The 2021 Kantar Global MONITOR survey found 65% of customers prioritize buying from companies that actively promote diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in their own business or society as a whole. How can your company do better DEI in Market Research?
Avoid Homogenous Market Research Teams
Almost 69% of market research analysts are white. That proportion alone could lead to inherent bias so market researchers have to be very cognizant that they are facilitating a culture where all demographics are seen, heard and valued. Research participants may be less likely to share certain information with someone of a different background. Moderators could miss specific cultural contexts, and research questions may be inadvertently designed to confuse or exclude other ethnic groups.
DEI Finds New Whitespaces
Casting a wide net brings in ideas from a variety of social, economic, ethnic and cultural spectrums. This leads to a richer and more complete picture of your marketplace and more diverse research can lead to a broader range of new products and service ideas. If your data is skewed in any one of these variables, it won’t be a true reflection of society which then means you have flawed or inaccurate research. A study for the Alliance for Inclusive and Multicultural Marketing found that Caucasians were accurately identified 68% of the time in large digital datasets used for target marketing, but only 49% of Hispanics, 28% of African Americans and 24% of Asian Americans were accurately identified.
DEI in Market Research Helps Brand Perception
A 2019 report by Adobe U.S. found that 66% of African Americans and 53% of Latino and Hispanic Americans felt they were stereotyped in advertisements. The same report had 62% of people saying that diversity in advertising was necessary and 38% said they were more likely to trust brands that do an excellent job of showing diversity in their ads. Accurate representation signals to your consumers or potential consumers that your brand is engaged and interested in learning more about people and the needs they have across cultures and backgrounds.
