How to adapt qualitative research techniques to market research online communities

of 18

How to adapt qualitative research techniques to market research online communities Daniel Alexander-Head and Bala Rajan

INTRODUCTION Online quantitative techniques have been widely developed and accepted in the past ten years or so-‐, with most researchers predominantly evolving CATI based techniques to suit the online platform. Perhaps quantitative research has been explored and developed more easily due to its reliance on numbers where as qualitative research has a stronger reliance on conversation and observation. However with the birth and rapid growth in Social Media, online qualitative research is being explored beyond the online focus group. There are also forums or discussions that allow larger numbers of people to contribute over a longer period of time than say a live focus group, with the added ability to include a variety of multimedia. Aside from these opportunities, there are also significant barriers when compared to face-‐to-‐face based qualitative techniques. Both the opportunities and barriers have been responsible for more than a simple evolution in research. We face a paradigm shift in the way we look at this method of research, particularly when considering that these qualitative techniques can be seamlessly integrated with the quantitative (we call it Quantilative). Despite the fact that we view this as a paradigm shift, some old rules and techniques apply. In this paper we examine three traditional qualitative techniques and set about how to apply them to online research, with a particular emphasis towards online panel communities. This paper consists of two sections: 1. This section discusses how the communities were selected, planned and setup 2. The second component examines the qualitative techniques tested, the results and how they can be

used in the future.

1. SETTING UP Part of the “shift” mentioned in the introduction is about engaging with members more successfully than we have with traditional online methods, such as the access panel. If we want unbiased, quality information, we need to ensure that the people participating are truly interested in what we are doing. Advertising is an example – if people are engaged, they are more likely to sit up and willingly consume what is being pushed to them. If not they will figuratively or literally, switch off. Whilst the cost for people not absorbing advertising is low sales conversion, the cost to research is harder to pinpoint, but undoubtedly would affect the concentration level of participants. If there is a payment to participants we would expect to see a significantly better response rate than with no payment. However, when looking at the participant levels of access panels compared to that of branded communities such as those that Communispace or Vision Critical operate, there can be more than twice the number of members participating in the branded communities than the access panel model even without financial

of 18


payment. There are a number of reasons as to why, many of which are outlined in the 2009 AMSRS National Conference paper RESEARCH 2.0: IT’S ALL THE BUZZ, BUT WHAT DRIVES MEMBER ENGAGEMENT? HOW TO ENSURE ONLINE RESEARCH COMMUNITIES SUCCEED by Ray Poynter, Steve Cierpicki and Daniel Alexander-‐Head. The setup of the community is paramount to the success of the qualitative findings. Traditionally either a financial incentive, the power of a particular brand or both is significant motivators to attract members to participate in the research. In this instance we did not want to use an ongoing financial incentive on the basis that it may create a bias (in reality it is hard to verify to what extent financial incentives may or may not create bias). Therefore it was particularly important that the site was designed to attract the target audience. 1.1 Identifying the Category and the Segment The first step was deciding what category we wanted to target. We decided to test the techniques in two environments, one branded and the other unbranded. With the branded environment we used an SBS branded Community Panel. The platform was branded in line with SBS branded guidelines and populated with their audience who had previously signed up to participate in market research. For the unbranded panel we targeted the Energy Drinks market. The energy drinks market is predominantly targeted to the male youth market. A look at websites and marketing undertaken by brands such as Red Bull, Mother, Monster and V were starting points to the website design we were to undertake. The next few sections describe the process of setup for this particular community. 1.2 Planning the community

A look at the various branded energy drinks sites showed an emphasis towards motorsports, Rock music and “adrenaline” inducing activities. The name MyAdrenaliser was chosen for the community and URL and a creative brief sent to a designer for the site design. We had decided to use the Ning platform (www.ning.com) for a number of reasons.:

It is a free web based tool that allows anyone to setup a community It is versatile, allowing those with limited skills to create a basic site to being highly customisable with Cascading Style Sheets and the ability to create applications for the more skilled persons. For a relatively small monthly fee, premium services can be acquired. This includes items such as unique URL, removal of advertising and increased bandwidth.

of 18


There are a multitude of other platforms that are free and easily accessible that could also be used, Ning was used on this occasion due to the author’s familiarity with it.

