Multicultural Market Research:
why is diversity so important?

As the population shifts into a more diverse demographic, so too must all the marketing efforts change and adjust. Diversity helps ensure all ages, genders, sexualities, nationalities, and religions are being considered in your brand’s message and representation. 

In order to obtain ALL the data you need from a market research, you must include an adequate multicultural representation in the research sample. Because when you don’t, you could end up creating a marketing fiasco, like that unforgettable H&M campaign which ended up having disastrous consequences for the brand: celebrities ending their relationships with the store, riots erupting across South Africa and causing a temporal shut down of all the stores in the area, as well as the family of the model having to move from their home in fear of their safety. Had H&M ran a diverse marketing research before launching this campaign, all this could have been avoided. Different perspectives mean different opinions and points of view, which can help the brand see something they may have missed before. Sadly, in this case, H&M didn’t see anything wrong with the image until everything was already up and running. 

Marketing research at a professional level has a critical consultancy role. An experienced research company will be able to give you an interpretation of the possible results, which can help your company understand the message and its implications before launching. This gives brand managers time to make any necessary changes or adjustments, letting research and marketing investments stay on target and contribute to a positive ROI strategy.  

When you do diversity and inclusion market research right, you can have an impactful campaign that yields positive results, both for sales and PR. Let’s look at a great example: Nike. Taking a calculated risk, the famous swoosh brand released an ad that changed it all: the Colin Kaepernick ad. A commercial that showed people from all over the world, from different backgrounds and even abilities (and in some cases, disabilities) with ONE thing in common: they are all athletes. And they all share the same dream. 

Bridget Austin states that this is called the “salad bowl effect”, where “communities began to celebrate their differences rather than striving to fit into the dominant culture.” Today, your background and history is something to be celebrated, not hidden. When a brand manages to represent that, the message gets through.

“Gen Zers and millennials favor ads and product lines that highlight diversity”, highlights Elizabeth Chey in an article from ClearVoice. “The demand from diverse consumers these days is to see themselves reflected for all their complexity.” Human beings are complex by nature, and when you add in the cultural mix, even more so. But we tend to share a simple dream: to be better and overcome our challenges. This is where a powerful message, like Nike’s, can strike home. Because in the end, despite having different experiences, challenges, and lifestyles, we are all people. 

And this is also where brands can mess up by not considering diversity and inclusion. Michael P. Krone in “Diversity Marketing & Cultural Awareness” states that “If your customers are different than you and they feel unrecognized, you will begin to lose them.” When someone no longer identifies with your brand, they are no longer your customer. This is why diversity is so important when it comes to marketing and its research – it can make or break your customer base. 

So how do you include diversity in your marketing research? We have a few easy tips for you to conduct multicultural market research: