Quantitative research

Usage & Attitude Studies in India

A foundational picture of category usage, habits and attitudes.

Quick answer

Use this method when the question calls for a complete baseline picture of the category. Market Research India runs 1,000–3,000 interviews over 5–8 weeks, in 50 Indian cities and fourteen languages.

Proposal in 24 hours
Scoped, itemised and fixed-fee.
50 cities, 14 languages
Our own supervised field teams.
Senior-led, NDA-first
A research director on every project.

2,400+

Projects delivered

Cities with field teams

Industries covered

Indian languages

The decisions this study answers

Commission this when one of the questions below is holding up a decision. If your question is not on the list, say so in the brief — we would rather recommend a different method than sell you this one.

What does the whole category look like, occasion by occasion?
Which habits are stable, and which are changing under us?
How do attitudes segment the market beyond demographics?
Which occasions are over-served, and which are not served at all?
What is the size of each opportunity we might chase?

How we run it

5 stages, with one research director accountable across all of them. The person who scopes the study is the person who presents the findings.

1
Scope the category boundary
We agree what sits inside the category from the consumer's point of view, which is usually wider than the internal definition.
2
Design a long instrument carefully
Usage, occasion, attitude and demographic modules are ordered to control fatigue, and attitudinal batteries are culturally adapted, not translated literally.
3
Field with a strong supervision ratio
Long interviews invite shortcuts, so supervision is heavier here and duration distributions are reviewed daily.
4
Segment on behaviour and attitude together
Clustering uses both what people do and what they believe, then segments are tested for stability before they are named.
5
Size each opportunity
Each occasion and segment is converted into a volume and value estimate, so the category map carries a commercial number.

At a glance

Usage & Attitude Studies — typical study parameters

Typical scale: 1,000 to 3,000 interviews of 35 to 50 minutes, structured to support segmentation
Fieldwork window: Five to eight weeks, since the interview is long and the sample is large
Lead time: Design and translation take two weeks for an instrument of this length
Coverage: A full category read across metro, Tier 2 and rural, with occasion and channel coverage
Languages: Fielded in up to twelve languages, with attitudinal scales culturally adapted rather than literally translated
Core methods: Category deep-dives · Habits and practices · Attitudinal scales · Occasion mapping
Reporting: A category map, opportunity sizing and segment profiles, usually set up as a three-year reference base
Best suited to: Building the foundation other studies will refer back to

What you receive

3 named deliverables, each written to be used rather than filed. Everything ships with the underlying data, so your team can keep working after the debrief.

Category map
A category map covering occasions, need states, repertoires and the channels each is served through.
Opportunity sizing
Each gap sized in volume and value, so prioritisation is an argument about numbers rather than enthusiasm.
Segment profiles
Segment profiles stable enough to be used as the common language across your brand, innovation and media teams.

Quality control in the field

Fieldwork in India fails quietly when nobody checks it. These controls are run on every usage & attitude studies study, by a quality team that reports separately from the field team.

GPS and duration stamps on every interview
Each tablet record carries a location and a length. Interviews that are too short, or clustered at one convenient address, are pulled before they reach the dataset.
Twenty per cent audio back-checks
A fifth of all interviews are re-contacted or audio-reviewed by a quality team that does not report to the field supervisor who ran them.
One supervisor to six interviewers
Supervisors accompany each interviewer at least twice a week and sit through the full interview, not the doorstep introduction.
Translation and independent back-translation
Every instrument is translated into the field language, back-translated into English by a second linguist, then piloted before launch.
Duration distribution monitored for fatigue
Interview-length distributions are reviewed daily by interviewer and by module, and any pattern of rushing a late section is caught during fieldwork.

Method choice

Usage & Attitude Studies, or one of these instead?

Most briefs can be answered more than one way, and the wrong instrument is the most expensive mistake in research. Here is how usage & attitude studies compares with the two methods buyers most often weigh against it.

	Usage & Attitude Studies	Consumer Research	Quantitative Surveys
Best used for	Building the foundation other studies will refer back to	Mapping and sizing demand across a whole category	Producing numbers that survive scrutiny
Typical scale	1,000–3,000 interviews	800–2,400 interviews	400–5,000 completes
Fieldwork window	5–8 weeks	3–5 weeks	3–6 weeks
Evidence produced	A complete baseline picture of the category	Projectable numbers with segment stories behind them	Measured incidence with a stated margin of error
Projects to a population
Relative cost	High, amortised over several years	Mid to high	Scales with sample and incidence

Where this method stops

Overkill for a single tactical question. Commission one when you expect to reuse it for several years.

City coverage

Where this work is strongest

We field in all 50 cities, but these are the markets where this method has the most to offer — because of the infrastructure, the respondent base or the sectors concentrated there.

Before you brief us

Frequently asked questions

How long does a usage & attitude studies project take?

Five to eight weeks, since the interview is long and the sample is large. Design and translation take two weeks for an instrument of this length. Analysis and reporting add a further one to two weeks, so most studies close inside six to ten weeks from brief to debrief.

What sample size do you recommend?

1,000 to 3,000 interviews of 35 to 50 minutes, structured to support segmentation. The right number is set by the smallest subgroup you need to report separately, not by a round figure, and we will say when a smaller sample would answer the question just as well.

What drives the cost of usage & attitude studies in India?

Incidence and audience difficulty first, then scale, the number of cities and languages, and the depth of reporting. Relative to other methods on this site, the cost profile is: high, amortised over several years. Send a brief and you get a fixed-fee proposal within 24 hours.

When is usage & attitude studies the wrong choice?

Overkill for a single tactical question. Commission one when you expect to reuse it for several years.

How do you control quality in the field?

Each tablet record carries a location and a length. Interviews that are too short, or clustered at one convenient address, are pulled before they reach the dataset. Beyond that, duration distribution monitored for fatigue: interview-length distributions are reviewed daily by interviewer and by module, and any pattern of rushing a late section is caught during fieldwork.

Can international teams commission this from outside India?

Yes. We report in English, run calls across US, European and Asian time zones, and handle local-language fieldwork and translation end to end.

Study at a glance

Discipline: Quantitative
Typical scale: 1,000–3,000 interviews
Field window: 5–8 weeks
Projectable: Yes
Relative cost: High, amortised over several years
Cities covered: 50

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Keep exploring

Everything built on this method

8 metros, 42 Tier 2 markets, 30 sectors and 15 guides, each applying usage & attitude studies to one specific context.

Tier 1 metros

Full-scale fieldwork, viewing facilities and senior decision-maker access.

Tier 2 markets

Each city covered from a local field base that also reaches the surrounding districts.

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By industry

The same method applied to one sector’s audiences, vocabulary and buying process.

Show 22 more

Guides and pricing

Cost drivers, briefing checklists and buyer guides written for this method.

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Other quantitative methods

Closest alternatives, where a different instrument may answer the question better.

Every other service

The full method set, from qualitative immersion to strategic modelling.

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Next step

Ready to scope a usage & attitude studies study?