The overriding purpose of market research is simple: The better a brand understands its customers and position in the marketplace, the stronger equipped it is to seize advantage of future growth opportunities. 

In most cases, market research starts with a macro understanding of consumer trends and behaviours before zooming in on the nuances within the desired target audience. The process incorporates data from various sources—consumers, industry experts, and additional research materials. The objective is to combine broad contextual insights with targeted findings, resulting in information that brands can act upon when it comes to future sales, potential expansion, new product launches, and so on. 

This research can be broken down into two broad categories—primary and secondary research. When conducted properly, primary and secondary research enables companies to:

  • Acquire a deeper understanding of why customers use their products or services
  • Design strategies to set themselves apart from the pack
  • Set the foundation for successful product or service innovations
  • Identify new opportunities for growth

Effective market research paves the way for brands to stay agile and strategic in an ever-changing marketplace. The key is knowing where to find the data supporting this process and how to go about collecting it.

Primary Research Offers a Trove of Insights

Actionable market research must start with primary sources. And, as we have noted before, the ideal time to conduct primary research is “before crucial decisions are made about a brand or product,” meaning “it is essential to speak directly with members of that targeted audience” before making a significant change in business operations.

Conducting primary research can involve significant costs and the use of resources. The process encompasses a broad period to identify potential respondents, conduct interviews, and analyze results. But in general, the cost and use of resources are well worth it. Primary research offers deep value in answering specific questions about a brand and offering businesses the opportunity to hear first-hand what consumers have to say. 

This type of first-hand research can be conducted in a variety of ways, including:

Telephone depth interviews. Telephone interviews with individual customers enable researchers to get closer to the target audience. They can “dig deep” to better understand customers’ needs and pain points, as well as discuss their views and experiences of a brand, its products, or services. 

Face-to-face interviews. There’s nothing better than interacting with customers face-to-face, depending on the situation. Researchers can get direct, real-time answers and have the option to follow up immediately on crucial points. They can also glean insights from survey participants’ body language and other “quirks in communications” that might otherwise go unnoticed. The main advantage of the interview approach is gaining first-hand knowledge of what’s most important to the targeted audience. 

Surveys. Distributing surveys is another valuable method for gaining insights into target customer behaviours. Surveys are conducted using several different methods, including: 

  • Email. Email surveys are designed to reach many individuals at an affordable cost. At the same time, researchers understand that email survey respondents may be wary about clicking on a link for something they are unfamiliar with and initial email survey requests can sometimes end up in a Spam folder. 
  • Telephone. Phone surveys can be beneficial for acquiring feedback from targeted demographics, such as older customers who may not regularly use online tools.
  • Post. These days, conducting surveys via mail is rarely a researcher’s first choice, simply because of the length of time involved to get responses and because this method is more costly to deploy than others.

Surveys work best when the questions asked are relevant, engaging, and open-ended. The results are used to predict, with reasonable accuracy, how customers are likely to act in future purchasing activities.

Focus groups. Groups of consumers participate in a discussion guided by the group moderator. This approach is practical when exploring niche markets, introducing a new product, embarking upon a marketing campaign, etc. When a trained moderator leads the discussion, there is great potential for gaining valuable knowledge about how consumers think and act. 

Online polls and social media. Online polls have become the “method of choice” for collecting quantitative data in recent times. The wording and format of online surveys can be tailored for existing customers or designed for groups of people identified as potential customers. Online polls often lead to highly accurate representative samples and data needed to extrapolate the findings to a broader population. 

Social media monitoring (also called “social listening”) is an increasingly beneficial method for gauging customer sentiment about a wide range of topics.

On social media, consumers offer direct, unfiltered feedback about what they like, don’t like, need, don’t need, and what they want to make their lives and businesses better in the future. Social media platforms provide a relatively easy and inexpensive way to share surveys and questionnaires and recruit participants for upcoming focus groups. 

Field studies. This methodology, also known as “contextual interviews,” focuses on observations and interactions that demonstrate how users behave in their home or work environment. The results compiled through field studies often supplement data gained through face-to-face interviews and focus groups. Brands benefit when they fully grasp how their products or services are used in these environments. 

The desired outcome of these efforts “is a closer alignment between what a brand has to offer and the needs and expectations of its targeted customers.”

Secondary Research Delivers Solid Contextual Foundation 

The treasure trove of information gained from primary research is only part of the overall market research process. Interpreting this data becomes more effective when supplemented by secondary research. These sources—widespread and diverse—broaden the context of research and amplify what was uncovered via primary research methods. 

A large part of the value of secondary research lies in its depth, variety, and availability. Chances are, your brand has already compiled a significant amount of secondary research simply by just “doing business.” 

Start investigating the depth of your brand’s secondary research by looking at your internal sources:

  • Year-to-year financial statements
  • Sales analyses produced by your sales team
  • Corporate annual reports describing institutional values and culture
  • Findings from past focus groups
  • Consumer surveys and feedback
  • Website analytics, user patterns, etc.
  • Customer call logs and other stored information concerning customer behaviors. A trip through your business archives can uncover additional valuable information. 

External sources are also abundant in terms of secondary research: 

Books and magazines about general business trends can deepen your understanding of primary research data.

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Many relevant government statistics can be accessed online instead of time-consuming requests for information in the past and waiting around for government approval to review this data. Of course, it takes time to research and compile information regarding trade activities, the formation of new businesses, economic trends, etc. But the insights to be gained from reviewing government statistics are well worth the effort.

Industry associations are another valuable source for secondary research. In addition to trade publications and industry reports, researchers can also comb through press releases, technical data, and industry-specific news stories for a “big picture” view of where specific brands fit in. 

On business websites, there’s often a wealth of information regarding a company’s products and services, in the case of public companies, investor presentations, and other data concerning organizational structure, sales trends, marketing campaigns, new product launches, and more. 

According to Square, secondary research is “a better option if you have a limited budget or already have a good idea of what your target market is.” It’s often a good idea to “try doing secondary research [before primary research] to understand what areas you need to focus on” to get the most out of your research budget.

Square suggests looking into these low-cost or free secondary research sources:

  • Census bureaus for information about the economy and population
  • Government sites for statistical data culled from several agencies, with information on trends in education, small businesses, etc. 
  • Small Business Associations for information about small business trends, as well as demographic, employment, and income statistics
  • Commerce departments for data on industries, services, and products
  • Associations and Trade Groups for information on specific industries and relevant trade publications

When embarking upon secondary research, keep these action steps in mind:

  1. Define your goals. Strive to understand what you want out of the research process. This helps focus the search on data that’s genuinely relevant and useful.
  2. Pinpoint existing trends. To better grasp the state of the industry, set up a Google alert to notify you of what’s happening in the marketplace right now.
  3. Subscribe to business publications. Look into general business publications and websites, then burrow down to those with the highest relevance to your brand. Subscribe to key publications and follow research sites on social media platforms.
  4. Finally, know when to stop! As with any research effort, it’s always possible to overdo it. That can lead to “data burnout” and the possibility you’ll overlook important statistical information. As the research process unfolds, work on narrowing your inquiries and avoid wasting time on irrelevant data.  

Research Leads to Future Growth

Conducting primary and secondary research requires patience, time, the application of resources, and a willingness to confront hard facts about the growth potential. But when a brand has completed this type of comprehensive research, it is far better equipped to customize its sales and marketing efforts. This helps boost growth and presents numerous opportunities to increase that brand’s return on investment. 

