In addition to receiving the Quirks Sourcebook in the mail this week, Quirks also released their annual Q Report. This is the corporate research report for 2017. This report is released each year by Quirks which highlights the client side of market research. Client side research is defined as those who work for companies which conduct research for their own purposes. Different from a market research supplier who conducts research for a variety of clients.
An example here of client side research is Nike employees conducting a survey on Nike, P&G conducting focus groups on Tide, or a local hospital conducting a community survey on the image and awareness of its hospital. Client side research often hires third-party market research firms and partners to assist with the work, but the objective is the same, it's research on their own brand.
Our market research firm serving Rochester NY recaps 5 of our key takeaways from the Q Corporate Research Report in this post.
What were the 5 biggest takeaways our market research firm in Rochester pulled from the Q Report? Read more below.
Key Takeaway 1: 32% Have Increased Budgets in 2017
Good news for market research firms. When we see client side researchers increasing budgets it usually means the value of market research and the ROI is gaining traction within organizations. Marketing and market research are usually very high on the list of things to get cut when sales revenue or profits are under-performing. Seeing that 1 in 3 saw an increase in 2017 points to further longevity of services like Voice of Customer (VoC) and Customer Experience (CX) market research.
Key Takeaway 2: Quality Tops the List
When respondents were asked what is the most important factor when choosing a new methodology, 95% reported quality data ranking number 1. This was followed by audience specificity at 75%, cost 74%, question flexibility 74%, and speed of deliverables at 68%. Quality of data was by far the number 1 need from corporate researchers. Clients are continually seeking new ways to gather richer insights and deeper feedback than what can be acquired through traditional methodologies.
Key Takeaway 3: Online Surveys are Most Effective
Among the methodologies tested, online surveys topped the list of most effective or perceived effective choices. Nearly all respondents (92%) rated online surveys as effective. This was followed by in-person interviewing (88%), focus groups (83%), in-person ethnography (72%), telephone interviews (59%), and paper surveys (37%).
What may be most surprising in this list is the drop telephone surveys have seen over the past 5 or 10 years. We covered the collapse of telephone surveys in a prior blog post which highlighted the key drivers to sealing their fate.
Online surveys continue to be the most effective methodology. They are cost-effective, over timely feedback, and offer quality data if constructed well. We love offering these services to our clients for those reasons.
Key Takeaway 4: Lack of Faith in New Methodologies
There is a significant lack of confidence in some of the newer market research methodologies available to corporate researchers. Among those tested, the newer methodologies that had the highest perceived effectiveness were online qualitative focus groups (67%), mobile specific surveys (63%), and text analytics (54%). All other new methodologies had less than a 50% effectiveness rating.
Even the highest rated new methodology (online qualitative) still has 1 in 3 corporate researchers stating it is not perceived as effective. This translates to continual use of traditional and proven methodologies like online surveys, interviews, and focus groups for the time being.
Key Takeaway 5: Automation is Growing
Just over 1 in 4 respondents use some form of automated research platform. Automation helps streamline several parts of the market research process. This could be an automated customer experience (CX) survey that automatically goes out to customers who recently made a purchase. It could also mean automated analysis and reports to create real-time dashboards or reports.
Whatever the automation might entail, the takeaway is corporate market researchers are finding ways to make tasks more efficient. This will result in less time spent in project management and more time spent in analysis, interpretation, and insights.
If you ask me, that's where the time should be spent when it comes to adding value to market research or data. It shouldn't be spent in collecting or building charts, it should be spent helping the client take action from the feedback.
Contact Us
Drive Research is a market research firm in Rochester, NY. We serve all of Upstate New York and have clients across the country. We create custom market research projects for our clients delivering the answers they need from those who matter most.
Questions or need a quote? Call us at 315-303-2040 or email us at [email protected].