WIN IN CRISIS with the new market research product

Iran is undergoing a profound economic crisis, triggered by USA sanctions, structural problems and the wider geo-political conditions. Due to the sanctions most of the international companies have left Iran and the local producers have faced severe crises. These crises are partly due to supply chain problems and partly due to consumers’ behavior changes. Stagnant household incomes combined with high inflation have driven many markets into recession. Consumers simply do not have money in their pockets and need to change their spending patterns.

In these circumstances, the main concern of all business owners, esp. manufacturing companies and factories, is not only to survive but gain share, increase revenue, and emerge from the downturn stronger and more competitive.

Luckily, this is not the first crisis. Economic history is full of similar situations. We can draw on rich experiences from previous crises in Iran, from the global financial and economic crisis of 2007, as well as from multiple emerging market crises. We can learn from best practice how leading international and Iranian companies managed to grow and come out stronger from deep recessions.

Experience shows that consumers change their behaviour in fundamental ways:

Changing life values and worries which affect how they define and perceive value offered by brands
Changing relationships with brands
Changing category behaviour, e.g. stop buying, reduce consumption, buy cheaper brands
Changing shopping behaviour, e.g. shop more frequently, change shopping channels, hunt for bargains, buy smaller units or go for big value pack offers

The way how consumers react and change their consumption behaviour is different for each category.

Companies who will win in this environment will be those who best understand their consumers, shoppers, channels and retailers and leverage this to create and activate insightful, precision plans to capture a bigger share of smaller consumer wallets.

How to adapt companies and businesses to win the downturn in the market is the expertise of Certius Consulting Co. and we will be by your side till achieving your goals.

Sepideh Sobhi, Media Research Manager from EMRC, said: “Given current changes in the current situation of the community and the development of behavioral changes in the pattern of consumption and purchasing habits of households, Certius along with Emrooz Market Research Company (EMRC) present a new product in the field of market research in order to investigate these changes and continually submit results to business owners.”

In this new product, called WIN IN CRISIS TRACKER, the behavioural changes of the audience in dealing with consumer goods in the household are reviewed in different times. One of the best usages of this product is during the economic crisis. The crisis that has affected the economy of our country for some time and has caused a noticeable behavioral changes in consumers. In this study, the various issues that has harmonized consumers with the current economic conditions are analyzed. Things like:

Are consumers moving toward brand change in the current economic situation?
Have consumers reduced their consumption volume?
Have they changed their purchasing channels?
Have they decreased/increased their shopping frequency?
And so on.

Gerhard Barcus, the Managing Partner of Certius, elaborates more on this study: “Companies have basically three choices when dealing with the current crisis. They can exit the market, they can struggle and fight to survive, or they invest in the market in order to become stronger and reap big benefits when the crisis subsides. To be able to grow and increase your market share you must first understand how consumers change and what matters to them in the current circumstances. This enables you to adapt your products, your assortment, packaging sizes, prices, trade promotions and advertising. The WIN IN CRISIS TRACKER provides you with what you need to know to win in the crisis.”

Russell Mackie, an international Insight, Strategy and Marketing Consultant, who provides his expertise to these two companies in doing the WIN IN CRISIS TRACKER study, says: “An economic crisis impacts the lives of consumers at a very personal level. Their personal needs change and so do their brand and store choices. We see this across the globe. However, in each country, the crisis plays out differently. Understanding this local impact and how consumers respond to it enables brands to meet the new needs and choices of their consumers in a relevant way. This study is designed to give brands this insight”.

This research project is being implemented in six main cities of Iran and among those who are the main buyers in the households. Participants in this study have a key role in changing household behavior and consumption. The questions raised in this study will be completed in two ways: telephone interviews and online questionnaire.

The data gathered in the 1st wave of the study has revealed that 65% of Iranian consumers feel “very much impacted” by the crisis and 71% are “very worried about the future”. Also it shows that around 60% of category X users are willing to change their brand to reduce the cost of category usage. And a round 70% of category Y users have changed stores to try find it cheaper.

Sobhi said: “EMRC and Certius plan to repeat the research periodically and review behavioral and consumer changes every three months. Business owners, with the knowledge of this research, can be aware of the consumers’ behavioral changes and take a proper strategy ahead of time to adapt with these changes.”

The results of the first wave of the study are available to the applicant companies.

WIN IN CRISIS with the new market research product

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