For many brands, it’s often more efficient and cost-effective to enlist the services of a professional market research firm. Skilled professional researchers draw upon an extensive toolkit of methodologies to better understand potential target audiences. 

The process results in more informed marketing strategies and an impressive level of success in identifying—and connecting with—untapped consumer populations. 

Businesses strive daily to provide what customers want. Their success depends mainly on how well they understand the needs and motivations of their target audience. 

In the past, this frequently translated into a scattershot approach to meeting customer demands—build more products, design more features, and so on—with, at best, a goal of growing sales. 

But this slapdash strategy occasionally resulted in overspending, overcommitment of resources, and other strains on business operations that could threaten the business’s existence. 

The organised process of data collection in market research has changed all that. Now the focus is on collecting and analyzing high-quality data—information relevant to meeting customer demands—and how this data is obtained. The goal is the “systematic method of collecting and measuring data gathered from different sources of information,” as Medium notes, adding that an “accurate evaluation of collected data can help researchers predict future phenomenon and trends.”

Broadly speaking, there are two chief forms of data:

  • Primary data refers to first-hand information gathered straight from a primary source. 
  • Secondary data encompasses information found in public records, trend reports, market statistics, etc. 

Armed with high-quality data, businesses can better understand their prospective customers—what they want, what they already like, where they conduct their research, and much more. Companies come away with a deeper grasp of their markets, how their products will benefit that market, and the potential challenges they may face later. 

At its best, market research offers a blueprint of how a brand can move forward while avoiding the pitfalls it might otherwise encounter (without the benefit of high-quality data). 

It’s helpful to remember that a wealth of relevant data may already exist in your company. Information gleaned from business analytics and customer service scores offer vital insights into why consumers act the way they do. It’s an excellent place to begin research and avoid any duplication in data mining. 

What sources of data collection work best? What should brands know about the methodologies employed to acquire and measure such data?

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The Value of Quantitative and Qualitative Data

Within the broader scope of primary and secondary data, there are other aspects of data collection worth noting:

  • Quantitative research relies on hard facts and numerical data to gain an objective view of consumer opinion. In general, this approach focuses on uncovering insights about large groups of consumers or the population as a whole. It enables brands to easily compare purchasing and other behaviours of different groups (age, gender, market) and to identify potential buying trends on the horizon. 
  • Qualitative research is less concerned with statistics and trends and more focused on the “human” aspect of buying. This research digs deep into the more intangible and subjective reasons why customers behave the way they do. 

As we have noted before, “People are complex and often unpredictable,” so qualitative research “means getting to know your customers and their motivations better.” As a result, brands can more effectively study customer pain points and barriers to consumer use while also guiding the way to a more personalised approach to marketing.

Where Qualitative Data Comes From

So, what are the sources of data collection? Here’s a quick rundown:

Focus groups. A group consisting of a small number of customers (usually no more than 15) meets to discuss a specific issue. Information derived from this approach often leads to rich insights around consumer attitudes and behaviours, underlying motivations, and perceptions about a brand. 

One-to-one, in-depth interviews. Researchers talk to consumers directly, seeking to understand participant opinions better. This method can be in the form of face-to-face interviews and phone or online interviews. 

Expert interviews. Industry experts are another rich source of data collection. Leveraging their knowledge through expert interviews can help brands explore the impact of emerging trends, thus helping to “future-proof” their business. 

Ethnography. In this realm, researchers immerse themselves in customers’ worlds to learn more about the role brands and products play in their daily lives. This can entail visiting consumers and accompanying them as they go about their day or through self-ethnography, where consumers take on video tasks to show us how they live. 

Online communities. Through an online platform, consumers undertake individual or group tasks that enable researchers to explore potentially sensitive issues and better grasp the attitudes and values that lead to that all-important decision to purchase a product or service. 

The personalized focus of qualitative research goes hand-in-hand with more quantitative research methods, adding context and depth to more numerical and data-based metrics.  

Survey Research Plays a Key Role

Sending out surveys is another key method for drawing insights to understand target customers or explore a new market. Surveys can be conducted in a variety of ways, including:

  • Email. This approach offers the benefit of reaching many people at an affordable cost.
  • Phone. Phone surveys are helpful for researchers seeking feedback from a particular demographic, i.e., older consumers who may not use online resources. 
  • Post. Postal surveys are another option, though of increasingly limited use. Prohibitive costs and a long time lag for responses often rule out this approach.
  • In-person. This method is useful when researchers want to know more about how consumers physically interact with a product or a similar situation. Again, the costs and logistics of this approach make it a less appealing process in general.  

These days, online surveys are often the primary method for collecting quantitative data. Existing customers can complete online surveys or respondents sourced from online panels (groups of people matching a brand’s target market who agree to participate in online research). Based on the results, brands can build accurate representative samples and extrapolate findings to the broader population. 

When it comes to quantitative research, survey questions usually include closed rather than open questions. For example, a survey participant being asked, “How satisfied are you with our delivery policy?” would be restricted to answers such as “Very satisfied/Satisfied/Don’t Know/Dissatisfied/Very Dissatisfied.” This method generates data that can be categorized and analyzed in a quantitative, numbers-driven way. 

How Technology Facilitates Data Collection  

Social media has emerged as a valuable source for insights into consumer perceptions and behaviours. Platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and others have potentially vast data reservoirs on a target audience. 

On social media, consumers provide direct, unfiltered feedback about their needs, emotions, pain points, and hopes for the future. These platforms offer a relatively easy and inexpensive way to share surveys and questionnaires and enlist participants for upcoming focus groups.

In this respect, “social listening” offers an expedient method of gauging customer sentiment—what they like and don’t like about the buying experiences, preferences regarding how a purchase is made, and so on. 

Technology also makes it possible for researchers to dramatically expand their horizons, connecting with audiences in far-flung areas of a brand’s home country and around the world. Researchers can conduct real-time interviews and focus groups with consumers in multiple time zones using tools like Zoom and Skype. In this way, data collection for international research often yields a more powerful and richer understanding of consumer behaviour. 

Working with a Research Partner

It’s crucial to remember that every customer group is different. Some brands have a strong command of their markets and may conduct research on their own.

For many other brands, partnering with a professional research firm is the best approach to broad-based marketing research. At Kadence, we draw upon our extensive toolkit of qualitative and quantitative methodologies for a deep understanding of the needs of these under-served communities. The result is:

  • More productive research
  • Valuable insights into different demographics
  • Gaining a step on the competition 

By bringing companies closer to their customers, a third-party research firm can embed rich understanding across your organisation and promote more effective, customer-centric decision-making. This understanding often leads to more informed marketing strategies and greater success with untapped consumer populations.

Market research would be a lot easier to pull off if we all lived in a homogenous society. Things would be simpler if we were all hailed from the same background, with the same cultural, ethnic, religious, and social touchstones.

Of course, that’s not the case in most parts of the world.

Attempting a “one-size-fits-all” approach to market research means the effort is likely doomed from the start. As demographics continue to change around the world, researchers must better grasp the diverse needs and circumstances of their target audiences. If your research project lacks diversity, it will fall short of being comprehensive and inclusive.

