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Welcome to the first issue of "On The Wild Side of
Research", which helps marketing and market research
executives get more from their market research investment.
In this issue, I discuss using the right type of research
tools.
Warmly,
Carol
Carol Monaco
President
Are You Using the Right Tools?
A few years ago, I had the pleasure of traveling to
Africa and going on safari. While there, my husband
and I stayed at a lodge that consisted of tents by a
river that was frequented by hippos, including mothers
and babies.
When we got there, the manager greeted us and handed us
a key with a foot long stick attached to it (the kind
they might give you at a gas station, so that you don’t
run off with the restroom key). Now, why we would need a
key for a tent is another interesting question, but I
was more intrigued by the long stick itself. I wondered,
“was stealing or losing keys a particularly bad problem
at this lodge?”
The manager proceeded to explain that the stick was
for ‘batting the hippos in the nose, should they come
too close, as they are very dangerous and actually run
quite fast.’
My husband and I began to laugh, thinking he was making
a joke. Surely they didn’t expect us to stop a 2 ton+
charging animal with a stick no bigger than a ruler! But
yes, the manager calmly explained (I'm sure thinking
'stupid American tourists!'), since hippos, especially
mother with babies, were quite dangerous, he wasn’t
joking and we should take him seriously. Thankfully,
though we did see many hippos during our stay, we were
fortunate not to have to test his advice and use our
stick to hit the hippo squarely in the nose, which
(hopefully) would have made him/her turn away and stop
approaching us.
What I learned from that experience (besides the fact
that hippos can run fast and that you can, in fact, lock
up a tent), was that it’s important to use the right
tool. Somehow, these folks who lived every day with
hippos on their doorsteps and wandering into their camp
found out that hippos didn’t particularly like being hit
on the nose. They had learned a way to deter the hippos
and protect the safety of the guests without harming the
animals.
And so it is with market research; it’s important to
use the right tool to answer your questions. There
are several common kinds of primary market
research—including online and in person focus groups,
in-depth interviews and surveys (both mail and online).
With market research, it's important to use the most
appropriate tools available to us. Sometimes, companies
decide on the type of market research (‘we really want
to do focus groups’) before really analyzing whether
that’s the best solution.
For example, focus groups are appropriate and a very
useful tool when you have a general set of questions or
an undefined subject area that you're trying to learn
more about, such as a general understanding of products
needs or brand perception. However, they are not
appropriate when you have a specific set of questions
that require in-depth, detailed information, such as
which product needs are most important (and why), buying
process, or measuring perception of competing brands. In
those circumstances in-depth interviews may be a better
fit. And, when you're trying to quantify results, and/or
have a lot of closed-end questions, surveys may be more
appropriate.
Consider the following points when deciding what type of
research is appropriate to use:
- What questions are you trying to answer and how
specific are they? General feedback or broad
questions (e.g. ‘what do customers think of our
company?’ ‘What issues are on customers’ minds?’)
lend themselves to focus groups, whereas more
specific questions (e.g. ‘which brand do customers
think is strongest in technical support and why?’)
lend themselves more to in-depth interviews and
surveys.
- Do your questions require a detailed
understanding of the answer (e.g., ‘How do you use
our product?’ ‘How and why did you choose your
specific provider?)? If so, then in-depth interviews
might be the best solution.
- Are you asking about sensitive information that
participants may not want to share with competitors?
If so, in-depth interviews may be a better solution
than focus groups.
- Do you need specific quantitative results (‘How
many people are going to vote for a specific
candidate?’ ‘What percentage of my customers use our
product for X?’) In that case, a survey is probably
the best solution.
- Do you have mostly closed- or open-ended
questions? Closed-ended questions are better for
surveys, whereas open-ended questions are better
answered with in-depth interviews or focus groups.
- And of course, don’t forget to consider your
budget as each type of research varies in cost.
There are, of course, often other factors to consider,
but these should give you a good start in determining
what type of research to use and making sure that you
get the results you need.
Do you have comments on this article?
If so, click here to send me an email.
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