Consumer insights for developing markets

Abstract

Purpose

Multinational companies (MNCs) entering developing markets face cultural, language, and other barriers to understanding consumers. Ethnographic consumer insights research offers the best means of understanding needed product innovations and adaptations for these markets. This paper aims to focus on these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper emphasizes qualitative methods and gives examples of their successful application in developing markets.

Findings

Despite a wealth of quantitative consumer data from surveys, online data, and secondary data analysis, these methods cannot provide a culture‐sensitive understanding of local consumers. Anthropological approaches are best situated to do this.

Originality/value

While MNCs have global experience they can gain local experience by coming to see through the lens of qualitative consumer insights.

Citation

Belk, R.W. (2013), "Consumer insights for developing markets", Journal of Indian Business Research, Vol. 5 No. 1, pp. 6-9. https://doi.org/10.1108/17554191311303349