Bureau West ? Market Research

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So Many Research Options, So Little TimeHow to
Choose Among New and Traditional Qualitative
Research Methods

• Jay Zaltzman
• Bureau West, Inc.
• Market Research Marketing Strategy
• Los Angeles, California, USA
• Tel [phone]
• Email info_at_bureauwest.com
• MRIA-ARIM
• June 16, 2011

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Bureau West research strategy

• Consortium of independent researchers
• Qualitative research (focus groups, interviews,
  online methods)
• Quantitative research (surveys)
• Website-related research (usability, conceptual)
• Agnostic when it comes to methodology
• Whats the best way to answer the research
  question?

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Decisions, decisions

• Inundated with new qualitative options
• Online bulletin board focus groups
• Remote webcam focus groups
• Telephone focus groups
• Online chat focus groups
• Mobile phone research
• Online journaling
• Video diaries
• Telephone interviews with desktop (computer
  screen) sharing
• Online communities/social networks
• And more!

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Decisions, decisions

• And then there are the traditional options such
  as focus groups and in-person interviews
• Infinite combinations of the above
• How to choose?
• Benefits
• Client comfort level
• Bells and whistles

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Online bulletin board focus groups

• Asynchronous
• Less interaction, less spontaneity
• Greater depth
• More individual opinions and less influence of
  fellow participants
• But still get some of the synergy of group
  discussion
• Anonymous
• Geographic dispersion
• Cost savings

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Online bulletin board focus groups

• Well-suited for
• Website-related research
• Discussing new concepts
• High-involvement topics

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Webcam (video) focus groups

• More interactive than online bulletin board focus
  groups
• Though still not the same as in-person
• Psychological safety of home or office
• Less groupthink than in-person focus groups
• Best of both worlds?
• Geographic dispersion
• Costs not cheap, but save on travel

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Webcam (video) focus groups

• Examples
• Research reactions to TV ads
• Home use of products

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Online chat focus groups

• Moderated discussion conducted online
• Think of a large chat room, with visuals that can
  change
• Moderator asks questions and probes while the
  comments scroll down the page
• Clients view the online chat in real-time, and
  are able to have the moderator ask additional
  questions, if needed
• Somewhat interactive
• More immediacy
• No dominators
• Simultaneous responses large amount of data in
  short amount of time
• Anonymous
• Geographic dispersion
• Cost savings

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Online chat focus groups

• Well-suited for reactions to visuals and to
  concepts

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Telephone focus groups

• Teleconference
• Can be done as a regular conference call or using
  an online conference system like WebEx or
  GoToMeeting, so participants can view stimuli on
  their computer screens
• Fairly interactive
• Geographic dispersion
• Quick and easy to set up
• Cost savings

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Telephone focus groups

• Tend to use when webcam focus groups are too
  expensive or too difficult (e.g., no time to send
  webcams to respondents)

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Desktop sharing

• Can work both ways
• Moderator and clients see respondents desktop
• For remote website usability testing
• Respondents and clients see moderators desktop
• For telephone focus groups or interviews with
  visual component
• With or without a webcam
• Providers
• Webex
• GoToMeeting
• AdobeConnect

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Mobile phone research

• Not just for quant anymore
• Questions asked by text message at pre-determined
  times over the course of days or weeks
• Respondents answer by text message
• Alternate method have people call in their
  answers
• Immediate
• More natural, researcher has less impact on the
  behavior being researched
• Well-suited for
• Learning about behavior (e.g., shopping, watching
  TV)
• Getting at feelings, emotional reactions

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Mobile phone (texting) research

• Examples
• How PR staffers feel about their work
• Reactions to marketing messages

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Online journaling (immersive research)

• Participants write their own blogs
• Can combine text, photos, video, audio to get at
  various aspects of the topic being researched
• More natural, researcher has less impact on the
  behavior being researched
• Can participate at their convenience
• More in the moment than an IDI, less than
  texting
• Provides greater depth than texting

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Online journaling (immersive research)

• Well-suited for
• Learning about behavior
• Getting at feelings, emotional reactions

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Video diaries

• Questions and answers on video more natural and
  easier for participants
• Portable video cams enable us to follow
  participants, with minimum observer impact
• Participants dont have to write and organize
  thoughts, can speak spontaneously
• Rich visuals for report

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Video diaries

• Well-suited for
• Learning about behavior as it happens (day in
  the life)
• Getting at feelings, emotional reactions
• Examples
• PG research about morning routines
• Midas customer research

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Social media

• Still finding our way proceed with caution!
• Many consider Facebook and MySpace to be very
  personal forums.
• Can temporarily connect to (friend)
  respondents.
• This provides a deeper and more candid view of
  the person than is available otherwise.
• Data mining opportunities.

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Market research online communities

• Large group of people recruited to a private
  online platform to participate in a variety of
  research activities over time.
• Uses
• Co-innovation involving customers in the product
  development process.
• Identifying trends participants recruited for
  MROCs are engaged, creative types of people who
  tend to be at the forefront of trends.
• Longitudinal input obtain information over the
  whole course of the decision-making process, or
  input about product use over time.
• Speed answers can be available in days rather
  than weeks.

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So how to choose?
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Decision process start here
Are people with broadband internet
representative of the target?
Cant use remote or online methods (except
telephone focus groups and IDIs)
No
Yes
Can consider online methods continue to next
page
Is confidentiality absolutely essential?
No
Yes
Cant use remote or online methods
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In Person InteractionSpontaneity
In Home or Office Psychological security
Webcam focus groups
In-person focus groups
Online journaling
Telephone focus groups
Video diaries
In-person IDIs
Mobile phone research
Online bulletin board focus groups
Online chat focus groups
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Depth
Superficiality
In-person focus groups
Online bulletin board focus groups
Mobile phone research
Telephone focus groups
In-person IDIs
Online journaling
Webcam focus groups
Video diaries
Online chat focus groups
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Group Group dynamic
Individual
In-person focus groups
Online bulletin board focus groups
Mobile phone research
Telephone focus groups
Online journaling
Webcam focus groups
Video diaries
Online chat focus groups
In-person IDIs
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Immediate
Retrospective
In-person focus groups
Mobile phone research
Online bulletin board focus groups
Webcam focus groups
Video diaries
Telephone focus groups
Online journaling
Online chat focus groups
In-person IDIs
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Decision process also consider

• Client comfort level
• Savings in travel cost, time

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Summing up

• Selling new techniques to clients
• Consider a combination

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Thank you

• Jay Zaltzman
• Bureau West - Market Research Marketing
  Strategy
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