Market Research
1/19/09
Tradeoffs between survey length and cooperation
In a previous post we discussed how survey length can indirectly drive up participation recruitment costs. Another often-ignored consequence of long surveys is poor quality data that may or may not be easy to identify. Even conscientious participants lose the desire to be cooperative as a survey drags on. By the sixth page, or the […]
By Beth MulliganRead More
1/12/09
The not so ultimate question?
In a recent edition of Quirk’s Marketing Research Review, there was an article (Article ID: 20081004….requires registration, but it is free) on the Net Promoter Score (NPS). The NPS has long been touted by many as the best way to measure customer satisfaction, and a key characteristic of the system is its simplicity. In case you […]
By David KennedyRead More
1/8/09
Knowing your audience
One of the basic tenets of effective marketing is knowing your target market. That principle is no less important, and may be even more so, when designing effective market research. Whether your goal is to encourage people to use your product or service or to encourage them to participate in your study, knowing what motivates […]
By Matt HerndonRead More
12/22/08
The many uses of surveys
We’ve blogged before about the many uses of research (it’s sort of like the many uses of duct tape), but this one is new to even us. Apparently surveys can even be used to catch criminals. No, not by complex analyses, but by tricking them into thinking they’ll receive $500 for participating in the research. […]
By David KennedyRead More
12/11/08
Cutting through the clutter
As a fun experiment, I’ve kept track of all the chances I’ve recently had to complete a survey. In the past two weeks I’m up to six (conservatively counting). This includes a few invites from research panels, a student’s class project, a mail survey, and a customer feedback form. This doesn’t count “fun surveys” such […]
By David KennedyRead More
11/20/08
Long surveys
I heard the following conversation a few nights ago while on the bus ride home between the bus driver and a passenger regarding a survey that RTD was administering to a few riders on each bus. “That survey was like a book.” “It even had chapters.” “I think they get paid by the question.” Of […]
By David KennedyRead More
11/3/08
In-flight surveys
A good indication that a survey is poorly designed is when it confuses two people who create surveys for a living.Such was the case on a recent flight from Atlanta to San Diego.Beth Mulligan, a fellow analyst, was sitting next to me on the plane and she asked me to take a survey because […]
By Joe FitzlerRead More
10/27/08
Another great tool…Twitter search
We blogged before about Google Trends and Google Insights, and now there is another online tool to add to your repertoire. Twitter Search allows you see what the masses of microbloggers are saying about you, your brand, or anything else you can imagine. Another great way to get a pulse of what is being said […]
By David KennedyRead More
10/17/08
Ethnography as it should be
This is the fifth in a series of posts on our recent trip to Africa. To see our other posts, click here. While in South Africa, we stayed at a classic game lodge. We ate impala at night and we slept in a tent (albeit the most luxurious tent I’ve ever seen), and in the […]
By Kevin RainesRead More
10/13/08
18 Steps to preventing and catching online cheaters
In a recent post, I talked about the problem of professional respondents, and specifically people who cheat to earn their incentive. At the end of the post, I posed the question, “what can we do?” Here I provide some basics on how to ensure the quality of your online data. Survey Design Screeners. Screeners shouldn’t […]
By David KennedyRead More