Comprehensive tracker studies are an excellent way to keep a pulse on consumer behavior and monitor changes to brand key performance indicators (KPIs) over a period of time.
While they are generally brief to maintain optimal engagement from respondents, trackers can also take the shape of something more thorough.
For instance, many grocery and consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands choose to conduct comprehensive trackers with 50 or more questions.
Take for example a recent comprehensive tracker study our market research firm conducted for a leading produce brand.
Keep reading to learn about our approach to meeting their objectives and challenges.
Benefits of Comprehensive Tracker Studies
Why make your tracker study longer if it can be tedious for respondents?
A big reason is the depth of insights you need for your business. A tracker study could easily include a 20+ minute survey if you require information on an entire product category.
In return, you can collect a wealth of data on insights such as:
- Consumer attitudes
- Shopper behaviors
- Product awareness
- Perceptions
- Usage
- Satisfaction
This forms a holistic view of your brand and market for every wave of the study you complete.
Just be sure to incentivize your respondents fairly for the longer survey!
Check out our Ultimate Guide to Brand Tracking in 2022 to learn all the essentials about tracking studies.
Objectives of the Grocery Brand
A national grocery brand hired Drive Research to conduct a market research study. The survey was part of an annual tracker to keep a pulse on the latest market trends.
The objectives of the CPG market research included providing the client with the necessary information to better understand KPIs such as
- Consumer attitudes towards its products
- The importance of factor(s) when purchasing
- Brand use
- Perceptions
The ongoing study would help fuel operations, marketing, and strategy for the produce brand.
Read a similar case study for brand awareness tracking studies here.
The Solution for the Grocery Brand
To address the objectives at hand, Drive Research recommended using an ongoing online survey to collect feedback.
The online survey took an average of 15 to 20 minutes to complete and included 91 questions.
The fieldwork was targeted to those 25+ years of age in the U.S. Respondents were screened to ensure they participate in grocery shopping at their household, and they are the primary or shared decision-maker for grocery shopping.
Interested in qualitative research for your grocery brand? Explore this case study about how Drive Research held focus groups for a plant-based meat brand.
The Approach: Comprehensive Tracker Survey
The process began with a kickoff meeting involving Drive Research and the client.
With this tracker study running in previous waves, the kickoff focused on small updates to the survey questions based on any new objectives for this wave.
The survey document was then fine-tuned to ensure all questions were still relevant and new questions were added.
The audience did not change, remaining census representative general population respondents.
Once the client signed off on the survey document, Drive Research programmed the questions into a survey platform for respondents to complete online.
Respondents to the survey were found through aggregated email lists of U.S. residents who have opted to participate in various market research.
The survey was fielded over a two-week period to reach the goal number of respondents.
After fieldwork wrapped up, Drive Research conducted a thorough data cleaning process to ensure the integrity of the results.
This consisted of removing respondents who provided poor quality answers, sped through the questions, or showed signs of being disengaged.
The Results for the Grocery Brand
The final market research report delivered to the grocery brand client was a comprehensive slide deck in PowerPoint format.
The report included background and methodology, an infographic visually summarizing the findings, a brief executive summary of themes, key findings, trending information, and next steps for market research.
An appendix in the back of the report consisted of a detailed question-by-question breakdown of the results.
Delivered separately were a full raw data file and Excel cross-tabulations file with significance testing. The raw data file is often used for further analysis or to review answers for individual respondents.
The cross-tabulations file offers clients a look at the results by key segments and cuts in the data, going beyond the results in total.
Details of the tracker survey included:
- The study ended up collecting 1,008 completed surveys.
- Fieldwork began on March 24 and lasted until April 9, 2021.
- The margin of error for these results would be +/- 3.1% at the 95% confidence interval.
- It means if the survey was conducted with another 1,008 respondents, the survey results would yield within +3.1% or -3.1% of the totals 95 out of 100 times.
As a final step, Drive Research debriefed on the results with the client team to review the key takeaways and answer any questions about the research.
The client received the insights they needed to take strategic action for the upcoming year.
Conduct Tracker Studies with Drive Research
There is simply no substitute for the knowledge gained from a comprehensive tracker.
This is especially true if you are in an industry that experiences rapid change and evolution. Over time, you can identify clear trends in these tracked metrics to inform business decisions.
Interested in kicking off a comprehensive tracking survey? Drive Research can help. We offer end-to-end project management services so your team can focus on their day-to-day responsibilities.
Reach out through any of the four ways below to receive a quote.
- Message us on our website
- Email us at [email protected]
- Call us at 888-725-DATA
- Text us at 315-303-2040
Tim Gell
As a Research Analyst, Tim is involved in every stage of a market research project for our clients. He first developed an interest in market research while studying at Binghamton University based on its marriage of business, statistics, and psychology.
Learn more about Tim, here.