To demonstrate the importance of diversity in market research, consider these statistics compiled by Nexus A.I.:

  • Almost 60% of consumers have stopped supporting a brand because of a lack of LGBTQ+ representation in ads.
  • More than 40% of Americans would like to see more racial diversity in advertising.
  • Almost 40% of consumers say they are more inclined to trust brands that display diversity in their advertising efforts. 
  • More than 80% of consumers state that visible LGBTQ+ representation is proof a business seeks to offer products and services for all types of consumers. 

These statistics demonstrate that it’s ineffective to look at all consumers in the same light. Brands committed to diversity in marketing are likely to see a more significant ROI for their efforts than competitors who aren’t engaged in inclusive research.

Problems Arising from a Lack of Diversity in Research

If the projected cost and use of resources lead some businesses to avoid diversity research altogether, inevitable consequences may follow. 

For one thing, there’s no benefit in becoming known as a brand that doesn’t value diversity. Market research that doesn’t tap into diverse perspectives means a brand can easily stumble with broad-based marketing campaigns that inadvertently offend a particular group of people. 

And what about unforeseen situations where a crisis brings media attention to the brand, exposing a widespread lack of diverse perspectives within the organisation? The public relations fallout in such cases can be devastating.

As we have noted before, “Only by rooting out the nuances of different geographical areas, cultures, and consumers can you get an accurate picture of what people value and whether your products and services might succeed.”

“Diversity marketing is accepting the reality that consumer bases are no longer as homogenous as they once seemed,” notes Business.com. When consumers seek out brands that resonate with them, “brands that are slow to adapt their marketing to this reality can seem out of touch and dated.”

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What “Diversity” Means

What exactly is meant by “diversity”? Generally speaking, this involves assessing factors such as age, ethnicity, gender preferences, disabilities, and religious affiliation. 

Diversity in marketing and research “doesn’t necessarily mean trying to cater to every single possible demographic,” notes Stackla, a visual content engine. Instead, it means “knowing who is drawn to your brand and making sure those groups are represented” in marketing and market research efforts.

It’s also worth looking at the term “culture” in this context. Psychologists define culture as referring to “a set of ideas and beliefs which give people a sense of shared history,” says Psychologist World. Culture is found “in our language, art, daily routines, religion and sense of morality … and is passed down from generation to generation.”

There are many tangible benefits resulting from market research that emphasizes diversity. These include:

  • Making sure a brand identifies all possible demographics, ranging from age and gender to cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds.
  • Enabling brands to align diversity-based marketing efforts and a brand’s broader strategy.
  • Boosting awareness among diverse communities of a brand’s commitment to reaching out. 
  • Reducing the likelihood of bad will and bad press around a lack of understanding of the needs of varied target audiences.

When armed with the correct data, marketing and research teams can unveil new marketing campaigns or product launches with confidence, knowing the right message is delivered appropriately to a broad range of consumers.  

Perhaps just as importantly, diversity in market research ensures different voices are represented and heard, and differing perspectives are respected. This can make all the difference between brands poised to grow (based on what they have learned about diverse sets of consumers) and brands that eschew this approach. 

Diversity in Research Methodologies

Situations may vary, but in general, research methodologies translate into special consideration given to how to assemble a focus group that represents a truly diverse audience. Methods can also involve selecting a focus group moderator from a similar background to participants to help participants in the focus group feel comfortable about expressing their opinions.

It’s also customary to undertake diverse market research early, well ahead of unveiling a new campaign or product launch. Data gained through these efforts bring a higher degree of credibility to any sales or marketing campaigns that follow.

The same “diversity requirements” apply to others participating in market research. Look at the individuals who screen potential focus group participants. Do they represent a broad range of people with different backgrounds? It’s also a good idea to review the wording of the proposed survey to make sure no offensive cultural elements are featured.

Other market research factors to keep in mind:

  • Be realistic about the challenges involved. It’s impractical—and generally far too expensive—to move forward without applying any limits to the scope of the research. While it’s vital to understand which markets to investigate, a sharper focus on diversity can help estimate potential costs and the availability of funds and resources. 
  • Look at previous research activities undertaken by the organisation. Do these documented efforts reflect a diverse range of opinions, or are certain cultural “blind spots” obvious? 
  • Throw out cultural, racial, religious, and gender biases. Assuming that researchers know what’s best for communities other than their own is probably the biggest mistake a brand can make.
  • Language plays a key role. Whether the activity is moderating a focus group or drawing up a survey for participants, language must be considered. Tip: Relying on machine translation services like Google Translate is not the most effective approach. As we have noted before, “Machine translation is slowly improving in quality, but it lacks subtlety, it struggles with idioms, and it misses the emotional salience that’s important to be qualitative and even quantitative research.” 

By incorporating these and similar methodologies, brands gain insights into customer behaviours that help them design the most effective marketing strategies and campaigns.

Enlist the Skills and Knowledge of a Research Partner

By now, it’s clear that market research must operate on the principle that every customer group is different. A skilled market research firm can assist brands by developing a tailored approach that works for the right target audience. 

Drawing upon a toolkit of qualitative and quantitative methodologies, professional market researchers can: 

  • Help identify the right research objectives for a brand, whether those entail understanding how a product is used in the home via an online community or exploring how consumers perceive a brand through telephone depth interviews.
  • Embed a rich understanding of diverse communities across the organisation, facilitating quicker and more customer-centric decision-making.
  • Enable brands to avoid mistakes arising from a lack of understanding about diversity in research. 

Market research agencies also explore the broader market dynamics, identifying trends and anticipating a target audience’s changing needs. This strategy often leads to a competitive advantage through more informed customer knowledge and exciting new marketing messages.

Insights gained through diversity in research can result in fresh ways of thinking about a product or service—how they are used and valued by different communities. The broader a business’s understanding of those differences, the better equipped it is to develop fresh ways of thinking about potential new markets. The result? A win-win for everyone involved.

Back in the day, market research consisted mainly of tapping into as big a consumer pool as possible, with little thought given to culturally diverse demographics. In the past few years, as the struggle to achieve social justice and equality has gained prominence, market research experts have begun changing research methodology to more accurately reflect the vast array of consumers, some of who may have been excluded in the past.

This strategy is crucial for companies seeking to expand into international markets. As we have noted before, brands sometimes “fail to appreciate the diversity within a region or indeed a country.” Only by determining the nuances of different geographical areas, cultures, and consumers “can you get an accurate picture of what people value and whether your products and services might succeed.” 

The goal of this form of research is to achieve genuinely inclusive results. It involves reaching out to typically underrepresented minorities, irrespective of gender, age, race, sexual preference, religion, or disability status. 

By casting an increasingly wide net, market research methods can potentially lead to new demand for products or services and the opportunity to break into new markets. At the very least, the process can result in a deeper understanding of customers’ diverse perspectives and needs, which most experts deem crucial for business growth.

What happens if a brand chooses not to adopt an inclusive approach to surveying customers? This will: 

  • Engender resentment among potential survey participants who don’t see their interests represented in the questions.
  • Result in desired participants choosing to opt-out of the survey.
  • Engender a negative association with the brand sponsoring the survey

There is a huge untapped market for a brand’s products and services among under-served communities. It’s up to businesses to shift their focus and take a more inclusive approach to market research.

Engaging with Underrepresented Audiences

Is there any significant difference between “diversity” and “inclusivity” concepts? 

