Companies operating in the financial services sector are not traditional marketing organizations.  While the products that they bring to market are largely intangible, they have an enduring nature and are not consumed simultaneously with their production. This enduring nature creates a servicing component: besides providing a certain product at a certain price, there is the [...]

Online studies offer a fast, cost-effective way to reach many target audiences.  A wide range of factors, however, make B2B projects difficult to complete using online alone.  Gatekeepers—such as office managers—may filter out surveys before their bosses see them or complete questionnaires themselves to claim the reward.  In addition, executives’ busy schedules hamper response.  Surveys [...]

Before becoming a qualitative researcher, I taught English abroad. While the two jobs seem unrelated, I’ve come to realize many parallels between them.  In both positions you ask questions to make the “participants” (students or focus group respondents) reply with thoughtful answers. Short, lifeless responses are a weak substitute for an answer, and the teacher/moderator [...]

It’s definitely a case of not being able to see the forest for the trees. As market researchers, we’ve  always known in our hearts that each individual respondent’s input is what really matters. But, in the course of trying to build the best possible surveys and develop flawless methods for selecting sample sources, it’s easy [...]

What is it about brands that have staying power, remaining hot over time and generations, while others catapult to “rock star” status but eventually fall from grace?  In a changing world, the brands that stand the test of time and technology breakthroughs manage to retain their core identities while evolving and adapting.  They remain relevant [...]

As we contemplated what 2012 would hold, and explored and considered the coming year’s trends, we recognized that the real value is not that we must be correct in predicting each trend, but rather in considering their implications: what would we do differently, or better, if each trend was true? Especially because we are not, [...]

Is It a Passing Trend, a Major Threat or an Exciting Tool?

Change is accelerating. How do researchers and research users keep up with ever-changing consumer patterns? How do researchers keep up with the ever-increasing need to know more and more about consumers’ lives? Traditional research methods are not keeping up; new methods aren’t always the solution either.  So, hybrid research has become a hot topic. Just [...]