With 2017 behind us, we thought it might be worth looking back at the past year’s worth of Quirk’s articles to compile a selection of useful ideas on a wide range of topics. Readers have told us many times that they save their issues but if you’ve misplaced an edition and your interest is piqued by something you see below, zip over to the online version for the full story.
By the way, we welcome articles from outside sources, so if you’d like to contribute to Quirk’s in 2018, reach out to me at joe@quirks.com. (Check out last month’s Trade Talk column for more info on writing for us as well.)
Of course, there are more than 17 ideas here, but you get the point. Without further ado, in chronological order, here they are!
Text analytics
Here are key steps to getting insights out of text analytics:
- Develop a taxonomy. Set up key word groupings that are important to business strategy or core business competencies.
- Know the business and keep it simple. Don’t get too granular with the number of key groupings you are analyzing. Too much detail will make it hard to compare and gain insights from the text.
- Leverage experienced personnel. Make sure the person creating these key word groupings has a fundamental understanding of the current and future strategies and core business competencies.
- Use closed-ended variables to know the context. Attach as many useful variables to the verbatim comments as are available (for example, the day of week they interacted with your business; the product they purchased; where they live; the price they paid; the NPS score) and leverage these contextual variables to answer business questions and drive insights.
“Scaling the data mountain – A practitioner’s guide to unlocking insights from customer feedback”
By Rick Kieser and Kellan Williams
January 2017
Staffing your department
[D]iversity of thought and experience are good things. With the intense focus on Millennials and the gig economy, the client-side research community could benefit from a more relaxed or open-minded industry focus in its recruiting. There are many ways to approach the same problems. A researcher willing to try new things or work in new environments should be an opportunity, not a threat. We should all try embracing these alternate industry researchers or career-changers. They will inevitably have new ways of looking at your corporate world and the research issues you’re facing. When you consider how things are done in different industries or research fields, the potential to innovate methodologically skyrockets.
“Research is research, right? – Why you should cast a wider net when staffing your insights department”
By Eric Whipkey
February 2017
Shopper insights
We find that shoppers can usually remember the apps and Web sites they relied on most but being able to recall individual visits and correctly summing them is (quite understandably) beyond the average person’s ability. This is why we feel that, in creating a 21st-century purchase journey story, remaining data-agnostic is essential. Surveys can illuminate big-picture activities and deliver insight and emotional color that illuminates both the what and the why people consult the resources they do or make the purchase decisions they finally put into action. This information can now be supplemented with activity data from the shopper’s new weapon of choice, the smartphone; these “digital lassos” basically act like extensions of consumers’ own probing brains, allowing them to perform tasks and provide answers in seconds – and revealing a great deal about how shoppers think from the footprints they leave.
“Lightsabers and digital lassos – Curating the 21st century purchase journey”
By Sarah Gleason and Christina Pate
February 2017
Data analysis
Beware of big data. The underlying assumption of statistical analysis is that you need to state in advance what you are looking for and define acceptable levels of statistical error. Throwing all data into an analytical potpourri, spinning the wheel to see what comes out and accepting that as insight violates this key assumption and leads to lots of Type 1 statistical errors, merging of varying types of data, combining data of varying quality and confusing correlation with causation. It also leads to the erroneous application of group data to individuals. Big data may be useful for generating hypotheses and ideas for further analysis (that then lead to properly conducted analysis) but it’s not all it’s made out to be in terms of generating conclusive insights. Big data has its place but beware of claims that overstep what that place is.
“40 years, 40 lessons learned – Advice from a veteran researcher”
By Doug Berdie
February 2017
Health care research
To better understand organized [health care] customers, different types of secondary data sources must be integrated and analyzed to develop key insights. These data types include usage volume, affiliations, customer profile data, payer/plan information and organizational structure data. Tying these together, insights professionals can peer into organizations to better understand how they make decisions as well as the prescribing behaviors and number of in-network specialists in the network – information that will give manufacturers’ sales reps critical insights before they even walk through the door. Are reps visiting an account that uses and loves the product or is this account putting up barriers? Does this account have effective prescribing controls in place? Secondary data sources will help answer those questions.
“Working toward a healthy prognosis – Reshaping primary marketing research for the evolving health care landscape”
By Amy Marta
March 2017
B2B research
Techniques to ensure insightful B2B reporting:
- Use a series of interaction roll-up reports to help managers at all levels.
- Provide individual sales rep reports to profile key B2B customers and rep performance.
- Build action into reporting sites by integrating initiatives/responsibilities.
- Present major themes, keeping details in a supporting, as-needed role.
Techniques to turn B2B data into action:
- Obtain buy-in from stakeholders before data collection proceeds.
- Conduct sessions to clarify process ties, ownership.
