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Qualitative Research

Qualitative or psychological market research goes beyond the descriptive data of quantitative market research to provide explanations of consumers’ motivations.

Whenever it is not enough to know who buys what, when, where and how often – because you need to know why consumers behave as they do, then qualitative market research is indispensable.

The Qualitative Research Department of GfK Romania functions as an own entity department, exclusively dedicated to the market studies that use qualitative investigation methodologies. 

The department is part of the Custom Research Division.

Our results, in concrete data

Over the last few years, GfK Romania has conducted on average 400 focus groups and 300 in-depth interviews (both on the BtoC market, and on the BtoB one), covering the industries: FMCG, financial products and services, media, telecommunications, automotive and pharmaceutical.

Numerous projects have been carried out, whose end result was the launching of new products or packages, brands re-launches, refined products and brand concepts, studies that aimed at the re-launch of the organization concepts of some pharmacies chains, etc.

The last 2 years meant a considerable growth of the non-conventional research methods, many projects relying on ethnographic types of methodological approaches: visits / in-home or in-store observations, monographies by categories of users of products and/or services that led to an in-depth understanding of the Romanian consumer.

Creative projects sponsored by GfK for special segments of respondents – e.g. leaders of opinion among adolescents and youngsters in order to identify and understand their motivations, the values based on which they guide themselves, their aspirational  images and the levers through which they can become more sensitive to communication.

The Qualitative Research team of GfK Romania has permanent access to the methodological and informational know-how belonging to GfK Group, being permanently up-to-date with the new methodologies promoted by the group and adjusting them to the level and needs of the market in Romania. 

Our most important research fields

Individual consumers – the investigation of the consumption attitudes and habits, of the opinions regarding the manufacturers, markets, brands, the identification of the actual state of things and of the needs in perspective:

• Fast moving consumer goods (foods, personal hygiene products, household products, drinks, cigarettes, coffee, etc.);
• Financial services (banking, insurance, leasing etc.);
• Telecommunications (services of fixed or mobile telephony, Internet, cable television, etc.);
• Electronic products, household products, IT;
• Automotive industry;
• Health products and pharmaceutics;
• Research regarding the Media consumption habits and the perception on the image of some players in this market segment;
• The investigation of leisure habits and of the lifestyle characteristics of the Romanian consumers.

For corporate clients and SMEs:

Research for the "business-to-business” segment- the exploration of the opportunities of a new market, the investigation of the clients’ expectations in the business segment regarding certain services /products, in-depth customer satisfaction,  the testing of the validity and appeal of new concepts proposed to the business target, etc.

The investigation of the final year students and newly graduates regarding the opportunities on the labor market: their opinion about labor market at present, expectations from a future employer, needs related to a future job.

People

8 Researchers specialized in qualitative research studies:

• 4 senior and 4 executive researchers:psychology (5), sociology (2) or philosophy (1) graduates ranging between 2 and 10 years’ experience in qualitative market research, fluent English speakers;

• each researcher completely manages the projects assigned (drafting of the discussion guide, moderation of the focus groups, writing down the reports, presentation of the results, management of the relation with the client).

All researchers have participated to numerous specialized trainings for qualitative research methodologies organized in the networks GfK International and GfK Qualitative, as well to other communication and personal development workshops and trainings.

The Senior level researchers (more than 5 years’ experience in qualitative research and in GfK Romania) have an extremely rich experience in managing the market research projects, having numerous participations to workshops carried out by and for client companies, in which they earned their reputation of specialists with an integrative vision on the market, capable of offering strategic consultancy to their clients. 

The department is managed by a researcher with background in psychology and 10 years’ experience in qualitative research, a member of the team International Qualitative Network for GfK.

4 Qualitative Field Coordinators, responsible for the recruitment 

• experienced in the permanent coordination and training of our team of recruiters for the participants to focus groups or in-depth interviews.
• All the field coordinators in the qualitative network have participated to training sessions in communication and persuasion techniques.  

Dedicated network of field operators:

14 field operators who recruit exclusively for qualitative research studies.

Read more in Marketing Solutions -› Qualitative Research