What are Consumer Insights: Meaning, Examples and Scope

You might have stumbled here to seek the true meaning of consumer insights. 

And you are at the right place. At Humann, we plan to digitally convey accurate and valuable knowledge to you. Sit back and relax, because we have compiled every necessary info for you to understand consumer insights and its core components. 

Let’s get started: 

 

Consumer Insights: Definition

Consumer insights refer to the deep understanding gained from analyzing consumer behaviour, preferences, needs, and motivations. These insights are derived from various sources of data, including but not limited to market research, customer feedback, social media interactions, and sales data.

Consumer insights are essentially a deep understanding of why people buy what they buy. It's like peeking into the minds of consumers to figure out what makes them tick. These insights come from looking at things like how people shop, what they like, what they don't like, and why they make certain choices.

 

Imagine you want to understand what your friend likes. You wouldn't just look at what they have (data), you'd ask why they like it (interpretation).

Consumer insights are like that for businesses. They take information about customers (purchases, reviews, etc.) and dig deeper to understand:

 

• Why do they choose certain products

• What problems they are trying to solve

• What features do they value

 

This helps businesses:

Make better products: Knowing what customers really want allows businesses to create things people will love.

Sell smarter: Understanding customer needs allows businesses to target the right people with the right message.

Keep customers happy: By knowing what frustrates customers, businesses can fix issues and improve their experience.

In short, consumer insights are like seeing the world through your customer's eyes, helping businesses win their hearts (and wallets).

 

Examples of Consumer Insights 

 

Now, we must shift our gaze to the real world and understand how consumer insights can boost sales through 2 practical examples. 

 

1. Morning Coffee Routine

 

The coffee company notices a consistent pattern in their sales data showing a significant rise in coffee purchases during weekday mornings, particularly between 7:00 AM and 9:00 AM. 

Upon further analysis, they discover that many customers are professionals on their way to work or busy parents dropping off their kids at school. Understanding this consumer behaviour, the company decides to offer special promotions, such as discounted breakfast combos or loyalty rewards for early morning customers. 

 

By catering to their target audience's needs and habits, the company not only increases foot traffic during peak hours but also strengthens customer loyalty. 

 

2. Health-Conscious Snacking

 

The snack company analyzes market trends and consumer surveys, revealing a growing demand for healthier snack options among health-conscious consumers. They observe that many individuals are seeking low-calorie, gluten-free alternatives made from natural ingredients. 

 

In response, the company introduces a new line of snacks crafted with wholesome ingredients, free from artificial additives and preservatives. Leveraging packaging that highlights nutritional benefits and transparent sourcing practices, they effectively communicate their commitment to providing nutritious snack choices. 

 

Through targeted marketing campaigns emphasizing the brand's dedication to health and wellness, they attract health-conscious consumers looking for convenient and guilt-free snacking options.

 

How to get consumer insights for research?

The big question for aspiring market researchers is how to collect consumer insights. Without a massive user base and buyers, how can you proceed beyond consumer insights? Well, that’s where PollPe comes in. 

 

PollPe is a mobile-based rewarding platform that caters to more than four million users. The audience is encouraged to complete numerous tasks and answer opinion polls, rewarding them with wallet cash, gift cards etc. These opinion polls are analyzed by the team firsthand, and a well-documented report is generated for the clients. 

 

Well, there are multiple ways to gather consumer insights, such as: 

 

1. Market Research Surveys: Ask consumers questions about their likes, dislikes, and habits through online surveys or in-person interviews.

 

2. Focus Groups: Bring together a small group of people to discuss their thoughts and experiences related to your product or industry.

 

3. Social Media Listening: Pay attention to what people are saying about your brand or industry on social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

 

4. Website Analytics: Look at data from your website to see what pages are popular, where people spend the most time, and how they interact with your site.

 

5. Customer Feedback: Listen to what your customers are saying directly through emails, phone calls, or feedback forms.

 

6. Sales Data: Analyze your sales data to see what products are selling well, who's buying them, and when they're being purchased.

 

7. Competitor Analysis: Keep an eye on what your competitors are doing and how customers are responding to their products or services.

 

8. New Technologies: Explore how new technologies like AI and machine learning can help you gather and analyze data more effectively.

 

By using these methods, you can gain valuable insights into your customers' preferences, behaviours, and needs, helping you make better business decisions.

 

5 Types of Consumer Insights 

Consumer insights can be categorized into various types based on the aspects of consumer behaviour and preferences they address. Here are some common types of consumer insights:

 

1. Behavioural Insights: Focus on understanding how consumers interact with products, brands, and marketing channels. Behavioural insights encompass purchase behaviour, usage patterns, brand loyalty, and decision-making processes.

 

2. Demographic Insights: Segment consumers based on demographic characteristics such as age, gender, income, education, and geographic location. These insights help marketers understand the diverse needs, preferences, and behaviours of different consumer groups.

 

3. Psychographic Insights: Segment consumers based on lifestyle, values, personality traits, interests, and attitudes. These insights provide a deeper understanding of consumers' psychographic profiles and help marketers tailor their messaging and offerings to align with consumers' lifestyles and values.

 

4. Cross-Channel Insights: Examine how consumers engage with brands across multiple channels and platforms, including online and offline touchpoints. These insights help marketers understand consumer behaviour across channels, optimize channel mix, and deliver consistent and personalized experiences across touchpoints.

 

5. Trend Insights: Trend insights track emerging trends, shifts in consumer preferences, and cultural influences shaping consumer behaviour. These insights help marketers anticipate changes in the market landscape, innovate products and services, and stay ahead of evolving consumer trends.

 

By leveraging these different types of consumer insights, marketers can upscale strategic decision-making, and develop more effective marketing strategies and campaigns.

 

Difference between Consumer Insights and Market Insights

Consumer insights and market insights are closely related but focus on different aspects of understanding the market and consumer behaviour. Here's the difference between the two:

 

Consumer Insights:

Focus: Consumer insights focus specifically on understanding the behaviours, preferences, motivations, and needs of consumers.

Scope: Consumer insights delve into individual consumers' psychology, decision-making processes, and interactions with products, brands, and marketing messages.

Purpose: The primary purpose of consumer insights is to inform product development, marketing strategies, and customer experience initiatives by gaining a deep understanding of the target audience.

Examples: Examples of consumer insights include understanding why consumers prefer certain brands over others, what factors influence their purchasing decisions, and how they perceive different marketing messages.

 

Market Insights:

Focus: Market insights encompass a broader understanding of the market landscape, including industry trends, competitor analysis, and market dynamics.

Scope: Market insights consider factors beyond individual consumers, such as market size, growth opportunities, regulatory environment, and emerging trends affecting the industry.

Purpose: The primary purpose of market insights is to provide strategic guidance for businesses by identifying market opportunities, assessing competitive threats, and forecasting industry trends.

Examples: Examples of market insights include analyzing market share trends, identifying emerging market segments, assessing competitive positioning, and forecasting industry growth rates.

 

Though both of these terms branch out from a single fundamental, they focus on somewhat diverged sides of research. But at times, consumer insights and market insights have to be placed parallelly to understand what the market actually wants! 

 

Final Word

This guide helps you to get familiar with the basic definitions and terminology of consumer insights. However, the ocean is quite deep and Humann won’t stop exploring. Stick along as we bring more market insights to your feed. 

Additionally, we would love to hear from you! Are there any other topics that we can cover under the roof of insights? Let us know in the comments, and we will get back to you.  Adios!