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

While we highlight the most popular posts from a given month in our newsletter, one of my favorite activities is to look back and see what posts were the most popular overall each year. Keeping with tradition, here's a look back across the 20 most popular posts of 2012!   Customer Loyalty Month: 25...read more

I recently taught a session of introduction to quantitative methods. The students brought up several excellent questions including a series on data types. There is no way of escaping at least a cursory chat on data types if you are involved in either consumer or B2B market research. The...read more

Getting to know your customers through qualitative and quantitative research methods, and even simple discussions with them, will provide insight capable of driving significant change to your acquisition and retention management programs. The example below uses a matrix-question format designed to...read more

Surveys, be they for consumer or B2B marketing research, are all about choices. Sometimes it is best to force the respondent to pick one choice, other times we as survey creators need to give the respondent more room to breathe. This in short means allowing them to select multiple options. The...read more

Bring a new product, service, or business to the market is a risky proposition. With risk there come the spoils of victory to those that succeed. Because of the high risk of failure and the economic costs associated with failure, new product research has its own place in the halls of marketing...read more

Left foot before the right, or is it right before the left? This is not a new dance step, but it is about using two tools that compliment each other, just as our left foot compliments the right and vice versa. At one point, not so long ago, there were two primary forms of marketing research:...read more

Keeping things simple, or parsimonious if you prefer, is a blessing to both the respondent and researcher. In questionnaire design, we are often faced with multiple ways to phrase a particular question. Closed-end, open-end, rating or ranking, single select or multiple response formats are all valid...read more

There are several important steps to note when you're beginning the process of conducting a market research study. Here are the top five to keep in mind: 1. Decide what it is you want or need to know about your market. You may be looking to establish your target market or better understand it. You...read more

A couple weeks ago, we crossed the 1,000 posts mile stone! In celebration, we thought it would be fun to look back at our most poplar posts of all time. Here's our Top 10 list:10. Online Survey Pitfalls: Writing Complex Survey Questions – It can be to easy to get caught up in the purpose of your...read more