Our Top 5 Consumer Market Research Reports

In 2020, Collage Members turned to our platform for proprietary insights into a time of dramatic change. Here, we've compiled the five most important consumer research reports of last year.

Our members explored themes ranging from the impact of the social justice movement, to advertising and to the how we even describe diverse segments at the pivotal moment in American history – and above all on the impact of COVID. 

5. Diverse Representation in Ads Is Not Enough to Win the New Wave of Diverse Young Americans

Across 2019, we analyzed almost 150 ads, gathering almost 100,000 surveys and 20 million datapoints.

Using this data, we developed the Cultural Fluency Quotient, a new metric to predict brand favorability and purchase intent, and ran machine learning on the data to derive powerful new insights into what matters for every demographic.

When we run the numbers, the findings are similar for every demographic. The best ads tell a simple story using ONE multicultural perspective, with attention to authentic texture.  These ads avoid the trap of representing every demographic at once, and ensure the viewer is not confused by the relationship between the product and the story. Download the insights below.

4. How Multicultural Consumers Want Brands to Support Change: Consumer Response to Racism and Current Events

Entering the conversation on race can be an intimidating step for your brand, but in this day and age, it’s imperative. Our latest research on current events helps you unpack this topic and provides the guidance you need to take action.

“Unprecedented times:” a label the world has become well acquainted with since the beginning of the COVID 19 pandemic. But over the past several weeks, public outcry over heinous deaths in the Black community has given new meaning to this phrase. From George Floyd, to Breonna Taylor, to Ahmaud Arbery, and more – Black lives lost at the hands of an inherently racist system have awakened America to the reality of its dark past and broken present.

3. The Cultural Fluency Imperative: How to Win the New Wave of Diverse Young Consumers

The 2019 Roundtable Series inaugurated a new chapter in the way we help organizations activate young diverse consumers. Learn about our Cultural Fluency Framework and how applying our three part approach can help connect your brand equities more reliably to the Group Traits of these consumers.

How should marketers reach younger and more diverse Americans, the generation between 18 and 39 whose spending is set to explode?  To answer this question, we enhanced the Cultural Fluency framework we first introduced in 2017, to better increase the ROI on marketing to a diverse America.

2. On the Use of the Terms “Black” and “Hispanic” (and “Latinx”)

Members often approach us to ask about the terminology used to refer to a few of the segments we cover. Should we say Black or African American? Are people moving to Latinx and away from Hispanic?

Our decision to use the term “b/Black” also issues from the fact that it is technically more correct as this term can apply to all individuals descended from the African diaspora, including those that do not identify with African or American heritage.  Additionally, we’ve seen indicators that this term is more associated with the move among many black Americans to re appropriate “blackness,” an appearance and expression the mainstream historically viewed as negative, in order to invert that dynamic, as well as empower and celebrate.  Look no further than “Black Panther,” “Black Twitter” and the show “Blackish” for examples.

Despite the popularity of the term “Latinx” in young, progressive, and especially queer Hispanic spaces, only one percent of Hispanic consumers opt for that term. This finding aligns with others’ research on the subject, but we wanted to dig deeper. We asked Hispanic consumers whether they felt positively, negatively, or neutral towards the use of various terms to describe people of their background, and we found that “Latinx” only has a net positive response for younger Hispanic consumers. But this margin is quite narrow, suggesting that the term is highly controversial even for the Millennial and Gen Z Hispanic segments.

1. Insights to Connect With Multicultural Consumers in a Time of Crisis

Our May 2020 edition of the multi month COVID 19 initiative takes an expansive look at consumer preferences and shopping behaviors during our time of crisis.

The analysis uncovers how attitudes and spending patterns are shifting among the major racial and ethnic segments at a general and category specific level.  You’ll find category specific decks ready for download on this page, covering alcohol, mobile and electronics, entertainment and media, financial services, food and beverage, home care, and personal care. This research had a profound influence on our agenda and on the basis of this work, the most downloaded work across all of 2020, we inaugurated a semi-annual investigation of consumer attitudes across 10 major industries.

We are immensely honored to be serving the world’s most iconic and global brands as they navigate the extraordinary cultural transformation underway in the United States.  We are grateful for the robust increases in your use of our platform to meet your most pressing need for insights into the ever-changing and extraordinarily complex American consumer.

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