1.3 Setting up the community Whilst the community design template was being created and adjusted, we developed a basic set of profile questions for the site for when members joined. We then started to look at how we were going to engage with new members once they came to the site. This was particularly important to ensure we maximised the number of members, from when they first came to the site to signing up as a member. In an ideal situation all the members would need to do is click on a button to join and nothing else, but in this instance we wanted people to return and so we needed to collect a few personal details, in particular their email address. We then threw up some non-‐research related items, such as energy drink sponsored stunts and international adverts so that it did not feel like a research community when they first joined but rather somewhere that was stimulating and helped get them in the frame of mind that this was where they would be able to interact with others with a shared passion around energy drinks.

1.4 Sourcing members Whilst SBS provided sample for their panel, collected through marketing initiatives and previous research, with the energy drinks we were required to find sources to build membership. In an ideal situation, members are sourced organically through word of mouth, generally through social media channels. This is both more cost effective and helps reduce the bias of pro-‐incentive research. However due to timelines we also used Facebook advertising. We used two alternative adverts. The first advert was more traditional in terms of recruiting participants, using the lure of an incentive prominently as the title. The second advert relied more on engaging with the participants with little mention of incentive.

of 18


Advert 1 Advert 2

Facebook, like many Social Media sites, allows advertisers to target very specific categories. In this case we set up the advertising as per below:

of 18


Invitation 2 did not use the incentive in the title and yet resulted in over twice the number of hits per impression, possibly due to potential participants being over-‐fatigued from the attempts to lure them with financial incentives and not capturing the members in the same way that the copy in advert 2 appears to.

of 18


1.5 Warming them up Previous work on research communities had taught us the importance of building a critical mass of members rapidly and ensuring that not only the site was visually appealing to the target audience, but also that there are activities or media that are engaging to members. The language used on the site, from the warm-‐up discussions to the tabs were all retro-‐styled to the target audience. Videos were uploaded from sites such as YouTube, comprising of overseas energy drinks adverts and sponsored motor stunts.

of 18


1.6 Setup Conclusion – Non-Branded Community Despite a positive start with the warm up discussions, the energy drink community failed to gain significant size and traction. There are a number of hypothesises why and they probably each play a part in the lack of traction: 1. Lack of brand surrounding the community Previous research undertaken had indicated that when there is no financial incentive, one of the main drivers for participation is association and direct contact with the participants preferred Brand. In this instance there was none.

2. Insufficient incentive With the community not representing one particular brand, incentivisation becomes considerably more significant as there is no previous relationship between the sites brand and the community member. There was some initial traction when using 3. Low overall participation rate A well-‐used analogy for communities is that they are like parties. If there are not many people and they do not know one another, it is less likely that they will stay. Having a larger mass results in a more vibrant environment. 4. Target segment 18-‐24 year old males, whilst one of the most prominent demographics online, they are notoriously fickle and disloyal in comparison to older demographic groups. Traditionally easy to recruit but with a high turnover rate within online panels makes it a hard group to retain, particularly for anything that requires levels of longitudinal research.

of 18


1.7 Setup Conclusion – Branded Community The traction with the SBS community was significantly better. Aside from being a well-‐regarded brand, the launch of the community coincided with the 2010 Football World Cup, of which they are the Australian broadcaster. Initially the target group was previous research participants who had opted in for further research around sports. As we were able to populate the community with a significant number of people in a short period of time, traction was quickly established.

2. THE RESEARCH While most qualitative researchers have a range of enabling and exploring techniques that they might be familiar with and use regularly, there might be a few who either may not be aware or may not use them. Therefore, we think it is important for us to start with listing the techniques and the reasons we tested them. We tested three qualitative techniques that we have used numerous times over the years for various categories. 2.1 House Building Technique

This technique is typically used in brand equity studies and ideally administered along with other techniques in a group discussion to uncover the otherwise latent perceptions. Respondents in a group discussion are asked to think and tell us the role of each element in a house. E.g. what is the role of the foundation in the overall construct in the

house? What role do the four walls play in the overall construct of the house? Once we have established a group consensus of the role of each element, this then forms the base of the technique. The participants are then asked to build a house for the brand, e.g. let’s create a house of brand X, what aspect of the brand is the foundation of this house? Which elements of the house will be the four walls etc. The moderator uses the first exercise to probe and understand the pertinent ‘why’ of qualitative research. The benefit of this approach is that it pushes for deeper understanding and probing within a construct for richer data.

