Measuring quality codes and signals

Following a brief from a global fast fashion retailer facing a growing perception gap, we were asked to define what quality means to their customers and identify which signals actually drive confidence to buy. We designed a multi-phase project combining cultural and semiotic analysis, qualitative in-market fieldwork, and quantitative prioritisation. Rather than approaching quality as a technical specification, we explored it as a set of cues and shortcuts that shoppers use to judge whether a product can be trusted, in-store, online, and versus competitors. The result was a ranked hierarchy of quality drivers, giving the brand clear guidance on where to focus product and communication effort to shift perception at scale.