Marketing Research Methods and Capabilities
By Power Decisions Group San Francisco, CA
The Big Picture Online Communities (MROC)
Qualitative
Online Discussion Forums Time Extended Depth Interviews
Decision Mapping
Research Goals & Design
Focus Group Discussions
Dyads & Triads
Depth Interviews
Online Surveys
Quantitative
Phone Surveys
Hybrid Methods
1 to 1 Interviews Mail
The point is...to make stellar strategic and tactical decisions‌
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Purpose When to use…… Online Communities (MROC)
Qualitative
Focus Group Discussions
Online Discussion Forums Time Extended Depth Interviews
Dyads & Triads
Depth Interviews
• Explore & learn about new and less known markets. • Uncover the range of buyer attitudes and perceptions. • Generate opportunities & concepts.
Online Surveys
Quantitative
Phone Surveys
Hybrid Methods
1 to 1 Interviews Mail
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Gauge segment size. Magnitude of purchase drivers. Track change. Measure competitive advantage. Rate opportunities.
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Qualitative Research Classic Methods
With online research technologies now maturing, we have a full plate of qualitative research choices: Classic Methods These are traditional, in-person qualitative interview settings allowing exploration and deep probing of respondent behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs. These generally are one-event settings, although with re-contact methods may permit time-extention features to allow for incubation and re-exploration.
Focus Group Discussions Dyads & Triads
Qualitative Classic
Depth Interviews Time Extended Depth Interviews
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Qualitative Research Leading Edge Online Methods
Leading Edge Online Methods Making use of the web, these new methods use online tools and internet connections to replicate classic methods, and extend their capabilities. They make time-extention easily achievable through repeat login to research portals. Through the ease of uploading and downloading photo and video files, and frequent engagement with respondents, these methods, to some extent, may emulate ethnography methods which observe both behavior and capture opinions.
Online Communities (MROC)
Qualitative
Online Discussion Forums
Leading Edge
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Classic Methods Focus Group Discussions
90 minute group discussions with 10-12 participants. •Pros & Cons: Best used when observing group interaction is central to research goals; provides insight as to enthusiasm for brand; excellent method for ideation. Other methods are more productive.
Qualitative Classi c
Dyads & Triads
Small groups of 2-3 people with long interviews. •Pros & Cons: Allows more time with respondents; similar to depth interview environment.
Depth Interviews
One-on-one, exploratory, long interviews. •Pros & Cons: Allows 1-2 hours with each respondent; extensive exploration; some incubation.
Time Extended Depth Interviews
Depth interviews that extend beyond one interview. •Pros & Cons: Extends depth interviews to allow respondents to expand, think more about the topic, and incubate new ideas and views.
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Classic Methods Process
Design We maximize the method and use it for its prime purpose. This means, for example, that we do not spend time pursuing information that we can otherwise capture in a questionnaire. With all classic methods, we use advance questionnaires for profile data.
Audience Target and Recruitment
Qualitative Classi c
Recruitment standards are a key to success, to achieve rich, deep insight from verbal and involved consumer or B2B targets.
Expert Moderation and Interviewing A cornerstone to all qualitative methods is the quick-thinking of the group interviewer. It starts with a well-crafted moderator’s guide or depth questionnaire. As qualitative interviewers, we look and listen for tracks to explore from verbal and non-verbal cues. Seemingly off-topic sidebars and ice-berg comments are valuable.
Multiple stimuli Focus groups and depth Interviews allow for presentation of products, ad copy, concept statements and projective stimuli such as photos. Again, innovative and creative design comes to play here.
Insightful Interpretation and Reporting Of course, while clients can observe groups and interviews in progress, it is the interpretation, review and analysis afterwards that ties together themes and threads.
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Leading Edge Online Methods Research Communities and Discussion Forums Online Discussion Forums
Qualitative Leading Edge Online Communities (MROC)
Online Forums, or bulletin board discussions, provide an qualitative web venue. Forums go for 3 to 4 days where respondents login on their own schedule. Pros & Cons: Easy to expose media via video, graphics and capture quant-like data through ad hoc polls; allows for time-extension incubation. Allows limited on-the-fly modifications.
We create 30-90 day custom Facebook-like online communities with 75-200 target participants. •Pros & Cons: Extends Online Forum to real-world longer timeframe. Referred to as a “focus group on steroids”. Research learning parallels creative advertising or new product development. Highly dynamic as research goals can be modified as learning progresses.
