In research a big part of our role is how we communicate findings. However the world of communication is rapidly changing, so, as researcher, we have to keep up and adapt the way we communicate. In this paper will demonstrate how we utilised Virtual Reality to take a research debrief to the next level. A WOW factor that has never been seen before.
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.
Virtual technologies are in a perpetual state of motion with new developments changing and evolving to create new and exciting possibilities. Get up to date on the latest technologies in common use (e.g., virtual shopping, virtual banking, virtual mailbox) as well as some research on research to dispel some myths on virtual research techniques. Then veer into the land of imagination and speculation with augmented reality and 3D capabilities. Comparisons to industries outside of MR such as aviation and gaming take you to year 2030 and beyond.
This paper reports on two studies researching the effect of mobile location-based ads to perceived intrusiveness of those ads. For the reported studies, shoppers received an ad on a smartphone in a simulated 3D supermarket (projected in four rear-projection screens). Participants received either a location congruent ad (showing a product on a shelf near the consumer), or a location-incongruent ad (the advertised product was not near the consumer). Results show that consumers perceive less intrusiveness when receiving location-congruent ads.
The paper titled Synergistic Co-creation demonstrated the importance of a strategic partnership between the client, market research agency and end consumer, illustrating two case studies wherein the agency partnered with the client to gain insights into designing and positioning offerings, thereby expediting 'go to market strategies' In the first case study, Lumiere partnered strategically with Godrej Interio, a furniture brand, from conception of design ideas in 3-D versions, pre-search, consumer and cultural archetyping to concept designing, short listing winning ideas and ultimately development of the winning idea into a finished offering for consumers. The outcome: An almost impossible to replicate design, a common drawback faced by furniture manufacturers in India. In the second case study, the Lumiere research team partnered with the Godrej design and development team to create a virtual world on the internet for the corporate to showcase its new-age image. The site would host entertainment zones, fantasies, themes, shops etc. for the community to buy goods and services besides serving as a platform to generate new ideas from a prospective consumer mindset. This study went beyond the codes of customary qualitative research to harness the synergy between the Godrej brand owners and insights team, virtual world designers, consumers's panels and Lumiere to co-create an innovative and exciting consumer experience in the virtual world.
All surveys inherently contain a potentially deadly flaw - the act of completing a survey does not mimic the true consumer decision-making process. The use of 3D animation helps to mitigate this limitation, giving respondents a more realistic decision-making context. The speakers compare a traditional choice-based conjoint approach with a 3D animation conjoint approach, presenting results from an empirical study. The 3D animation interface is demonstrated. The presentation concludes with a discussion of the utilization of virtual reality environments for almost all future research tasks.
This presentation describes the birth of a new research methodology developed by Repè in a 3D immersive environment. It follows the development of an original research approach for studying the consumers 2.0 that expresses everything they hold in their imagination in virtual worlds entirely built by them. It further explains the importance of engaging the consumers in interactive co-creation processes that allows brands to tap into new inspiration resources.
This paper describes recent attempts to use virtual reality components for improving the generation and presentation of experimentally varied tasks in discrete choice analyses. These tasks, particularly in consumer purchase situations, have historically shown a notorious lack of realism for the consumer, with obvious disadvantages for an accurate understanding of purchase behavior. Virtual shopping systems, on the other hand, offer intriguing opportunities for a flexible generation and realistic presentation of consumer choices within typical retail environments and product categories. A recently completed research study of consumer purchases of baby napkins is used to demonstrate the advantages of this approach.
Category management (CM) presents challenges to suppliers and retailers which are further exaggerated by efficient consumer response (ECR). The benefits of category management for supplier organisations are maximised when a purchase marketing strategy is in place for the category. Purchase marketing is essentially using the store as a marketing medium via tools such as position on shelf pricing communications and in-store promotions. The relationship between suppliers and retailers is changing steadily on a global scale: the shift towards a mutually beneficial approach to the supply and presentation of products is gaining momentum. This paper documents the various approaches to category management research and illustrates the applications via case material from both a retailer and a manufacturer perspective. The paper looks at how manufacturers are testing hypotheses generated by these studies using new virtual reality systems.
The practice of marketing research is moving towards an emphasis on consumer behaviour as compared to consumer attitudes, impressions, needs, wants, and so forth. This paper discusses problems with typical methods of collecting and analyzing behavioural data and provides a custom research solution to these problems. The Visionary Shopper research system allows us to extend our understanding of the consumer through a virtual reality trip to the store, where we, the researchers, control the retail environment. We can vary such factors as pricing, promotions, packaging, and shelf sets and assortments and examine the consumer's purchasing behaviour under these controlled experimental conditions.