Editor’s note: James A. Rohde is consultant and founder of James A. Rohde Consulting, a Pittsburgh research firm.
Virtual research – in which real-life situations are simulated for the purposes of conducting marketing research – is no longer the hot topic it once was in our industry; it is simply a reality. As the excitement over its novelty has subsided, the conversation has shifted to how the virtual medium can be used and what it means vs. the researcher’s more traditional mediums.
Interestingly, we are not the only ones having this particular conversation; psychologists have also been trying to decode the realities and applications of virtual research. For their purposes, virtual mediums are leveraged as a safe way for patients to interact in scenarios that could be threatening, either emotionally or physically (e.g., meeting friends at a bar for the alcoholic or riding in an elevator for the claustrophobic). Some of the more interesting points of success within virtual psychological practice are explored by Tori DeAngelis in her article “A second life for practice” in the March issue of Monitor on Psychology.
The article discusses two different forms of virtual health technology – three-dimensional immersion and Second Life-type avatars – both of which attempt to provide clients with realistic scenarios that allow for honest behavioral reactions. This is very much on track for what we hope we can create for respondents inside the world of market research. Creating a virtual scenario that can be measured while minimalizing any undue influence on the respondent is essentially the Holy Grail of research.
It would seem then that the best way to reach the end of our quest would be to create the most realistic experience possible – which of course is easier said than done. That is why one of the most exciting points covered by DeAngelis is the level of success in accurately simulating potential situations. Specifically when working with virtual reality where even scents can be simulated, therapists are able to “bypass a big problem in traditional therapy: having to visualize and recall scenes accurately.”
Even with less-sophisticated technology like Second Life, a wide variety of social interactions can be practiced and created. So far this type of format has been leveraged for not only patients but also employee training and students – essentially anybody who would normally benefit from basic role-playing.
Keep a level head
More often than not our primary goal as market researchers is to observe the behaviors of our targeted consumers and understand how to optimize their interactions with our products. With that understanding in mind, it is important to keep a level head when leveraging virtual research and remember that no matter how realistic the programming, the basic principles of analysis still hold. Virtual research needs to be designed with clear goals and with methodologies that act as a framework so that virtual decisions are being analyzed in the correct context:
• know the specific decisions and instances of indecision you looking for;
• have a framework in place for how data will be analyzed;
• remember that virtual simulation is not designed to facilitate easier analysis for the researcher but to make honest responses more accessible for the respondent.
One major assumption
To call the potential for what we can accomplish with virtual research “optimistic” seems understated but we are still staring down one major assumption: that making virtual reality more real will lead to real behavioral reactions from respondents who know there are no real-life consequences for their actions.
We all know that one of the biggest obstacles with product forecasting research is that checking the “intent to buy” box is much easier than reaching in your wallet to hand over money. The question is: Does handing over virtual money make the response any more real if the respondent knows that they are not actually spending real money?
In the context of research, it seems like making a virtual experience more real would be an easy connection to more realistic behavior from respondents. But think of all the realistic-looking video games and the behaviors that real people act out behind their fictional characters. The easy assumption can be the most dangerous when it comes to research so a critical eye is what will help differentiate success from failure.