2.2 Kelly’s Triad

Is typically used to understand the unique product similarities and differences. This involves taking three brands and asking participants to compare and contrast by grouping two together and

of 18


then comparing against the third. The rotation is then swapped around, until every grouping has been explored

2.3 Collage or image boards:

We often use pictures from magazines to allow participants to express themselves better. They can be valuable if wanting to explore the tone and feel of a brand, and be revisited over time to observe the brand’s development. Respondents typically work in pairs to produce their own board, which can include pictures, words, colours, drawings and textures. This can also be used to assess the

desired future positioning and feel of a brand or boundaries of the brand or a new way to think of the brand.

3. FEEDBACK FROM COMMUNITY To assess these benefits and understand how these techniques migrate to an online medium, we evaluated consumer feedback in four ways. First, we consolidated all our learning from our experiences using these techniques from the offline medium. Second, we created a simple worded web 1.0 question and posted it on an online community. Thirdly, we created a flash based, more web 2.0 based question, to see what impact different strategies have on the behaviour of participants. Finally, we administered the technique on asynchronous (forums) and synchronous (live chat) to pick up the impact through spontaneity vs. considered responses. To remove biases we administered similar techniques in 1) an unbranded open community and 2) a branded closed community. Both with distinct categories, one for energy drinks and the other for a reputed free to air television channel.

4. CONSIDERATIONS FOR THE STUDY GARBAGE IN GARBAGE OUT: The rate of response and engagement with a flash based question was considerably higher compared to a web 1.0 worded question. TAKE THEM ON A JOURNEY: We need to take the participants on a journey not just throw in a question and expect a response. Members feel more confident participating in topics that paint the complete picture for them and treat them as partners. We noticed that participants

of 18


came back to add to their responses, thus building on a response that is more robust and representative of their thoughts/ thinking. COMFORT HELPS CREATIVITY AND DETAIL: One of the key benefits of the medium is that participants are not pressured to think on their feet and can respond at their convenience. The risk of dominant personalities (other participants) overshadowing other members and silencing them from voicing their opinions is reduced. The ability to be more honest is a key benefit of the MROC. ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION THROUGH FAMILIARITY: It helps to create an interface that most participants are familiar with. Creating an environment that the target group are familiar with and naturally gravitate to helps participants to join and stay on. This paper highlights the importance of aesthetics and familiarity for continuity.

5. SUMMARY

Conceptualising the study we assumed that the techniques might need major rework for them to work online. We learnt that the principals and the outputs remain the same. However, what does change is the researcher’s approach and thinking with the medium and participants. This paper provides guidance and possible report outputs to ensure MROCs are optimised for researchers to transition their existing thinking and approach to online communities. Researchers can realise this potential and deliver impactful insights. Furthermore, the transition of offline qualitative techniques to the online medium is dependent on the evolution and access to technology for example conditioning with widget-‐like technology which drives engagement to form a positive, creative environment for participants.

As this paper outlines, by thinking carefully about the objective; by choosing the right techniques; by being creative with technology and being conscious of aesthetics we can transition the offline qualitative techniques to the online medium and not be restricted by time, venue and cost.

of 18


6. OUTPUTS 6.1 House Building Technique

The Forum and Flash image used for part 1 the House Building Technique

of 18


Above & overleaf: The Live Chat and Flash image used for part 2 the House Building Technique

of 18


of 18


6.2 Kelly’s Triad Respondents in each group are asked to describe the brand or brands. The brands are rotated so that they are shown with another and alone.

