‘Behaviour Mapping’ is based on primary research undertaken by academics, that places the consumer at the heart of the process with a view to identifying fresh insight into behaviour, within a given context.
Why make use of it?
- People are not always the most reliable witness to their own behaviour
- Traditionally commercial research has relied on recalled behaviour
- Whilst steps have been taken to address this, formal behavioural studies can be prohibitively expensive when undertaken by the private sector
How does it happen?
These studies adopt a range of methods:
- Ethnography/netnography
- Structured/semi-structured observation
- Structured content analysis
- Experimental research
- Traditional qual and quant techniques
Each approach is developed according to the research objectives.
Case study: Channel 4
Perceptions of disability in sport for Channel 4 (Paralympic Games)
The brief: For Channel 4, the Paralympics was about more than sport; it was an opportunity to change perceptions of disability and disabled sport. They therefore wanted to understand what impact their programming may have had on societal perceptions of disability.
Our approach: A two-year multi-stage longitudinal study intended to capture everyday stories of disability and disabled sport. We wanted to capture the lived experiences of people before, in the run up to, and immediately after the games in order to understand how individual ‘stories’ of disability and disabled sport are constructed and re-constructed as a result of exposure to the games. We conducted 140 phenomenological interviews with people across the country, and with varying experiences of disability and sport. We also conducted a netnography of a number of online spaces, to examine how Paralympic programming penetrated everyday discussions online.
The outputs: Four reports and presentations for Channel 4, which formed the basis of an award winning consumer insights study, and underpinned their multiple award winning ‘Meet the Superhumans’ promotional campaign.