Marketing Research Problem: Failing to Identify MINISO’s Target Consumer in Process ()
1. Introduction
MINISO, an international product retailer, aims to provide high-quality products and services to the young generation, offering affordable household goods, cosmetics, and food. Founded by CEO Ye Guofu, the company’s core principles include affordability, high-quality design, customer satisfaction, and a relaxed, happy experience. As the markets become more interdependent and competitive while consumers, on the other hand, are becoming more selective, many companies stand in front of the decision on how to effectively address this changing climate. On one side, there is a need of product differentiation for the different needs of the different target groups and on the other hand standardisation of the products is necessary to save costs in the whole process of production and distribution to be competitive. Therefore, many international companies try to find internationally valid marketing strategy for their products and brands that will allow them to standardize at least some parts of the marketing mix in more than one market. For this purpose, a tool is widely used in internal marketing planning is called Positioning. Positioning is, for many high brands and companies a key element of the marketing strategy. It identifies the target consumer and the unique benefits that the product (brand) offers to this target consumer and which differentiates it from its competitors. And these are the vital decisions in creating successful and unique marketing strategy. In today’s competitive market, companies must balance product differentiation and standardization to meet the needs of different target groups and save costs. Positioning is a key element in creating a successful marketing strategy, identifying the target audience and unique benefits. Companies should conduct market research to identify their target audience, segment them, and focus on meeting their requirements. By doing so, they can save resources and maintain a good reputation. In the online payment industry, a good reputation and trust worthiness are essential for customers. Building and maintaining good relationships with customers, such as through customer care services, enhances trustworthiness and helps companies understand their needs and satisfaction levels. Prior identifying the critical factors, which determine the customer satisfaction, companies should perform a market research and find out who their target audience is. Targeting is important, since the companies identify a well-defined set of customers, whose requirements need to be satisfied, thus not wasting resource.
2. Literature Review
2.1. Creating Buyer Personas
Buyer personas are anecdotal representations of your perfect clients. They include point by point data approximately your target audience’s age, gender, area, interface, challenges, and objectives. Making these personas can direct your showcasing techniques viably. Target market is the heart of numerous other showcasing choices such as advertise blend choice, acquirement, supply chain, dissemination channels, etc. Advertise focusing on includes a few steps, so that the engaging quality of each advertise fragment is firstly evaluated and after that one portion is chosen to enter [1]. In other words, target showcase choice is the yield of market section assessment and determination choice. Thus, advertise portion assessment is utilized as a normal approach for target persona determination in a few associations.
2.2. Marketing Research
Market research is a critical instrument used by organizations to examine and answer questions approximately their customers’ behavior, wants, necessities, and desires. The advertise inquire about, provides companies with important and solid experiences approximately their clients, in arrange for the companies to form better decisions. Market research may be a prepare, which needs great and reliable data collection, as well as, viable communication and translation of the comes about [2]. Conducting Market Investigate, Market inquire about is the establishment of understanding your target group of consumers. It includes collecting information approximately your potential clients, counting their demographics, interface, behaviors, and torment focuses. This data makes a difference you make point by point buyer personas. In expansion to a great information collection, communication, and elucidation, it is basic to get it the customers’ encounters. The customers’ encounters have significant affect on customers’ behavior, choice, states of mind, and fulfillment. In this manner a great comprehension of customers’ encounters makes a difference the company to see experiences almost the ways customers’ encounters can influence their relationship with the items, services and the brands. Besides, companies can give engaging encounters to their clients, in arrange to induce criticism and execution assessment, some time recently propelling the item or benefit [3] [4].
2.3. Consumer Persona
You should note that each client is diverse and interesting, which each item or benefit has its claim one of a kind traits, characteristics, and things to offer. For a affluent and alluring item, it is basic to consider these clients and outline their behavior and statistic designs. Additionally, making Client Personas makes a difference to direct you in creating substance and/or administrations that coordinate users’ needs and tastes. Too, it confirms who you need to advertise to and who you do not. It’s like a checklist of what works and doesn’t work along with your clients.
2.4. PEST Analysis of MINISO’s User Persona Strategy
Political, Economic, Social, and Technological (PEST) analysis is a strategy tool used to assess external issues that impact corporate decisions, including the creation of user personas. These elements aid MINISO in developing a precise picture of its target market:
Political: In the several nations in which it conducts business, MINISO’s user personas are impacted by laws pertaining to import restrictions, trade policy, and consumer protection. Customers’ expectations and preferences are shaped by these restrictions, which can have an impact on product availability and pricing. Economic: MINISO’s definition of its usual clientele is impacted by shifts in inflation, income levels, and consumer spending power. Its user profiles frequently represent frugal people looking for reasonably priced goods with stylish designs. Social: Young, urban customers who value convenience, socially conscious companies, and minimalistic aesthetics—particularly Millennials and Gen Z—are the main target market for MINISO. Lifestyle choices and cultural trends are important determinants. Technological: MINISO’s user personas are informed by the target audience’s increasing usage of cellphones, e-commerce sites, and social media. One of the brand’s most important demographic segments is tech-savvy customers who like online buying and digital interactions.
