Chapter 9: Marketing Research
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Mystery shoppers are researchers posing as customers who gather observational data about
a store. Companies also hire these shoppers to study customer–employee interactions.
Mystery shoppers also:
Application Exercise
For its Teens and Healthy Eating: Oxymoron or Trend? study, New York–based BuzzBack
Market Research focused on snacking. Among its findings, teens eat an average of three snacks
per day, and breakfast is the meal they skip most often. Though scads of snacks are stacked on
store shelves, when it comes to healthier treats targeting adolescents, it’s a bit of a teenage
wasteland. BuzzBack asked 532 teen respondents to conjure up new foods they’d gobble up. The
following are some of their ideas:
• “Travel fruit. Why can’t fruit be in travel bags like chips or cookies? Canned fruit is too
messy. Maybe have a dip or something sold with it, too.” –Female, age 17
• “A drink that contains five servings of fruits and vegetables.” –Male, age 16, Caucasian
• “I would invent all natural and fat-free, vitamin-enhanced cookies and chips that had great
flavor.” –Female, age 16
• “I would make fruit-based cookies.” –Male, age 16, Caucasian
• “Low-carb trail mix, because trail mix is easy to eat but it has a lot of fat/carbs.” –Female,
age 15, Caucasian
• “I would create some sort of microwavable spaghetti.” –Male, age 16, Caucasian
• “Something quick and easy to make that’s also cheap. I’ll be in college next year, and I’m
trying to find things that are affordable, healthier than cafeteria food, and easy to make.” –
Female, age 17
• “Good vegan mac ‘n’ cheese.” –Female, age 18, Caucasian
• “A smoothie where you could get all the nutrients you need, that tastes good, helps you
stay in shape, and is good for you. Has vitamins A, B3, B12, C, ginkgo. Packaging would
be bright.” –Female, age 16, African American
• “A breakfast shake for teens. Something easy that tastes good, not necessarily for dieters
like Slim Fast, etc. Something to balance you off in the morning.” –Male, age 18
Source: Becky Ebenkamp, “The Market Is the Message,” “What If Teenagers Ruled the R&D