Market Research Studies
Market Research Studies
Focus Groups are the most common form of qualitative research and is the research method that Talkclub most often has to recruit participants for.
They will use these market research methods when a company is hoping to launch a new product, develop an existing product, improve their service or raise their profile. Here are some of the methods used:
Quantitative research
Quantitative research is a type of market research about numbers. Companies want to know how many people would buy their new product. They would also like to know how many people saw their advertising, how many people currently buy their services and so on. This type of research requires people to answer fixed questions in questionnaires or surveys. These are usually completed over the telephone, face-to-face or through the post. Nowadays however, the most frequent method of data collection is via the internet with online surveys.
Participants taking part in a market research survey lasting more than about 20 minutes will often receive a small gift or reward. This could be a gift similar to a pen for a face-to-face interview or if it is an online survey respondents can be placed in a prize draw. People who are registered with a paid-research online survey company will often accumulate points in a reward programme
Qualitative research
Qualitative research is more in-depth type of market research and is designed to talk directly to a small number of people. It gathers information by talking to consumers and analysing their feedback. The most common method used for qualitative research is the focus group or group discussion. Other methods are face to face interviews, telephone interviews, blogs and diaries.
Qualitative research is about exploring why people behave or think the way they do. This type of market research is designed to help companies have a deeper understanding of the reasons why their product or service works for their consumers or where they can improve.
For both quantitative and qualitative market research, specific people or respondents are targeted. For example, if a company makes chocolate biscuits and they need to talk to their target market. To do this, they will be seeking the opinions of mothers with children under 16 who buy their biscuits. Alternatively, they may be looking to talk to mothers who buy their competitor’s biscuits. If they are a car manufacturer they may want to talk to people who buy their car or a similar model.
This is the point at which Talkclub comes in: it is our job to find those consumers.
Read more about online surveys on wikipedia.