Market Research

Articles discussing the market research side of our business

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Why Transparency is Important in Market Research
Why Transparency is Important in Market Research 150 150 Khayan Research

At Khayan, we believe transparency isn’t just a professional courtesy—it’s the foundation of trust. When clients rely on our research to shape decisions, they deserve to understand exactly how we arrived at each conclusion. That’s why we build transparency into every stage of our process—from the first draft of a survey to the final report on your desk.

 

One way we do this is by actively minimizing bias before it takes hold. In survey design, we invite clients to collaborate with us, ensuring that every question asked is neutral, relevant, and aligned with the core objectives—not just assumptions. We pilot test our surveys with a small sample and share those early results with you. This helps us catch any red flags and gives you the chance to refine before the full rollout. We also design our sampling strategy to avoid blind spots. That means including both urban and rural voices, different income levels, and a range of perspectives to reflect the full picture—not just a convenient one.

But transparency doesn’t stop at methodology. We open up the process itself. If you ask for raw data, we’ll give it to you. If you want to know who did the fieldwork, we’ll tell you—because where your data comes from matters. Our own trained field team conducts interviews, so you’re not left wondering if your insights came through third-party hands. And every project we run includes clear documentation: how participants were recruited, how many completed the study, and how the data was reviewed before analysis. No guessing. No gaps.

We also make sure you’re never left waiting for answers. During data collection, we check in with regular updates—sharing sample counts, field observations, and any early patterns we see. If something unexpected comes up, we don’t push it aside—we pause and fix it together. Our goal isn’t just to deliver a report. It’s to make sure the findings are solid and that you feel confident using them.

In our final reports, we go beyond delivering answers—we explain how we got there. That means walking you through the methodology, the decisions made, and the questions we’re still exploring. At Khayan, we don’t expect blind trust. We share the thinking behind the findings, so the insights stay useful—not just today, but in every decision that follows.

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How We Structure Reports at Khayan — And Why It Helps You Decide Faster
How We Structure Reports at Khayan — And Why It Helps You Decide Faster 150 150 Khayan Research

At Khayan, we design reports with one goal: to help you decide faster. So when we deliver insights—whether for a new product, brand refresh, or market entry—they’re structured to give you immediate clarity, not just “results.” Every slide, quote, and chart is built to support your next move.

Our reports aren’t structured like a checklist—they’re built to help you think through decisions. We begin with the big signals: what stands out, what challenges assumptions, and where your attention should go first. Then we show who the data represents, making it clear how the sample may shape the findings. Before diving into charts, we give you the context to read them well.

From there, we explore what people see, trust, and choose—looking beyond what they say to how they behave. We highlight real trade-offs through head-to-head comparisons and decision-based formats, so you see what actually drives choices in the market. Each section is layered to move you from information to insight—so that by the end, you’re not just informed, you’re ready to act.

We don’t believe in research for research’s sake. At Khayan, we build reports that help you act—not just understand. Because clarity is the real deliverable. And the sooner you get it, the faster you move.

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How Khayan Uses In-Depth Interviews to Unlock Honest Insight
How Khayan Uses In-Depth Interviews to Unlock Honest Insight 150 150 Khayan Research

At Khayan, we don’t approach in-depth interviews (IDIs) as routine Q&A sessions. We treat them as conversations designed to surface what other methods often miss—emotional tension, contradictions, quiet hesitation, and the deeper reasoning behind a decision. In our experience, that’s where the most meaningful insight lives.

Surveys can tell you what people say. But when we want to understand what they say when no one else is around and how they justify a decision, we turn to one-on-one interviews. In a study on school choice, we expected to hear about curriculum, reputation, and tuition—and we did. But what stood out wasn’t just what parents said. It was what they couldn’t stop saying. Parking, traffic, and drop-off chaos didn’t come up quietly—they came up loudly, repeatedly, and with more frustration than almost any academic factor. The emotional weight behind these responses was unmistakable. In the end, what shaped the insight wasn’t a single surprising comment—it was the sheer volume of noise around something supposedly “logical.” That pattern is what made it impossible to ignore.

We design IDIs as guided but flexible conversations. When they shift topics or bring up something unexpected, we follow—because that’s often where the real insight lives. Our experienced moderators know how to gently bring the conversation back to key areas without cutting it short or forcing the subject. It’s not about sticking to the guide—it’s about staying with the participant’s logic and letting the meaning emerge on its own terms.

