How Well Do You Know Your Customers?

How much do you know about your customers? I mean do you really know them? At the heart of consumer market research lays a wealth of attitude data that is seldom tapped into. Leading marketers have taken the time to delve into this pool because they realize that attitudes precede behavior. How we...read more

Using secondary data

The joy of the Internet, amongst many, is that it has made the job of being a market researcher just a bit easier. It has also complicated many aspects of our daily lives - but that is a tale for another day. Here’s an example: I have been tasked with creating a survey to measure attitudes of...read more

Are Two Heads Better Than One?

Two heads are better than one, but is this the case in survey research? When it comes to questionnaire design the trend has definitely been towards shorter is better. Lean questionnaires are the new chic. This trend certainly argues against the use of multiple measures of a construct which would...read more

Surprising and Delighting

To surprise and delight should be the goal of all marketers. As a philosophy it is bound to increase customer satisfaction and ultimately lead to increased customer retention and quite potentially enhanced profitability. I had such an experience at the grocery store recently. After agonizing over...read more

Data Chemistry for Stronger Segmentation

There isn’t a marketer out there that hasn’t at some point wondered if their consumer and prospect bases are identical or if there are differences which can be leveraged. This may be a stretch, but market segmentation has been around a long time and is a staple for researchers in consumer and B2B...read more

Customer Insights Comes from 3 Streams: Tips for Measuring Social Media

At one point, not too long ago, marketing research involved the collection of quantitative survey data and in-depth opinions through qualitative focus groups and interviews. Oh, how that has changed! The second stream in this river of consumer insight came when data mining became economically...read more

Consumers Trust Online Reviews as much as Personal Recommendations, Survey Says

Trust is one of those constructs that underlies all relationships from personal to professional. If you cannot trust your spouse or partner, who can you trust? The same goes for professional relationships. In this era of expeditious means of conveying both positive and negative feelings to the...read more

Survey Panel Incentives: Covering your Legal Bases

Although I am certainly not a lawyer, I have been blessed with the opportunity to work with a few. If your survey panel utilizes incentive drawings, then it is advisable to consult with your corporate legal staff before bringing your panel online. This is the case for both consumer and B2B marketing...read more

Trends Affecting Marketing Research: Are You Feeling like the Roman God of Beginnings & Transitions Yet?

Tis the season for looking back and looking forward, makes you feel a bit like Janus, the Roman deity of beginnings and transitions. Thinking back over the course of the year one phrase seemed to capture lion’s share of the headlines…“Big Data.” All things mobile were in the public eye as well. What...read more

Be Mindful of the Social Networks’ Hidden Influences

Earlier, when we used to live in tribes, everyone knew everyone else; there was a presence of naturally strong feedback systems. And, we knew it was important to build networks, and, add positive value to it, to make sure that we get support when we need. No one felt the need of any sophisticated...read more
The Rise of the Smart Phone: Are you Leverging Mobile? 10 Tips for Mobile-Friendly Survey Creation