Extending the Brand Through Research

Brands are living entities. They rise and fall according to consumer interest in them, which is driven in part by marketing’s efforts to extend the life of the brand. This is where market research comes into play. Whether you are a brand manager for a multi-million dollar consumer brand or the owner...read more

Framing the Research Question

Previously I spoke about the iceberg principle which states that only 10% of a problem’s true nature is visible to decision makers. It is the 90% that lies below the surface that offers market researchers the greatest opportunity to do good for our organizations.In order to reach a comprehensive...read more

Reaching Consensus

As a fact of daily life we are confronted with choices and options. Some of these decisions are easy to make and take little of our precious time. However, there are those decisions that take considerable time and resources to resolve. As survey researchers we put our respondents through choice...read more

Understanding the Decision

Making decisions can be a challenging process. Understanding how customers navigate their decision process is a key function for both consumer and B2B market research professionals. One technique that is useful for understanding the decision matrix is CHAID analysis or known formerly as Chi-Square...read more

Let's Go Mobile!

I’m goin’ mobile as Pete Townsend once sang. The trend toward all things mobile continues to cruise down the highway unconcerned by high gas prices. Does this mean market research should follow along? I say so with a cautious yes! Why the caution you ask? When we go mobile we should do so with open...read more

Heard It On The X(tab)

There are a few go to techniques that we use for survey data analysis. The primary tool used for analyzing survey data is the crosstab. There are fancier multivariate techniques, and those have their place, but for everyday use the crosstab is the preferred method for analyzing nominal and ordinal...read more

Attitudes Drive Behaviors or is it the Reverse?

In a previous post we examined the fundamentals of Likert scale development. In case you missed it, Likert survey questions are designed to measure attitudes using a five or seven-point scale agreement scale (e.g. strongly disagree to strongly agree). These scales and their derivatives continue to...read more

Course Correcting the Direction for MR

There comes a time when all professions begin to question their purpose. Consider it therapy for the profession. Market research is no different. Since the new millennium started, the MR profession has seen the rise of data mining, social media, online survey platforms, big data, gamification, The...read more

Maximizing Patient Satisfaction

Health care is a topic of some debate. Stepping aside from that debate health practitioners can leverage market research in several ways to improve the quality of their practice and the overall experience for the patient. In a recent visit to my primary care physician I noticed a table of magazines...read more

Getting Back to the Trenches: Getting too Far Removed from the Customer Experience

Some days as a B2B market researcher, and in my previous lives in consumer research, I find myself becoming more intimate with SPSS files and questionnaires than with our customers. Ah, you might say, such is the life of a quant junkie. Well that may be true, as I do love working with the data that...read more
The Rise of the Smart Phone: Are you Leverging Mobile? 10 Tips for Mobile-Friendly Survey Creation