- Use ongoing scorecards to keep excitement up.
- Integrate report platforms with action (planning, implementing, tracking).
- Provide drill-down/supplemental data to clarify action requirements.
- Conduct periodic action sessions to update plans, realign actions.
“Many paths to the same goal – Strategies for optimizing B2B survey research”
By Doug Berdie
April 2017
Pricing research
A brand risks losing sales when a price is raised and when that price crosses a certain threshold. This psychological barrier is why many brands price at $1.99 rather than $2.00. This is relatively straightforward and intuitive to marketers. However, it is easy to overlook the context of competitive pricing. There is absolute price and then there is your price compared to your competitors’; the difference is the “gap.”
No brand exists in a vacuum. In order for it to make sense for the retailer to execute a strategy, one has to consider the entire category, not just a single brand alone. If a brand is considering implementing a new strategy, it must consider the impact that it leaves on the overall category. For example, increasing the price of a top seller might drive margin while sacrificing some unit sales. Increasing price too much might actually lead to fewer consumers even walking down the aisle, hurting sales for the entire category. Before implementing a strategy, take a step back and consider the potential side effects.
“Take charge of the fourth P – Why marketing should own pricing”
By Oskar Toerneld and Robin de Rooij
April 2017
Millennials
Overall, Millennials connect with brands and allow social media to influence their purchase decisions much more than other generations. They’re also more likely to potentially influence others’ purchase decisions by sharing their experiences on social media. Older Millennials are slightly more involved than younger Millennials in connecting/sharing brand experiences. Females are more likely than males in all generations except younger Millennials to agree that “Social media connects me with the brands I love.” In addition, across all age categories, females are significantly more likely to take advantage of perks or deals offered by brands on social media.
“Going (digital) native – Exploring Millennials’ social media use”
By Aron Levin and Brian Lamar
May 2017
Qualitative research
Recognize what’s going on inside yourself as you listen. What assumptions, biases or prejudices do you have before you begin the research? What are you carrying into the research environment? These powerful words of advice were offered by the social worker, nurse, clinician and storyteller. These professionals often deal with people in times of crisis and pain. Whether the research topic is likely to be a sensitive one, e.g., women who experience urinary incontinence, or a less intimate one, e.g., experiences in casual dining restaurants, I find it’s worth taking time in advance of the research to download my own and my clients’ incoming expectations. Acknowledging and capturing these comments and emotions helps free up our ability to listen. Although, as the storyteller I spoke with emphatically stated, while there is no such thing as “objective” listening, becoming aware of and taking responsibility for our internal prejudices and beliefs certainly helps.
“Listening as an act of love – 12 considerations from professional listeners”
By Laurie Tema-Lyn
May 2017
Respondent cooperation
Request peer-reviews of your questionnaires and discussion guides. If you’re on the client side, exchange surveys with colleagues for feedback, especially those outside your business unit/category if possible. On the supply side, you can also get feedback from co-workers but just be mindful of confidentiality if you go outside the client team. To do that, you can use an in-market ad or package instead of the test one as stimuli and, if necessary, remove any proprietary client questions.
If you’re an independent consultant or don’t have ready access to colleagues for any other reason, strike a deal with a few trusted professional contacts to do a “feedback exchange” for questionnaires, guides, etc., where you review each other’s materials on a regular basis. The confidentiality caution applies here too – either put a confidentiality agreement in place or strip out client-identifying details and confidential stimuli.
The purpose of this type of feedback is to get another expert researcher’s opinion and to overcome any knowledge bias you may have. For example, if you’ve worked in the health care industry long enough, you’ve almost certainly picked up terminology and classifications from the professional or provider side that may not be transparent or make sense to consumers in survey or discussion guide questions. Having someone with research expertise outside your own industry can help make sure questions and response options are worded in layperson language.
“Think like a respondent – How to follow consumer research’s golden rule”
By Sarah Faulkner
May 2017
Ad research
For marketers, understanding the interaction between the brain’s memory and the mirror systems may become central to decoding how advertising really works in the brain. When we watch someone in a television commercial enjoy a bowl of cereal, wash their hair, drive a car or touch an iPhone screen, it engages our mirror systems and we mentally rehearse doing the same thing – it’s called virtual consumption.
Interestingly, when remembering, the human brain does not distinguish between real brand experiences and virtual experiences. Because of this, virtual consumption memory (a memory created by watching an experience) may become a false memory. Understanding how this Matrix-like phenomenon works is an active area of research study and is likely to become even more important with the influx of mass-market virtual reality and augmented reality technologies.
