MicroSave Toolkit: Market Research for MicroFinance
The Market Research for MicroFinance toolkit consists of standard Participatory Rapid Appraisal (PRA) tools adapted to microfinance, as well as original PRA tools developed by MicroSave. The toolkit includes:
- Simple and detailed wealth ranking tools;
- Seasonality, life cycle, and time series tools adapted to learn about the characteristics and financial dynamics, patterns, needs, and preferences of MFI customers;
- Several original PRA tools developed to understand the financial service use, options, and opportunities within communities, including tools for assessing the gender issues and household control of resources.
The toolkit includes guidance on using the tools in the context of focus group discussions (FGDs). It also offers examples of analysis matrices to help organize and process information generated by each tool. A key feature of the toolkit is its dynamic and flexible nature. The tools can be changed, combined, and adapted to examine areas of specific of interest to the market researcher. Depending on the purpose, new tools can be added, while others can be adapted for different kinds of purposes. In this way, the toolkit continues to evolve as it is used to address new issues.
