The Crowst blog
Crowst Service
Shopper Insights
28/09/24
Taking the mystery out of mystery shopping
Mystery shopping is an established insight method used by marketing research companies. In this method, trained researchers go undercover and evaluate the experience at stores, points of sale, restaurants, and other locations of interest. However, they are not real customers. This article takes the mystery out of mystery shopping; Shopper insight is the valid method that leads to qualitative, customer-focused understanding.
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Insights & Industry
29/05/24
Embracing AI in Consumer Research
In today’s rapidly evolving market landscape, understanding consumer behavior is more critical than ever. The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) has brought transformative changes to consumer research, enhancing the speed, accuracy, and depth of insights. This article explores the multifaceted impact of AI on consumer research, from designing questionnaires and analyzing data to generating actionable insights. By balancing AI’s capabilities with human expertise, businesses can achieve a more nuanced and effective approach to understanding consumer behavior.
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Crowst Service
28/03/24
Segmentation on food and eating – Introducing the “Six Finns”
Based on our own extensive fieldwork and dataset collected in Finland, we are introducing the “Six Finns”; key consumer segments based on food and eating habits. These segments are available for targeting in any insight project.
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Crowst Service
28/02/24
Raising the Bar – Behavioral Segmentation on Insights
At Crowst we believe that a relevant set of targeting attributes is the enabler for the real value driver: the identification and establishment of relevant consumer audiences and segments.
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Crowst Service
31/01/24
Consumer insight and pet owners – Where relevant consumer audiences make the difference
At Crowst we believe that a relevant set of targeting attributes is the enabler for the real value driver: the identification and establishment of relevant consumer audiences and segments.
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Crowst Service
29/08/23
Join the free Gen Z webinar – Hear the voice of the youth, powered with insight
In January 2023 we jointly launched with Bängeri a Gen Z focused insight program. In the Spring we executed a nationally targeted study at 750 respondents, focusing on the 15–25-year-old Gen Z people in Finland. The folks that will be the mothers, fathers, partners, consumers, professionals and leaders of tomorrow. Gen Z is commonly acknowledged… Read article
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Shopper Insights
27/04/23
Shopper Insights: Uncovering the “Why” Behind “What” Your Customers Buy
As a consumer product brand, you know that understanding your customers is key to driving sales and building brand loyalty. While tracking sales data can give you some insight into what your customers are buying, it doesn’t tell you why they’re making those purchases. That’s where shopper insights come in. Shopper insights provide a deep… Read article
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Crowst Service
Insights & Industry
27/02/23
Crowst and BrandBuddy couple product distribution with insights
As part of their new product development processes (NPD), companies are very interested in including a genuine consumer perspective in the planning. What is the spontaneous reaction among the key target segments? What is their perception on the product features? A company may be planning to launch a new product to the market, re-positioning an… Read article
Read articleInsights & Industry
30/01/23
Crowst and Bängeri launch a joint insights program – Gen Z Trend Pulse
The program will drill down in understanding how Gen Z folks dedicate and use their time, both on weekdays and on the weekends. Within the framework of weekly living cycles and time, buying is in special focus. What people buy, what are the triggers for impulse buying, what are the desired brands and why.
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29/11/22
Insider’s view: Insights during times of crisis
Over a period of two years during the COVID-19 pandemic, life as we knew it was completely upended. We had to adapt our behaviours to changing personal and work circumstance. Shopping behaviours changed – online retail became more relevant. Entertainment consumption changed – streaming services grew. Food habits changed – in-home cooking and takeaways were… Read article
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Shopper Insights
28/04/22
Pictures Speak a Thousand Words – Also on Study Reporting and Insights
Pictures speak a thousand words – it’s impossible to live a lifetime without hearing this expression. Most likely because it is true; we human beings receive, adopt, and act based on visual information. In our past and as an integral part through our transformation into a modern human race, the ability to see and act… Read article
Read articleShopper & Mysteryt
Shopper Insights
31/03/22
Attitudes, Motivations and Shopper Insights
Attitudes and Motivations define a customer’s shopping behaviour. How a person feels about a brand, a product or a service is vital for marketers to make the right message, positioning and retail execution to nudge a customer closer to purchase. It is a common refrain among marketing researchers that “what the customers say they do… Read article
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Insights & Industry
27/02/22
Weekly Pulse – On People, Insights and Things That Matter
We have learned to expect the unexpected. Things happen at intense cycles, and this applies to everything: the take-off of new ideas, the phase-out of trends that were hot yesterday, turns on the macro-level, international politics and conditions. Sadly, in the latter context we are living dark times when this post is published. We react… Read article
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Crowst Service
28/01/22
4 Pillars for Better Recruitment on Qualitative Insights Projects
You may not come to think about it before you are running a concrete project. How to find your target consumers to take part in the focus group on cuisine, cooking and food? How to find the right participants to test your app, giving direct feedback on its features and usability? Participants’ demography is only… Read article
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21/12/21
Understanding the youth – Deciphering behaviour requires relevant access
Do you remember that summer rain you experienced in July when you were 16 years old, walking home from that party that changed it all? There have been July summer rains many times after that and usually they feel good. But when you are a teenager, it feels something unique. Simply put; when you are… Read article
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29/10/21
Consumer Segmentation: From Strategy to Implementation
