Network Peru
Qualitative market research agency in Peru
MindMarket is a market research agency that runs qualitative studies in Peru, from in-depth interviews and focus groups to home visits and shop-alongs, with moderators who live in the country and one project manager for your whole study. Peru has 34.7 million people with a median age of 30.2, and 82.0 per cent of them use the internet (DataReportal, Digital 2026). Lima holds a large share of the market, and the business question often reaches beyond it, into regions where Spanish is not everyone's first language. Research there starts with two questions at recruitment: where, and in which language.
AT A GLANCE
Peru at a glance for researchers
- Population. 34.7 million people, median age 30.2, 79.4 per cent in urban areas (DataReportal, Digital 2026). A young country, with Lima far larger than any other city. Arequipa and Trujillo are the next largest cities, each many times smaller than Lima.
- Languages. Spanish for most sessions. Quechua, Aymara and other indigenous languages are spoken at home in many regions, and we ask each participant which language they are most comfortable in. Our moderators live in Peru.
- Internet and mobile. 28.4 million internet users, 82.0 per cent of the population, and 37.5 million mobile connections (DataReportal, Digital 2026). Close to one person in five is not online, so audiences outside the cities are met in person. TikTok's advertising tools count 28.3 million users aged 18 and above, and the median mobile download speed is 34.71 Mbps against 220.93 Mbps on fixed lines (same source), so video interviews are booked on home broadband where a participant has it.
- Where fieldwork happens. Lima first, then Arequipa, Trujillo and Cusco. When the decision concerns the highlands or the Amazon regions, we recruit there. Lima itself is several markets: the districts differ widely in income, and a sample is drawn from the districts where your customers live, not from the city as a whole.
- Data protection. The Personal Data Protection Law No. 29733 applies. Consent is collected before each session, with a plain statement of what is recorded and why.
- Timing. The national holidays of 28 and 29 July and Holy Week stop fieldwork for several days. January to March is the summer holiday season on the coast. We plan fieldwork in the highlands outside the rainy months at the start of the year, when travel between towns is slower.
IN THE FIELD
How does an interview run in Peru?
In Peru, a person's address does not tell you which language they want to speak in an interview. A screener in Spanish lets through people who can fill in a form and then struggle to describe an experience in detail. A study in Peru that asks the language question first hears people who would otherwise stay silent.
- Ask about language at recruitment. Language comfort is asked before a Spanish screener decides who gets through. The support a participant needs is then built into moderation, materials and analysis from the start. Discussion guides and stimulus are translated by someone who speaks the language at home, and read back by a second speaker before fieldwork.
- Recruit where the decision applies. When the business decision reaches beyond Lima, we recruit in the places it concerns. Arequipa, Trujillo and Cusco have their own retailers and budgets, and the capital does not answer for them. Travel time is planned into the schedule: a day in Cusco or in an Amazon town holds fewer sessions than a day in Lima.
- Who chooses, who buys, who uses. For a product that several members of a household use, the three can be different people. We establish at recruitment whose account the study needs, and interview that person. In a home visit in Peru, the moderator meets the household together first, then speaks to the person whose decision the study is about.
- In person beyond the cities. With 82.0 per cent of people online, urban participants are easy to interview by video. Outside the cities, interviews and home visits happen in person, with a local researcher the family has been introduced to. Recordings from these visits are summarised in English the same week, with the participant's own words kept in the original language beside the translation.
RECRUITMENT
How do you recruit participants in Peru?
- We recruit through local partners in Lima and in the regions, by language, income and category use. District and region are part of every quota, and each participant is confirmed by phone the day before.
- Each participant is asked which language they want to use, and a moderator or an interpreter for that language is booked before the session is confirmed. Recruiters visit markets, shops and community centres in person where a phone screener would reach too few people.
- MindMarket pays every participant's incentive itself. You never handle it.
METHODS
Which methods work in Peru?
Most studies in Peru run as in-depth interviews and focus groups, with ethnographic home visits, shop-alongs or UX research when the question needs them.
| Method | Works well when | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| In-depth interviews | Finance, health, telecoms and everyday choices, in the participant's language | A Spanish-only interview with a participant who thinks in another language |
| Focus groups | Concepts, food, drink and communications in Lima | Lima districts mixed in one group; incomes differ widely |
| Home visits | Cooking, family routines and products shared in a household | The person who buys is not always the one who chooses |
| Shop-alongs | Markets, neighbourhood shops and supermarkets | Markets and modern retail give different answers |
| UX research | Banking, wallets and delivery apps with urban users | An online sample read as the whole country |
QUESTIONS
Questions buyers ask about research in Peru
How much does market research cost in Peru?
A full-service qualitative study with MindMarket starts at $40,000 for the first market, and Peru added to a multi-country study starts from $8,000. Regions outside Lima and sessions in a second language move the price more than the number of sessions. Every quote is itemised and follows within 48 hours of a first call. Estimate your study.
How do I choose a market research agency in Peru?
Choose by what the study has to decide. A Peruvian institute fits a national survey or a tracker. A qualitative specialist such as MindMarket fits a brand from outside Peru that needs local people heard in their own language, by moderators who live there, with one team across every country. Read how to choose a global qualitative research agency.
Which language should sessions run in Peru?
Spanish for most urban audiences. In many regions people speak Quechua, Aymara or another indigenous language at home, so we ask each participant at recruitment and book a moderator or an interpreter to match. Your team follows through translation. Analysis keeps the original wording next to the English, so a phrase that has no clean translation is explained and not lost.
Is Lima enough for research in Peru, or should I add other regions?
Lima is enough when your product sells to urban, connected buyers. For a national decision, add Arequipa, Trujillo or Cusco, and recruit in the highlands or the Amazon regions when your customers live there. A first study in Peru often pairs Lima with one highland city, which shows quickly whether the capital speaks for the rest of the country.
Can you run online research in Peru?
Yes, with urban audiences: 82.0 per cent of the population uses the internet (DataReportal, Digital 2026). People outside the cities, and topics that need the home or the shop in view, are covered in person. Home broadband is faster than mobile data in Peru, with a median of 220.93 Mbps against 34.71 Mbps (DataReportal, Digital 2026), so we check each participant's connection before a video session.
Can you help us decide, not only run the interviews?
Yes. Beyond the fieldwork, our Customer-Led Strategy work turns what people in Peru told us into a recommendation: what to do, what not to do, and why. We form the hypotheses, test them with your customers and recommend from their words. If you already work with strategy consultants, we work alongside them.
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