by Michaela Mora

Posted on July 15, 2010

Qualitative research is going beyond in-person focus groups and experiencing a revolution for the better. Jim Bryson, president of 20/20 Research recently did a great presentation at the Fort Worth monthly luncheon organized by the DFW AMA about the latest online qualitative research techniques.

Thanks to the development of new online platforms, the qualitative research field have seen an explosion of new online qualitative research techniques that makes it possible to collect data in ways we couldn’t before.

Among the new online qualitative research techniques, we now have:

• Bulletin boards
• Immersion IDI’s
• Mobile qualitative
• Quantitative-Qualitative hybrids
• Real time chats
• Research blogs
• Research communities
• Social networking monitoring
• Video journals
• Webcam focus groups
• Web-Intercepts/chats

These new online qualitative research techniques have often made qualitative research better, faster and cheaper (not always). Studies using these online qualitative research techniques can be deployed pretty quickly and provide immediate access to transcripts or videos for review.

As for making qualitative research better, Bryson rightly points out to the advantages of most of these methods:

• Geography: it allow us to reach a wide-range of people across different regions without travel
• Candor: due to the privacy and confidentiality of online, many participants feel more comfortable to discuss sensitive topics
• Convenient access: both clients and participants can participate whenever is more convenient to them and their locations
• Longitudinal capabilities: studies can be extended over time as long as needed to understand the groups of interest

Below are some of the most often used online qualitative techniques, their advantages, disadvantages, and applications according to Bryson:

Mobile qualitative research, according to Bryson, will definitely be part of  market research’s near future. This can be easy and comfortable for the participants, although for now is limited to text only. This technique can be used for reaching to difficult groups, send reminders about “homework” given to study participants, and do research at the point of consumption.

Another approach getting traction is hybrid research, where quantitative and qualitative research are combined in one data collection opportunity. 20/20 Research recently launched a new service called Quallink where participants start in a survey and then are enrolled in a qualitative study. Hybrid research can also be done using SurveyGizmo, which has the capability to integrate online surveys with chat sessions from iModerate.

The main advantages of a hybrid approach are:

• Immediacy: there is no lag between quantitative and qualitative data collection
• Can be very cost effective since cost incurred in recruitment, travel and focus group facilities can be eliminated
• Ability to do a deep-dive on the story behind the numbers
• Ability to segment qualitative data together with quantitative results

There is no question that qualitative research has come a long way and that all these new techniques make this field exciting and promising, but before you get carried away by all the excitement, don’t forget to have clear research objectives and evaluate if these techniques are a good fit for what you want to accomplish.

by Michaela Mora

Posted on March 12, 2010

In my previous article about how to connect to your customers with the help of research insights, I listed some of the key research questions that any business wanting to grow and succeed should ask. But, how do you do it?

Here we need to make a distinction between data collection methods and types of research based on analytical approach, which are often confused. Data collection methods differ based on whether we want to conduct quantitative or qualitative research.

Qualitative research, which is exploratory in nature, usually uses data collection methods such as focus groups, triads, dyads,  in-depth interviews, uninterrupted observation, bulletin boards, and ethnographic participatory observation.

Quantitative research, which looks to quantify a problem, collects data through surveys in different modalities (online, phone, paper), audits, points of purchase (purchase transactions), and click-streams.

As for types of research, I mean the approaches used to analyze the data collected. Depending of the business objectives, we may decide to gather data to conduct a market segmentation, product testing, advertising testing, key driver analysis for satisfaction and loyalty, usability testing, awareness and usage research, and pricing research, among others.

 When to use each of these data collection methods and types of research depends on the business issues we are dealing with in one or more of four key areas:

• Awareness: Let the market know that the product or service exists
• Targeting: Reach the target segments with the highest profit potential
• Acquisition: Optimize the marketing message, offer,  and price that will close the sale
• Retention: Generate repeat purchases from current customers

The chart below, which we call the Relevant Wheel, shows when it is most appropriate and relevant to conduct different types of research.

Our clients find this chart to be helpful and use it as a reference to determine when a particular type of research is needed. Once this is defined, we discuss the most appropriate qualitative or quantitative data collection methods.

 So next time you wonder what type of research to conduct, I invite you to ask yourself where the particular problem at hand belongs to (Awareness, Targeting, Acquisition or Retention ) and then use this chart to to guide your decision on the most appropriate type of research. I hope you find it useful.

by Michaela Mora

Posted on February 9, 2010

I recently came across the new ad from Domino’s Pizza where they show a clip of focus groups they conducted with consumers about their products. I love it! The message was clear: they listened to their customers. Their management and product teams were brave enough to really pay attention to what customers think. I’ll be eternally grateful to Domino’s pizza for the message sent about the value of market research.

This may not sound as a novel idea, but many, many companies go about their business thinking they don’t need to conduct market research in order to improve their products and grow. They believe they know enough about their industry and product category that there is nothing new to learn. Then there are companies that are barely aware of the importance of research, but see it as an expense and not an investment. They prefer to throw spaghetti at the walls and see what sticks.

I don’t know how many focus groups Domino’s did or if they also used other research methods to test their improved pizzas, but the important thing here is that they were willing to listen to their customers.

Now regarding methodology for new product development, I always advise clients to combine qualitative (e.g. focus groups) and quantitative research (e.g. surveys) methods.

Qualitative research is by definition exploratory, and it is used when we don’t know what to expect, to define the problem or develop an approach to the problem. It’s also used to go deeper into issues of interest and explore nuances related to the problem at hand.

Quantitative research is conclusive in its purpose as it tries to quantify the problem and understand how prevalent it is by looking for projectable results to a larger population.

Here are some guidelines to use both types of research in new product development:

Combining both approaches when developing new products will give you a solid foundation to make the right decisions for your business grounded in consumer insights.