People with disabilities ‘dangerously neglected’ in market research

People with disabilities are underrepresented in advertising and campaigns, but the market research industry can shift this imbalance by rethinking and reframing disability, according to new findings. 

Studies in Mexico examined how the research industry has responded to disability inclusion and found it to still be ‘dangerously neglected’ – a situation that will require rethinking work practices. The reward of succeeding is that inclusive research has the potential to ignite innovative products and services. 

Why disability inclusion matters 

One in six people in the world has some sort of disability, or 16% of the global population. These millions of people have spending power and they would much rather use products and services that offer more readily accessible designs and functions. According to research in Mexico, eight in 10 people with motor disabilities have never identified with brand advertisements, while 60% believe that none of their top five most-used brands are designed or adapted for disability. 

This presents a huge opportunity for brands which truly demand more inclusive market research.

Takeaways

• People with disabilities can help to ignite innovations, such as the award-winning OXO products emerging from trying to design a vegetable peeler that was easy to use and hold. 
• Reframe disability as a problem in ‘design’ – an environment is not able to meet the needs of a person with disabilities, not the other way around. 
  
• Aim for universal design (UD): an environment that can be accessed, understood and used by the greatest number of people possible. 
• Align yourself with experts and organizations that can provide guidance and tackle anxiety. 
• Build a network of people with disabilities, start conversations, and pay more attention to others in your network who may have a disability themselves. 
• Assess your own methodologies and infrastructure (such as platforms and tech) to see how accessible they are, and run accessibility tests before launching any project. 
• Explore new ways of teaming up with people who have disabilities and think about co-creating design projects. 

Read more in the ESOMAR paper: Empowering innovation through disability research