Alliance Launches Consumer Segmentation Study in Guatemala
The Alliance has recently begun a consumer segmentation study of the market for clean cookstoves and fuels in Guatemala. Launched with a kick off meeting in January in Antigua, the draft plan was presented to a small working group of local stakeholders who provided valuable inputs and recommendations. The working group includes representatives from the government, private sector and NGOs.
The consumer segmentation study will provide a better understanding of the various kinds of consumers in the Guatemalan market and focus on identifying and prioritizing groups best poised for adoption of cleaner cookstoves and fuels. The research will closely examine these segments and identify data-supported demand-enhancing strategies for targeting each segment.
The study will also look at each aspect of the traditional “4Ps” (product, price, place, and promotion) marketing mix, incorporating the influence of cultural and contextual factors throughout. Topics to be explored include, but are not limited to:
- stove and fuel use and preference,
- desired features and price points,
- effective messaging and marketing techniques,
- potential distribution channels that could be utilized for cleaner cookstoves and fuels,
- cultural barriers, and
- current awareness levels of cleaner cooking options.
Given the significance of affordability as a barrier to the adoption of cleaner stoves and fuels in Guatemala, the study will closely examine consumer finance models, including potential providers of financing and delivery methods for cleaner stoves and fuels in the country.
Information-gathering will be done via expert interviews and primary research with the targeted segments using quantitative surveys, focus groups and observations. Primary research will be conducted in three to four target regions, where the Alliance will launch pilot awareness raising activities later this year.
The Alliance will continue to engage the local stakeholder working group throughout the study to validate findings, and will use this research in designing pilot awareness raising campaigns and other demand generation activities. The study’s final report will also be made available on the Alliance website as an open source resource to partners upon completion in June 2015. The Alliance completed similar research in Kenya and Ghana in 2014, reports are available in the Resources section database.