Yes, says Forbes, noting that diversity reflects “a variety of perspectives or customers.” At the same time, an inclusive focus “goes one step further, engaging those perspectives to improve product satisfaction and use, workplace culture and productivity, new product launches and marketing campaigns.”

To benefit from inclusive market research, brands must first acknowledge that all consumers do not view and use their products in the same fashion. It’s a big first step since marketing strategies often focus on tapping into as large a target audience as possible rather than complicate the process by focusing on one or another historically excluded population.

Inclusive research and design “invite more perspectives and uncovers previously unseen consequences of exclusion,” notes Medium. This approach “provides the opportunity to equalize, protect, uplift, connect, foster equity, promote truth, mitigate bias, instil dignity, empower and democratize.”

That may seem like a tall order, but inclusive research with people outside the mainstream can open the floodgates to new growth opportunities—a strategy no brand can afford to ignore.

Benefits of an Inclusive Approach

The more an organization learns about various target audiences, the more it can tailor its products or services to meet those differing needs. Benefits of inclusive research include:

  • Boosting profits. As Medium notes, “Inclusive product development will help to build products that more people can use,” which paves the way towards new sales and revenue.
  • Avoiding legal entanglements. In our litigious era, it’s not unusual for under-represented communities to seek legal redress when they feel their needs are not considered or met. Also, a brand that neglects specific built-in components of inclusive research (such as providing accessibility for disabled customers) runs the risk of being drawn into legal battles that are both costly and time-consuming.
  • Matching a brand’s mission with its actions. Most international brands hold themselves to high standards for “walking the walk” of their mission and value statements. Committing to an inclusive approach to marketing and design can help support those values by broadening the scope and impact of serving previously under-served communities.

Adopting an inclusive approach to market research will likely mean higher costs and use of resources, at least initially. But the potential for breaking into new markets (and reaping the financial rewards of that break-through) is more than justifying the expenses involved.

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Guiding the Way to Genuine Inclusivity

Adopting certain fundamental principles can help make inclusive market research efforts more informative and successful. Here are guides to foster research with a more significant pay-off:

  • Make a personal commitment to inclusivity. Business leaders who publicly advocate an inclusive approach to market research should make sure they reflect that commitment on a personal level. Educating yourself about the benefits of inclusive marketing research makes it easier to understand what these differing demographics hold essential. 
  • Watch your language. When was the last time you and your team looked hard at your marketing materials to determine if non-offensive language is employed? One option: Assign an internal “inclusivity czar” (with at least some rudimentary knowledge of under-represented communities) to closely review all the content on your website and in your marketing materials. If language exists that some communities find offensive or demeaning, chances are they will go elsewhere for their business needs.
  • Be on the lookout for “survey bias.” Be scrupulous in making sure that those individuals charged with creating a market research survey are as “bias-free” as humanly possible. A diverse team of researchers is probably the best way to avoid unintentional biases.
  • Get expert guidance. While there may be a handful of executives who “get” inclusivity right away, it’s likely true that the majority have a lot to learn on the subject. At the outset of an inclusive market research project, consider enlisting the services of experts in the field. This includes experts with knowledge of specific underrepresented communities, experts on the language and terminology popular within those communities, and others who are prominent within these groups of potential consumers who can speak with authority on their needs and challenges. 

RSA recommends that brands “include a diverse perspective at all stages of the research process and product/software/talent life cycle evaluation by incorporating inclusive testing parameters to ensure results are reflective of all users.”

Getting things right at the outset can help when it comes to reaping the rewards of comprehensive, inclusive market research. 

Build a More Inclusive Team

It stands to reason that if a brand seeks to broaden its appeal through inclusive market research, at least some of the people involved represent a diverse range of perspectives. This principle further justifies efforts to take a more inclusive approach to recruiting for the organization. 

As Inc. notes, “If representation only matters in your marketing, and not in your team building, then consumers get the signal that diversity, inclusion, and belonging aren’t as important to you as you would have them believe.” People can sense that brands “are only being representative in their marketing just to get diverse and niche consumers to spend money with them.”

A diverse team is more likely to understand differences in demographics and approach research with respect and sensitivity the process requires.

What Customers Want

Within the past few years, diverse communities have seen themselves reflected in brand marketing strategies. Their response to this change has been overwhelmingly positive, yet another compelling reason to commit time and resources to inclusive market research. 

According to Savy, a digital marketing agency, “a recent study conducted by Accenture found that 42% of ethnically diverse shoppers are more likely to switch to a brand committed to inclusion and diversity.” What’s more, “41% of LGBTQ shoppers would switch to a business dedicated to inclusivity and diversity.”

In other words, committing to inclusive market research paves the way to identifying—and then reaching out to—communities that have waited for generations to see themselves reflected in advertising and marketing. The likelihood of those communities flocking to a brand that emphasizes inclusive marketing is strong and can foster accelerated growth as a result. 

Every customer group is different. In many cases, a third-party research firm can partner with a brand to develop the best approach to inclusive marketing research. At Kadence, we draw upon our extensive toolkit of qualitative and quantitative methodologies to understand the needs of these under-served communities. The result is:

  • More productive research
  • Valuable insights into different demographics
  • Gaining a step on the competition 

By bringing companies closer to their customers, a third-party research firm can embed rich understanding across your organization and promote more effective, customer-centric decision-making. 

For some, 2021 is a year best forgotten. But from a marketers and researchers perspective 2021 certainly revealed some interesting insight into changing consumer behaviours and demands.

Here we have compiled the best of our trend reports and guides from 2021 all in one convenient place.

This report is specially designed for companies looking to grow their presence in Asia and is based on the analysis of local experts across Kadence International’s eight Asian offices.

DOWNLOAD the full report here

Getting the Most from your Research Budget

We developed a framework for getting the most out of your market research budget, which could be useful as you plan your projects for any year.

DOWNLOAD the full report here

The Ultimate Guide to New Market Entry

This guide covers when to consider entering a new market, how best to approach the research you’ll need to support you as well as practical information on the different market entry strategies available to you. 

READ the full guide here

Segmentation in Uncertain Times

The pandemic has caused people’s behaviours, wants and needs to change. Segmentation is an important tool to understand your target better, but also to help identify new or emerging expectations from brands.

WATCH the full 12 minute video here

Harnessing Augmented Reality

In this groundbreaking package testing research, we partnered with Asahi and their signature brand Fuller’s London Pride using augmented reality to garner feedback on new product labeling. This innovative approach resulted in great data, a satisfied client and numerous awards within the research industry.

LEARN more about the test and watch the video here

If there was ever a year when health and wellness was at the forefront of consumers minds, 2021 was it. We looked at some key global trends that are emerging, and the behaviours and expectations fueling these trends.

DOWNLOAD the trend report here

As soon as you think you understand market research, something brand new comes along to challenge everything you thought you knew. With the rapid evolution of technology, those moments seem to be happening more than ever.

Today’s market research campaign looks very different from how it would ten or even five years ago, and technology is one of the major driving forces behind the evolution of market research. Every year brings a slew of new tools, techniques, and platforms built to make research more accessible and more effective.

In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the most important things that have changed in market research due to technology, and we’ll also explore what new changes could be lying in wait in the near future.

Market research technology: what has changed?

Over the last several years, there have been several significant technological changes that have impacted market research. 

