Before we hit the ground running with new topics for 2024, we want to say thank you to our authors, readers and advertisers. We’ve been on the receiving end of so many quality submissions that we were proud to publish.
Below, you will find a selection of our editors’ favorite articles from the last year.
If you’re interested in submitting an article in 2024, visit https://www.quirks.com/pages/become-a-quirks-author today!
Editors’ choice articles 2023
(listed in no particular order)
Unlocking inclusivity: How to improve accessibility in consumer research
Approximately 1 in 5 people in the United States identifies as having a disability, and it is estimated that this group has over $500 billion in spending power. Consumers with disabilities are a part of every community, regardless of race, gender, class or age. As researchers, we can ensure this segment of the population has a say by affirmatively seeking input from people with disabilities through participation in user and market research. Read more.
How research helped develop the go-to-market strategy for a new cold brew coffee
Spruce Haven Farms (SHF) is a fourth-generation family farm and one of the largest farms in Upstate New York. Milk from its 2,000+ cows supplies some of the top brands in today’s competitive yogurt market. The family spent 20 years working on nutritional science to create a way to make cow feed that could improve the nutritional benefits of their cows’ milk, with the end goal of enhancing people's wellness and nutrition. Read more.
Video surveys: The key to reliable consumer insights
In an era where anyone with access to ChatGPT can effortlessly and eloquently provide the answer to any question, it is becoming increasingly difficult to rely on open-ended text as a reliable source of understanding. A common theme from our recent sales calls is the growing suspicion that an increasing proportion of survey respondents are using ChatGPT to compose answers to open-ended survey questions. Read more.
How anyone can create more playful questionnaires
Research about insurance isn’t fun. We know. We asked.
We also know why people complete questionnaires. Our survey revealed that 36% of people participate because of the incentive whereas only 11% participate because surveys are fun. These results aren’t surprising because online questionnaires haven’t changed much in the 25 years we’ve been using them. Read more.
The power of collaboration: Market research practitioners and academics
It’s no secret that the landscape of marketing, and business practices in general, has been rapidly changing over the past decade. Among other things, marketers have been tasked with leveraging more sophisticated research science and data analytics, while also being challenged to better understand key areas such as customer segments, brand landscapes and competitive differentiators. Market research suppliers and consultants are being asked to provide deeper and more discerning insights. Yet many struggle to meet these expectations. One solution that’s often overlooked is collaboration with academics. Read more.
Maintaining a successful online patient community
Symbiotic: Denoting a mutually beneficial relationship between different people or groups.
When you think about market research, a symbiotic relationship is not likely top of mind. Rather, you probably imagine a one-way street where the respondent provides information and the researcher culls insights. But what if this didn’t have to be the case? Read more.
Two-year study tracks increasing consumer interest in plant-based foods
The plant-based foods industry has experienced exponential growth in the past five years as consumers find more and more innovative options on grocery store shelves. The Plant Based Foods Association (PBFA) has been at the forefront of measuring plant-based food industry performance and working to better inform plant-based food companies, retailers and the broader food industry about key trends to further advance this burgeoning industry’s growth. Read more.
Making sessions more inclusive and accessible to neurodiverse marketing research participants
As a user experience researcher for Stack Overflow, a big part of my job is to uncover user behaviors, motivations and needs to make our product more usable and enjoyable. I do this by conducting surveys, focus groups, virtual interviews and usability tests. Some time ago, during a virtual research session focused on understanding how we may improve the user interface of our search feature, I spoke to a user who disclosed that she was autistic. She explained how her reactions to the mock-ups may be different from those of neurotypical individuals. Read more.
ChatGPT and its impact on marketing research
ChatGPT is a free tool that combines the power of natural language processing with machine learning to generate hypotheses, insights and great writing at scale. Imagine having a super-smart robot researcher at your disposal, ready to analyze data, find patterns and come up with hypotheses and suggestions in a fraction of the time it would take a human. This is the future. And it's here now. Read more.
Researchers, are your biases holding back your brand?
When my 94-year-old grandma first began touring retirement communities she boldly told us, “You know everyone looks really old here. I don’t look like that at all.” After the initial tour, I remember my whole family laughing about this.
But we all do this! I’m guilty of it too.
What was happening to all of us is called illusory superiority, also known as the “above-average effect,” a bias where people overestimate their own qualities or abilities. Read more.
How to create strong insights partnerships
How is it that some clients maintain a strong insights collaboration with the same vendor partners for years and others are over after the first handful of projects are delivered? We know that the hallmarks of a strong partnership are trust, mutual respect and a spirit of cooperation. But how do you build trust and what does trust in an insights partnership feel like? Read more.
How to conduct virtual reality focus groups
It is tough to look anywhere nowadays without seeing something about virtual reality (VR). Whether gaming, training, shopping, concert-going or something else, VR offers a wide range of potential for user experiences in a novel and rapidly developing medium. Marketers, of course, have taken notice. In fact, retailers and brands such as Levi’s, Swarovski, Sephora, BMW and Toms have actively incorporated VR into the customer experience. Read more.
How researchers can use the power of 1, 2 and 3 to boost the impact of their communication
While researchers are often described as “numbers people,” in truth they wrangle both numbers and words. Just like writers. Writers wield the power of numbers almost invisibly – like magic creating a spell over readers: the undeniable impact of a one-syllable word, the story element of dualities or the rhythm of three-part phrases. Imagine if you had X-ray glasses that let you see these magic numbers at work underneath engaging and memorable writing. While there is no coupon for X-ray glasses at the end of this article, there are explanations and examples throughout it that will let you see how writers write by the numbers. Read more.
Where’s the designated Black consumer market research?
The market research industry shamefully lacks diversity and inclusivity. According to Media Post,1 the breakout of race and ethnic representation in the research industry is: 68.9% white; 13.2% Asian, 10.2% Latino, 4.9% Black American, 0.2% American Indian and Alaska Native. Read more.
How generative research can help overcome traditional research blind spots
Companies that rely too heavily on traditional research methods like surveys, IDIs and focus groups expose themselves to a greater risk of having blind spots in their data. Traditional methods lack context, are prone to bias and are generally conducted too long from the area of interest for participants to accurately recall their experiences. This is why generative research methods like mobile ethnography and digital diary studies are growing in popularity. Read more.