exploring consumers mind and heart - apartment-wallahs

ECMH Project:

QUALITATIVE

FACTORS

DETERMINING

HOUSE BUYING

PREFERENCES

Apartment-wallas

-Oni, Jhaji, Yeeai, Yennrri

Research objective

• Analyze customer preferences (qualitative) in purchasing apartments

• Check whether the overhype of price as the main criteria, has merit

Objective

• Middle-class/Upper-middle class who wish to purchase homes in the range of INR 40-70 lakhs

Market segment

Research Objective

Sample Selection

GD guide Key Insights Methodology Conclusion

Sample selections

Couples

• Husband-wife interviews with both as participants in discussion

• Selected across India-based and NRIs returning to India

Individuals

• A mix of married and bachelors, but an all male group.

• Selected across India-based and NRIs returning to India

Research Objective

Sample Selection

GD guide Key Insights Methodology Conclusion

Strategies and insights

Pampered the participants:

• Fed them well with cold drinks and chips

• Called each one of them, explained the importance of their involvement and sent a personal invitation to each

Listened to opinion of each

one and recorded their inputs.

Provided a feeling that each

participant is important.

Sensitive to their time restrictions

Research Objective

Sample Selection

GD guide Key Insights Methodology Conclusion

Group Discussion guide

The discussion points contained a mix of projective techniques: Sentence association

Word associations

Color associations

Story completion – 1

Picture associations

Discussions among the group regarding each item

Try to weave in response from all questions to understand customers’ unsaid needs

Research Objective

Sample Selection

GD guide Key Insights Methodology Conclusion

Sentence associations

What comes to your mind?

• Shady trees, Paved footpath, Bus/train stop nearby

How do you feel?

• 3 Aartis and/or 5 Azaans a day – loud and clear

I wish…

• Came home after 4 hrs of shopping. Walked up 3 floors and entered my home

Research Objective

Sample Selection

GD guide Key Insights Methodology Conclusion

Word associations

10th floor

Midnight earthquake

Research Objective

Sample Selection

GD guide Key Insights Methodology Conclusion

Color associations

relaxation

food preparation

exercise argument

family

Research Objective

Sample Selection

GD guide Key Insights Methodology Conclusion

Story completion

Time to go to office. I take the car out of

parking lot and drive out of the

apartment complex…

Research Objective

Sample Selection

GD guide Key Insights Methodology Conclusion

Picture associations – Part 1

Research Objective

Sample Selection

GD guide Key Insights Methodology Conclusion

Picture associations

Research Objective

Sample Selection

GD guide Key Insights Methodology Conclusion

…and the big confusion!!

Research Objective

Sample Selection

GD guide Key Insights Methodology Conclusion

Group 1

Research Objective

Sample Selection

GD guide Key Insights Methodology Conclusion

Group 2

Research Objective

Sample Selection

GD guide Key Insights Methodology Conclusion

Key insights

Commute and amenities of city life take precedence over price

Places of religion play a lesser role than daily peace and calm

Peoples’ preference is largely affected by availability of basic necessities such as: Water

Electricity

Proximity to shopping

Proximity to open areas and parks

Research Objective

Sample Selection

GD guide Key Insights Methodology Conclusion

Key insights

When given a visual stimuli, people react according to their preferences and established needs e.g. A glass full of beer, could be

○ Relaxation with friends and family

○ Pub with a choice of beer

○ Something you do not want around

○ A negative attribute to society

Insights from color associations Perceived property of a color is not necessarily reflected

universally ○ E.g. Saffron was found to be the color of relaxation, prayer

as well as violence.

Places within house were painted differently by different associations of utility.

Research Objective

Sample Selection

GD guide Key Insights Methodology Conclusion

Methodology, learning and

suggestions

•Avoid direct and quantitative mode of questioning

•Try to go for face-face rather than phone

•Manage flow of thoughts, unobtrusively

In-depth Interview

•Do not prompt or direct the interview

•Arrive at common ground after every question

•Managing more than 7 or less than 5 is a problem

•Time management is critical

Focus group discussion, with

projective techniques

•Patterns emerge based on proper aggregation and assimilation of information

•Insight into actual, not reported, behaviors

•Proper sampling helps in better results

•Critical to understand perceptions

Analysis

Research Objective

Sample Selection

GD guide Key Insights Methodology Conclusion

Conclusion

Internal consistency and specificity of

responses to be balanced

Moderate the intensity of comments to

get to the subliminal layer

Communication strategy is critical

Make the sessions memorable for

participants (in a good way, i.e)

Research Objective

Sample Selection

GD guide Key Insights Methodology Conclusion