WHAT ARE THE MOST COMMON RESEARCH METHODS?
This section focuses on the types of research used in message development and the
research situations where these methods are typically applied. Consumer research
methodologies are often described in terms of the ways researchers contact their
respondents. The contact can be in person, by telephone, by mail, through the Internet or
cable television, or by a computer kiosk in a mall or store.
Ways of Contact: Quantitative Methods
Most quantitative research in marketing communication is survey based. However,
consumers can also be contacted in malls where they are invited to participate in
experimental research.
Survey Research
Survey research is a quantitative method that uses structured interviews to ask large
numbers of people the same set of questions. The questions can deal with personal
characteristics, such as age, income, behavior, or attitudes. The surveys can be
conducted in person, by phone, by mail, or online.
Incentives are important when doing surveys. Different audiences have different
interests, so make your incentive appealing to them. Be careful, however, not to bias
your results in the process.
There are two big questions to consider in designing a survey: how to build a
representative sample of people to be interviewed and what method is best to collect
the data.
Principle:Careful scientific procedures are used in survey research to draw a
representative sample of a group in order to accurately reflect the population’s
behavior and attitudes.
Sampling and Data Collection
Sampling is used because, in most cases, it is cost prohibitive to interview everyone
in the population or target market. Instead, the people are a representative sample of
the larger group, a subset of the population that is representative of the entire
population. For survey research to be an accurate reflection of the population of
interest, those who participate must be selected at random, where every person who
belongs to the population that is being surveyed has an equal likelihood (probability)
of being chosen to participate.
Online Survey Research
The way research is collected from respondents has seen almost constant change as
new technologies continue to make the process more cost efficient. Online surveys
now make up half of the $3.3 billion spent on market research. In addition to survey
research, the Internet can also be a useful tool for monitoring online behavior.
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Ways of Contact: Qualitative Methods
While some types of surveys are best suited as quantitative research methods, other types
can be used for probing and gathering more insightful responses.
In-Depth Interviews
In-depth interviews are conducted one-on-one using open-ended questions that
require the respondents to generate their own answers. The primary difference
between an interview and a survey is the interviewer’s use of a more flexible and
unstructured questionnaire. Interviewers use a discussion guide, which outlines
the areas to be covered during the session. The discussion guides tend to be
longer than surveys with questions that are usually very broad. They use smaller
sample sizes than surveys, their results cannot be generalized, and they are
subjected to statistical tests.
Focus Groups
A focus group is a group of 6 to 10 users of a product who are gathered around a
table to have a discussion about some topic, such as a brand, product category, or
advertising. The objective is to get them talking in a conversational format so
researchers can observe the dialogue and interactions among the participants. In
this directed group interview, a moderator supervises the group by providing
direction through a set of carefully developed questions.
Focus groups can be used at any step in the planning process. However, they are
typically used in the early stages of information gathering to probe for patterns of
thought and behavior that are then tested using quantitative research tools, such as
surveys.
A friendship focus group takes place in a comfortable setting, usually a private
home, where the participants have been recruited by the host. This approach is
designed to break down barriers and save time in getting to more in-depth
responses.
The Web is a tool not only for online surveys but also for online focus groups,
based on the idea of getting together a group of brand loyalists as a password
protected online community. Online focus groups can also be a form of
crowdsourcing, which refers to the aggregating of the wisdom of Internet users in
a type of digital brainstorming in a search for collective intelligence.
Suggestions and Comments
Dialog creates new ways to listen to customers. While informal feedback has
always been available in stores through suggestion boxes and customer
satisfaction cards, this practice has evolved to another level. For example, Target
took the idea online by publishing an ad in the Wall Street Journal asking
customers to “Tell us what more we can do for you,” to which approximately 627
respondents e-mailed suggestions. Target then published the suggestions, along
with the company’s responses to them in two-page ads. Another example is
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Starbucks, which uses an online suggestion box incorporating the practices of
crowdsourcing. My Starbucks Idea is a website for Starbucks customers to
contribute ideas, join the discussion, and vote on the ones they like the best.
Panels
An expert panel gathers experts from various fields into a focus group setting.
This research tool can stimulate new ways of looking at a brand, product, or
customer pattern.
A consumer research panel is an ongoing group of carefully selected people
interested in a topic or product category. A standing panel can be maintained over
time by a marketer as a proprietary source of information or by a research
company whose clients provide topics for the panel members’ consideration.
Panels can gather in person or be contacted by mail, phone, or Internet.
Observation Research
Observation researchers study the actual behavior of consumers in settings where
they live, work, shop, and play, acting as professional snoops. Directobservation
research is closer and more personal than most other forms of research.
Researchers use video, audio, and disposable cameras to record consumers’
behavior at home (with consumer consent), in stores, or wherever people buy and
use their products. A marketer may rely on observation in the aisles of grocery,
drug, and discount stores to watch people as they make product selections.
Cool watchers, researchers who keep tabs on trends, also use observational
research when visiting places and events where their target market gathers. A
variation of observational research is participant observation. In this research
method, the observer is a member of the group being studied. The idea is that by
immersing themselves in the activity, observers have an inside view and perhaps a
more empathetic view of their groups’ experiences.