Most brands today understand that their consumers are not all cut of the same cloth. For years, demographic & socio-economic segmentation has been the way for consumer segmentation. What age segments find your products most appealing, or which income levels value affordability or what kind of household would the product be more relevant to? This was… Read article
Read articleShopper Insights
25/02/21
Shopper Insights – 5 myths to break
“The odds of going to the store for a loaf of bread and coming out with only a loaf of bread are three billion to one.” (late. Erma L. Bombeck, American humourist). This quote paints a simple picture of what is at the core of shopper insights. It highlights why Brands and Retailers invest a fair… Read article
Read articleBehavioural Insights
28/10/20
Changing food trends – Cooking, eating and buying at the time of COVID-19
COVID-19, also know as the corona pandemic, has impacted us in various ways in the year 2020. While many implications of the pandemic are negative in nature, there are also certain positive behavioural aspects to consider. Change is constantly challenging the status quo, resulting in new ways of thinking and behaving through adaptation. This article focuses on… Read article
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29/09/20
Crowst unleashes its insights pulse globally, covering 60M people in 80 countries
Crowst, a Helsinki-based insights company from Finland, started its operations in January 2016. What was kicked off during the coldest weeks of the Nordic snow-enriched winter, transformed into something special in the years that followed. In 2019, Crowst won the #1 prize at the Slush Nordic Business Angel event, selected as the best out of… Read article
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29/07/20
Introducing our superpower – The Crowsters
Today, in the era of consumer awareness, gathering consumer insights is crucial for every company. Market is full of different solutions to gather insights, but because of data privacy, it is easy to forget that there is a real individual behind each response. At Crowst, we think that it’s important to emphasize the value of… Read article
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29/06/20
Crowst introduces new consumer audiences, from Innovators to Laggards
In 1962, many world-changing events occurred. Marilyn Monroe died, Nelson Mandela got arrested, and the first Bond film, Dr No, was released. In the same year the sociologist Everett Rogers also published his book “Diffusion of Innovations”, introducing a theory that is commonly applied today in the fields of economics, marketing and technology. And for… Read article
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30/01/20
Insider’s view: Urbanization drives new trends and eating habits
In the past three decades Tomi Kuittinen, Head of Insight & Foresight at HKScan Oyj, has witnessed major societal, behavioural and structural changes. These changes cover both the business landscape on food production and consumption, as well as how we as consumers live our lives. Having worked at stock-listed companies and market leaders such as… Read article
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29/11/19
On Slush spotlight: Crowst chosen as the best company of Nordic Angel Program
The excitement, passion and energy that you feel in the air when 25 000 innovative minds from all around the globe gather in Helsinki. The name of the game is the event called Slush, where 3500 startup companies and 2000 investors shake hands. The world’s leading startup event was held last week, and now the… Read article
Read articleConcept & Campaign Testing
30/10/19
Modern concept & campaign testing – Powered by mobility for quick decision-making
Companies with consumer targeted offerings are challenged in the market every day. Timely deliveries, operational excellence, quality of service, and the quality of products offered and consumed. Competition never rests. While companies, for example those that operate in the fiercely competed FMCG business, are constantly tested in the market, the creative agencies that are missioned… Read article
Read articleShopper Insights
02/07/19
Modern mystery shopping – Insights as a pulse
Mystery shopping is an insights technique deployed to evaluate retail operations or quality of service provided by a business. Today, the core idea of mystery shopping is to evaluate and track in-store execution and customer experience, comparing the study results against the tactical and strategic objectives of a company. Interestingly, mystery shopping has long history;… Read article
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27/02/19
Crowst 2.0. – The art of audiences
In the end of December we announced our long-awaited holiday present; the brand new service version Crowst 2.0. A version we have worked hard for through the year 2018, also involving real market-testing projects with some of our client companies. We are thrilled that Crowst 2.0. is now available, seeing the strength it brings for intelligent study design, respondent… Read article
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27/12/18
Crowst 2.0. is here – Designed for better and faster insights
At Crowst, we have been working hard on the new version of our service. Now, when we are about to welcome the year 2019 in its full glory, we are ready to bring the new version into daylight! Crowst 2.0. brings plenty of new capabilities including intelligent study design, targeting and activation of respondents, Crowst Dashboard… Read article
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23/02/18
Continuous Tracking vs. Traditional Research
Companies bet on getting as much data as possible about their markets to drive their business decisions. For decades, traditional market research has been an integral partner (or in-house function) for many organizations to achieve this goal. It prides on scientific tools and methods built on reams of data gathered from consumers to justify company… Read article
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12/01/18
The Curse of Research – Sales Perspective
“Multitalented people wanted.” Sometimes you see this written in job announcements, but you typically hear about “skill diversity” and “multi-tasking” in the job interview at the latest. Doesn’t it sound unrealistic to outline an expertise scope of an omnipotent demigod, and then position the recruit in a specific work role? Creative teams, focusing on establishing emotionally… Read article
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18/12/17
From Babylonian bazaars to high-street shops – it’s all about location and in-store insights
Through ages there has been a buzz where people meet. Bazaars, village main squares, taverns strung out of the walking paths in the middle of nowhere. Consequently, where people have met, items have been exchanged, sold and bought. Over centuries the hottest buzz has happened in specific locations where the ultimate purchasing decisions have been… Read article
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