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A good research strategy allows valuable and transcendent case studies.
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What is measured in the market during inflation accounts for the elements that help to understand the market.
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Within this understanding, core activities have been established in market measurement, such as understanding the insights that are generated in price volatility.
The volatility of prices and the attitude of the consumer in the face of this economic scenario, where brands coexist, leads us to value the series of recommendations that Raymundo SanchezPartner of EY Parthenon in Mexico, share with Merca2.0 in this exclusive interview about what measure in it mercado during this inflation.
Merca2.0 – What atypical consumer insights have been identified during this inflation, that do not correspond to the phenomenon and, on the contrary, are surprising when reading them?
Raymundo Sánchez – The response that consumers give to periods of inflation depends on the socioeconomic stratum to which they belong, however, if we generalize to the “consumer”, during “typical” periods of inflation, consumers restrict their spending and change brands or of commercial establishments looking for offers to make more use of their money. A survey of Nielsen July 2022, indicated that eight out of ten consumers had changed brands or commercial establishments in search of promotions. However, without ruling out the above behavior, according to our study EY Future Consumer Index (in its thirteenth edition, corresponding to the end of 2022) that 47 percent of Mexicans planned to travel during the December 2022 holidays or during 2023. This is an “atypical” consumption behavior in periods of inflation, where we need to stretch our money. In the consumption monitor that publishes BBVAbased on the information that is collected from spending on your credit cards, we can observe this trend, since the statistics for March 2023 show that consumption in restaurants has growth of between 20 percent and 25 percent and in entertainment from 36 percent to 46 percent, while food consumption is only 14 percent to 16 percent compared to the same indicators as of March 2022. As can be seen this increase in consumption of services in real place is quite atypical.
Merca2.0 – Brands commission new studies, what are these, that break with the norm of what is traditionally investigated?
RS – Brands are following previously known strategies to face the inflationary phenomenon. Launch new “mid-range, “low-cost” or “value-added” brands to compete on price, highlight the value factors of your leading brands, reduce product weights or total content, to keep prices stable or, even, as the EY Parthenon study shows: White and private brands: Considerations to capture new opportunities in Latin America, participating in them as growth and value generation alternatives for their companies. The studies that we are doing are consistent with these new strategies.
On the other hand, and as a collateral result of the pandemic, brands are increasingly interested in understanding the marketing channel. ecommercebut not only through platforms or retailers, but also from direct contact with consumers, in order to be able to collect first-hand “the voice of the consumer” in a constant and consistent way to shape their strategies.
Merca2.0 – What has been essential for the market research industry to keep your business relevant today to customers?
RS – In the case of EY and EY-Parthenon Our clients ask us not only to understand how changes affect consumers and how brands must respond effectively to meet these new needs, but also to be able to help them define omnichannel strategies and participate together with them in their implementation and execution. , facilitating analysis methods, forms of execution and solutions that consider processes, people and technological tools.
Merca2.0 – What is the profile of the market researcher today?
RS – In accordance with the previous answer, in addition to a great analytical capacity, it is relevant to use sophisticated analysis models by using a lot of information, which can come from structured or unstructured sources. It has become essential to become a tool for change, participating shoulder to shoulder within our client’s organizations in the implementation and execution of strategies, being able to modify or implement ways of working, as well as new capabilities and new technologies.
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