Focus groups
Online bulletin boards
& Mini communities
One-on-one, in-depth interviews
Focus Groups are an efficient and effective way to generate consumer insights. We manage every element, beginning with recruiting to ensure we get the right participants in the room. We develop a discussion guide that flows well and, as needed, utilize projective exercises to get participants to reveal their innermost thoughts, both practical and emotional.
Online qualitative offers some advantages over traditional focus groups. This approach generates rich data; is great for hard-to-find, low incidence respondents; geographically dispersed respondents; and for business-to-business (B2B) research. It offers both respondents and clients scheduling flexibility, and is cost-effective. We can keep a bulletin board open for weeks, enabling several iterations to allow you to introduce and refine a new product concept or advertising.
The simplicity of this approach is appropriate for generating insights from executive level respondents, geographically dispersed respondents, and when discussing technical topics. IDIs can be executed in-person, via phone, or through video conferencing (Webex, Skype, or other platforms). For more about phone IDIs, see my article in the December 2012 edition of Quirk’s Marketing Research Review. http://www.quirks.com/articles/index.aspx
Usability testing or user experience
Mobile
Shop-a-longs
Ethnography
No two people interact with a website or app in the same way, but certain design elements are easier for most people to understand. We use a variety of methods - one-on-one interviews (while the respondent navigates a site); online bulletin boards (surprisingly effective); Webex or similar screen-sharing tools to get valuable feedback about navigability, ease of use, content, and more.
The smartphone, with its photo and video capabilities, is an amazing enhancer of qualitative research. We try to require photos or videos on nearly all of our qualitative projects. Instead of participants telling us about something, they can show us. A picture is worth a thousand words or several insights in a summary report! Pictures increases participants’ engagement and generate deeper insights.
Accompanying a customer while he or she is shopping for your product is a
fascinating and effective way to learn about key purchase drivers. This method is great for collecting real-time, in-the-moment insights at the point of purchase. We learn much about all of your marketing elements, from packaging to POP to positioning and what customers think about your competition. Bruce’s strong retail experience makes each shop-a-long that much more valuable.