What sets Khayan apart isn’t just our method—it’s how we listen. We notice when someone pauses. We hear when a word choice shifts. And we know when to gently push, when to sit in silence, and when to let the conversation veer off-script—because that’s often where the truth is hiding. For clients looking to understand how people really think, choose, and feel—especially when the decisions are emotional or don’t follow logic—IDIs are not just helpful. They’re essential. And they’re where we begin.

 

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Great Research Starts with the Right Question
Great Research Starts with the Right Question 150 150 Khayan Research

At Khayan, we’ve found that real insight comes when research is built around the actual decision a customer is about to make. Not abstract preferences, but trade-offs: this bottle or that one? Stick to habit, or switch for something new? If the research question isn’t pointed at that moment of choice, it’s not going to bring much clarity.

That’s why we start by anchoring our questions in behavior. Not abstract attitudes, but concrete routines: Where do people buy? What do they recognize on the shelf? What bottle size do they pick up and why? In our recent work on the mineral water category, we didn’t just ask people what they liked—we asked what they chose, how often, and what mattered most in that moment. Was it price? Brand familiarity? The feel of the packaging? We used scaled questions to capture price perception levels, and head-to-head comparisons to learn what wins in a split-second choice.

These comparisons aren’t just useful for rankings—they expose how people process their options. In our previous project, we saw how packaging aesthetics drove first impressions—but decisions ultimately leaned on recognition and habit. Even when people said they cared about purity or ingredients, most couldn’t explain what made one bottle better than another. Instead, they chose based on what felt safe, or what they’d seen before.

This is where research becomes more than data. When built around a focused question, it helps you see the story behind behavior. You start to understand that someone buys the same brand every day not because it’s the best, but because it’s familiar, it’s available on the same shelf and the price isn’t surprising. These patterns form quickly—and they’re sticky. Changing them takes more than

features or facts. It takes getting into the rhythm of how people already decide, and offering something that fits that rhythm without friction.

Most of our clients don’t start with that question figured out. That’s where we come in. We help shape it. We design studies around it. And we test it in the places where decisions actually happen. Because when the question is right, the answers don’t just fill a report—they build the strategy that comes next.

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 When “Close Enough” Isn’t Good Enough
 When “Close Enough” Isn’t Good Enough 150 150 Khayan Research

At Khayan, we refuse to settle for “good enough”—especially when it comes to recruiting the right people. The value of your insights hinges entirely on whose voices you hear. That’s why recruitment isn’t a mere checkbox for us. It’s the true starting point of every study—and if it’s mishandled, everything that follows can quietly derail.

We craft our own screeners, oversee recruitment in real time, and course-correct if the mix drifts too urban, too middle-income, or too uniform. We look beyond basic demographics to gauge engagement and context: do participants truly reflect the world we’re exploring, or are they just ticking boxes?

For us, sampling isn’t “step one”—it’s the bedrock of the entire project. A flawed foundation yields fragile results. You wouldn’t build a house on untested ground; you wouldn’t trust decisions built on shaky data. Research, like construction, faces pressure—when deadlines loom, skeptics question findings, or markets pivot unexpectedly. A robust sample gives insights the strength to withstand scrutiny, scale with confidence, and deliver dependable guidance when it matters most.

Many see recruitment as a pre-research chore. We see it as the research itself. When you bring the right people together—those who actually live the behaviors you’re studying—the insights aren’t just clearer. They become unshakeable guides to your next move.

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What Competitor Analysis Really Looks Like
What Competitor Analysis Really Looks Like 150 150 Khayan Research

When clients ask us to conduct competitor analysis in Southeast Asia, they’re not after a bullet-point list or a polished brand pitch—they want to know what’s really happening. What makes one business thrive while another just looks good online? At Khayan, we don’t settle for surface details. We head out to see for ourselves, quietly visiting locations without appointments or guided tours. We pay attention to how teams actually operate, how staff interact with customers, and whether the environment matches what’s advertised. A bilingual offering is one thing on a brochure—whether it’s used in practice is another. These details matter, and they often reveal the gap between marketing and reality.

Of course, we don’t stop listening. We fact-check. If a company claims to follow international standards, we verify it. If they promote personalized service or expert staff, we look for evidence. Thai-language forums, Facebook groups, and YouTube testimonials often reveal truths that official channels omit. When public promises don’t match lived experience, we ask why—and what that gap might mean for our clients.

Southeast Asia’s markets aren’t just shaped by features and pricing. They’re driven by cultural nuance, personal priorities, and word-of-mouth. In some districts, prestige leads the conversation. In others, convenience or community connection might matter more. By understanding these local dynamics, our clients can make better moves—not just mimic what looks successful.