Technology has changed how industries operate, and market research is no exception. Advancements in technology have seen a rise in the self-service model, where brands can implement their own short surveys. But perhaps the most significant impact technology has had on the market research industry is agility. Market research technology allows researchers to quickly test, measure, and pivot projects.

Technology allows traditional research briefs to move past online surveys. For example, eye-tracking technology enables researchers to observe shoppers exhibiting their natural behaviours while walking around a real or virtual store, making note of fixation and gaze points. This can be highly revealing in usability studies, product and package testing, and shopping research.

Here are some of the main forces driving the evolution of market research.

Social media

It’s hard to believe that social media has only been around since the early 2000s. In the two decades since its inception, social media has transformed our lives, and market research is no exception.

Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and more offer unique insights into your market and customers. These platforms are home to enormous reservoirs of data on your audience, providing unfiltered and direct feedback around how they’re feeling, what they want, their pain points, and hopes and desires. It’s also easier than ever to share surveys and questionnaires, collect attendees for focus groups, and much more.

Another benefit of social media is more accessible competitor analysis, allowing you to gain an easy glimpse into what other companies in your space are doing and saying, what marketing techniques they are using, and what’s working.

Observing customer behaviour

The explosion in personal technology devices like smartphones, IoT gadgets, Alexa, smart cars, and wearables make it far easier to observe the behaviour of your audience members and collect valuable insights in real-time. Even mobile apps can collect customer data and establish behaviour patterns.

Wearable technology is one of the most recent developments in this area. Gadgets like the Oura Ring, Fitbit, Apple Watch, Rayban stories, and much more allow researchers to observe customer behaviour as it takes place naturally in the real world. This gives a unique insight into how customers behave that can never be truly replicated in experimental conditions and can pick up on responses that customers themselves might not even notice.

Automation

It’s never been easier to analyze data and draw valuable conclusions, thanks to the vast leaps made in automation technology in recent years. The growing amount of audience data available to marketers can now be processed and analyzed much more efficiently, allowing you to gain valuable insights and learn as much as possible about your customers and how they behave.

Chatbots are another example of the power of automation in market research. These tools can ask questions and conduct basic surveys from social media apps and websites, allowing you to communicate with customers and collect valuable information in seconds without relying on time-consuming manual work by human staff.

Increased reliance on video and remote collaboration

Spurred on by the pandemic, video collaboration tools, and remote meetings have skyrocketed in popularity and ease of access. There are many advantages to this for market research, such as a shift away from in-person focus groups. 

Researchers no longer need to hire a venue, convince large numbers of people to take the time out of their day to attend, employ multiple staff on the ground, and do all the other logistical tasks involved in a physical interview. Instead, the whole thing can occur via a Zoom call, saving enormous amounts of time and resources for both interviewer and interviewees. This also allows you to contact a much broader sample of participants without being bound by geographic location.

Reach much larger and more diverse audiences 

Not so long ago, market researchers were confined to methods like postal surveys, local interview sessions, and phone calls. Technology — specifically the internet — has allowed researchers to radically expand their horizons, reaching audiences in far-flung parts of the country and even distant parts of the world.

It’s now easy to conduct real-time interviews and focus groups with people several timezones away, allowing companies to gain a much bigger and richer picture of their audiences. This is especially important for international market research but is also helpful to achieve a complete understanding of your audience as a whole.

Build richer buyer personas

As it becomes increasingly easier to collect data from your audience and analyze it in vast amounts, it becomes possible to build much richer and more detailed profiles for your audience members.

The buyer personas of the past were often vague, two-dimensional things, often built around vague generalizations and assumptions. The small amount of data available to researchers decades ago made it challenging to construct genuinely accurate and useful personas.

Today, with the enormous amount of data made available by technology and the internet, you can learn a lot about the people in your audience and build genuinely valuable and richly detailed buyer personas to inform your marketing decisions, product development, and much more.

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What the future holds for market research technology

As time goes on, market research will likely continue to evolve, driven by entirely new advancements in technology. Some of these developments will come as a surprise and may be unexpected side-effects of existing or planned technology. We can also predict some future trends based on what we already know.

Tools like AR and VR

Virtual reality and augmented reality open up a whole host of exciting new possibilities for market research. Both tools allow for much more interactive research where participants can use products and experience services in a completely immersive way without leaving their homes.

This makes it much easier to gauge responses, observe behaviour, and collect meaningful feedback without shipping large amounts of physical products to participants’ homes or asking them to travel to a research site.

One example is how Kadence worked with Asahi, using augmented reality to research a new packaging design. Participants used AR to generate models of beer bottles, allowing them to visualize what the bottle would look like in their own homes and provide more accurate and detailed feedback around specific details.

More use of voice assistants

Today, voice assistants are already popular, with tools like Siri and Alexa quickly becoming a central part of people’s everyday lives. These voice tools allow a unique insight into customers’ daily experience and behaviour, and if this data can be collected ethically, it has excellent value for market researchers.

More agility

Increased agility is a fascinating prospect for market researchers as technology advances. In the past, researchers were forced to take risky gambles instead of using a more flexible approach and making adjustments as needed.

With the ubiquity of data in today’s world, businesses can now take a more agile approach to market research, making quick and frequent changes and course corrections in response to the feedback they get from various channels. This trend could mark one of the most significant changes in how we conduct research over the coming years and suggests a step away from over-reliance on guesswork and individual opinion.

Technology has had an enormous impact on how businesses conduct market research, and as time goes on, that impact is likely to increase. The best thing market researchers and companies can do is be open-minded and prepared to embrace new technologies as they evolve.

At Kadence, we can help you harness all the newest and future technologies to conduct market research most productively and effectively, gaining valuable insights into your audience and getting ahead of the competition. Find out more.

Entering a domestic market is one thing, but expanding overseas is something else entirely. Moving to a new, international market comes with a range of unique challenges that require a strategic approach with empirical methods.

It’s crucial to understand and anticipate these differences to avoid nasty surprises and give yourself the best chance of success when entering a foreign market. This article will explore the key differences between market research in international and domestic markets.

How are international and domestic market research similar?

While the differences are vast, there are also some areas where domestic market research is similar to its international counterpart.

For example, certain research methods work well in both environments. Interviews, surveys, focus groups, secondary research, and experiments work well domestically and internationally. The way you analyse and process the data you collect will also stay roughly the same.

That said, the actual day-to-day process of market research in an international environment can sometimes be drastically different from what you’re used to back home.

What are the differences between domestic and international market research?

1. It’s a different culture.

No matter how similar, every international market has nuances in its culture. This culture may be akin to your home market, like the US and Canada, or radically different, like the UK and Japan. But even with very similar cultures, there will still be significant differences to consider.

Here are some ways cultural differences can impact market research:

  • Language. Interacting with the people in your market, understanding the culture, and conducting research are all much harder in a foreign language. You’ll often need to hire translators to communicate effectively, and it’s easy for crucial details to get lost in translation. Note – this also includes different dialects within the same language.
  • Expectations and preferences. A product or service that works exceptionally well in your domestic market may fail dismally abroad simply due to different tastes and cultural norms. Understanding this will need to be a key part of your research.
  • Causing offence. It’s essential to respect the local culture in your target market and avoid offending with your research techniques. Everything from linguistic choices to the clothes you wear should be considered and researched beforehand.

Your research must be carefully designed to address these concerns and also work within them — certain types of research may not work very well in an overseas market.

