Market Research Toolbox

2 ©2014 Applied Marketing Science, Inc. Two Types of Market Research Qualitative –Reasons –Feelings –Benefits –Motivations Quantitative –Magnitude –Comparison –Statistical projection Voice of the Customer is both qualitative and quantitative Why? How much?

3 ©2014 Applied Marketing Science, Inc. Ways of Gathering Customer Data Focus groups One-on-one interviews –Telephone –Central location –Customer visits –Ethnography / Contextual observation –Web-based Door-to-door surveys Mail surveys Intercept surveys Telephone surveys Web-based surveys Online “sentiment analysis” QUALITATIVE QUANTITATIVE

4 ©2014 Applied Marketing Science, Inc. Focus Groups Group of eight to ten participants and a moderator Lasts about two hours Group dynamic / collaboration Efficient--many opinions in short time Entertaining to watch Requires skilled moderator Dominant personalities Limited air time “Group think” / free riders Often impossible in B2B Definition Benefits Drawbacks ?  Usually conducted in a facility designed for observation and recording

5 ©2014 Applied Marketing Science, Inc. One-on-One Interviews: Telephone Interviewer and respondent in a minute phone call Facilitates cooperation Easy to fit into busy schedule Lower incentive cost No travel Great for remote customers Rapport / trust much harder Recording more complicated Likely to be disrupted Cancelations / rescheduling “too easy” for respondents Definition Benefits Drawbacks ? 

6 ©2014 Applied Marketing Science, Inc. One-on-One Interviews: Central Location Interviewer and respondent in a minute face-to-face meeting, in a central MR facility Better, deeper probing Respondent gets all “air time” and unlimited attention More cost effective for data produced More work for the moderator Less entertaining to watch More analysis time “Sterile” environment away from important context Definition Benefits Drawbacks ?  Like focus groups, also conducted in a specialized facility

7 ©2014 Applied Marketing Science, Inc. One-on-One Interviews: Customer Visits Interviewer and respondent in a minute meeting at the customer’s location Easiest for the respondent –Facilitates recruiting –Instant referrals Good in clustered industries Builds goodwill Longer timetable (1-2 per day) Travel time and expense You are a guest Prone to distraction Difficulty with recording Definition Benefits Drawbacks ? 

8 ©2014 Applied Marketing Science, Inc. One-on-One Interviews: Ethnography Observe customers using the product, or in the environment where product will be used May be more true-to-life See clues like workarounds, wear patterns, “hacks” Persuasive visual artifacts Uncover unstated needs Time and budget intensive Usually limited to a handful Harder to record good audio More difficult in workplaces Potential for Hawthorne Effect Definition Benefits Drawbacks ? 

9 ©2014 Applied Marketing Science, Inc. Online Focus Groups / Interviews Online discussion with remote participants Can be synchronous (2 hours) or asynchronous (several days) Inexpensive Anonymous Convenient for everyone Allows public and private questions and answers Rapport-building difficult Demands constant monitoring Difficult to probe Cumbersome interfaces Risk of attrition Definition Benefits Drawbacks ? 

10 ©2014 Applied Marketing Science, Inc. For VOC, one-on-ones generally work better than focus groups Source: Adapted from J.A. Silver and J.C. Thompson, “Understanding Customer Needs: A Systematic Approach to Voice of the Customer,” MIT, Research at MIT compared 2-hour focus groups vs. 45 minute one-on- one’s on their ability to generate customer needs Conclusions: 1 hour of work in either setting yields similar results Frequency of mention is not relevant One-on-one’s are more cost effective and more practical

11 ©2014 Applied Marketing Science, Inc. How many interviews do you need? Fewer than you think! Griffin & Hauser concluded in “The Voice of the Customer”: –10 one-on-one interview produce 70% of all needs –20 one-on-one interview produce 90% of all needs –30 one-on-one interview produce 100% of all needs Typical AMS Projects: –10 to 20 per market segment –20 to 50 in total –Exception: Multinational studies Other issues –When can you get to people? –How easy are they to find? To get to? –How many are there?