MANUAL Published: 01 May 2007
MNL11115M

International Consumer Product Testing Across Cultures and Countries: Spain

Source

It is difficult to define the average Spanish consumer. Spain is a complex country where a mixture of very different cultures have a common language but different regional languages, values, and traditions. This diversity represents an important handicap in order to select the consumers for a survey. Normally it will be necessary to recruit a large amount of individuals to include all of this cultural richness and to obtain an adequate image which reflects the real country.

In general, Spain can be regarded as a typical Latin country, where the “savoir vivre” has an important effect on consumer’s behavior. Undoubtedly, the climate has influenced and still influences the life and habits of the population. The Spanish like to go out frequently. It is usual to see people enjoying lunch or dinner including “tapeo” or “tapas” or simply walking along the main avenues of the city. Terraces are full of people talking and having a drink at midnight, any day of the week, when weather conditions permit (an average of six months a year).

The Spanish are open-minded, amusing, nice, and very friendly, although they are very critical about their environment. Usually they face up to problems openly and with an ironic attitude. Most of them believe that Spain is a nation with a good balance between work and leisure and one of the countries with the best way of life.

The main industry of the country is tourism. Every year Spain is visited by more than 50 million tourists. Logically this influences the habits of the principal tourist areas. This aspect should be taken into account when choosing the place and dates for carrying out a survey.

Consumers could be suspicious of the interviewer in certain areas, for this reason his∕her appearance, politeness, and identification are essential if a high level of participation is required.

The lack of punctuality is another important aspect to bear in mind, although it varies considerably from one place to another. In general, the infrastructures are well developed and they do not represent any problem when carrying out any type of study.

Author Information

Guerrero, Luis
IRTA-Centro de Tecnologìa de la Carne, Finca Camps i Armet, Monells, Girona, Spain
Briz, Julián
ETSI Agrònomos, Ciudad Universitaria, Madrid, Spain
Price: $25.00
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Details
Developed by Committee: E18
Pages: 15–15
DOI: 10.1520/MNL11115M
ISBN-EB: 978-0-8031-5690-6
ISBN-13: 978-0-8031-4264-0