Unpack ‘Fresh’ for Baked Goods

A leading global bakery supplier was developing strategy for targeting Hispanic consumers in store bakeries and desired to understand motivations, triggers, quality indicators, and the overall shopping experience. To develop future communication strategies, the client wanted to understand the differences in perceptions of in-store bakeries and authentic Hispanic bakeries, or panaderías.

APPROACH

W5 conducted in-home ethnographies and shop-alongs with Hispanic sweet baked goods consumers to uncover how participants relate to sweet baked goods, what motivates purchase, and which values and beliefs affect their shopping decisions. Shop-alongs were conducted at the participant’s local grocery store or panadería following the in-home ethnography combining conversation and behavioral observation to uncover insights regarding in-store purchasing decisions, perceptions of displays and signage, and indicators of quality. The online bulletin boards validated insights and explored unexpected topics that came up during the ethnography, while reaching a larger sample nationwide.

RESULTS

W5 determined sweet baked goods were an essential component of consumers’ day-to-day lives. They strongly associated authentic Hispanic sweet baked goods with panaderías, but were open to trying those sold in non-Hispanic in-store bakeries. W5 provided key touchpoints throughout their sweet baked good shopping and identified the role of these goods in consumers’ lives. Research results identified opportunities to re-launch existing products and develop new products and communication strategies that effectively resonated with Hispanic consumers.