Real competitor analysis doesn’t chase trends—it uncovers truths. At Khayan, we use field visits, local voices, and on-the-ground context to show you what’s working, what isn’t, and where your opportunity really is.

We also look at how messages are delivered. A brand might push sustainability, but are their staff trained to talk about it? Do in-store displays match the website’s tone? Does pricing quietly contradict the inclusivity they promote? These details matter. Customers notice—and so do we.

Our team doesn’t just gather data; we test assumptions. We’ve walked into showrooms posing as customers, sat through consultations, and visited flagship stores and franchise branches to compare experiences. We notice how long staff spend with walk-ins, how problems are handled, and whether service changes based on appearance, language, or perceived income.

In a region as diverse as Southeast Asia, truth sits between the lines. At Khayan, we read those lines closely—then help our clients respond with clarity, confidence, and relevance. Because the most valuable strategy starts with knowing exactly what you’re up against.

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Market Research: Suspicion to Strategy
Market Research: Suspicion to Strategy 150 150 Khayan Research

When clients come to Khayan, it’s rarely with a full plan in place. More often, it starts with a question—or a gut feeling they can’t quite shake. “A competitor is growing faster than expected—why?” “This opportunity looks too polished. Are we missing something?” “We want to enter this market, but we’re not sure where to begin.” These aren’t requests for generic reports. They’re signals that something needs to be understood before any big move is made.

That’s where we come in. Our role is to turn early doubts into clear, grounded insight. We don’t just pull secondary data or scan online listings. We go local. We ask around. We look at how things really work, not just how they appear on paper. 

 

It might be a sudden slowdown in sales that isn’t explained by pricing or a market that looks right on paper, or a feeling that client conversations have shifted tone. These early signals are often dismissed because they’re hard to quantify. But in our experience, they’re usually the first clue that something important is happening—just not where you’re looking.

We don’t rush to answer. We take our time to observe. Our researchers go out into the field, across provinces, into stores, homes, campuses, and transport hubs. We listen not just to what people say in interviews—but collectively analyze and decode themes that show up in patterns: a change in eating habits, or a rising complaint on quality for instance. On their own, these seem small and insignificant. But together, they often point to a shift in expectations, values, or behavior—something that’s coming before the data has caught up.

The common thread across all of this? We start where our clients are—uncertain, curious, sometimes skeptical—and we help them move forward with confidence. That means fieldwork done by our own team, in the places and languages that matter. It means asking the right people, listening for what’s not said, and checking every assumption along the way.We don’t wait for clients to come with the perfect brief. We help shape it. Because when you’re making a big move—whether it’s entering a new market, evaluating a partner, or responding to a fast-moving competitor—what you need most isn’t just data. It’s clarity. At Khayan, that’s what we deliver. From early suspicion to sharp strategy, we help you see the market for what it really is—so you can act on what truly matters.

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How We Do Research
How We Do Research 150 150 Khayan Research

At Khayan, we approach research with one simple principle: if you want to understand how people make decisions, you have to meet them where those decisions happen. That means talking to them in person, watching how they respond to real choices, and paying attention to what’s said—and what’s not.

In one of our recent projects, we set out to understand how people choose between competing products. We didn’t just sit behind a screen and wait for anonymous online survey results to come in—we went out into four provinces across Thailand, met with hundreds of respondents, and spoke directly with those who actually use the product in question. We didn’t just ask what they preferred—we asked why, and then kept listening.

 

We’ve learned not to assume what matters to people. It’s easy to think that certain product features will stand out—maybe health benefits, or origin, or some technical details. But in this project, the recurring reasons were much simpler: daily habits, ease of purchase, price, and whether it felt trustworthy. Health was rarely mentioned, even though it was expected. That shift only became obvious once we heard it repeated in different settings—from structured interviews to group conversations.

A lot of what we do comes down to watching and listening. We don’t rush through interviews. We sit with people. We watch how they react when they see a brand again. We notice when they hesitate, or when a memory needs a prompt. And because we’re there in person, we can follow up—not with a scripted question, but with a natural one. “Why do you say that?” “Have you always bought it?” “What made you switch?” Those small questions often lead to the biggest answers.

Research isn’t just about data for us—it’s about understanding people’s routines, assumptions, and small habits. That’s what makes a difference in marketing. It’s not always dramatic, but it’s real. We don’t present our findings with marketing spin—we tell you what we saw, what we heard, and what it means for your brand. If you’re looking for that kind of research—straightforward, grounded, and focused on the people who actually matter to your business—we’d be happy to talk.

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