Using a philosophy of test and learn, Heinz looks to multiple information sources for research, including electronic-point-of-sale, Nielsen data, panel data, and social media and brand monitoring. One such panel, Heinz 57, is an online community of 300 consumers that the company uses as a source of customer feedback.
Love him or hate him, Edward Snowden is a catalyst for change. How did he do it? And what can we market researchers learn from it?
The Big Reveal Gets Big Attention
Snowden didn’t suggest that there might be an issue. He didn’t send out a 50 slide PowerPoint. He didn’t bury his key point on a slide with 4 other “results.” He…
What’s the most promising aspect of mobility in market research? Mobile ethnography—not pushing surveys to mobile devices.
Mobile Ethnography: Innovation in Progress
While there are only a few tools available so far, this area is developing quickly.
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Have you ever bought something because all of your friends had it? While we may be loath to admit it, our actions are swayed by friends, groups, and the public. Perhaps even more so than what we realize. Because of this reality, the authors of “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” argue that market researchers need to go beyond the individual to truly understand consumer behaviors. The authors state that two particular theories should be used more in research to explore the dynamics of influence.
On a survey, do you check “yes” the same amount as someone in India? Probably not! Cultural differences in multi-country surveys yield inaccurate results. Propensity to agree, untruthfulness, and survey “speeders” vary from country to country.
In the Sunday New York Times (January 20th, 2013 edition), Matthew E. May wrote about, “The Art of Adding Through Taking Away.” The article points to the strength of this wisdom through ancient proverb and more recently by quoting Jim Collins, who apparently observed that, “A great piece of art is composed not just of what is in the final piece, but equally important, what is not. It is the discipline to discard what does not fit…
In any market research survey, some participants will drop out, which is just the nature of the beast. The goal is to minimize this drop out rate so that we can meet our overall sample size goals, completely…
It may not be an age-old debate, but it’s one I’ve been hearing a lot lately. In market research, customer interviews (or in-depth interviews, or IDIs) are often a key… Continue reading In-House Versus Outside-Agency Customer Interviews
This November 7th to 9th, many lucky professionals will be gathered in Orlando, Florida learning and networking at one of the industry’s premiere conferences: The Market Research Event (hosted by… Continue reading Not Attending TMRE This Year? Then Consider Market Research University Week
Announcing, “Think Outside The Survey”, a new eBook from Research Rockstar.
Today, some business professionals dismiss market research. Thanks, in part, to popular books like Predictably Irrational, they have learned that self-reported behaviors and attitudes can be unreliable. But the problem isn’t that all market research methods deal with these realities poorly—the problem is that many people assume market researchers rely exclusively on surveys and focus groups. And while these are great methodologies useful in many situations, they are among the most susceptible to the deficiencies of self-reported behaviors and attitudes.