Ethnographic Research
Ethnographic research involves the researcher living the lives of the people
being studied. Observers immerse themselves in a culture to study the meanings,
language, interaction, and behavior of the people in a group. This method is
particularly good at deriving a picture of a day in the life of a typical consumer.
Principle:Direct observation and ethnographic research methods reveal what
people actually do rather than what they say they do, but they also lack the ability
to explain why these people do what they do.
Direct observation and ethnographic research have the advantage of revealing
what people actually do, as distinguished from what people say they do. The
biggest drawback to direct observation is that it shows what is happening, but not
why. Therefore, the results of direct observation often are combined with personal
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interviews afterward to provide a more complete and understandable picture of
attitudes, motives, and behavior.
Diaries
Sometimes consumers are asked to record their activities through the use of diaries.
These diaries are particularly valuable in media research because they tell media
planners exactly what programs and ads the consumers watched. Beeper diaries are
used as a way to randomize the recording of activities. Consumers participating in
the study are instructed to grab the diary and record what they are doing when the
beeper goes off.
Other Qualitative Methods
To arrive at useful consumer insights, some researchers employ a variety of
interesting and novel research methods. These research methods often involve
pictures and stories, since cognitive psychologists have learned that human beings
think more in images than in words. They are referred to as projective techniques,
meaning that they ask respondents to generate impressions rather than respond to
more controlled quantitative surveys and rating systems.
Professor Zaltman at the Harvard Business School believes that the conventional
approach to consumer research, e.g., surveys and interviews, is only good for getting
back predictable answers, which may not be an adequate description of how
consumers really feel.
Word association is a projective technique that asks people to respond with thoughts
or other words that come to mind when they are given as stimulus word. The idea is
to uncover the network of associations in their thought patterns. Brand perceptions
are tested this way to map the structure and logic of these association networks.
Below is a collection of some of the more imaginative ways qualitative researchers
use projective techniques to gather insights about people’s relationships with the
brands they buy. These methods can be combined.
Fill-in-the-blanksis a form of attitude research in which people fill in the
blanks in a story or balloons in a cartoon.
Sentence completion tests give respondents the beginning of a sentence and
ask them to finish it. These are good at eliciting descriptions, causes, results
and the meanings in personal experiences.
Purpose-driven games allow researchers to see how people solve problems
and search for information. Problem-solving strategies may be identified.
Theater techniques. Games also can be applied in a theater setting where
researchers have people use a variety of exercises to understand how people
think about their brands, tell stories about products, and convince others to use
a brand.
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Sculpting and movement techniques. Positioning the body as a statue can be
a source of insight in brainstorming for creative ideas and new product ideas.
Story elicitation. Consumers are asked to explain the artifacts of their lives,
providing insights into how and why people use or do things.
Artifact creationis a technique that uses ideas as life collages, day mapping,
and the construction of instruction books as ways to elicit stories that discuss
brands and their role in daily life.
Photo elicitation. Similar to artifacts, visuals can be used to elicit consumer
thoughts and opinions.
Photo sorts. Consumers are asked to sort through a deck of photos and pick
out visuals that represent something, such as typical users of the product or
situations where it might be used.
Metaphors. Insight into how people perceive brands through connections
comes from exploring the link between the two concepts. Exhibit 6.18
features a metaphoric ad.
These methods can be combined, according to Professor Zaltman, founder of a firm that
uses metaphors and visual images to uncover patterns in people’s thinking.
How Do You Choose a Research Method?
Determining the appropriate research method to use is an important planning
decision. Two important research criteria include validity and reliability. Validity
means that the research actually measures what it says it measures. Reliability
means that you can run the same test again and get the same answer.
Quantitative researchers are concerned about being faithful to the principles of
science. For this reason, selecting samples that are truly representative of the
population and avoiding poorly worded questions are major concerns. The
problem with experiments is twofold: 1) experiments are limited by the small
number of people in the experimental groups, and 2) they are conducted under
artificial conditions.
Most researchers use a variety of research methods – quantitative, qualitative, and
occasionally experimental designs. Which method should you choose? The
answer depends on what questions you need to answer.
RESEARCH TRENDS AND CHALLENGES
Marketing communication researchers face a number of challenges: globalization and
new media technology are reshaping the industry. Practices are changing as the industry
searches for ways to gain more insightful analyses and the move into IMC planning.
Sampling Challenges
With the increasing use of new media and the Internet, research experts are
struggling to find ways to find samples that are representative.
Global Issues
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The key issues that global researchers face include how to manage and communicate global brands
in widely different localities and how to shift from studying differences to finding similarities
around the world. The biggest problem is cross-cultural communication and how to arrive at an
intended message without cultural distortions or insensitivities. Researchers are becoming more
involved in figuring out cultural meanings and testing advertising messages for cultural sensitivity
in different countries.
IMC Research Challenges
The deluge of data further complicates IMC planning, which requires research into many
stakeholder groups and contact points. Strategic consistency in IMC planning suggests that
different audiences, as well as media, need different messages.
END-OF-CHAPTER SUPPORT
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