In-Depth Interviews

In-depth interviews as part of your qualitative research toolkit

In-depth interviews are a critical part of the qualitative toolkit, and in many cases the most valuable technique for getting to the heart of consumer understanding and opportunity in Japan- enabling us to get to deeper understanding face to face, and often in the consumers own environment.

In depth interviews harness the power of one-on-one learning and observation, and often lead to those “ah ha” insight moments for our researchers and clients. And more and more, we are incorporating observational and ethnographic elements into these interactions to get closer to our customers and uncover their truths for the Japanese market.

In-depth interviews are great for exploring more complex or emotive categories and personal or highly sensitive topics (for example personal care products, cultural issues, health/ illness etc) … or simply for deeper understanding of behaviours, needs, attitudes and reactions.

In-depth interviews can be conducted at our Tokyo studios or more often than not, in-situ

Research now is more about getting deeper and more actionable insights for our clients. More and more, our interviews are designed to unlock opportunities stemming from consumer’s own environments and incorporating ethnographic approaches- where they use the category and even when and how they shop for the category.

We utilize in-depth interviews to help our clients explore everything from underlying category needs (fast food, anti-aging skincare, digital financial services) to new product design “in situ” (portable vacuum cleaners, kitchen appliances, household cleaning or personal care) to digital and product usability (credit cards, luxury automobiles, laptops) to print and TV advertising messaging (luxury watches, whiskey, haircare products).

In-depth interview research design is always tailored to your goals

Our in-depth interviews range in design and duration, from shorter professional interviews of around 45-60 minutes, in our facilities to deep dive ethnographic style interviews of 2-2.5 hrs where we engage with the respondent’s “in situ” environment (e.g. the respondents home, work, restaurant etc).

We carefully advise you on an optimized length and design of in-depth interviews based on our experience and your own unique project objectives.

Moderation is key – as is the right discussion guide design

Just as with focus groups, assigning the right moderators to conduct your in-depth interviews is key to ensuring quality results and meeting your research objectives.

The Japanese market and indeed Japanese consumers are unique. Our moderators are experienced in working with local and international stakeholders, and take a flexible approach to shaping and adapting as the interviews progress – including recommending changes to the guide and/or the research stimulus when things can be optimised for greater learning.

Our experience with International projects and the unique needs of Japanese respondents enables us to effectively adapt interview guides to Japanese cultural aspects. In Japan, cultural norms mean that questioning often takes longer to administer, as respondents often require more background and more tailored and nuanced questioning than in many other countries.