Our market research company keeps the pulse on the latest and greatest in the industry so you don't have to. We don't just talk market research, we live it, we write about it, and we share it. Our fingers hurt because of it. Often. Learn more about market research basics, tricks, trends, and ideas. Grab a fresh coffee, there is so much here, you'll need it.
Market Research Company Blog
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5 Simple Ways to Maximize Your Response Rate for a Survey
Posted at: 11/9/2018 7:46 PM
Market research enables a company or organization to gather data information about their ideal consumers’ needs, preferences, and opinions. A common tool used in market research is a survey. Surveys are extremely useful tools and can identify several aspects of a target market. Surveys have many benefits. They are relatively inexpensive compared to focus groups or in-depth interviews (IDIs). Surveys are also versatile, and can be distributed in many ways, online, email, social media, or paper.
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Making Sense of a Qualitative Interview Transcript
Posted at: 11/8/2018 7:41 PM
So, the interviews or focus groups are completed and the transcripts are in. Now what? Upon first glance, one can see there's often a lot of meat in a typical transcript. Tens of pages documenting a single interview may be at your disposal. Don't let it overwhelm you, though. There's bound to be great insights that stem from the content in these transcripts! Before diving into the first page, take a moment to consider some of the following points to get the most out of your transcripts. Wor
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Using Mapping Tools for Surveys and Market Research Reports
Posted at: 11/6/2018 7:30 PM
Data visualization is a popular technique used in market research reporting. Everybody loves a map don't they? We certainly do here at our market research firm. So much so we try to work at least one (and usually multiple maps) into our client reports. Mapping used in market research comes in many shapes and sizes. There are a variety of different plot points and maps a market research firm can create with data like ZIP Codes, counties, or even Census Tracts. We'll review some of the basic maps
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Posted at: 11/5/2018 7:27 PM
Have an upcoming focus group? Wondering what the rules of focus groups are? Focus groups are a common form of qualitative research. Typically, focus groups invite 10 to 12 people to participate. Focus group often last between 1 to 2 hours. Participants are often offered an honorarium as a thank you for participating. Here's a quick breakdown of the steps in a focus group project. Curious about how much a focus group costs? In a previous post we dug into this topic. As a general rule, focus g
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How Many People Do We Need To Survey? Here's Why to Aim for 400.
Posted at: 11/2/2018 6:22 PM
Understanding how many people to survey is a critical step in market research. Is 50 responses enough? 100? 250? 1,000? Regardless of how many people you survey, one thing is certain: The more people you survey among a random population, the more reliable the data becomes. But what is the sweet spot? When I say sweet spot, I mean the ultimate number or best-practice number which brings several variables together in harmony like budget, timeline, reliability, analysis, etc. 400 responses is con
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Everything You Need to Know About Response Rates in Market Research
Posted at: 11/1/2018 2:38 PM
In market research, nothing can be more difficult than estimating a response rate. At the same time, nothing can be more important. A poorly estimated response rate can throw off a number of project components from analysis, reporting, to timeline. If your response rate to your survey is only 2% instead of 20% it may require more reminder emails, a larger sample pool to send invites to, or possibly reminder phone calls. All of which will drag out your budget and timeline for your market research
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4 Lessons I Learned From My First Survey
Posted at: 10/31/2018 6:15 PM
I was fortunate enough to discover market research as my passion while attending college. It was sitting in the course MKTG 320, Market Research, that I received my first exposure to the industry. My a-ha moment hit me during our first survey project, in which I had to write a survey, distribute the document, analyze the data, and present my results. I knew then that this process was something I could really grow to love. Our assignment was to pick any topic of interest and try to understand p
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Market Research for New Products | Home Usage Tests (HUTs)
Posted at: 10/30/2018 6:10 PM
Before you launch a new product or an existing product to a new market, you owe it to yourself and your company to conduct some pre-research. Several types of market research can be completed for new products including projects like in-home usage tests (IHUTs). These new product development projects are designed to test the product with customers prior to a full market launch. What are the benefits of product development research and pre-research? It helps you understand new markets and differe
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Case Study: In-Home Usage Test (IHUT) Recruitment
Posted at: 10/29/2018 6:05 PM
An in-home usage test (IHUT) is one of the best ways to ask a typical or potential customer to try and give feedback on a product or service. Often times, these studies begin with recruiting participants for the IHUT. Once a list of qualified and committed participates has been gathered, all are sent detailed instructions and the product or service that needs to be tested. Here's more on how an IHUT project works. The IHUT testing period can last anywhere from a few days to several weeks depen
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How to Conduct Secondary Research
Posted at: 10/26/2018 5:59 PM
It doesn't always make sense to start a market research study from scratch. Sometimes questions can be answered through publicly available information. This is better known as secondary research, or the use of preexisting sources to address new objectives. With the Information Age in full swing, the Internet has become the prime vehicle for conducting secondary research. Aside from research limited to print, searching online offers a person access to seemingly endless information about virtuall
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3 Reasons and 3 Benefits to Using Employee Surveys
Posted at: 10/25/2018 3:41 PM
Employee surveys are used by an organization to gain in-depth knowledge about their employee’s feelings, opinions, and perceptions. There are a number of different topics that can be surveyed, and multiple reasons an organization may want to conduct employee surveys. Some commonly employee survey topics include: Job satisfaction Employee engagement New employee and departure employee surveys Employee well-being Regardless of the reason for conducting employee surveys, the main objective of
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Case Study: Visitor Intercept Surveys | Finger Lakes Region
Posted at: 10/24/2018 3:24 PM
Understanding visitor profiles including motivations to visit, demographics, and amount spent is critical to a travel and tourism related business. Whether you are an attraction, event, destination, or tourism region, capturing this data directly from visitors is a must-have. It lends incredible insight into tourism behavior and economic impact which can drive marketing messaging, growth areas, strategies, and set your tourism destination up for success. Without this visitor intercept survey da