Just who we are is a question that has been asked by philosophers since time immemorial. Market research professionals are no different than those wise men from ancient Greece in this regard. Our task is to create an understanding of the consumer’s mind in which we can shape our brand positioning...read more

The number of true monopolies in the global economy is not that large. What this means to the rest of us is that we have to compete to sell our products and services. Competition can come from both global competitors and those homegrown in your back yard.To grow in a soft economy companies must be...read more

There was a day not long ago that advertising testing involved sitting large numbers of people in a room and showing them ads embedded in pilot television shows with a pre-exposure survey and a post-test assessment following the programming and ad exposure. My how things have changed! With the...read more

It has been said many times that randomness is next to godliness in the world of experimental design. I would extend this thinking to the structured world of survey research as well. In this post we will look at two methods for incorporating randomness into your online survey design. Cvent offers...read more

What is statistical significance anyway? The core of our survey data analysis should be directed toward generating consumer insights that are both meaningful and actionable. In order to achieve this joint goal we have to keep our eye on significance, both statistical and managerial.Previously we...read more

Incentives have become the necessary evil in marketing and other forms of survey research. In the days of old it was common to send out a single dollar with a mailed survey to encourage participants to complete their survey. As data collection methods have evolved toward online survey platforms the...read more

I have spoken recently about the ills of multi-collinearity, also known as having variables that are highly correlated with each other. This happens quite often with survey data, especially data generated through consumer or B2B marketing research. The primary concern surrounding multi-collinearity...read more

When it comes to measuring customer satisfaction there are many camps. The one thing most market researchers will agree on is that customer satisfaction (CSat as it is also known) is a multi-dimensional construct. What this means in English is that a customer’s satisfaction with your brand, company,...read more

Performance reviews are no fun. Whether they’re annual reviews with a manager or 360 peer reviews, they’re unwelcome aspects of any job. Although 360 reviews seem like they would be the perfect complements to standard annual reviews, they have the potential to wreak havoc on morale, productivity and...read more

As a marketer I am always curious about the impact of marketing activities and purchase behavior. In short, I wonder if our activities cause people to purchase our products and services. The notion of causality goes back some time in the area of social, economic and business research. Our colleagues...read more