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Archive for the ‘Qualitative Research’ Category« Previous Entries Next Entries »Market Research – The Key To Business Success – Part 1 of 2Tuesday, October 9th, 2007
If you’re in business, or setting up a business, you need to understand your market. If you don’t understand your customers and your competitors, you are doomed to fail, says Paul Hague. Goodness knows when market research was ‘invented’. It would be reasonable to suppose that sensible people in business have always researched their markets. They will have asked their customers what they want and if they are satisfied with the products and services they supply. They will have done a crude assessment of the potential for their products. They will have judged the best price to charge by carefully watching the competition. Customers have always been the most important part of a business. Today, if you do not put the customer at the centre of your business, you will, over time, have no business. In other words, market research or market intelligence is essential. Structured research However, market research is a bit more than the informal assimilation and interpretation of intelligence that is a natural consequence of keeping eyes and ears open. Market research is structured and purposeful. It is the systematic and objective collection and interpretation of data to help reduce risk in marketing decisions. A market researcher’s stock in trade is data, but good market research should not stop with data. Data is the collection of facts and opinions that are accumulated in the survey process. This needs converting to information that tells us something. More than this, it needs to become intelligence so it helps us make smart moves. Market researchers collect statistics and opinions; then they work out what this data means, and draw conclusions which lead to improved business decisions. All businesses need information to guide decision-making. Managers desperately trying to understand increasingly complex and global markets need more useable information than ever before. Because of this, the research sector plays a valuable role in the commercial world today. Market research in the UK is split almost equally between that carried out with the general public and that with a non-public audience, such as businesses or the medical profession. There are six important categories of research: Market size data is often obtained from secondary data and desk research. However, primary research can be used to make estimates of market size if there are no published figures. The market size would be calculated by collecting data from consumers on their use of products and services and the volume and frequency of their purchases. By using this data, together with population statistics, estimates can be made of the overall market size. For example, if research established that 79% of people who saw a new light bulb were interested in the new product, it would represent 36 million people with an interest in the bulb out of the 45 million adults in the UK. The researcher could now play ‘what if games with these figures. For example, what would that mean in revenue to the company if just 10% of this number bought at least one of the new light bulbs per year at a retail price of £.1? Consumer perceptions Primary research is carried out to establish consumers’ use of and attitudes to products and brands. Typically researchers test the awareness of brands (unprompted and then prompted) and then determine which products are sometimes used and which are used most of the time. This shows consumers’ loyalty to brands and their switching behaviour. Part 2 published tomorrow 10 Top Tips For Market Research Fieldwork In AsiaMonday, October 8th, 2007
From all the international projects we have carried out at B2B International, we know that knowledge of cultural and regional differences; especially in Asia, are crucial in any market research project running smoothly from beginning to end. If you are considering carrying out research in Asia then the following ten tips will hopefully help you along the way. Interviewing During The Day: Telephone Interviews: Size Of Living Area: Online Surveys: Internet Infrastructure: Cost of Living: Travelling: Focus Groups: Courtesy Biasness: Weather Conditions and Traffic: If you are interested in carrying out market research in China or market research in Asia then contact B2B China on +86 (0)10 6515 6642 or visit our website at http://www.b2binternational.com.cn/English/index.html Market Research – Commodity Or Consultancy? – Part 2Thursday, September 13th, 2007
Following on from our post yesterday… Market research in general is becoming more production oriented, likewise qual. A common currency of unit cost per group discussion now exists. This key evaluative metric applies to most qualitative practice. Standard qualitative measures are becoming a – albeit high-quality – commodity. As such, there are price and delivery time pressures. Market research, especially in the qualitative and innovations space, is blurring at the boundaries. So, what is the definition of ‘research’? Increasingly money is being spent on research activities that are not ‘mainstream’; non-researchers are doing ‘researchy-type-things’ as part of a wider offer. Researchers are doing other things too, of course, but more competitors exist than those we’d normally call research agencies. We established there is no ‘single’ model in our sector. We are structured as a hybrid of ‘consulting’ and ‘manufacturing’. Buying patterns have traditionally reflected the latter: they are mainly driven by fixed price, units of product. In turn models that are appropriate to the buying of large scale data collection are being applied inappropriately to various types of consulting. In fairness, buyers’ working patterns with agencies are changing too: witness increasing reference to ‘data providers’ and ‘insight providers’ in roster definitions. So should data collection be seen as a commodity? Yes. There is a measurable unit of production with associated quality controls, and that’s all there is to it. Should group discussion, without any bells and whistles, is now treated very much like a basic unit of production. Will