Question

1. You are helping to manage the launch of a newtoothpaste packaging that reduces mess and waste frompoorly-dispensed toothpaste. However, it looks quite different fromwhat people are used to and takes a bit of effort to learn howto use. What sort of concerns do you have? Howcould customer interviews help you identify the critical issues, vs. what you could get from a survey? (Assume you will use both along with samples, but state what kind of information you would get fromeach kind of research.)

Answer 1

Answer: This new product is different from the traditional offering in the market and requires that the customers need to make efforts to learn about how to use it. This is not an easy task as it requires bringing a change in the behavior of the consumers. There is a need to not only create awareness about the new offering in the customers but at the same time it is also required that a behaviour change is brought in them. Thus there is a need to create a promotional campaign which not only brings awareness about the product but also teaches the customers about how to use the new product.

As the marketing effort in this case requires a double effort hence it is required that in depth information about the consumer behaviour is sought. The interviews are better in terms of understanding the critical issues related in this case as compared to the customer surveys. The interview is an interactive process in which the consumers can provide both information and also ask questions. This helps to get better and in depth information from them. The consumers in a survey only provide answers to the questions asked. Hence the information obtained from the interviews is more comprehensive. In interviews open ended questions can be asked and more analytical information can be obtained. While in the surveys the questions are open ended and the information is factual.