This paper will present three case studies of experiments to conduct novel research techniques in alternative environments. The three approaches are:-Designing a taxi in which participants participate in an interview conducted by the researcher-driver.-Moderating focus groups inside a private van with passengers as participants.-Conducting shadowings with subway passengers during their home-work commute.Most techniques are still in an experimental phase, however, it opens up a world of possibilities for thinking about researching alternative contexts and advancing the qualitative research practice.
When referring to segmentation most experienced researchers think of factor and cluster analysis. In conducting ad-hoc factor or cluster analysis a great deal of subjectivity (and creativity) flows into the 'equation' in terms of selecting the 'best' factors and cluster solutions for doctors or patient data. Hence the title of this paper 'Is this art or science?' The same question can be asked in a more concrete way: Is this (segmentation) subjective or objective? Like most things in life the answer is not black or white. There is a large grey area and most definitely our answer will be found there. No surprise here. You do not have to wait until you reach the end of this presentation to know the answer to the question: it is indeed a combination of art and science or a combination of subjectivity and objectivity. However the real issue here is how subjectivity can influence segmentation and by extension the marketing plan which in its turn affects the growth or success of the brand.
This paper shows how the techniques of the futurist can be used to add value and insight to the marketing research process. The paper illustrates how approaches such as 'the report in the future' and 'Scenario Spinning' can be utilized in the research process to challenge the brief, to define the scope, to sharpen the method, and to enrich the interpretation of research. Qualitative researchers will find this paper a 'call to arms' in terms of shifting the client focus away from knowing the past and towards providing an understanding of the different possibilities the future holds.The key message is that too much existing research addresses lower order problems, such as whether consumers prefer the red or green package, or what they thought the ad was trying to communicate.The paper shows how futurist approaches can move the focus towards an understanding of what may happen in the future, and how the role of the researcher should be as a scout for the future and provider actionable insights.
This paper describes how marketing intelligence allows Sony Ericsson to make a more valid assessment of the capitalised value of new products and services enabled by 2.5 and 3rd generation technology. As standard (conjoint) methodologies do not suffice, a new trade off technique is presented. The article focuses on the practical and methodological problems that made the new technique necessary. In addition, the paper describes the types of results and how Sony Ericsson uses them. The paper is based on the learnings gained in two global surveys in 2001.
The intent of this paper is to present researchers with an innovative use of state-of-the-art tools to solve problems that are too often glossed-over. The usual and standard tools and methods of benefit segmentation as practiced by most researchers are critically examined and new ways of renewing market segmentation through methods of measuring benefit importance and performing segmentation analysis on the resulting data are suggested. Maximum Difference Scaling, a more powerful method for measuring benefit importance that is scale-free and thus very applicable to international segmentation research, is introduced. The paper describes how Maximum Difference Scaling can be combined with Latent Class Analysis to obtain international benefit segments. An example of how these methods were used in a cross-national business-to-business study is provided.
This paper develops semiotic models of the way website communications have appropriated and changed conventional forms of marketing messages. In this sense it offers semiotic analysis as a new (not yet mainstream) technique for assessing web performance, along with other forms of communications. However, the models will also provide a platform for finetuning the qualitative and quantitative techniques that already exist for researching advertising, promotions, retail merchandising etc with consumers. Secondly, a semiotic approach is used to understand what it is that sets web communications from all others: a qualitatively different experience is set up for the browser from the reader or the viewer, constructing an entirely new kind of consumer. This points the direction in developing new techniques to research this webness.
This paper explores issues that come to play in designing and fielding high quality global web-based research using the framework of survey errors to point out where several current weaknesses in the field exist.The current focus on multi-national web-based research has surrounded the technical capabilities of such research rather than how to minimize error. The results of several experiments designed to demonstrate the need for a local approach to global web research is discussed.
In industrial markets one of the most challenging aspects of market and competitive intelligence processes is the actual collection of data information and intelligence as a basis for knowledge. Compared to consumer markets industrial markets generally lack formalised information sources and data gathering processes. To compile meaningful data on competitors the practitioner of industrial market intelligence must probe in the dark using a whole range of tactile senses. This paper reviews the diversity of tools and techniques that can be applied to competitive intelligence in this sector the challenges one faces and the barriers of ethical practice that must be respected.