“A memorable impression – How to create brand memories in advertising”
By Charles Young
June 2017
Ad research
One might ask how consumers, though not trained in semiotics, can detect ambiguity in a marketing campaign. In the same manner that humans learn language by repeated exposure to the language in daily life, consumers learn the codes structuring meaning in a category by means of routine, lifelong experience reading packaging, advertising and merchandising in the quest to satisfy their needs. Packaging codes guide consumers through their choices at the point of purchase because they structure consistent expectations about the value and cultural positioning of the product inside. Shoppers have learned from experience to identify processed snacks on the shelf by the bold colors and hyperbolic language on packaging. They also recognize contrasts between processed and natural snacks, with their earth tones and realistic claims. These codes define a kind of shorthand for consumers, enabling them to sort through the supermarket aisle with a quick sweep of the eyes down the supermarket aisle.
“Signs of confusion – Using semiotics to understand consumer responses to advertising”
By Laura Oswald
June 2017
Best practices
At the beginning of any research study quickly check to make sure the corporate and research assumptions align with how the consumer is seeing the world. Verify everything, even down to words and phrases. One common misstep is when generic terms can mean different things to the corporate client and the consumer.
Good communication is quite difficult and without constant vigilance, words and phrases fly by and both parties involved in the interaction are disconnected from each other’s intent. It’s good to stop for ambiguous words and clarify meaning.
We do a lot of work in the financial services industry. Even though financial services is a term that most of us hear and use frequently, the majority of consumers in our research studies use an incomplete definition. Most only think that term refers to banking services and forget to include insurance products.
So if you don’t make sure everyone is defining the term the same way, you end up where there are major differences in what you think you are talking about. So how do we clarify? Quickly at the beginning of a study ask everyone to write down their definition of the term and then ask what they wrote. If it’s different from the definition that needs to be used, then clarify, e.g., “For this conversation we are defining financial services as including both banking and insurance services.” It’s also helpful to say things back to make sure you’re receiving the message correctly.
“Finding focus – Why clarity and effective communication are so important to MR”
By Susan Fader and John Boyd
July 2017
Financial services
Understanding how to optimize the omnichannel experience for the virtual customer, via the use of chatbots and other digital help for example, is critical. Yet that warm customer voice or handshake may be necessary to make the experience work. That’s especially true for the customer who has spent several minutes doing a seemingly simple task only to hit a brick wall!
In short, make it easy. Functional, fast apps with great interfaces will help forge that connection if they allow customers to accomplish what they want with minimal disruptions.
“A satisfying transaction – Why financial services firms must forge connections in a virtual world”
By Tony Smith
July 2017
Customer experience
“To design a great chatbot experience is essentially to engineer a conversation – and that is much more difficult than one might guess. In a recent study, the French train service Voyages-sncf.com sought to create a chatbot that would help travelers buy tickets and get information – essentially providing the same interactions that a human ticketing agent would. But the train company quickly learned that basing its bot’s actual word choices and dialogue strategy on the conversations people have with flesh-and-blood ticket sellers was a huge mistake. Without the context of the train station, the waiting line, eye contact, physical gestures and a host of other factors, the digital interactions were completely different. For example, you would never get to the front of a ticketing line and say, “I’m here to buy train tickets” but you might well start a chatbot conversation that way.
“Talking back to the bots – Defining the UX of AI in FS”
By Keith Bossey and Gavin Lew
July 2017
Health care research
The patient disconnect around medication starts early. So how can HCPs ensure instructions are really getting through to patients? Here, marketers can address gaps related to overall health management by providing educational follow-up materials. They can also build awareness for materials and programs outlining steps for proper medication use and the benefits of doing so. Doing this takes the pressure off both sides and can lead to higher satisfaction among patients with doctor visits.
“There’s a disconnect here – Adherence study finds gaps in doctor-patient communication”
By Jonathan Weiser
October 2017
Health care research
The pharma and device companies usually want their participation to be blinded to avoid bias but we often over-obscure everything to make sure that happens. One of the best uses of mobile phone-based research I have seen, and this is going back to the infancy of mobile research, was with arthritis patients, specifically those with arthritis in their hands. What a terrible mix of methodology and audience, asking people who often cannot grip a toothbrush to do exercises on a tiny phone, right? That was actually the reason for the research. The app being designed was targeted at people who have manual dexterity issues as a way to track how they could input information comfortably. However, the respondents were not told this up front and the recruiting refusals piled up faster than the grumpy respondents who did agree and barely did the required activities. When it was decided to tell potential respondents the point of the study, which meant literally the addition of a single sentence explanation about designing something specifically for people like them, respondents started over-participating. We only needed an hour of time across a few days and people were doubling and tripling that. The study was a success because of the way it was presented.
Takeaway: Treat your respondents like partners and their dedication soars.
“Keep the focus on them – Strategies for dealing with difficult patients in health care research”
By Bj Kirschner
December 2017