the Market research sector as a whole become commoditised? Yes and no. There is an entire sub-sector of activities and advisory services unrelated to the data machine that should be priced on time/value, not cost, but currently it’s insufficiently delineated. It’s being treated as one: partly because agencies are selling these activities and clients are buying them as such. Also, partly because it’s clients, and suppliers work to a fixed price overall project model. Is this really appropriate for current work practices? Maybe it’s time for a structural reorganisation within the Market research industry, and a new narrative. Here businesses would be segmented into ‘makers’ and advisers’. In Market research, the ‘makers’ would include most of the mainstream and might well redefine their core business(es) around ‘Volume’. But at the ‘value’ and ‘vision’ end of our market, to avoid commoditisation, quallies can continue to fight their corner through relentless innovation. Luckily, this has always been one of their strengths. The best outcome is self renewal; a resurgence of new methods analogous to the original meteoric rise of ‘qual’ in the 1980’s. Clients are saying the this I exactly what they’d like and expect to see. Most importantly, it will be very good business for everybody. Market Research – Commodity Or Consultancy? – Part 1Wednesday, September 12th, 2007
Here at B2B International, we pride ourselves on being able to convert data into intelligence. We know that if we can get people, whose responsibility it will be to execute the actions, to own the data, we will achieve a positive outcome for getting action. However, good research is not just about good interviewing and accurate reporting; it is also about communicating the findings to the research sponsors in such a way they can action the findings and achieve their goals. The B2B International team always work with our clients to develop actionable findings and communicate these in a way that allows strategic decisions and tactical action plans to be developed. From our experience we offer help and guidance in taking projects from initial concept through to implementation and completion; not just data delivery. Here is an interesting extract taken from AQR’s (Association for Qualitative Research) www.aqr.org.uk ‘In Brief’ September edition by Andy Dexter, Truth. It argues the case that is it time to restructure the market research industry into volume agencies that concentrate on quantitative volume, qualitative specific agencies and consultancy advisers. We are all in the business of market research. Agencies exist to make money. Clients buy research to make (or save) money. Clearly this works, or there would be no agencies, and precious few clients. But ‘how’ does it work? At this years BIG, I examined the research industry from a ‘business’ perspective. In turn, this provoked questions about the economics and business models underpinning it and led to three main observations We measure our industry as an ‘industry’ not a service. Market research statistics have traditionally focussed on turnover: the amount charged by agencies to clients. It’s how manufacturing and retail industries benchmark themselves – by sales. Yet practitioners in sectors that researchers usually compare themselves to – advertising, PR, brand consultancy, etc. – are more interested in measuring fee income. This focus on the top line means we tend to measure ourselves in a way that lends itself to industrialisation and commoditisation. This is a global phenomenon. And to reinforce this, we have designated ourselves and ‘industry! The P&L account of our industry looks production rather than service oriented. Looking at profitability or research agencies, and the underlying business models that drive them, there is clearly a dominant economic model in the research ‘market’. This is more analogous to production-oriented sectors than consultancy professions. Similarly, it is clear that acquisitions, economics of scale and cost management – rather than true revenue growth – enables the larger players to maintain profits. Distinct segments in our market reflect different financial dynamics at play. In any sector there are three basic ways to make money on the supply side. Firstly, sell lots of stuff very competitively and make production and delivery highly economically efficient: ‘Volume’. Secondly, sell high value, high prestige stuff and ensure it is appreciated accordingly: ‘Value’. And thirdly, sell an idea; create demand for specialist new stuff that may not even exist yet: ‘Vision’. Readers will have an immediate view on where particular agencies or agency types might sit. Thinking beyond our sector, under (1) we would typically find manufacturing, retail, and production businesses; product and volume-oriented; whose business is cost control and efficiency –led. Under (2)2 and (3) we would find advisory business, with a less pyramid-like structure. So, if there are two different markets, where is qual heading? My initial instinct was to assume that, as a ‘sub sector’, qual would naturally fall under the heading of the advisory business model rather than the production-oriented ones. But this might not be the case… This article continues tomorrow.. Ethnographic Research And Product TestingThursday, May 31st, 2007
Ethnographic research has become something of a buzz in the market research world. It has been around for ever, used by anthropologists who observe their tribes and work out what is going on. The video camera has made this tool much easier for us to use in market research and today’s article from the Financial Times shows how it was used by Unilever to test dental products. The mind boggles at having a camera watch you doing your ablutions, but it shows what is possible. Although this is a consumer example, the principle can be adapted for b2b research. A video camera could watch people use a product in the office or factory. It could watch people buying products in merchants and distributors. It could observe buyers in negotiation. None of these ethnographic situations would be easy to set up, but all are potentially possible. Welcome to an interesting new tool for our kit bag.
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