffee such a small category in a country the size of India amp8230 12000 tons of coffee vs 400000 tons of tea What can Nescafamp233amp8212with close to 90 market shareamp8212do to infuse fresh aroma into the coffee business and how to tackle the onslaught of cafamp233s the new challengers on the blockquot iShe knew that doing the same old research would yield the same results She realized the importance of adding another lens through which to view the problemamp8212including a look at its cultural framingquotThe natural approach to tackling such a questionquot she wrote in her paper quotwould have been to refresh the last UampampAamp8212look into triggers and barriers of consumption analyze need states Current research was a good and steady reminder of 39where we are39 but was unable to provide a leaping insight on 39how to shake up the status quo39 Thus the task of tackling tradition had to start with the approach to research itself The first step was to change the lens of the looking glassamp8212looking outward rather than inwardquotHer paper looked at various ways of pulling multiple streams of data together and included a telling example of the power of cultural contextTo understand how coffee could change its frame they looked to chocolate quotLike coffee chocolate competes with 39traditional habit driven food39 It has an English 39western39 name unlike tea which has an Indian name It is led by a dominant player in a few player market and has faced an uphill task in its quest to become mainstreamquotAn analysis of the cultural role that chocolate played shed the necessary light on how chocolate could compete and win She wrote quotTwo key insights came out of our investigation The first insight amp8211 category correctly identified its key competitor as Indian sweetmeats mithai amp8230 In India sweetmeats are more than just pleasure Sweetmeats and their associated occasions range from offerings to Gods at temples to the symbolic desire and blessing for good times ahead to communal celebrations like a wedding or on a festival These are far removed from the individual hedonic lustful code of chocolates in the west Hooking onto this chocolate made dramatic changes in its communication amp8230 stealing share from the leviathan category of sweetmeatquotThis coupled with looking at why tea was successful and how coffee fared in other tea loving countries gave Nestlamp233 a fresh perspective on how they could reposition coffee to be more culturally in tune and less of an elitist importquotRefreshing the UampampAquot would not have yielded any of those insights It would have left them staring at the bark of a tree while missing the forest A look at the problem through the lens of cultural framing however brought the whole picture into focus That39s why cultural framing is a key part of what our Qualitative Center of Excellence brings to our clients39 business questionsWe consider the cultural frame in which an action or a choice occurs We look at the deeper meaning the symbolic underpinnings and the cultural context The result shines a penetrating light exposing insights that had been obscured beforeiamp160It takes many notes to make a symphony the power of data cross pollination Ritanbara Mundrey ESOMAR Congress 2017

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Cultural Framing: Why Traditional Research is Limited

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Tommy Stinson

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Cultural Framing: Why Traditional Research is Limited

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