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Karen L. Scherbaum, Vice President, Consumer Insights & Strategy of Macy’s and Aaron Reid, Ph.D., Founder and Chief Behavioral Scientist, Sentient Decision Science presented The Future Latina Market: Debunking Stereotypes in the Millennial Melting Pot. Macy’s was looking to really “click” with the Latina consumer and develop a relationship where they would recommend the brand.

Their presentation was about “digging beneath the surface” to break through the can’t say/won’t say problem in market research. Consumers may not be willing to share how they really feel, or may not be able to as they may not be aware of it.

One way that Sentient Decision Science went beyond asking about value was by  presenting trade off scenarios with examples of different purchases at different prices.

Other takeaways:

Just because it worked for the last generation, doesn’t mean it will for this one

Sometimes your hunches are right, but sometimes they aren’t. Don’t let preconceived notions cloud ability to adapt

Don’t take everything at face value: innovative techniques can get behind the immediate answer.