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Online Forums Process
O nli
ne D Foruiscussio ms n
Qualitative Leading Edge 9 9
Online Forums Advantages Deep Insight Forums extend for 3 to 4 days, thus permitting incubation as participants review ideas, collect their thoughts, and consider their reactions. Thus, we acquire deep insight in a short time. Participants share their thoughts with great clarity and depth in Online Forums, offering an unexpected level of thinking, emotions, and understanding that far surpasses that which is normally acquired in traditional focus groups or online quantitative surveys.
Multiple data capture methods
Online Forums rely heavily on qualitative open-ended text posts, yet short quant-like Discussion Forums questionnaires are also used to rate concepts, ads, and brand preferences.
Qualitative Reach the hard-to-reach
Leading Edge
Forums can bring together far-flung participants irrespective of geography, scheduling bricks, or time zones.
Multiple stimuli Using the Forum portal, we will be able to show marketing materials such as video, print, and audio format; ideal for conveying product concepts, ads, and positioning.
Fast reporting -- In-progress Observation The Forum method and technology allows the moderation and analytic process to be integrated, allowing for early top-line reporting. Clients can observe activity inprogress.
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Online Research Communities Process Process is similar as for Forums, with larger groups and 30-90 day time frame. Using a Facebook-like portal, communities (MROCs) allow us to watch and listen to people react over extended time.
Qualitative Leading Edge
Onl i Comne Res m ear (MR unitiesch OC)
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Online Research Communities Advantages
Qualitative
Extends the Advantages of Online Forums On the surface, Research Communities are merely longer time versions of Forums. In many respects, they are, yet there are additional impacts of having 75 to 150 targeted participants both responding to and, if desired interacting with each other, about your advertising or product concepts. Stays Active and Available in Parallel to Internal Decision Making Process Client decision viewpoints evolve over weeks and months where ideas, concepts and choices are incubated and dynamically developed. We build and run research communities in parallel. Depth and Quantity of Feedback By spending a few months with a targeted group of individuals, we explore a research topic in extensive depth, more so than with a focus group, or other tools.
Online Communities (MROC)
New Questions and Insights -- Adaptive Goals Over time, participants often move the conversation to unanticipated areas, opening up new questions and insights. In an MROC, learning happens everyday. We adapt reroute and learn. Cost Savings over Focus Groups, Forums, or Repeat IDIs Communities offer savings over multi-city focus group studies or multiple forums.
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Quantitative Survey Research Overview
Quantitative studies estimate size of segments, change over time, and magnitude of attitudes and beliefs. Power Decisions Group employs all survey methods, choosing the optimum method for each client study.
Online Surveys Phone Surveys
Quantitative
Hybrid Methods
1 to 1 Interviews
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Quantitative Survey Research Overview Online Surveys
Quantitative
Phone Surveys
1 to 1 Interviews
Pros & Cons: Fast implementation for B2B and consumer targets. Online survey tools provide arsenal for concept testing, preference ranking, and attitude measurement. Within-interview programming allows allows complex question branching. Pros & Cons: The primary method for true top-of-mind brand awareness and first reaction attitudes. Best for defined customer populations and B2B markets, phone studies provide the advantage of direct 1to1 voice interaction and on-the-fly probing. Pros & Cons: The in-person 1to1 interview continues to hold an important place in the research toolkit. It is especially useful for B2B studies, and for consumers in a central-location (CLT) environment. Smaller sample in-person quantitative studies are an excellent bridge between qualitative stages and high-sample-count online studies.
Pros & Cons: Allows respondent time to think about complicated issues without interviewer influence. Requires more data collection time than other methods.
Hybrid Methods
Pros & Cons: Here we combine data collection methods to achieve optimum results. For example, a B2B study may make initial contact by phone offering to conduct interview by either phone or offer a URL for online completion. Hybrid methods typically are more costly and time consuming.
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Quantitative Survey Research Online Web-based Surveys
Online surveys can employ true random probability sampling within large member panels. Quantitative
Online sample panels are available for both consumer and B2B populations including business C-level executives. Complicated survey questionnaire formats can be used in the online venue. For example, piping, rating, rankings, constant sum questions, etc. Online surveys allow easy-to-display visual information and video media to be shown to respondents. (advertising copy, concept statements, projective stimuli, product videos and graphics) Allows deployment of complicated respondent tasks (card sorts, conjoint ratings, Online graphic ratings, concept screening, ad copy markup onscreen).
Surveys
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Low relative cost. Generally, fast implementation. Easy use of complex display stimuli. Sampling control is critical. Large pre-recruited panels allow quick access to willing respondents, although sampling validity must be carefully assessed. Due to “distance” between respondent and researcher (e.g. no voice or 1to1 contact), quality measures must be in place to screen out bad intent respondents. Power Decisions Group uses statistical methods to check response patterns for illogical and nonsense responses.
