748 Votes Later: The Top 10 Market Research Industry Predictions for 2011 & Beyond

A total of 35 market research industry predictions were posted during the last two weeks of 2010. For each one, people could vote for or against the item, resulting in a net score.

Market Segmentation, Southwest Airlines Style

They used an “a priori” segmentation model. Yup, that’s right. They went into the study with a hypothesized set of segments in mind. The segments were based on behavioral data from their existing customer database. During the presentation, this confused me. We were, after all, in a session on conducting segmentation. The process was defined as qual, leading to quant. But the speaker occasionally referred to the segments they started with…

TMRE Through A Practical Lens

This week, I have the honor of being a guest blogger at The Market Research Event (TMRE), one of the top US conferences for market research professionals. On each of the 3 days of conference sessions, I’ll be posting an article on the event’s blog. Time permitting, I will post additional articles here, at www.ResearchRockstar.com/blog.

Ideas for a Survey Grading Site

I saw some great interest this morning in the idea of a survey grading site. Inspired by yet another awful questionnaire design (one that had been sent to the market research community itself, ironically), I threw out the idea half-joking.

I was thrilled to see responses to the idea from great tweeps like  @MDMktingSource  @conversition @MargaretRoller.

Could this crazy idea have legs?

One idea: Perhaps a volunteer committee of 6 experienced researchers would get together once a month or so (virtually, of course), to review and grade questionnaires?

Computer-Based Training for Market Research Excellence

Computer-based training (CBT), also known as eLearning, is a time-efficient, cost-effective training option for busy professionals.

Market Segmentation for Saving Money, and Making Money

Market segmentation is all about sales and marketing ROI. The premise is that to maximize success with a large population of customers, it is best to divide it into logical subgroups. By dividing one large, generalized market into subgroups, you can fine-tune your product, messaging, promotional, distribution and related strategies to meet the specific needs of unique customer groups.

YouTube Preview of Online Market Research Training

Have you been waiting to take a Research Rockstar class, but just not yet gotten around to it?

Maybe it would help if you could see what an online class looks like. So here’s a video:

Self-Reported Data is Problematic, or Worse

Self-reported information is not perfect. But it is even less perfect in some cases than in others. Point: I can tell you from having conducted 100s of studies with IT… Continue reading Self-Reported Data is Problematic, or Worse

Avoiding Mediocrity in Market Research

In your organization, what happens when someone proposes a market research study?

* Do people roll their eyes?
* Do people perceive it as a decision making delay tactic?
* Do people readily volunteer to be involved in designing the project?
* Do any executive-level folks readily endorse the idea?

When Good Enough is Good Enough: Seeking Balance in Product & Pricing Research

The difference between good market research and great market research can be significant.

But sometimes the incremental time, cost and sweat of that extra effort simply doesn’t make sense. Sometimes, “good” is just perfect.

I was reminded of this last week at the Launch Camp conference in Cambridge. The event, for entrepreneurs seeking social media wisdom, had some interesting speakers, though the one from whom I learned the most was Dharmesh Shah, Chief Technology Officer and Founder of HubSpot (on Twitter as @Darmesh).