Fira Chen, Consultant

I joined The Behavioural Architects in 2016 as a Consultant following three years as a qualitative researcher and moderator at Livingston Market Consultants. My experience ranges across different sectors: FMCG, Beauty, Healthcare and Early Years Nutrition and Babycare – providing me with the opportunity to better understand how different brands have relevance and roles with consumer’s lifestyles, decision-making and needs. I earned my bachelor’s degree from Sun Yat-sen University majoring in English Literature and Russian in 2013.

Research is about always being curious about why people interact and behave as consumers the way they do or claim they do. Joining TBA has empowered my curiosity by providing new tools and ways of thinking to inspire me to identify accurate insights that our clients can act on. The inspiration comes not only from an excellent team of qualitative professionals here, but also from our visionary clients.

Fred Dong, Senior Consultant

I joined The Behavioural Architects in 2011 with a background in Arts administration. Working as a qualitative researcher, I have in-depth experience across a range of FMCG clients including food, snacks, beverages, (including alcohol) and also in the healthcare sector.

I’m also excited to explore and apply new technologies to qualitative research in order to facilitate higher quality research. Conducting projects via digital platforms contributes valuable first-hand insights to understand our audiences, especially amongst the youth in China.

I am inspired by Behavioural Economics because it provides a new perspective and framework to understanding people’s behaviour. For example, it was fascinating to apply the theories and concepts drawn from the behavioural sciences to the Chinese low tier market for a recent project, decoding the Chinese cultural context in order to identify opportunities for our global clients.

Roger Baker, Strategy Director

I joined The Behavioural Architects in Shanghai in April 2013 as Strategy Director. Prior to this I have spent 13 years working in qualitative research at a global level. I was always curious about what makes people tick and behave the way we do (or claim we do!), and qualitative research provided the perfect channel.

My career started at a pioneering qualitative boutique agency in London in 1997 with Michael Herbert Associates, then in qualitative consultancy with Headlight Vision in London, working with their global clients. I then relocated to Scotland in 2003 to join Scott Porter Research as Qualitative Research Director to develop their qualitative offering as the first boutique research consultancy in the region. In mid-2011, the family relocated to China where I took a role as Chief Representative of Elizabeth Norman International and set up their new consultancy for the Asia region.

I am excited about applying insights from the behavioural sciences to global and local client briefs and strategy and looking forward to driving our innovative thinking within the rapidly changing China and Asia market.

Anna Jiang, Director

I joined The Behavioural Architects, Shanghai (formerly Research Essentials) in 2007. I have a wide range of experience with global FMCG clients such as Pepsico, Mondelez, ABIinBev and Pernod Ricard as well as healthcare clients such as Abbott. My research experience includes foundational consumer insights, innovation, product evaluation and communication research.

Behavioural economics provides a sound scientific grounding to our research that inspires us to re-think and rejuvenate our approach and methodologies to understand and interpret consumer decision-making and behaviour. We have found that applying an analytical framework to research using tools inspired by the behavioural sciences generates richer and more actionable consumer insights and leads to real behavioural change which can better address clients’ business goals.

Vivian Ho, Associate Director

I joined The Behavioural Architects, Shanghai in 2013, and prior to this, I worked at TNS Research International in Hong Kong, and IPSOS Greater China. I grew up and began by career in Hong Kong, but relocated to Shanghai in 2010 with IPSOS.

I am fascinated by the dynamic and rapid change of the mainland China market. Here lives a huge population with distinct cultural values, and consumption habits, which are similar but equally so different across regions, city tiers, and generations.

This changing market combined with the insights from behavioural science elicits drives my strong interest in designing and conducting qualitative research. I am keen to use the tools offered by behavioural economics to better understand the drivers behind consumer decision-making and behaviour.

Joyce Li, Consultant

I’m a qualitative researcher and trained moderator, with over nine years’ experience in top international research agencies MB Firefly and Ipsos.

Joining The Behavioural Architects, Shanghai (formerly Research Essentials) in early 2011 has opened an exciting and different qualitative world to me, moving beyond research into strategic consultancy. I have gathered extensive qualitative experience in market exploration, concept and product testing, sensory tests, and brand positioning studies across key industries, such as FMCG, personal care, pharma and health, alcohol, digital products and fashion.

I find the field of behavioural economics incredibly exciting as it provides us with a framework to understand the context surrounding the consumer and how their behaviors are influenced or changed. It also inspires different approaches to research such as simply observing behaviour and listening to consumers which I have found can generate much deeper insights than some other methodologies.

Sarah Lu, Associate Director

Before joining The Behavioural Architects in 2013, I spent five years working at the Chinese brand consultancy Labbrand, where I developed expertise in applying consumer insights to branding across many industries, such as hotel and leisure industry, beauty, fashion, luxury brands, food and beverages. This inspired my curiosity and allowed me to better understand qualitative research.

