GIM UPDATE
3
MARKET RESEARCH
IN ASIA
DO CULTURAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN 'EAST' AND 'WEST'MATTER IN MARKET RESEARCH?
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Conducting research in Asia has become a major issue for many of our clients. Therefore in this
issue of our GIM Update we would like to share with you some of our Asian research experience
and expertise.
Market research in Asia Do cultural differences between 'East' and 'West' matter in market research?
Westerners often wonder: 'What is typically Asian'? With a multitude of businesses and cultural
experiences to be made in Asia it is hard to get an overview on aspects that 'typically' influence
market research in Asia. A GIM paper presented at the ESOMAR Asia Pacific Conference in
April 2009 in Beijing sheds light on this topic. It describes research experiences GIM made in
various countries across Asia and integrates the results of a survey GIM conducted among its
Asian partner institutes in China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines.
The partners were asked about the cultural differences they perceive between 'East' and 'West'.
The results were striking and highly relevant for everyone who conducts market research in
Asia.
Asian fieldwork takes its time
The completion of Asian fieldwork may take longer than Western clients are used to. Running
two groups on a normal day can prove to be challenging, if not impossible in some Asian
countries. Longer duration of group discussions (due to a more extensive warm-up phase),
respecting of prayer times (e.g. Malaysia, Indonesia) and long distances for respondents to
commute from the city back home are some of the factors that prevent a 'tighter' time schedule.
Similarly, more time needs to be allocated for in-home-interviews. Due to heavy traffic, partly
insufficient infrastructure and other impeding factors (e.g. flooded streets during the rainy
season), conducting more than two or three interviews per day may not be feasible.
Different understanding of service culture
Westerners are often pleasantly surprised by the kind of service they receive in Asian countries.
However, the service provided is rather based on hospitality and a sense of hierarchy than
understood as commission-based services and consultancy. This is not always recognized by
Western clients, leading to the expectation of a high degree of individual initiative on behalf of
the local partner - while the local staff is used to just fulfilling concrete requests.
Different communication cultures
Although open communication about challenges and problems is widely established in Asia,
Asian research partners might still first try to deal with problems and questions without
'bothering' the client. Asian research partners want to be perceived as a good service provider,
meaning that the client should experience a perfect project flow without any hassle for himself.
This kind of Asian service culture may lead to silent adjustments of recruitment criteria or the
adaptation of concept translations and so on. This all may be helpful to meet local specifics,
however it can cause major problems if the researcher conducting a global research project is
not informed about these changes. Dealing with mistakes may become another challenge as
negative feedback is easily interpreted as a kind of personal failure. It is therefore essential for
Westerners to provide feedback in a very constructive way that allows the Asian partner to 'save
face'.
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Concept tests - specific Asian processing and assessment of concept content
In the area of classic concept tests it seems quite difficult for Asian respondents to discuss
specific concept details independently from their assessment of the overall concept. This
tendency is especially strong if a respondent's concept assessment is based on emotional
concept elements. The emotional content simply overshadows the functional content in the
perception of the Asian respondent. To counterbalance this tendency, it is helpful to test not only
complete text concepts but also their single elements (insight, benefit, RTB and tagline).
Translations of concepts into Asian languages
Another very basic and often underestimated issue is the concept translation. Asian languages
are highly contextual languages. Words can have multiple meanings and may sometimes only
be understood in a context of sentences. In combination with a highly complex system of
characters in countries like China or Japan this may lead to great challenges when translating
concepts. In addition, the original concepts are often based on certain cultural assumptions or
plays on words which take advantage of the language they are written in. When such concepts
get translated into rather mediocre local versions, e.g. because the play on words does not work
in the respective Asian language, they may end up testing poorly. This problem is further
reinforced by the fact that translations are often left to the last minute and simply assigned to the
research agencies rather than to professional bi-lingual translators. Apart from scheduling
sufficient time for translations, it is thus recommendable to strive for several feedback loops in
the translation of concepts.
Consumer diaries - a rewarding but time-consuming methodology
Creative consumer diaries to be completed at home are referred to as one of the most difficult
parts of qualitative research by our interviewed Asian experts. Commonly, Asian consumers are
not enthusiastic about filling in such diaries as they have no strong culture of writing for pleasure
or keeping a diary. Respondents tend to dismiss the completion of a diary as a kind of game for
children and thus not as something worth spending their time and effort on. Insufficient
monetary incentives and the often complex and lengthy character of the diaries further
aggravate this dilemma. Nonetheless, creative diaries can work very well in Asia and may lead
to wonderful insights - that is if the local research agency is committed to accompanying and
supervising the diary phase. Usually this involves intensive personal contact with the
respondents and multiple visits to the respondents' homes - which implies additional work for
the local research partner.
In-home ethnography - easy in some Asian countries, more difficult in others
In India, ethnography can be done quite easily because of the Indians' great hospitality and few
personal boundaries and their ease at welcoming strangers at home. In contrast, in China and
Malaysia respondents are rather hesitant to invite strangers to their homes. Here, social
gatherings are commonly conducted in '3rd spaces' such as restaurants or bars rather than at
home where living conditions can be quite cramped. Additionally, people may feel their home is
not representative enough to welcome guests, especially if foreign clients are among them. In
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China, respondents are furthermore particularly sensitive when it comes to showing personal
rooms (e.g. bathroom and bedroom) and on top of that, having pictures or videos taken in their
home. They require to be notified in advance of which places in the home shall be visited and
photographed. High incentives need to be calculated for conducting in-home ethnography in
these countries. In addition, reducing in-home visits to a minimum of (local) attendees is
advisable to get a realist impression of the living environment.
Online research: well developed only in few Asian countries
It may come as a surprise to Western clients that the use of online methodologies can be
difficult in Asia. Here, these normally time- and cost-efficient methodologies can actually turn
into the opposite because Asian target groups often do not respond to them. One reason for this
is the low spread of the internet in some countries. Though very high in Japan, Korea, Taiwan
and Singapore, it is rather low in India, China and Southeast Asia, where it is furthermore
unevenly distributed (high in urban areas, low in rural areas). The fact that the internet is very
often accessed from cyber cafés has an additional deterring effect on consumers' ability and
willingness to navigate online surveys.
Country specifics: Japan as a special challenge
Very striking were the particularities that market researchers - both of Western AND of Asian
origin - experience when working with Japanese clients or research agencies. The conclusion is
very clear and straight-forward: Japan is different from all the rest of Asia! (As well as from the
West and the rest of the world for that matter) Only one of many striking examples is the
Japanese clients' or Japanese research partners' wish for extremely detailed and wellstructured project set-ups from an early point in time. Any last-minute changes cause an
uncomfortable sense of uncertainty on the Japanese side. Also, anybody who has completed a
research in Japan knows how difficult it is to get at the heart of what Japanese respondents
actually think and feel. Therefore, conducting research in Japan demands a high degree of
openness and flexibility on behalf of Western clients and researchers - even more than in other
Asian countries. The outcome will be an exciting and rewarding research experience!
Want to know more about market research in Asia?
If you are interested in further details, please check out our homepage at www.g-i-m.com or
contact Patricia Blau (p.blau@g-i-m.com) or Susanne Wieners-Schlupkothen (s.wienersschlupkothen@g-i-m.com).
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