This paper describes the learnings and insights gained by the novel use of mobile instant messaging app (WeChat) to collect consumer data. Snacking behaviour was recorded to learn how a combination of qualitative, quantitative and observational techniques can be administrated via WeChat to provide powerful method to record real-time consumer consumption behaviour. This paper will share the findings as well as the benefits and challenges of using an instant messaging app to better understand drivers of choice.
Mobile technology was harnessed in this study to place the respondent in a real shopping environment to make choices of placing new virtual 3D beverage products in a real life environment in real time. The decisions and choices the users made were recorded on their mobiles and then analysed to map out a brand profile amongst the beverage set available for the new virtual mobile 3D beverage. Adding mobile to the research delivery mix not only improves efficiencies, it also helps put the respondent at the centre of the point of consumption/purchase.
Mobile enables insights into the 'moment of truth' as never before. Despite mobile outnumbering online 3:1 and mobile being the irrefutable future of digital, the global market research industry lags as mobile is yet to become a mainstay data collection methodology. One key reason for this is an industry bias towards smartphone based research studies. Contrary to this industry trend, MobileMeasure partnered with TNS in China to run mobile qualitative and quantitative projects in both urban and rural towns using non-smart phones for instant multimedia insight capture. The effectiveness and efficiency of this technique is ground breaking.