This post is written by Jonathan Little. Jonathan is a life-long friend and business associate. In addition to Jonathan’s role with Troy Research, he is also a partner with The Business Source, providing consumer research for our clients. If you want to learn more about your customers and target markets, contact me and I’ll arrange a meeting with Jonathan.
The USA continues its evolution as a multi-cultural nation. Have you noted the stats in the 2010 Census? New cultures gaining position and respect within the melting pot produce a sharing of unique world views and an exchange of everything from political ideas to dinner menus. Even though a melting produces a melding, loyalties run soul deep. People carry loyalties to family, friends, neighborhood and the larger community. These loyalties and attachments are then reflected through differences in tastes, attitudes, beliefs and behaviors. Where a European-American culture may dominate in one village, town or city, an African-American culture may hold the strongest influence in another. Most Americans cherish their individual freedoms and love this country that guarantees life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. With occasional exceptions we Americans place our differences on a continuum from tolerate…to respect… to embrace. Research measures where those differences come into play.
How great are the differences? Ask a few people and start to find out. Ask 100 to 1,000 people and project the tastes, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors of a community, culture, congregation, clientele, audience, fan base, customers, listeners, viewers, readers, users, visitors, etc. Whatever the category designation of the people who use your product or service, they have opinions and they’re willing give them when asked.
For more than a decade TroyResearch has been measuring attitudes and opinions for our clients worldwide. We project opening weekend box office revenues for the movie industry. Even though technology continues to rapidly shrink our world, research shows there are noticeable differences between movie goers in Germany and Russia, between Australia and Italy, etc. There are differences based on culture but there are important differences based on age, education, income, and religion. From Sony Motion Pictures to the Green Bay Packers. From the Wisconsin State Historical Society to Olbrich Botanical Gardens, TroyResearch keeps asking questions. We know that success is determined by your customers. To realize the greatest success possible you need to understand what they want and why. Social media continues to underscore that people want to be heard, want to be noticed. They have opinions and are prepared to express them. As researchers, our assignment is to creatively gather data and illuminate the issues, shedding the light of understanding on decision making.
So ask yourself “What do I want to learn?” And at the same time ask “What am I prepared to do, to change based on what I learn?” Ongoing research is a small price to pay to make you smarter and capable of wiser decisions to guide you to greater success.
Jonathan Little
VP Sales & Client Services
TroyResearch & PR Brigade
www.troyresearch.com & www.prbrigade.com