A strategic technique for evaluating internal and external elements that may affect a company’s success is the SWOT analysis. It aids MINISO in better understanding its clientele and honing its marketing and product strategies when used in the creation of user personas:
Strengths: MINISO has a competitive edge thanks to its trendy, design-driven products, reasonable prices, and strong brand identification. Its user personas, which generally depict youthful, stylish, and frugal shoppers, mirror these attributes.
Weaknesses: Deeper customer connections may be hampered by limited product customization and lesser brand recognition in some foreign markets. As a result, user personas could lack interest or emotional attachment in addition to functional advantages.
Possibilities: MINISO may improve and diversify its user personas to better reflect changing consumer values and preferences by entering growing markets, adopting sustainable product lines, and personalizing experiences with data analytics.
Threats: The relevance of current personalities may be impacted by changing customer behavior, economic uncertainty, and increased competition from regional and international lifestyle brands. To keep its identities in line with shifting market conditions, MINISO needs to adjust swiftly.
MINISO can create more precise and useful user personas that inform strategic choices about branding, product development, and customer interaction by employing SWOT analysis.
2.5. Target
A profound investigate and examination is critical in arrange to distinguish which client bunches and sections of intrigued to target [5]. Characterizing and selecting the target gathering of people in trade, encourages the communication between the company and clients, based on a dependable and coordinate communication. Companies can study their consumer way better, as the messages and feedbacks, are more pertinent when coming to the correct gathering of people. In this manner, in arrange for the companies to be seen the way their fundamental bunches of interest need, the companies have to adjust themselves to their target audiences’ needs, needs and values [6]-[8]. Characterizes focusing on as a well-defined set of clients whose needs the organization plans to fulfill.
2.6. Market Segment
Market segmentation process is considered to parcel a advertise into unmistakable subsets of clients and a subset can be conceivably chosen as a target advertise to be come to with a particular promoting blend [9]. After showcase division handle was performed, the companies survey their fragments and inspire the target market(s) upon assessing the distinguished showcase portions. It is presented as a basic administration choice, since a part of components of a marketing strategy take after the advertise division issue. Division is amazingly critical component of situating procedure. Advertise division is partitioning up a advertise into unmistakable bunches that have common needs and will react so also to a promoting activity. From the situating point of see it is exceptionally important to see into inspirations for the buy which means what kind of advantage or benefit the buyer anticipates from the item. Way of utilization and events of utilization more often than not offer assistance to get it them. Different sorts of media and advancements may moreover reach distinctive segments which are exceptionally imperative for publicizing and communication. Segmentation could be an imaginative handle restricted as it were by marketers’ creative energy and companies’ assets. Division isn’t an inactive prepare. It ought to be intermittently rehashed, as the markets are energetic and customers behavior is changing normally together with changes in way of life, life cycle organize as well as response to competitive action, social milieu improvement etc. In numerous companies, a suitable target showcase determination upon evaluating the assumed portions is distinguished as one of the foremost complicated and time devouring issues due to numerous attainable options, clashing destinations and assortment of components. In this manner, target advertise determination can be seen as a multiple-attribute choice making (MADM) issue.
2.7. Sample Selection
The sample selection plays an important part, as all the experiences and data comes from the chosen bunch. It is basic to choose a gather for study, which fits the leading into the reason of the ponder, as well as, a bunch that can give significant and valuable data with respect to the subject or subject of intrigued [9]-[11]. Concurring to [11], inspecting or test choice may be a prepare which comprises of selecting bunches from populations of intrigued, in arrange to watch and gauge designs and create examination and comes about, which can also be appropriate for the complete populace.
2.8. Focus Groups and In-Depth Interviews
There are different procedures and instruments utilized to gather information for investigate. For the Kano Show Investigation, center bunches and in profundity interviews have been the foremost broadly utilized disobedient for collecting information, since those disobedient are able to supply important and dependable information and experiences. The information collection based on center bunches comprises of bunch talks almost certain points, as a way to recognize the recognitions, considerations, feedbacks and impressions from the bunches. Center bunches are particularly valuable when the consider is centered on little bunches, hence, producing more exact and important data. The in-depth meeting is a strategy utilized generally to picture a deeper participant’s viewpoint on the subject being investigated. In profundity interviews is a viable subjective strategy able to generate particular and nitty gritty information from the members.
