Online Market Research. It’s Like Riding an Ostrich.
“Online Qualitative Market Research”. What the heck is that? And why should I care?
See how much fun he’s having?
If you’re asking yourself these questions, read on. If you’re asking yourself these questions yet do not read on, then when you pull your head from the sand you may find yourself in the most lonely and sad states: irrelevant.
But I know you’re not going to do that. You’re going to ride the ostrich.
Digital. Big Data. Social. You hear these buzz terms and, because they’re labeled ‘buzz terms’, you dismiss them. But think about the companies who dismissed buzz terms like ‘ecommerce’, ‘digital photography’, ‘smartphones’. Would you like to be Barnes and Noble, Kodak, or Blackberry? Of course not – so how can you ease into online market research – qualitative online research, to be exact? Good news – Dr. Paul Rubenstein, CEO of Accelerant Research, wrote an excellent article last month with some solid tips. Here are just a couple:
1. Use online for one-to-one studies. Online may actually be far better than face to face (F2F) in a focus group:
Rubenstein writes, “Unfortunately, if focus groups are being conducted, all interactions are done openly among others, and it is left to the moderator to somehow control the group influence from having the effect of changing participants’ responses to key questions.”
2. Use online for any exercise that requires special stimuli and arts & crafts skills. You know the drill: rearranging objects, choosing images, etc. These can and should be done online. Like your kid’s soccer calendar.
Rubenstein continues, “Not only can these exercises be better facilitated in an online platform, but aggregating those data is typically done automatically and, with a button push, can be redrawn based on various subgroups among the sample of participants.”
I’d urge you to read the article in its entirety here. You’ll be inspired to take the first step to move your practice online virtually risk free. And you might find yourself better organized and getting your work done faster. So you have more time to call the coach to see when and where the next game will be played.
Here’s a video of 3 guys racing ostriches.