2. There may be infrastructure issues.

If your business is based in a developed, industrialised part of the world, you may take some aspects of market research for granted. Things like reliable postal services, easy access to large venues for focus groups, and widespread internet connectivity are not a given in many parts of the world, which can significantly impact your research.

Working in a new overseas market entails new infrastructure challenges. For example, in a country with poor smartphone coverage, you’re unlikely to have much success with in-app surveys or SMS questionnaires. These challenges can quickly mount up and lead to unexpected delays or setbacks in your research.

3. International market research involves higher risk.

Overseas markets involve more variables than domestic ones, so there is more scope for failure. The good news is that you can tap into more potential growth in an international market, but this extra reward comes at a higher risk.

Many overseas market entry attempts fail because there is so much more to be aware of and so much that can go wrong. Failing to anticipate certain conditions or challenges, like slower transport and shipping, can lead to major delays and significant losses.

You’re entering what might be a completely different market from anything you’ve known before, with a huge amount to prepare and consider. This means research is essential and must be much more rigorous than your home market. It would help if you did everything possible to anticipate risks and minimise your chances of failure.

4. International market research comes with a higher cost.

Conducting market research always costs money, and that cost can be substantially higher in a foreign market than at home. There are several reasons for this:

  • You need to do more research in general to gain a solid understanding of a completely new and different market.
  • You need to hire a range of staff on the ground like translators and people to carry out various research tasks. Unlike in your home market, where you can repurpose some of your employees, you need to vet and hire entirely new people in a new country.
  • You need to hire venues. Again, you can’t just use your premises if you haven’t established a presence in your target market, which means you’ll need to hire and pay for venues like conference centres for research activities like focus groups.
  • You need to build an entirely new research infrastructure from scratch. This includes planning postal campaigns, building software for in-app surveys, collecting email addresses, and much more.
  • Setbacks will happen. Doing anything in a new foreign market is complex, and you’ll encounter many delays, unexpected problems, and barriers at first. These can significantly disrupt your research efforts, costing time and money.

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5. You need to understand your competitors more than ever.

It’s always necessary to understand your competition, which is a key component of any market research process. Unlike a domestic market, many of your competitors may be completely unknown to you in a new international market.

To stand a chance of success in your target market, you need a firm understanding of why your competitors are successful. Who do they appeal to? What needs do they address? What have they done recently? What are their vulnerabilities? And, of course, what can you do better? Understanding your competitors should be a central part of your market research when entering an international market.

One of the most important factors to consider when conducting international market research is the legal framework in your target market. For example, many countries legally require you to have research permits, and going ahead with your research without obtaining the correct permission can lead to costly penalties and setbacks.

In some cases, you may be required to provide a copy of survey questions to governments beforehand. And in many parts of the world, bureaucracy slows things down significantly, and it can take weeks for permits to be approved, which is something you have to anticipate.

7. You need to analyse and process results the right way.

In international market research, it’s not just collecting the data that matters. It’s also essential to process your results correctly, ensuring you draw the right insights and reach accurate conclusions about your target market.

To do this right, you need to understand the cultural context. For example, some cultures like America tend to be more extreme on surveys, gravitating towards one end of the Likert scale. Other cultures like China and Japan tend to prefer more neutral answers.

These differences impact not only the way you design surveys — for example, opting for a four-point scale with no middle option — but also the way you analyse results. A set of results in one culture may have different implications for your business than the same set of results in another part of the world.

8. It’s more important to work with the right research partner.

Research partners are an essential part of all market research. Their teams consist of skilled and experienced professionals with a firm grasp of research and analysis methods and how to apply them to gain valuable insights for your business. In an international market, it’s even more important to select the right research partner who already knows the new market.

Take the time to research all your options. Your chosen partner should have experience working in your target market and should have an in-depth knowledge of the various cultural, economic, legal, and social conditions.

International market research is an entirely different process from the research you’ll do at home. It comes with countless new challenges, hurdles, and risks. If you work with the right people, with the right set of skills and experience, you’ll maximise your chances of success and give your business the best possible chance in your target market.

At Kadence, we have experience doing international market research for clients worldwide. Contact us to find out more about how we can help you. 

Want more information on conducting international research? Read The Essential Guide to Conducting International Research here.

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A successful product is one that not only looks great but also solves a real problem. Ticking off both boxes requires understanding your customers’ motivations, goals, and behaviours—and user research is the best method for gaining those insights.

User studies are conducted in person traditionally, but it’s possible to accomplish the same goals in an online environment.

Remote user studies can provide rich data. They’re ideal if you work with a global audience, need alternatives due to lockdown or distancing requirements, or face budget and time constraints.

This article will examine how to conduct user studies in an online environment. We’ll discuss the benefits of usability studies, compare lab studies vs. online studies, and share essential research methods and tools.

What is a User Study?

User research is the study of target customers’ needs and their behaviours in achieving them. The aim is to uncover insights that will assist in designing products that best meet user expectations.

There are two broad categories of user research:

● Quantitative: What’s happening; measurable, numerical results (ex: how many people clicked a button?).

● Qualitative: Why it’s happening; motivations behind the behaviour (ex: why didn’t some people click a button?).

Researchers usually start with qualitative research to discover customer needs and motivations and test their initial designs using quantitative measures.

There are also two basic approaches to user research:

● Attitudinal: Listening to users’ words (ex: interviews, surveys).

● Behavioural: Watching their actions (ex: card sorting, usability testing).

The best user research applies quantitative and qualitative research and attitudinal and behavioural approaches.

The Benefits of Usability Testing

Used correctly, user research should lead to a product, service, or website that better meets the specific needs of your customers. 

When people feel like you “get them,” they’re likely to:

● Buy more quickly the first time.

● Spend more money.

● Make more repeat purchases.

● Remain customers for longer.

● Tell others about your product, service, or website.

Increasing customer acquisition, retention, loyalty, and referrals will positively impact your bottom line. User studies can also improve ROI by minimizing design and development costs and reducing support calls.

The more complex your product, service, or website, the greater the risk of skipping user research. 

Unfortunately, many companies bypass user studies. They don’t want to invest time or money, or believe they already know what their customers want.

Basing design on unvalidated assumptions can lead to wasting time, resources, and money on a product, service, or website that flops—and you won’t know if you’ve missed the mark until after launch.

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How to Conduct User Studies

While user studies are most effective and efficient when performed early in the development process, it’s never too late to conduct this type of research.

To begin, set concrete goals. What are you trying to learn? What do you want to understand about your users? What problem are you trying to solve? Write a research brief that asks straightforward questions that lead to definitive, measurable answers.

Next, choose your research method or methods wisely (more on the most common methodologies next). Don’t simply pick what you know best. Take time to consider which methods are most applicable to your specific project.

After completing the user studies, share your findings. The results are only helpful if clearly communicated with key stakeholders, including product or website designers and developers, marketing managers, and C-suite leaders.

It’s vital that these colleagues understand, believe in, and know how to act on the data.

Finally, remember that user research should never end. It’s important to continue learning from your users. The marketplace and technology evolve, so must your product, service, or website.

Research Methods

The most common user study methods include interviews, focus groups, surveys, card sorting, A/B testing, and usability testing. Let’s look at the pros and cons of each research methodology.