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Quantitative Survey Research Phone Surveys
Quantitative
Quantitative studies conducted by phone are and excellent method especially when the research goal is to capture unaided, top-of-mind thoughts and associations. This method is best for close-end questioning, when dimensions and ranges of issues are already known. Open-ended questioning using phone is best reserved to measure top-of-mind awareness and first-thought impression, although deep attitude probing is possible with specially trained interviewers. Initial survey sample is often filtered to target known segments or sub-groups that meet research goals. 10-15 minute average interview length is maximum target unless highly Phone specialized population or high incentives paid. Surveys – – – – – –
Optimum use is for top-of-mind awareness and first-thought impressions and image associations. Response rate is critical, especially with growing privacy issues and phone screening among consumers and business executives alike. Low relative cost. Generally, fast implementation. Skilled interviewer can extract more information than a self-administered method (mail, online), thus interviewer training and selection is critical Critical to monitor response rate to ensure sample is representative of target sampling frame.
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Quantitative Survey Research 1to1 Interviews
Quantitative
1to1 interviews are conducted face-to-face by a specially trained interviewers. Used where a face-to-face environment is desired. In B2B market research, personal interviews may be conducted by appointment in-office, or at trade shows or other venues. Consumer studies may be done in-home usually by advance appointment. Central location, or CLT, studies are the prime 1to1 venues where respondents are recruited from mall or other high-traffic locations to a nearby interviewing facility. Used when these conditions exist: complicated or sensitive issues, respondents need to physically experience product or other stimuli free from group influence, specialized interviewing skills (depth probing, time for reaction.)
1 to 1 Interviews
– Higher cost than other methods. – Can provide good hybrid method combining features of qualitative and quantitative research by asking quant-type questions first, followed by in-depth probing questions and projective techniques. – Skilled interviewer can extract more information on open-end diagnostic questions than a self-administered method (mail, online)
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Quantitative Survey Research Hybrid Designs
Quantitative
Hybrid combining of methods merge two or more techniques to optimize response and measurement validity. Examples:
Quantitative
Mail or phone invitation to online surveys. Online surveys with phone follow-up to permit depth probing of key market research questions by expert interviewer. Quantitative surveys from which participants are selected based on their answers for a follow-up qualitative phase. Panel recruited from a one-time quantitative survey.
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Hybrid Designs
Higher cost More time required for implementation. Enhances quality through higher response rates, and better response quality or validity.
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The Big Picture Online Communities (MROC)
Qualitative
Online Discussion Forums Time Extended Depth Interviews
Decision Mapping
Research Goals & Design
Focus Group Discussions
Dyads & Triads
Depth Interviews
Online Surveys
Quantitative
Phone Surveys
Hybrid Methods
1 to 1 Interviews Mail
The point is...to make stellar strategic and tactical decisions‌
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Project Fee Guidelines
Qualitative
Project fees are based on professional design and analytical time plus data collection costs. Focus Groups Full Focus Group studies -- from design, field, and reporting -- cost can be estimated with a core design and analysis fee of $5,000 to $15,000 with a per group charge of $5,000 to $8,000. The variances are due to target audience ease-of-reach and required incentive payments. 4-group study with 10-12 participants typically requires a budget of $25,000 to $35,000 exclusive of travel expense.
Forums $15,000 - $20,000 per 40-person Forum for typical consumer products and target audiences
Communities Much larger cost range due to time, scope, and reporting variables Short term (30-60 day), smaller project range: $25,000 - $40,000 Longer term (60 day+), larger project range: $50,000 - $200,000.
Online Studies Quantitative
Low range for descriptive, smaller, high incidence rate sample: $12,000 - $18,000 More complex online studies requiring highly targeted consumer or B2B samples and complex design and analytical requirements: $20,000 & up
Phone, Hybrid, 1to1 Interview Studies Generally, higher cost compared to Online; many variables Range: $25,000 & up
2020
Power Decisions Group Call for a conversation…
More information about Power Decisions Group is available on our website and these documents.
– “Brand Evolution and Research” (PDF) Integrating Branding Research into the Product & Advertising Concept Development Process
– “Think of Your Brand as a Person”, Article (PDF) – Blog: Strategic Brand Research ( powerdecisions.net) – Power Decisions Group website (powerdecisions.com)
Call or email…
Power Decisions Group San Francisco 415.339.0498 Explore@powerdecisions.com
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