Editor's note: Ken Zeldis is partner and Amy Rey is senior research director of Zeldis Research Associates Inc., Pennington, N.J. This article appeared in the September 27, 2010, edition of Quirk's e-newsletter.
If you're like most of us, you have probably heard the phrase "times are tough" more than you care to. We are working in times of unprecedented economic conditions. As we all know, when companies are looking to tighten their belts, market research departments are often one of the first on the chopping block. Maybe you will be one of the lucky research departments whose budget stays the same or even increases, but if not (or even if you are!), we have a few simple suggestions for getting the most for your research dollar.
1. Methodology: Find the intersection between appropriate and cost-effective.
Quantitative
Check to see if the population you are considering can be found online first. The availability of Internet sample is ever-expanding and includes many specialty panels (e.g., physicians, teachers, benefit managers). You may also want to consider initiatives to develop your customer database to include e-mails; client-sponsored Internet studies often have very high response rates and offer a substantial cost advantage.
For low-incidence populations or hard-to-reach respondents, Internet surveys may not work. However, when surveying broader populations, customers or certain specialty populations, the Web can be viable and less expensive (it can also be more timely and give you more options in terms of visuals and complex designs).
Qualitative
While many of us are accustomed to gathering qualitative data using traditional focus groups, there are several other options that can provide the same or better information and provide a cost savings. Teleconferences, phone in-depth interviews (IDIs) and online bulletin boards (BBFGs) work very well for gathering qualitative data, and they eliminate travel expenses. They also keep the benefits of focus groups (participant interaction, displaying materials, live client monitoring) while providing the enhanced features of national-versus-regional data collection; reducing influence or posturing (IDIs); including hard-to-reach or high-level participants; and a fluid topic guide that can be changed midstream (BBFGs).
2. Don't over-design: Sometimes less is more.
Quantitative
If you are like many of our clients, you are always looking for the elusive magic number in terms of sample size. What we have found is that many times our clients insist on large sample sizes (500, 1,000 or more; at least 100 per subgroup) without appropriate rationale. Key factors in determining appropriate sample size are acceptable margin of error, sufficient sample for subgroup analyses and the size of your population, but there are also practical concerns such as budget. In most situations, a sample size of 50 per key subgroup (and even as little as 30 for less-important subgroups), can go a long way toward saving money while maintaining statistically-valid sample sizes.
Qualitative
Don't forget that qualitative is just that - a qualitative read on your data. It is not usually necessary or helpful to conduct 50+ in-depth interviews with five or 10 per subgroup. In most cases, the story does not change after the first 10-to-12 interviews. Stay in contact with your research vendor and ask for a summary of findings after the first eight-to-10 interviews; you may find that the story is 90 percent complete and that you are seeing diminishing returns with additional interviews.
3. Increasing response rates: The better the participation, the lower the cost.
You can reduce your costs dramatically by increasing the number of respondents who want to take your survey or participate in your focus group. The best way to do this, especially with customers or those with whom you have a relationship, is by sponsoring the research with your company name whenever doing so will not bias your results.
We see response rates of 50+ percent when the research is client-sponsored (versus 5-10 percent when it is not). In addition, if you send out an advance letter or e-mail to your respondents telling them you are conducting research and asking for their participation (and preferably signed by someone senior in your organization), response rates can be boosted even further.
Of course, you can also offer incentives to respondents, but be creative with them. Offering cash is not always the most effective incentive - consider drawings for larger prizes or donations to charity. With certain business-to-business studies, offering a brief summary of the research findings can often be a great way to increase participation.
4. Reduce cost at the margin: A little can go a long way.
Quantitative
Try reducing the number of open-ended questions you have in a survey. There is often a great deal of overlap in different open-ends. Just one may do the trick, particularly in online surveys, as participants frequently give minimal answers to subsequent open-ends. This can reduce length and save on coding costs. Or, in a telephone survey, ask a question as an open-end but have pre-coded responses that are not read to respondents and another to capture responses that don't fit the pre-codes. This is especially effective on a tracking survey; you may choose to ask an open-end in the first wave and then use those responses to "close up" the question for subsequent waves.
Qualitative
There are many little ways to reduce qualitative study costs. Recruit 10 instead of 12 for focus groups; show rates tend to be higher during times of economic difficulty, so you will likely have full groups and save on recruiting and incentive costs. Consider quality over quantity: Recruit smaller groups, but use a screener that identifies the most articulate participants who are more likely to add value to the discussion. Use real-time videostreaming services such as FocusVision or ActiveGroup to watch the focus groups and reduce travel costs. If you are paying for transcripts, consider summary transcripts, which are less expensive and can eliminate any non-relevant discussion.
5. Alternative sources: Sometimes what you need is already out there.
Often the answers to your questions already exist in some form and using these resources, even if they are not customized to your needs, can save money. Perhaps someone in another part of your organization has done this research before, or at least enough of it that you can shorten your questionnaire. Or you can do a secondary search (or have a research vendor do a secondary search) to see what already exists through publicly-available sources. Alternatively, consider syndicated or multisponsor studies that may be less costly, especially if you have only a few questions that can be asked of the general population. Finally, if you do need a custom study, outsourcing some of the project can save money. Most research vendors will be happy to do just a piece of the process.