SECTION 2: EXPLORING PERCEPTIONS, MOTIVATIONS AND CONSUMPTION HABITS OF YOGHURT
(35’)
Objectives: to gain insight into motivations of eating yoghurt and consumption habits
What comes to mind when you think of yoghurts? (Listen to the first aspects that emerge
spontaneously about yogurts: pleasure, functionality, benefits, flavour, etc. Do not prompt).
Mind cloud exercise:
Moderator to explain: “Close your eyes and take one minute to think about yoghurt, regardless
types. I have a lot of pen and writing notes on the table so that each of you can write down your
thoughts, feelings and associations with yoghurt. Each of the association will be written down in
one note. The purpose of this exercise is to understand what you spontaneously think of
yoghurt”
Moderator encourage each respondent to write down from 3-5 associations in 3 minutes. Make
sure respondents to write a diversity of attributes and assure them that they can have different
opinions from others.
Respondents will be asked to stick those notes on the flipchart, clearly into 3 charts – negative,
neutral and positive associations of yoghurt.
Moderator to briefly go through each chart and summarise:
Which attributes of yoghurt attract you the most?
Which attributes are less attractive about eating/drinking yoghurt? How so?
So, in more details, what does yoghurt mean in your life? (They’re an extra, basic product, a
“treat”, etc.)
Benefits of the yogurt – probe rational and emotional:
o What are the main benefits we associate with yogurt consumption?
o Rationally: what does it give you? What are the needs it covers? Is it nutrition, food,
dessert-award? Etc.
Moderator: analyse each of them in detail (the ones they suggest)
What does nutrition mean through a yogurt? Understand in depth.
o Emotionally: What do you gain from it? How do you feel when I you/drink yogurt?
Explore in depth
Projective: What would happen if one day yogurts no longer existed? What would we lose?
What would we miss most? What would we have to replace it? (rapid exercise to delve into the
perception and experiences of the category in each of the countries and surrounding categories
that are covering similar needs and motivations)
Motivations of yoghurt consumption:
When did you start consuming yoghurt often?
Does your consumption habit differ over time? (i.e going to school/ university to working, when
not having kids to having kids etc)? How has it changed? (Probe: frequency, preference of
variants/ types, taste, texture etc). What causes this change?
What are latest trends in yoghurt market? What excites you recently? How does it change your
consumption habit and preference for yoghurt?
Now, which occasions do you normally consume yogurts? Describe the moment firstly – where,
when, with whom, your feelings, time of a day
o Probe: in versus out of home, benefits (beautiful/ digestion/ indulging/ fun etc)
o What makes yoghurt relevant in this moment?
o What do you look for from yoghurt? (taste, flavour, texture, benefits, ingredient, level
of sugar, packaging etc)?
o What do you gain from consuming yoghurt in this moment? “After consuming yoghurt, I
feel…” (Moderator allow respondents to finish the sentence with their own words
o Can any other products offer you the same experience like yoghurt? What can be the
alternatives? What makes yoghurt so special in this moment?
o Collage exercise: we have a lot of images on the table. What I need you to do now is
each of you pick one image that best describe your feelings and association with eating
yoghurt in this occasion. Probe:
What does this image say? What kinds of feelings? How does this image relate
to your experience with consuming yoghurt in this occasion?
o How do you normally consume yoghurt? Cold, at room temperature, volume etc
o Are there any unmet needs and concern when consuming yoghurt in this moment?
What causes this concern? What should be improved?
Purchase habit
Where do you usually buy yoghurt? How often? How much each time?
What factors do you consider when buying yoghurt? Probe: brand, taste/ flavours, ingredients,
price, packaging etc
Which factors are more important? Which factors are less important? How so?
SECTION 3: EXPLORING THE MARKET LANDSCAPE AND KEY BRAND PERCEPTION (35’)
Objectives : to understand how consumers perceive the market and how the key brands have been
positioned in consumer’s mind
EATING YOGHURT VERSUS DRINKING YOGHURT:
What yogurt types exist and do you usually consume? (Record the yoghurt types (not brands)
that exist in the market and then group them together to analyse the market segmentation)
o Eating versus drinking yoghurt
Could we group together/ associate all these yogurts by the characteristics they share? (pay
attention to the category segmentation and explore each one of the groups that emerges)
For each one of the groups:
o This is the group of the…. (find an adjective to describe it)
o What do they have in common? (benefits, consumption moments, purchase, etc.)
Uses: When do we turn to these sorts of yoghurts? When searching, what do we need?
(underlying benefit: pleasure, functionality, nutrition, etc.)
When are these product types for: home, away from home; snack, night-time, dessert, etc.?
(define the consumption type of this group: on the go and at home, etc.) What makes it ideal
for this moment? Is it the format, the texture, the flavour, etc.?
o Consumer profile: Who is this yogurt type for? What are they seeking, what do they
need …? What ages, gender: children, adults, everyone, etc.?
o Price: what price range does this group move within?
o Format: What is the format of this product type like? What consumption type does it fit
best with: at home, outside the home, etc.?
o Unmet needs: What is missing from within this group? What do you miss?
o Repeat for each one of the groups.
BRAND GROUPING:
Talking about yoghurt brands, what brand do you know of? It could be any kind of yoghurt –
eating yoghurt or drinking yoghurt…
Moderator: I have prepared a list of brand logo on the table. As a group, please work together and sort
those brands into groups with the criteria defined by you all. After finish, you will explain how you
decide to group them.
How many groups are there? Which criteria did you use?
Give each group a name. What is unique about each group? What are strengths and weakness
of each group?
BRAND PERCEPTION & PERSONIFICATION (max 3 leading brands)
How do you think about that milk brand? What kind of yoghurt is this?
What are the brand’s strengths and weakness?
Imagine if it were a human being, how would you describe that person?
It’s gender? Age?
Where he/she comes from?
What is his/her occupation?
What are his/her bold characters?
Who are his/her friends?
What special about him/her that you like the most?
Are you his/her friend? How close you are with him/her?
