It won’t be a surprise to anyone reading this that one of the most frequently researched topics on Indeemo in 2022 was sustainability. We predict this to continue into 2023. 

Clients across every industry and sector are investing heavily into researching all aspects of sustainability. In the past 12 months, we have supported research into everything from E-Vehicle Customer Journey Research to Gen Z sustainability attitudes to waste disposal behaviours, to researching vitamins and supplements, to designing behaviour change interventions for transport modal shifts.

Although the variety of sustainability topics is manifold, there is one common theme across the research projects and that is the need to augment existing secondary market research / primary quantitative data with context-rich, in-the-moment insights. 

Although industry reports and quantitative data point to trends, for brands to truly get under the skin of actual behaviours and attitudes towards sustainability, they are increasingly briefing in-the-moment research approaches and in particular diary studies.

The need for In-the-moment Consumer Insights

Leading Research Consultancies, NGOs and Government Agencies publish an abundance of consumer behaviour reports pertaining to sustainable living. More often than not these reports are built from large datasets obtained from quantitative research and consumer surveys. 

However, to bring all of that quantitative data to life, we are now seeing brands brief for mixed methods approaches and in particular the use of in-the-moment research methods to help them get under the hood of the abundance of quant data that is out there. Diary Studies are one of the preferred in-the-moment research methodologies that are increasingly being utilised for consumer behaviour and sustainability research.

In this post we describe three reasons why diary studies are becoming a leading in-the-moment research approach to understanding consumer behaviour and attitudes towards sustainability. First, to get a better understanding of why this is the case, let's take a look at some of the drivers that we believe are influencing this evolution.

Leveraging qualitative insights to triangulate quantitative trends

One challenge that brands face is understanding which publications to invest into. Frequently, there can be contradictory signals in the quantitative research that has been published or is available to purchase from third party organisations. 

Here is one example. With the Cost of Living crisis having impacts across the globe for many households, consumers have reduced non-essential spending. With respect to sustainability and sustainable consumption, this however, according to a recent report, has had a negative impact on brands marketing more sustainable products. The report states that only 41% of consumers are currently willing to pay more for a product they believe to be sustainable, compared to 57% in 2020 (Matt Mace, 2023). In contrast to this however, Deloitte published data that showed an increase in the number of people who have adopted a more sustainable lifestyle since 2021 and the trend they published pertaining to people purchasing more seasonal produce in 2021 continued to grow in 2022 (Deloitte, 2022). 

Reports with varying data and contrasting results is nothing new, but with sustainability becoming an increasing priority for consumers when evaluating what brands to choose, where to shop and what goods to buy (Forbes, 2022), getting a deeper understanding of their target customers has become a critical priority for brands. 

This is why using diary studies to augment the quant data with in-the-moment consumer insights has become a dominant theme at Indeemo.

Bridging the Gap Between Consumer Behaviour & Sustainability

Diary Studies are a well-established qualitative research methodology that has served many disciplines with rich and informative data for many years. A diary study is one methodology that has evolved well over time, moving from traditional pen and paper techniques to harnessing mobile diary study tools and smartphone apps. The integration of this methodology with smartphone technology has proved to be extremely effective in developing a contextual, in-the-moment understanding of consumer behaviour and attitudes towards sustainability. 

Here are some of the benefits of using a diary study to better understand consumer behaviour and attitudes towards sustainability.

The benefits of In-the-Moment Research Tools

Because modern diary study apps can be installed on any smartphone, they allow self-reported behavioural and attitudinal data to be logged in-the-moment. Furthermore, with more than two thirds of US 18-35 year olds spending more than 4 hours a day on their smartphones, taking part in a diary study is as familiar to posting on social media. 

In contrast to quantitative research which is more often than not retrospective and relies on memory, conducting in-the-moment research using Diary Studies allows brands to capture context-rich in-the-moment insights that show them exactly how consumers live, feel and behave.

If you really want to understand how often households use high-energy consuming appliances, for example, using diary study tools, brands can task research respondents to take photographs or record videos every time they use a particular appliance. It's as easy as posting on Snapchat or Instagram. This provides in-the-moment insights that cannot be captured through any other research method.

In-the-moment research captures rich, contextual Insights

The challenge with qualitative research is that it can be perceived as being time-consuming and expensive. However, qual research like diary studies are key to capturing and unpacking the “why” of consumer behaviour. This ties right back to the idea that a dairy study can help us get under the hood of quantitative data.

When brands commission video diary studies, particularly through mobile, they can immerse themselves into the lives of their target consumers in a way that was never before possible. Take our energy consumption example for instance. When consumers are tasked to report on what appliances they use at home, the rich in-the-moment behavioural data they share becomes multi-layered. This multi-layered data (in the form of a narrated video) is the context that we most often than not require. 

Why? Context provided to questions asked of respondents, be it through video or selfies, means brands build a greater sense of empathy for their consumers. It means that brands can understand them better, and appreciate that not all consumers are the same. Seeing people's habits and routines play out in-the-moment as they use various appliances in their homes enables brands to triangulate their quantitative data with multimedia in-the-moment proof of behaviour. This mixed method layering of quant and qual allows them to trust the quant and make strategic decisions more confidently.

In-the-moment research is a powerful tool for Discovery 

When we think about in-the-moment insights and the power the context offers to behavioural research, a diary study can strongly align with consumer discovery. In a nutshell, for discovery research to hold value and inform the future of change to a more sustainable lifestyle and society, it needs to uncover and bring-to-life the context of the consumers brands are seeking to better understand. 

An in-the-moment diary study, if designed well, can do exactly this. So in the context of better understanding consumer behaviour and attitudes towards sustainability, in addition to surveying thousands of respondents to get a representative sample for your quantitative insights, brands are increasingly zooming into the insights and focusing on better understanding individuals. 

When brands adopt a mixed method approach and triangulate the trend of the crowd with context rich, qualitative, in-the-moment insights, they can paint a 360 picture of their target consumers and produce reports that align their entire organisation on how best to effect the changes that their customers need to live a more sustainable life. 

Let us support your next In-the-moment Research Project

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In-the-moment research studies can run from 1 day to 1 week to 1 year depending on what you need.

When you implement a diary study program for your in-the-moment research, you can produce compelling insights with as few as 6-10 participants. 

If you’d like to learn more about how Indeemo can support your shift to in-the-moment research, please get in touch.

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