Hunting the Premium Consumer
- nicole34197
- Jan 26
- 3 min read
Why do consumers pay €999 for a Dyson vacuum cleaner? Or €549.95 for an Oral-B toothbrush? Premium brands are increasingly filling their portfolios with more luxurious product variants because of higher margins and brand value. For a successful launch you want to understand what drives this premium target audience, but in market research it's precisely that audience that's hard to capture. How come?
The Premium Dilemma
There are various parties in the Netherlands that specialize in supplying people willing to participate in market research. Whether it's a 2-hour group discussion with 6 people or a national survey among 3,000 consumers, for market research agencies this is often the only way to reach the right people. But who actually sits in these panels? I know few people who fill out surveys for market research or are registered with a recruitment agency for qualitative research, yet many people participate in these panels because they enjoy giving their opinion. Only the higher income groups? They're underrepresented in these panels. That premium consumer who meets the desired profile? Not so easy to find. Busy jobs and not being motivated to participate 'for a few euros' are the most commonly heard arguments.
Fishing in the Wrong Pond
The workaround many brands choose is suboptimal: you survey people who aren't actually your core target audience or you survey people who are already your customers. But by fishing in the wrong pond, a blind spot emerges. If you want to grow as a brand within the premium segment, you also want to know specifically what holds the potential target audience back from choosing you, whether the benefits of your product features have sufficient value, how they view your communication materials, and so on.
The odd thing is that 'premium consumers' often actually do want to give their opinion. They have a clear preference for certain brands, are critical and don't hesitate to be honest about it. What holds them back isn't the market research itself, but how they're approached: standard invitations that feel impersonal, unclear whether their opinion is really being heard, and little appreciation for the time they invest in it.
So the challenge lies primarily in finding a way to survey this target audience in a manner that appeals to them.
A Fundamentally Different Approach
In all the struggle I've experienced myself as a market researcher when inviting premium target audiences, I see five success criteria:
Exclusivity as a starting point. Premium consumers want to feel part of something unique with a carefully assembled group. They also like to know who the other invitees are.
Long-term relationships instead of one-time transactions. Where traditional research often revolves around short, one-off interactions, premium research requires building real relationships over a longer period.
Personal involvement. Instead of anonymous surveys, there are face-to-face conversations, regular interactions and original meet & greet events where marketing, brand and innovation teams from your brand are present. Attention is key.
Financial compensation for their participation isn't the primary motivation. Giving them something special or unique or letting them experience something for their contribution often has more value for this group. Think early access to new products and access to exclusive events.
Personal profiles. Before you get started, you want to know more about the invitees than just age, occupation and income. Find a party that helps you carefully compile these profiles.
In short, want to sell premium? Then you must also apply premium to your insights processes. That means investing in real relationships with your potential target audience, not an anonymous sample.
Marjolein van Ballegooij
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