Hansa Research is the largest Indian consumer insights company undertaking engagements with clients across 77 countries. With research offices across India, Singapore and the USA, Hansa Research’s infrastructure is comparable to the best in the industry. Engaging with clients across multiple sectors, with an array of packaged and customised offerings, Hansa Research focuses on innovation and value addition, to help clients make insightful decisions. Hansa Research has done some path-breaking work which has become industry standards in India e.g., Indian Readership Survey, Household Potential Index and Indian Outdoor Survey.
Praveen Nijhara CEO, Hansa Research speaks to mediaNews4Uon the importance of various surveys conducted by them and much more…
Hansa Research has been in the business of conducting various kinds of surveys, what has changed in the way you conduct surveys now and in the earlier times?
COVID restrictions have changed the way research is done in India to a considerable extent. Technology has gained significant importance today. Hansa Research had begun the technology & digital journey well before COVID impacted businesses and the market research industry. We have built capabilities to conduct quantitative surveys via digital mode, proprietary tool and our own panel ‘The Hansa Cheetah’, which helps in providing rich insights to our clients. A significant proportion of our business has moved from in-person interviews to digital virtual interactions with consumers. This includes Focus Groups and In-depth Interviews via our own platform, ‘DigiQual’ since early 2019. The platform has features of bespoke to qualitative research; its feature is not available on the usual video conferencing apps. Prior to this, Hansa Research has made significant inroads into passive data capture/analysis and offline purchase tracking.
What is the TG you target for your various surveys? How do you decide on the profiles of people you survey?
TG criteria solely depend on the client’s business objectives. Clients usually have well-defined TG criteria in terms of geographies, demographics, lifestyle, life stages, and consumption behaviour of the respondents. Based on this definition, respondents are selected for any survey. Only those respondents who match the TG definition are included in the survey. To answer your second question, I am sure you have given feedback to surveys while flying in an airline, during visits to malls and restaurants or online via text messages or email about various products and services. Besides, some surveys may not fit in the criteria if you or any family member is employed in a particular sector or in advertising, research, and communication in many cases.
This pandemic and then the lockdown saw a huge change in consumer behaviour, have you conducted any surveys in recent times to understand this behaviour?
Yes. Hansa Research has consistently kept the industry abreast with insights into the changing consumer behaviour due to COVID restrictions. Various clients have commissioned studies to understand changes specific to their industry, and these studies have provided clients with insights into the changing consumer behaviour. On our own too, we have conducted a few studies about consumer grievances and concerns during the lockdown. The topics included pertinent issues like ‘availability of essential services, ‘adapting to working from home, ‘impact of the pandemic on salary and job’, etc. The results of these studies have been published on various media portals. Additionally, we have our own proprietary syndicated annual products which show shifts in consumer behaviour from Pre-Covid times to Date.
How does Data from a particular survey for example – Household Potential help brands in planning their future Brand strategy?
The origin of any survey is the research objective, which in turn is defined to answer very specific business questions. For instance, if a client intends to air a new ad on TV, he/she may want to check what the target consumers like or dislike about the advertisement, whether they understand the message being conveyed in the advertisement etc. In such a case, an ‘Ad Pre-Test’ study will be carried out and the client will use the feedback of this study to improve the contents of the advertisement so that it is more impactful when it is actually aired on TV to the target audience at large. Similarly, depending on the objective of the client, various other kinds of studies are carried out e.g., brand equity, customer satisfaction assessment, new product testing, corporate image assessment etc. In several cases, significant monetary investments are made by clients depending on the outcome of the survey and the insights it throws up.
Hansa Research also conducts research globally, how different it is from India?
India has recently embarked on the journey of moving to online surveys, but international markets such as US, Europe, Japan are already evolving in online research. The research principles remain largely similar, but each market has its own culture and lifestyle nuances that need to be considered while servicing these clients from India. We need the right expertise to execute global research studies considering the social and cultural differences in different regions.
Would you in the future get into doing election surveys?
Hansa Research has undertaken election surveys (Opinion & Exit Polls) in collaboration with leading news channels in the past. We are open to such engagements and these decisions only once an opportunity comes our way
What would be your Focus this year?
The transition to ‘Digital’ has given a perpetual push due to the pandemic; there will be continued focus on this front. Additionally, we are looking at new streams of business in the domestic as well as international markets
