Market Research Toolbox
Two Types of Market Research
• Qualitative
– Reasons
– Feelings
– Benefits
Why?
– Motivations
• Quantitative
– Magnitude
– Comparison
How much?
– Statistical projection
• Voice of the Customer is both qualitative and quantitative
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Ways of Gathering Customer Data
• Focus groups
• One-on-one interviews
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–
–
–
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QUALITATIVE
Telephone
Central location
Customer visits
Ethnography / Contextual observation
Web-based
• Door-to-door surveys
• Mail surveys
QUANTITATIVE
• Intercept surveys
• Telephone surveys
• Web-based surveys
• Online “sentiment analysis”
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Focus Groups
Definition
?
Benefits

Drawbacks

4
• 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
Usually conducted in a
facility designed for
observation and
recording
©2014 Applied Marketing Science, Inc.
One-on-One Interviews: Telephone
Definition
• Interviewer and respondent in
a 30-60 minute phone call
?
Benefits

Drawbacks

5
•
•
•
•
•
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
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One-on-One Interviews: Central Location
Definition
?
Benefits

Drawbacks

6
• 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
Like focus groups, also
conducted in a
specialized facility
©2014 Applied Marketing Science, Inc.
One-on-One Interviews: Customer Visits
Definition
?
Benefits

Drawbacks

7
• 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
©2014 Applied Marketing Science, Inc.
One-on-One Interviews: Ethnography
Definition
?
Benefits

Drawbacks

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• 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
©2014 Applied Marketing Science, Inc.
Online Focus Groups / Interviews
Definition
?
Benefits

Drawbacks

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• 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
©2014 Applied Marketing Science, Inc.
For VOC, one-on-ones generally work better than focus groups
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
10
100%
Percent of Needs Identified
• Research at MIT compared 2-hour
focus groups vs. 45 minute one-onone’s on their ability to generate
customer needs
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
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2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Number of Respondents or Groups
Focus Groups
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One-on-ones
Source: Adapted from J.A. Silver and J.C. Thompson, “Understanding
Customer Needs: A Systematic Approach to Voice of the Customer,”
MIT, 1991.
©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?
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