2.9. Multiple Attribute Decision Making
MADM is one among the numerous sub-disciplines of operations research/management science. These days, a few areas of distributions within the field of MADM have developed quickly in numerous areas for choice making such as tourism [12]-[15], provider choice, progressed fabricating [16], supply chain administration [17], discuss powers [18], ventures [19] and so on.
2.10. Proposed Target Advertise Determination Framework
This area presents a novel half breed MADM strategy counting AHP and TOPSIS strategies. AHP strategy is assumed to calculate the significant weight of the components and the entire values of each elective by orchestrating the choice quality and options in a progressive structure based on DM judgments. Following, the gotten weights of criteria from AHP are used as the essential data approximately the relative significance of the criteria within the TOPSIS strategy. Having the created demonstrate connected, the options are proficiently assessed and the foremost reasonable one is chosen. The strategies of the proposed strategy are too portrayed as takes after.
3. Methodology
Selecting the appropriate target audience is crucial for MINISO’s marketing strategy. The brand should focus on market segments that demonstrate consistent and strong preferences for its products and benefits. These segments should be sizable enough to justify investment and reachable at reasonable costs. Life cycle stage and the presence of competitors must also be considered when evaluating market segments. Based on this assessment, MINISO can choose one of three main targeting strategies—undifferentiated, differentiated, or concentrated—depending on which aligns best with the product offering and business goals.
4. Methods
This research employed a mixed-method approach, combining both qualitative and quantitative methods. The study focused on consumers aged 14 to 30 who are familiar with or have purchased MINISO products. Data collection included a structured questionnaire and in-depth interviews (See Appendix). Secondary information was gathered from online sources such as the company’s website, media coverage, and academic articles to support the analysis.
4.1. Study
A qualitative and quantitative study was conducted with 50 participants aged 14 to 30, all of whom were familiar with or had purchased from MINISO.
Data was collected through a questionnaire and in-depth interviews.
Participants reported owning between 1 to 5 MINISO products, including plush toys, power banks, stationery, and skin care items.
4.2. Interview Guide Focused on
Experiences in general.
Perceptions of MINISO marketing communication.
Interview topics included: participants’ general shopping experiences, perceptions of MINISO’s marketing and advertising, and feedback on the product range.
5. Results
By dissecting the survey, it’s discernible the prevalence of conventional advertise investigate strategies for marketing division such as ethnography and interviews. These strategies, be that as it may, are ordinarily exceptionally exorbitant and can take a few months or indeed a long time to deliver the specified results. The MSN Pioneer Persona exertion for Microsoft begun in January of 2000 and kept going around 10 months [20], whereas the persona improvement at Cisco took a few a long time [21]. In spite of the fact that these cases were focused on a plan viewpoint, instead of a promoting point of view, it gives a unpleasant appraise on the extraordinary sum of assets a company fundamental to distribute. With that in mind this result only delivered after two weeks of in-depth interview rather than 3 months to a year.
After representing the research result, proposed show, selecting the venture group, distinguishing most imperative criteria for assessing, speaking to the choice demonstrate and utilizing expository procedures, the remaining portion of the consider will center on the gotten numerical comes about. And after contacting the investigate ponder, for most of the customers of MINISO brand in Wuhan city are in between the age gather of 18 - 24 and 25 - 30, as for the gender it is noticeable that female shop from the brand item more than there partner.
When it comes to instructive level surprisingly 60 percent are lone ranger graduate clearing out 25 percent to high school and 10 percent to master graduate, with this comes about most of the buyers are understudies instead of utilized users with the assistance of development that come with making promoting methodologies that in light the brand title and tackling showcasing issues that come with it MINISO title gotten to be a known brand that it is discernible and known all over the globe, with it been listened through social media and companions. To evaluate model fit, two statistical tests were conducted. First, a comparison between the predicted and observed zero counts showed no significant difference (p >.05), indicating a good model fit. Second, a non-parametric test comparing the distribution of simulated residuals with observed residuals also revealed no significant discrepancies.
Furthermore, a statistically significant two-way interaction was found between the participant group and Prior Exposure (PE). Specifically, participants with higher prior exposure to MINISO products or advertisements had 2.08 times more “interesting clicks” on advertisements compared to those with lower exposure. This suggests that familiarity with the brand significantly increases responsiveness to its marketing.
Product Category Analysis
Plush toys were the most popular product category among participants, especially among female respondents aged 18 to 24. Emotional appeal and “cuteness” were frequently cited as primary purchase drivers. Notably, 72% of plush toy owners reported they would recommend MINISO to others, indicating the highest level of brand loyalty across product lines. This supports the alignment of MINISO’s plush toy line with its broader brand positioning focused on pop-culture aesthetics and youth appeal.
