Market Research Toolbox

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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?

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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

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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

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One-on-One Interviews: Telephone

• Interviewer and respondent in a 30-60 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

?

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One-on-One Interviews: Central Location

• Interviewer and respondent in a 30-60 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

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One-on-One Interviews: Customer Visits

• Interviewer and respondent in a 30-60 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

?

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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

?

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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

?

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For VOC, one-on-ones generally work better than focus groups

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Focus Groups One-on-ones

Number of Respondents or Groups

Perc

ent

of N

eeds

Iden

tified

Source: Adapted from J.A. Silver and J.C. Thompson, “Understanding Customer Needs: A Systematic Approach to Voice of the Customer,” MIT, 1991.

• 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

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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?