I am excited to be working in such innovative research at The Behavioural Architects. I believe that Behavioural Economics can facilitate us to understand more deeply and better interpret consumer behaviour. Fuelled by this ever-developing field, I think we can offer a better connection and an in-depth understanding between brands and consumers.

Mandy Meng, Consultant

I joined The Behavioural Architects in March, 2016. Prior to that I spent over 3 years at Jigsaw Research working in qualitative research across a range of categories: FMCG, Personal Care, Household Appliances and Pharma. I have a Master’s degree in Marketing from the University of Queensland, Australia.

With four years’ experience in the research industry, I have accumulated hands-on experience in consumer insight understanding, branding communications, and market entry and strategy.

I am fascinated by the field of behavioural science and Behavioral Economics. Inspired by BE, I feel empowered with a new systematic methodology to better understand the consumer mindset and behaviour in the fast-changing and exciting Chinese market landscape.

Lisa Wang, Head of Administration

I joined The Behavioural Architects in 2012. Before this I worked for a multi-national food corporation as an office administrator. There I ran daily operations in a large office and provided reliable support to the team. I’ve joined The Behavioural Architects in an exciting period of growth and am enjoying working with the team.

Jessie Sun, Consultant

Prior to joining The Behavioural Architects (TBA) in April 2014, I spent five years in both qualitative and quantitative research working across a range of categories: FMCG, household appliances, fashion, beauty and personal care. At TBA, I work across FMCG-sectors – including nutrition and health, beverages, snacking and alcohol, with a strong focus on the dairy category.

As a qualitative researcher I love exploring what really drives consumers in their behaviour, beliefs and attitudes and connecting this to the market dynamic and brand landscape.

I am inspired by Behavioural Economics as it offers researchers a powerful lens with which to explore and better understand the consumer mind and behaviour. It provides more systematic thinking and new methodologies by considering key factors such as context, and the influence of the subconscious.

Qing Wang, Founder

Trained in Germany, I started my career in brand marketing at Henkel KGaA in Dusseldorf. I spent 10-years working across a range of categories and geographic and cultural locations, including Europe and the MiddleEast, finally returning to China in 2004 to lead the Chinese launch of Schwarzkopf Hair Line.

I have always been fascinated about how different contexts can shape and impact our behaviour in all areas of our lives, as consumers and also as individuals. This fascination finally led me to move on and co-found Research Essentials in 2006. I’ve worked on a number of key global clients, including PepsiCo, Unilever and Sony Ericsson.

Merging with The Behavioural Architects will allow us to extend our international reach and critically tap into new thinking from the behavioural sciences, in particular Behavioural Economics. In this changing era, there is a big challenge and opportunity for qualitative research to embrace new thinking and help clients to stay ahead of change.

Natasha Xue, Consultant

I joined The Behavioural Architects, Shanghai in 2014 after completing a Master’s degree in Psychology at Glasgow University, in the UK. I have over four years’ qualitative research experience, with a mix of both client and agency side, including three years at L’Oreal China where I gained considerable experience in product testing (pre/ post launch evaluation, innovation and consumer behaviour with cosmetics).

I see Behavioural Economics as an incredibly useful tool which allows us to better understand consumer behaviour – how individual mental states, specific occasions, the contextual environment and the wider social and cultural contexts influence us in different ways. It’s great to be able to build on my academic background and interests to apply the insights of the behavioural sciences to qualitative market research.

Lynette Xu, Consultant

I joined The Behavioural Architects, Shanghai in 2014. Prior to that I spent three years at IPSOS in Shanghai having also gained experience at ACNielsen and Research International in New Zealand, where I grew up. At IPSOS, I focused on multinational projects, highlighting insights and trends for global strategy planning.

I am excited to apply the insights from behavioural economics to pioneer new approaches to research. I believe it can help us to analyse and better understand the everyday habits and behaviours of consumers to bring to our clients invaluable insights to build and further their business strategies.

Sharon Zhou, Founder

A passionate qualitative practitioner, I started my career in the 90’s at the Market Research Institute – the first qualitative research agency in China. In 1995 I joined Oracle, the predecessor of Oracle Added Value. I moved on to Millward Brown in 2001 and became Qualitative Account Director leading a team of 5 people.

In 2006 I co-founded Research Essentials in Shanghai, whose vision was to deliver insights, brand and communication solutions inspired by genuine understanding of the people, culture and changes underway in China. My key clients include Kraft, Unilever and J&J (XJP).

Behavioural Economics provides insights into the many paradoxes about consumers that we as qualitative researchers observe and experience. I’m excited about the prospects ahead of us!