In contrast, approximately 40% of participants reported owning a power bank, with an even gender distribution. This product category was particularly favored by consumers aged 25 to 30, who prioritized functionality and affordability. While representing a smaller segment compared to plush toy buyers, these consumers demonstrated high practical engagement, showing a clear preference for versatile, low-cost technology products suitable for everyday use.
These results show that the proposed demonstration contains a great fit for the information. Essentially, the measurably noteworthy two-way interaction between the gather and PE demonstrates that the expected count of interesting clicks among advertisements by members with more PE who are employed is 2.08 times the expected count of advertisements by members with more who are utilizing a. This result recommends that members with more PE are more likely to advantage from being appeared. The limitations of these articles are influenced by the industry or product being studied. Social media is just one channel, and frequent posters may present an incomplete or biased view. Dissatisfied consumers may be more vocal, and limited data can be a constraint when studying sensitive subjects or niche markets. Additionally, many social media users are passive observers rather than active posters.
6. Conclusion
Particularly in light of international low-cost retail markets, this work significantly advances the theoretical and practical literature on market segmentation and persona-building. We present a dynamic framework that uses real-time behavioral measures, in contrast to conventional methods that use static demographic profiles [1] or drawn-out qualitative procedures [20]. Repost preferences are quantifiable measures of emotional loyalty, and the novel Prior Exposure (PE) composite metric measures ad recall, purchase history, and peer influence. This strategy gives marketers a more adaptable tool for audience connection by challenging the widely held belief that low-cost brands are incapable of achieving significant segment-specific emotional resonance [22]. Our creative blending of survey analytics and behavioral metrics advances segmentation practice at the methodological level. While AHP-TOPSIS and other classic multiple attribute decision making (MADM) techniques have been extensively studied for segmentation [20], our method gives priority to real-time consumer data by using repost preference analysis and the Prior Exposure (PE) measure. In keeping with MINISO’s unique "affordable aesthetics" brand positioning, this mix of quantitative behavioral tracking and qualitative survey responses offers thorough segment evaluation. By drastically cutting persona development timescales from industry standards of three to twelve months [23] to just two weeks in our implementation, the effectiveness of our approach shows its practical worth. A substantial demographic and geographic vacuum in the body of prior research is also filled by the study. In contrast to previous models that mostly looked at Western consumer behavior (25), our analysis of MINISO’s Asian Gen Z and Millennial population highlights significant cultural differences. Contrary to popular beliefs about low-cost retail customers, interview results revealed that 58% of participants valued minimalist design over pricing considerations. Additionally, the fact that Instagram and TikTok accounted for 72% of social media reposts emphasizes the necessity of platform-specific targeting tactics in these areas. Future research directions are suggested by a number of restrictions. Cross-regional validation of the urban Chinese sample is necessary to assess the generalizability of the framework. Furthermore, although the PE metric offers behavioral insights, a more thorough knowledge of emotional involvement may be obtained when combined with neuromarketing technologies like EEG. Together, these results enhance scholarly discussion and marketing strategy by providing practical advice for low-cost companies vying in fast-paced international marketplaces.
7. Suggestions
Since this is a case study as part of paper rather than academic research there are several suggestions, while encouraging research on a cross-case investigation of several companies from the online payment industry or from various other sectors. Another study can investigate the association between the marketing analysis and trade victory or disappointment, as well as the viability of MINISO examination for item and benefit advancement. Additionally, there can be an analysis of the elective ways of connection, communicating and extricating information from clients, aside from the conventional showcase inquiry about. Moreover, an investigation can be conducted in arrange to investigate the ways that the online benefit suppliers can create and keep up connections with their clients.
Conflicts of Interest
The author declares no conflicts of interest.
Appendix
Questionnaire
Questions and interviews
What is your age group?
What is your gender?
What is your education level?
Are you employed, self-employed, a student?
Have you heard of our brand before?
Have you ever used or purchased any products from our company?
What are your hobbies or interests?
What are your preferred modes of communication?
How do you prefer to make purchase decisions?
What are your primary reasons for purchasing a specific product/service?
How did you first learn about our brand?
What feature do you like the most about our product?
On a scale of 1 to 5, how likely would you recommend our brand to a friend or colleague?
Interview
What factors influence your purchasing decisions the most?
What improvements would you like to see in our offerings?
How satisfied are you with our customer service?
Would you recommend our product to others?
Which specific features of our product/service do you find most valuable?
How did you first hear about our new product?
What is your initial impression of the new product based on the information provided?
Are there any specific concerns you have about the MINISO services?
Would you be open to participating in a trial or beta testing for the new product?
On a scale of 1-5, how satisfied are you with our current product?
What challenges are you facing in using our product?
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