●     Interviews

Asking non-leading, open-ended questions with a user to learn about their attitudes, desires, and experiences. 

Pros: Provides the most detailed information, can see non-verbal cues

Cons: Expensive and time consuming to conduct and analyse

●     Focus Groups

Interviewing several people at the same time. 

Pros: Increased reach, reduces time and expenses

Cons: Potential for moderator bias, loudest users can influence others, difficult to analyse

●     Surveys

Gathering quantitative and qualitative information from users via (typically anonymous) questionnaires.

Pros: Easy, inexpensive, most expansive reach

Cons: Low response rates, poorly worded questions can skew results, limited ability for follow up

●     Card Sorting

Asking users to categorize a set of terms to understand how they organize information.

Pros: Quick, simple, and inexpensive to perform

Cons: Provides limited information; analysis can take time

●     A/B Testing

Showing two different concepts to an equal number of users to determine which better accomplished a specific goal.

Pros: Conclusive answers to specific questions

Cons: Limited use cases, limited data, time-consuming

●     Usability Testing

Observing users perform predefined tasks.

Pros: Measures actual behaviours (not perceived preferences)

Cons: Expensive and difficult to run

Online Studies vs. Lab Studies

Many types of user research can be conducted remotely. In fact, online user research has key advantages over traditional testing.

● Reach: Access to an unlimited geographic area allows for a larger pool of participants.

● Environment: Users are in their space using their hardware and software, which creates a greater comfort level.

● Cost: Eliminating travel expenses and reducing logistical challenges makes remote studies quicker and less expensive to complete.

● Neutrality: Less potential for bias introduced by a lab setting and/or a moderator’s body language.

● Flexibility: Online research bypasses potential barriers, such as lack of transportation or a global pandemic.

Despite these myriad benefits, there are reasons that online user studies may not be feasible or preferred.

● If information security is paramount, it’s generally more challenging to maintain control over online proprietary information (and user data).

● If your user base is mainly rural or lower-income, you may find it challenging to find participants who have reliable high-speed internet connections.

● If your study depends heavily on tracking a user’s movements or interaction with a product, it may not be possible in a virtual setting.

Moderated vs. Unmoderated User Studies

Remote research is divided into two categories—moderated and unmoderated.

In moderated sessions, a facilitator speaks directly to participants and guides them through questions and/or tasks. 

This type of qualitative research provides the most in-depth insights into precisely what users think and do and why. They are also more expensive and limited to the availability of a trained moderator.

Unmoderated studies are conducted online at the user’s convenience. Participants follow on-screen instructions and are encouraged to speak their thoughts aloud, which are recorded. 

This type of research doesn’t allow for explanation or follow-up questions, which can create confusion and limit the quality of feedback. On the upside, you can run unlimited sessions at all times using a variety of online technology solutions at a lower cost per participant.

Recruiting for Online User Studies

Whether you choose moderated or unmoderated studies, it’s important to ensure that participants fit your user base or target audience. The right users make all the difference in the quality and usability of your results.

Generally, the most reliable recruitment will happen using your database of customers. If that doesn’t exist or doesn’t produce enough participants, however, you can also try:

● A recruitment agency or panel company can find specific participants but will be costly.

● User testing software companies that specialize in recruiting, which will generate a list of participants who applied for your project through a project board or email blast.

● Posting on social media outlets like Reddit, Craigslist, and Linkedin. In this case, it’s important to screen potential candidates because almost anyone could see and apply.

● Asking family and friends is a low-cost solution, but could be create issues of bias and mismatches with your actual user base.

How to Choose the Best Research Method

Some types of user research (interviews, usability studies) are easier to recreate online than others (focus groups, card sorting). 

The ideal situation is to combine insights from multiple types of user research methods and testing rounds. However, it can be time and cost prohibitive to implement several methods in the real world.

Generally, in-person moderated studies are the best choice if your study requires hands-on participation and has a lot of room for confusion. To conduct these studies online, it’s imperative to consider all potential challenges and to thoroughly test the study before recruiting actual participants.

If you’re most concerned with asking open-ended questions that elicit a great depth of insights, a moderated study conducted online will be a great choice.

If your budget is tight or you’re most concerned with getting a larger quantity of responses, a remote unmoderated study is probably the best option.

Best Practices for Moderated Remote Studies

Moving from moderating in-person research to remote research can feel like a big shift, but by and large, a lot of the practices stay the same. 

Here are some best practices for conducting remote moderated testing.

Study design

Shifting from in-person to remote moderated research requires thoughtful preparation. Start with the problem you want to solve or the hypothesis you want to test, and create questions or tasks that address it.

Qualitative methods can generate a lot of information. When every question or task has a clear purpose, you’ll waste less time, reduce participant fatigue, and avoid “analysis paralysis.”

Knowing exactly what you’ll ask also helps identify where you’ll need tools to support your online research (read more about virtual research tools below).

Also, decide who will observe sessions. Allowing developers, project managers, marketers, and others to witness (and even engage with) the research can increase the likelihood that the results will be understood and put to use.

Make sure observers know in advance of the research session what’s expected of them. Should they mute themselves? What types of questions, if any, can they ask and when? How should they communicate with you or each other during the session?

Session management

Before jumping into your research, create a welcoming atmosphere. Let participants know that you appreciate their time and value their input, and review confidentiality measures.

Disclose upfront whether there are observers and if they will also ask questions. Share the session length, the types of questions or tasks they can expect, the desired answer complexity. 

Confirm that users have—and know how to use—anything necessary for the session. Let them know what to do in case of technical difficulties.

Ask permission to record video and/or audio, and both the moderator and user should turn off any potential distractions.

During the session, observers should take notes on any insights they have about what the participant says or does

End the session by thanking participants for their time and insights, and letting them know how they’ll receive any compensation.

Stop the recording when participants leave or leave it on if your team plans to stay and compare notes about the session.

Data analysis

After all of your remote research sessions, gather all observers’ notes and work together to distill the findings. Look for and discuss patterns and themes and how the team will apply the information to your product, service, or website.

Any tools you’ve used may also produce data, which may need to be aggregated before analysis and compilation with your team’s findings.

Best Practices for Remote Unmoderated Studies

Instead of having a human direct the study, unmoderated research relies on a software application to instruct users, ask questions, and record their actions or answers.

By and large, remote unmoderated studies share the same best practices as those above for moderated research. However, there are a few unique considerations to keep in mind.

Study design

Start with your problem or hypothesis and create questions or tasks that address it. Beware that clarity is paramount without a moderator offering explanations or answering questions. 

Make instructions explicit, so users know exactly what to do. If you’re asking participants to record themselves, include clear triggers so they know when they should start and stop. Be specific with open-ended questions to avoid rambling responses unrelated to your goals.

Run a trial session to uncover any ambiguous instructions, questions, or potential problems with the study design or technology. Replicate actual testing situations by using real participants with their equipment.

Finally, a 10 to 15 per cent drop-off rate is typical in unmoderated studies, so plan to recruit more participants than you need.

Session management

Lower your drop-off rate by recording or writing a warm welcome that thanks participants for their time and insights.

Also, be clear up front with instructions and expectations. Let the user know exactly what they will be doing and how long the session will take. 

Before they log off, include a final thank-you message and any information about compensation or follow-up they may receive.

Data analysis

Unmoderated studies can accumulate a lot of data and typically require extra manpower to analyse. 