of 18


6.3 Collage/Image Boards 1. Participants are asked to drag the images that they relate to the SBS brand into the window

of 18


2. Members discuss their decision on the images

3. Multiple versions of the outputs are generated

of 18


7. CONCLUSIONS – BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER A recent posting on an AMA (Boston) blog warned: “A Market researcher who clings on to conventional surveys and focus groups like a life raft on a turbulent sea, is going to drown”. It’s also noteworthy that technology in qualitative research has always been further away from its counterpart quantitative research. However, given that consumers have moved their communication and interactions to the online medium of social media, qualitative research is compelled to innovate and adapt to stay relevant. Through our paper we are confident that with the use of creative technology and aesthetics of the medium, while retaining the qualitative analysis principles, we can migrate a few techniques online. Where it does go beyond traditional medium is; 1. Ensures that all consumers funnel through the stages to ensure that we have the contextual

understanding. 2. It is a more robust and rigorous form of data capture. 3. The technology collates the first level data which otherwise is time consuming and laborious. 4. A comparatively inexpensive tool to get wider and deeper coverage. 5. The ability to re-‐analyse data over time and to overlay demographic or profiling data. 6. Keeps all the stakeholders involved simultaneously and allows for real-‐time feedback.

However, not everything migrates seamlessly. Our experience with Kelly’s Triad tells us that it is not best suited for all online mediums. A forum/discussion or bulletin board is a more involved participation where consumers read and process other responses before they respond. To this end the buckets/groups in Kelly’s Triad did not isolate the unique attributes as consumers could read and re-‐read their own and others responses before they responded. They provided similar responses despite changing the groups. We believe this technique is best administered in an asynchronous live chat that runs in real time and taps into the top of mind responses ensuring that the consumers don’t over process their thoughts and respond with just the rational filter. Also, with house building we used two mediums; forums and live chats. We used the forum to develop the contextual understanding of the elements of a house and took those learnings with the participants to a live chat to share what we learnt, building on that to build a brand house. Forums are great to develop landscape understanding, however, the diagnostic and further building of thoughts are better suited in a live chat.

of 18


8. RECOMMENDATIONS 1. KEEP CONSUMERS IN THE LOOP: Evidence suggests that taking consumers on a journey through

data captured and what it is being used for is the best form of incentive and engagement. Throughout the studies we ensured continuous feedback on what we had picked up from them to help keep them coming back into those particular studies so they could see what was happening with their feedback.

2. TECHNOLOGY AESTHETICS: Consumers today are exposed to various websites with a myriad of experiences. Market research questions typically tend to be visually poor, generally leaving the consumer with a choice of clicking on a website that is visually inviting or a survey that has nothing but radio buttons. In our studies conducted for the paper we ensured that we had relevant imagery and colours and used flash based questions to make it more interactive and engaging. To ensure consistent participation, we need to ensure that we offer an attractive experience.

3. TECHNIQUES DO MIGRATE BUT, NO ONE SIZE FITS ALL: Techniques like Collages migrate a lot easier than House Building and Kelly’s Triad. The key to knowing which techniques are best suited to which medium, is to focus on the purpose of the technique and overlay the limitations of the medium (forum, bulletin board or live chats).

4. USE MULTIPLE MEDIUMS: Every medium has its benefits but also has its limitations. For techniques that need consumers to process their thoughts and/or build on other participants thoughts, forums are a better option as opposed to techniques where researchers need a higher degree of control and have a more diagnostic approach. In these instances live chats are better.

A crucial point that will determine the future and innovation in this space will be how willing qualitative researchers are to embrace technology to capture data. We are currently only scratching the surface and there are multiple possibilities to develop data capture mediums depending on the design and objective of the studies. In any case, it is imperative that we try these techniques across more categories and brands to understand where it has more potential than others. In our belief, it requires cross-‐discipline (research and technology) expertise to make any advances in this field. The future of these innovative approaches also depends on how researchers change and adapt to analyse the social media style generated content. Irrespective of how we go down this route as an industry, the children who are growing up with Cyworld, Bebo, MySpace etc, will be bringing their experiences and reliance of social network to the forefront of decision making and we as an industry will need to keep up.

How to adapt qualitative research techniques to market research online communities

Business

Transcript of How to adapt qualitative research techniques to market research online communities