Interview: How can Sinus-Milieus be integrated into my survey?

This interview was conducted on the occasion of the market research fair succeet 2022 geführt, which will take place in Munich from 20 to 21 October 2022.

SINUS-Institut is a cooperation partner of succeet.

succeet: It's great that you are supporting succeet22. What prompted you to do so?

Manfred Tautscher: We generally very much welcome industry events. succeet is one of the best platforms that currently exist in Germany and brings stakeholders in the German and international market to one table. Since many visitors take this opportunity to learn more about the Sinus-Milieus, we would like to help them make the most of this opportunity.

How has demand for the Sinus-Milieus developed in recent years?

In the last 10 years, demand for the Sinus-Milieus has fortunately developed very positively. This is primarily due to the fact that the content of the Sinus-Milieus is constantly updated - most recently, we completely revised the model in 2021. We have also made information on the Sinus-Milieus much more accessible over the past few years with our information packages, short surveys, lectures, and workshops. For this reason, we are being asked more and more frequently whether we can enrich customers’ own research projects and studies with the Sinus-Milieus.

And how can customer studies be enriched with the Sinus-Milieus?

Two questions frequently asked of SINUS are: can I work with the Sinus-Milieus without having to commission a full study via SINUS? And: can I integrate the Sinus-Milieus into a pre-planned survey? The simple answer to both questions: Yes, this is possible, thanks to the "Milieu Boost", an uncomplicated and cost-effective solution for enriching ongoing or planned studies with the Sinus-Milieus.

What types of studies can be enriched with the Sinus-Milieus?

The Sinus-Milieus can be added to basically any survey-based study, including usage & attitude studies (U&A), product and concept tests, customer satisfaction analyses, advertising media tests, image studies, tracking studies, and visitor and user analyses.

With the integration of Sinus-Milieus or Sinus-Meta-Milieus in customer studies, existing typologies and segmentations can also be deepened, or personas can be supplemented, refined, and quantified. One advantage is that if survey data is analysed by milieu, it is then possible to draw on numerous secondary data sets that are also analysed by milieu, and many data points do not have to be re-collected, e.g., media behavior or everyday habits. This allows for shorter, more cost- and time-efficient surveys.

What are the Sinus-Meta-Milieus? Is this your international solution for the Sinus-Milieus?

Correct – the Sinus-Meta-Milieus are an international target group model available for more than 50 countries. With the Sinus-Milieu-Boost, either the Sinus-Milieus or the Sinus-Meta-Milieus can be integrated into planned studies, creating additional target group insights. It is also possible to enrich studies with variables measuring social trends that have an influence on markets and brands.

How does the milieu boost work?

The milieus are added in with the help of the Sinus Milieu Indicator. This indicator is a standardized instrument for determining the milieu to which respondents belong. After the survey has been conducted, we then calculate a milieu for each respondent on the basis of the responses to the indicator statements. The demographic characteristics are additionally used for quality assurance, but have no influence on the milieu affiliation. This is a special feature of the Sinus Milieu approach. We then return the case-related milieu identifiers for integration into the client dataset. This means that all survey data can be evaluated according to Sinus-Milieus.

How long is this milieu indicator?

The indicator comprises 29 attitude items asked on a 4-point scale. This corresponds to about 4 minutes of survey time. For online short surveys, it makes sense to work with our preferred panel providers, who have already sorted their panelists according to Sinus-Milieus. The Sinus-Meta-Milieus indicator is also available in numerous national languages.

And to what extent is SINUS involved in the analysis of the results?

Optionally, we offer a focused milieu evaluation conducted by us, and can deliver a topline report including an executive summary and recommendations for action from the milieu perspective. In this case, we perform a plausibility check to ensure that the milieu-related findings are consistent. If necessary, we also provide assistance with interpretation.