Quantitative data is straightforward. The testing tool will automatically collect and generate data visualizations for metrics like success rate, task time, and ratings.

For qualitative data, however, you’ll need to review interview questions and session recordings to take notes on user behaviour and identify positive and negative reactions.

Unmoderated testing tools with robust video analysis features can help by aggregating, exporting, sharing, and visualizing any notes you add to recordings and creating compilations of important moments.

Tools for Remote User Studies

Conducting user studies online necessarily requires software or apps. There are many options available (at a wide range of price points) for every type of research task.

● User Recruitment (Respondent, Ethnio)

● Video Conferencing/Recording (Zoom, Google Meet, Skype, GoTo Meeting)

● Note-Taking (ConfirmKit, Pear Note)

● Transcription (Rev, Reduct, Otter.ai, Trint)

● Surveys (Alchemer, Typeform, Survey Monkey, Survey Legend, YesInsights, Survicate)

● Usability Testing (Lookback, PingPong, UserTesting, Loop11, Userbrain, Userlytics, UsabilityHub, UserZoom, FocusVision, Qualtrics, InVision)

● A/B Testing (Optimizely, VWO)

Conclusion

User research is a crucial method for validating assumptions about your users’ needs and experiences. Done well, remote user testing can provide rich data that will help you understand how your target audience interacts with your product, service, or website.

Unfortunately, user studies are not “one size fits all.” There are many methods, each with distinct advantages and disadvantages. The choice depends on your goals for the type of data you want to gather.

Conducting user studies in the online environment isn’t always the best option. Still, it can be incredibly helpful if you’re working with a global audience, are under budget or time constraints, or face limitations due to the COVID pandemic.

When designing a new product or service, or upgrading existing ones, probably the most crucial question brands can ask themselves is: What will our customers think about this? 

Companies that plough ahead without undertaking relevant research up-front can sometimes miscalculate what will satisfy the users of that product or service—thereby placing their company’s prestige and sales track record at risk.

User studies (also known as “user research” or “UX research”) play a crucial role in significantly minimizing that risk for organisations. 

The objective is to understand how well your product or service meets current needs and help make informed decisions on new product upgrades or launches before committing vast amounts of time and resources to the venture. 

Through user studies, “we can validate or disprove [a] hypothesis early on in a product/service development,” notes Medium. Since the “cost of this would be much less than developing something which no wants to use after,” it’s clear that user studies have “an invisible ROI: the spared cost of doing something useless.”

In the end, the desired outcome of user studies is a closer alignment between what a brand has to offer and the needs and expectations of its targeted customers.

How User Studies Benefit Brands

A wide array of beneficial results grows out of expertly crafted user studies. The key, as we have noted before, is knowing “what you’re looking for with each type of user study.” 

In many cases, companies frame their goals around:

  • Getting clarity about brand positioning to build a firm foundation for what is planned next 
  • Leveraging fresh user experience data that challenges long-held assumptions
  • Creating a clear benchmark for new product development or planned expansion into new markets

Also, a user study can help organisations “measure the impact of events or major changes—not just after a marketing campaign or change to a product, but in the wake of shifts in the environment”—including such world-altering events as the global Covid-19 pandemic.  

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User Studies and Product Design

Product designers depend upon user research to help guide them towards adding or modifying features that best suit consumer needs. The data acquired through these studies enables designers to avoid these critical errors:

  • Potential technological glitches
  • Gaps between what an existing product does and the state of current consumer needs and pain points
  • Manufacturing products that turn out to have minimal market demand

Design teams often “design for how they want the user to act,” notes MentorMates. By using consumer behaviour data gained through user studies, “designers can instead design for how [customers will] actually act.” This leads to a final product that “feels less like an artifact” and more like what customers genuinely need. Both product designers and the ultimate end-user benefit from the results in this process.

Effective user research for product design includes these methodologies:

Conduct an online survey. With a testing survey, you can reach large audiences of targeted customers and get an informed idea about what’s important to them. This is an excellent way to test various concepts, better understand their appeal, and determine which concepts should be moved forward for further testing.

Use conjoint analysis to see what consumers value. Conjoint analysis measures the value consumers place on a product’s specific features. Usually, data emerges from survey questions in which participants are shown a combination of product attributes and asked to compare or rank them. 

Employ qualitative methods such as guided group discussions. In online communities or through face-to-face focus groups, groups of potential consumers enable researchers to drill down into product features genuinely favoured by the target audience. Qualitative research can also uncover unforeseen customer needs, inspiring further rounds of innovation, with the bonus of getting a jump on the competition.  

Sometimes designers and product teams become too enmeshed in the development process to make the most effective decisions about how to proceed. UX research enables them to assess authentic feedback from target customers, so no crucial elements are overlooked in the design process. 

Added Benefits of User Studies

Brands can benefit from tapping into the user experience in numerous additional ways. 

Let’s say a design team has come up with a half-dozen “great” ideas about a new product. In general, many of these design ideas will fall short of expectations or prove too costly to implement all at one time. But the chances of success (and acceptance by consumers) sharply increase when user research methods identify the most promising of those ideas. 

Design teams are very good at what they do. But they can’t succeed in a vacuum. Without pinpointed UX research, they may rely too much on their instincts and miss out on what consumers really want. An organisation can benefit enormously when its design team learns to incorporate a steady input of user experience data into further research and design.

As with any scientific endeavour, there’s always the chance that an “aha moment” can dramatically shift the focus of research into more promising avenues. Extensive user studies facilitate the greater likelihood of encountering those “aha moments” around design features and attributes that might otherwise be overlooked.  

Tips to Get the Most from User Studies

As discussed, the importance of user studies—for new product development, customer satisfaction, and retention, etc.—can’t be overstated. To gain the most benefit from the process, keep these tips in mind:

  • Determine ahead of time whether you want general background information on consumer needs and preferences or if you’re seeking specific, in-depth usage patterns
  • Define what is possible to alter in the development phase based on the results of a user study. 
  • Be sure to ask specific questions when surveying targeted users so everyone has the same reference points for the survey. 
  • Identify a baseline, or neutral starting point, for people’s assumptions and ratings, thus enabling an objective interpretation of results.
  • Incorporate research into competitor brands (even smaller or niche brands) when assessing user research findings.

With the necessary parameters in place, it will more effectively translate the results of UX research into concrete product design and development efforts. 

Where to Go Next with User Studies

A user study should never be a “one-off” proposition. After all, the customer journey isn’t a static experience. User studies differ widely from one segmented audience to another, and over time can alter dramatically due to unexpected external factors. 

For these reasons, forward-thinking brands commit to ongoing research into customer needs and pain points. They can benefit from gaining insights into shifts in market trends well before the competition does, enabling them to be first in addressing emergent consumer needs. That’s one effective way of capturing market share before your competitors do. 

Finally, it would be best to communicate any changes you make to your product or service based on consumer research to the target audience. Don’t hesitate to share the story of how your focused research identified the challenges customers face and the efforts you took to address those challenges. This alone demonstrates the depth of your commitment to a valuable customer experience—which in turn generates more trust and engagement with your brand in the long run. 

Feedback loops that incorporate user research data also help ensure that your brand’s unique selling proposition is consistently re-validated and that everyone within the organisation sees the importance of serving customers’ needs. There may be no more effective tool to add to your brand’s arsenal today and in the future.