Multicultural Research

Hispanics Research Services

The American society contains many different subcultures, driven by a wide diversity of racial, age, nationality, religious, cultural, and regional groups.

Historically, many companies have developed products and launched marketing campaigns based on the idea of a fictitious “average consumer” that doesn’t exist. The concept of an average consumer has excluded certain groups through intentional discrimination or unconscious biases, resulting in uncountable missed growth opportunities due to a lack of diversity in perspectives.

A subculture is a segment of the larger culture whose members share distinguishing patterns of behavior, which are based on the social history of the group and its current situation.

Today, the U.S. is better described as a salad bowl than a melting pot. In a salad, each ingredient preserves its unique identity while adding to the color and flavor of the whole salad, even if there is a salad dressing representing the core American culture that connects diverse groups at different intersections in their experience living in the U.S.

The push for more inclusion, diversity, equity, and access is currently driven by a renewed debate about past and present racial and social injustices and new perspectives about race, age, gender, nationality, work, family, and money growing in the most diverse generations in American history (Gen Z, Alpha).  

Diversity is here to stay. The value of doing multicultural research, with a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) lens has grown as companies have become aware of how the gap between their corporate practices and what their employees and customers expect will affect business sustainability in the long run.

Marketing to diverse segments is full of complexities. They are part of the general market and sometimes show similar attitudes and behaviors to those observed among other groups. However, they often think and behave differently, influenced by historical events, family traditions, country of origin (U.S. or abroad), cultural values and traditions from their home countries, language and dialect preference in different situations, generation order, and length of time living in the U.S.

Multicultural Insights Collective

Relevant Insights has experience in research with diverse groups that exist at the intersection of various socio- and demographic dimensions (e.g., race and cultural ethnicity, age, gender, geography, etc.) and is a founding member of the Multicultural Insights Collective, a coalition of predominantly women- and- minority-owned business founders with extensive experience in research, diversity, multiculturalism, and management.

As a collective, we have conducted research to identify best practices for speaking both internally and externally on racial justice, diversity, equity, inclusion, and representation.

These best practices can be used to support revenue growth and operational savings through inclusivity in different areas:

  • Marketing and advertising campaigns.
  • New product development.
  • Customer experience improvement initiatives.
  • Employee experience, including hiring and retention.

MIC Founding Members

 

Michaela Mora
Michaela Mora
Relevant Insights
Damion Taylor
Damion Taylor
Prometheus Digital Studio
Jay Tucker
Jay Tucker
UCLA MEMES
Lisa Wilding-Brown
Lisa Wilding-Brown
Innovate MR
Jimmy Zollo
Damion Taylor
Collaborata

 

 

Why You Should Do Multicultural Research

  • Assess the market opportunity for your products and services in multicultural segments.
  • Develop a marketing strategy that organically integrates this segment in the context of the general market, allowing you to allocate resources effectively.
  • Offer deep cultural insights that allow you to uncover untapped needs to pursue.
  • Provide guidance on how to position products/services to reach diverse segments and what messages resonate with different groups.
  • Identify the most effective media vehicles and distribution channels that should be used to reach them.
  • Understand differences and similarities across diverse groups that can be used in marketing strategies and tactics.
  • Determine the most profitable sub-segments, giving you a profile of who your best customers are within a particular diverse segment.
  • Create culturally sensitive and appropriate advertising, which will prevent you from committing cultural blunders in your communication and marketing materials.

Our Research Capabilities

Qualitative Research

Qualitative Research

  • Focus Groups (online and offline).
  • One-on-One interviews (phone, online, and in-person).
  • Diary Studies.
Quantitative Research

Quantitative Research

  • Online surveys.
  • Phone surveys.
  • Mail surveys.