Know-How Exchange : Customer Behavior

Most newspapers have to adapt to changing circumstances. What you find out about your readers today will not be the same as they want tomorrow - this is because what interests them is a reflection of what is shown to them through all media and by personal circumstances. Yesterday, with money, they would be interested in cars and holidays and investments, today without money, it might be practical tips, jobs, and do-it-yourself. You overlay this with cultural phenomena such as the latest movies, music etc. Even an individuals own personal circumstances changes what they are interested in (eg lifestage) - childless people change their needs and habits overnight when they have children. Or consider the availability of time or access to non-paper media.

Of course you can research this, but it is a moving feast. Sometimes it is better to research the quality of engagement of the paper with the audience through things like newspaper brand personality and directly how the paper fits and can better fit with readers lives.

If your goal is to better understand what motivates them to read a newspaper (perhaps in conjunction with or in place of other media), you can focus on questions that elicit attitudes underlying behaviors. For example, do they feel that they are somehow better, more informed, more literate when they read the paper? Do they associate relaxation with reading the paper? Is there something nostalgic about reading a paper? Is the paper a more credible source for them, and why is credibility important to them? What would happen if they didn't have the paper, etc.?

Metaphor elicitation and laddering techniques work well to explore thoughts and feelings related to a topic. This is ideally done via one-on-one interviews, though. If you do a quick online survey, you could probably work in a few open-ended qualitative-type questions to add some depth to the quantitative insights.

Good luck