Industry overview
What is shaping construction
Construction materials are chosen by a chain of people: engineers, contractors, masons and individual homebuilders. Site conditions, credit and word-of-mouth all matter.
- Masons and contractors strongly influence material brands
- Individual homebuilders rely on trusted advice
- Site safety and quality standards are rising
Client background
A ceramic tiles manufacturer, working in 20 cities in Spain, Italy & Morocco. Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.
- Organisation
- A ceramic tiles manufacturer
- Sector
- Construction
- Team engaged
- Market Research
- Services
- Business panel, Offline data collection (CATI), Data analytics & dashboards
Client challenge
The manufacturer faced rising competition and wanted to understand what its dealers needed to promote the brand more actively.
Research objectives
- Deliver on the brief: strengthening a tile brand’s dealer network.
- Understand the views, needs and behaviour of dealers.
- Produce results that can be compared across groups and locations.
- Give the client evidence it can act on within 6 weeks.
Target audience
The work focused on 700 dealers.
- dealers700
Audiences we typically reach in construction
Contractors and masonsCivil engineers and architectsIndividual homebuildersMaterial dealersSite workers
Geographic coverage
Coverage: 20 cities in Spain, Italy & Morocco. Markets: Spain, Italy and Morocco.
- Spain
- Italy
- Morocco
Research methodology
A structured quantitative design, so results could be compared across groups, locations and time.
- 1Brief
- 2Dealer survey
- 3Dealer dashboard
- 4Insight
We surveyed dealers about display support, delivery reliability, schemes, credit and architect relationships, presenting results by region.
Business panelOffline data collection (CATI)Data analytics & dashboards
Sampling strategy
- dealers
- 700
- Business respondents were screened on role, company size and involvement in the decision before being invited.
- Online respondents were drawn from verified panel members who matched the screening criteria, with quotas on key profile attributes.
- Telephone contacts were dialled from verified lists, with quotas tracked live by the field team.
Data collection
- Telephone interviews were run from our CATI centre, with calls monitored for quality.
- The online survey was mobile-friendly and offered in respondents' languages.
Data quality & validation
- Live call monitoring and recording review
- Call-back verification
- Digital fingerprinting and duplicate checks
- Attention, speed and straight-lining checks
- Review of open-ended answers
- Logic and range checks on the final data
- Work carried out under our ISO 20252 quality procedures
Data analysis
- Cross-tabulation by key groups and locations
- Significance testing on the differences that mattered
- Interactive dashboard for ongoing tracking
Key findings
- Delivery reliability and display support were weakest in fast-growing cities.
Dealer priorities differed sharply by region.
Recommendations
- Build on the core insight: dealer priorities differed sharply by region.
- Focus effort where the evidence was strongest: delivery reliability and display support were weakest in fast-growing cities.
- Re-measure after the changes to confirm the effect.
Business impact
- The manufacturer improved logistics and display programmes there.
What changed in the business as a result of the work. Impact is described qualitatively.
Deliverables & next steps
- Cleaned data file and data tables
- Interactive dashboard
- Repeat the measure after changes are in place to track progress.
- A natural follow-on question: what do homebuilders worry about most?
Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.