Over the past couple of months, the team here at DRI has been busy conducting more consumer segmentation studies for clients. This is a welcome development, as I believe it is a sign that businesses have started to recover from the recession and that it’s a perfect time for companies to get the in-depth understanding of their customers that segmentation studies offer. (more…)
Archive for March, 2010
The Promise of and Current Need for Segmentation Studies
Thursday, March 25th, 2010
Transcending Data to Communicate Insight
Thursday, March 18th, 2010All too often, market researchers use data as a crutch when they present the findings of their studies. What’s more, they often don’t do enough to connect their findings to the underlying business issues faced by the client. This leaves researchers vulnerable to being seen as commodities that can be easily replaced with self-service tools like Survey Monkey (even the name implies that a lower-species can do the work).
Using Open Communities for Market Research – Caveat Emptor
Thursday, March 4th, 2010Late last week an old colleague of mine – Tamara Barber, Data Analyst at Forrester Research – contacted me and told me that she is writing a research document on how to use social media for listening in a way that adds value to the MR role. I’m looking forward to seeing the piece because since Tamara raised the issue with me, I can’t get it out of my head.
My first reaction is a loose interpretation of the title of this blog – Buyer Beware. Open social media communities like Twitter, Facebook, and blogs (just to name a few) are great places to listen (to use a popular buzz-word), develop hypotheses, and see what some folks think about your brand. However, it’s the next step that introduces the Buyer Beware part of my thinking. At this time there is little defined research logic, order, or rules in the social media world. This makes it difficult – if not impossible at this time – to guarantee the validity or reliability of these findings. (more…)
