Qualita'veresearchatacrossroads:wheretonow?

Clients’viewsofqualita'veresearchmethods

PreparedfortheAQR/QRCAConference,Rome,2012

byKevinMcLean,WardleMcLean,UK

Viewfromthehilltop

Imaginestandingonahilloverlooking thevalley/thewoods

thevastplain

thehillsandmountainrange

Whichwaytogo?

Valley = face‐to‐face

Forest = observa'onal

Plain = online,neuro

Hills = analy'calframeworksegsemio'cs,BE

Crossroads

‘Marke'ngatacrossroads’ KeithWeed,CMOUnilever,2012

weneedtothinkmoreabouthowwegetbacktoservingconsumers

‘Capitalismatthecrossroads’ UmairHaque(2011),HBR

learntocreateauthen5c,las5ngvaluefor(people),‘sharedvalue’

Crossroads

Objec'ves

Whatdoclientssayaboutqualita'veresearchmethods? Howarethevariousmethodscharacterisedbythem?

Whatdoclientswantfromqualita'veresearchnowadaysandisthischanging/evolving?

Interviews

26clientinterviewsin6countries byphoneandface‐to‐face

takingBRICmarketsintoaccount

– networkoflocalresearchersin

– France,UK,China,Australia,Brazil,USA

Credits

ThierryTricard,GatardResearch,France

SimonBarker,FireflyMillwardBrown,Beijing,China

QingWangandSharonZhou,TheBehaviouralArchitects,Shanghai,China

Cris'anoSchenardiandMariaHelenaRodrigues,Kyra,Brazil

ThaisSenger,InsightEvolu'on,Florida,USA

DavidTunnicliffe,Storyville,Australia

IlanaBryant,SpecialForcesNY,USA

Researchers

P&G eBay Diageo Coca‐Cola KradFoods McDonald’s MolsonCoors Kimberly‐Clark SchickEnergiser ABInBev Westpac PepsiCo Ferrero Gilleee

Clients

BBDO Ogilvy Publicis JWT

Agencies

Awordfromoursponsors

Doclientscarepassionatelyaboutqualita'veresearchmethods?

It’snotaboutmethod,it’saboutsolu2onandresult!(China)

Idon’tgivea(damn)aboutmethods,

Ijustneedtoknowwhattodo(UK)

Anothercaveat

OFCOURSE… methodsreflectbusiness

andresearchobjec'ves

WHATisdonemaeersless

thatHOWitisdone

Methodsmadness

Face‐to‐facegroups

depths

workshops

Telephone

interviewsgroups

OnlineOnlinegroups

Bulle'nboards

Socialmedia

MROCs

NeurologicalEye‐tracking

EEG

PsychologicalTranceinterviewsImplicitassocia'on

assessment

Observa'onalPureobserva'on

Par'cipantobserva'on

User‐generatedSelf‐comple'ontasks

WrieendiariesVideodiaries

Analy'calSemio'csNLPBE

Summary

Moredemandsonprocess faster,cheaper,beeer,newer,morerelevant,insighhul

NOTacaseof,outwiththeold,inwiththenew

Trendstowards: online/useoftechnology

behaviouralfocus(observa'on,user‐generated)

otherformsofface‐to‐facethanFGDs

egworkshops,directinterac'onclients/consumers

‘Focusgroups’cri'cised,shock

Recentexamples Diageo:‘saynotofocusgroups’

LinkedInConsumerInsightsGroup:‘haveclassicalgroupmethodologieshadtheirshelflife?’

Technicalclarifica'on,‘FGDs’

‘Focusgroups’todate

USmilitaryorigins

ESOMARdata(2007)vsconferenceplahorms

Oursurveysaid…

‘Focusgroups’dos'llhaveakeyrole someadvantagesoverothermethods

moresupportinChinaandBrazil

Awarenessofshortcomings/reputa'on compensatebyaddingothermethods

Evidenceofdecliningshare tootherface‐to‐facemethods

toethnographyandonline

Oursurveysaid…

FGD+ves FGD‐ves

Efficient Superficial

Consumerexperience

Reportedbehaviour(notactual)

Listenin Distancing

Interna'onal Boring

Debatetheissues Vestedinterests

Entertaining Notcool.Notevenclose

Thecasefor…

(groups)arewhatthemarketiscomfortablewith

andisaskingfor…(groups)arethemostefficient

methodtounderstandthebasicideasofconsumers(China)

FocusGroupsares2llthestandardreferenceinqualita2vestudies.(I)believe(they)canbeimprovedtoguaranteedynamism...(but)nothingreplacesagoodfocusgroup(Brazil)

thereiss2lltremendousvaluefromhavingconversa2onswithcustomers…whichisanalysed(UK)

Thecaseagainst…

Veryuneven…superficial…stale…boring…

nothinghaschanged…posturing…false(Australia)

Wearemovingawayfromfocusgroups,it’sbeenthe

number1over‐usedmethodologyforyearsnow(USA)

(Focusgroups)jus2fymorethantheyinvent,theyreduceanalysisintoPowerpointquotesandthey(givetheimpressionthat)anyonecandoit(France)

Conflictattheheartofthemethod?

Collidingclient/consumeragendas

Theriseandriseofdigital

Increaseinonlinemethods fromonlineFGDstosocialmediaanalysis

newer,canbefasterandcheaper

greatreach,capacitywillonlydevelopmore

thingsaredefinitelymovingdigitally(France)

Andyet: jurys'lloutforsome,uncertainty

par'aldataset;notfullytrusted,howdeep,howreliable?

Everyoneknowshowtointerpret(‘tradiGonal’)qual….butpeo

pleares2ll

becomingfamiliarwithdigitalmethodologies,learninghowtousethem,

howtoassessthem,soitisimportanttohaveexpertstohire(Brazil)

Themostrecentthingisneuroscience,butI’vebeenhearingaboutitfor7yearsnow,andupun2ltoday,nobodyusesitconfidently(Brazil)

Behaviouralfocus

Technology,zeitgeist…clientsreturntobehaviouralfocus

It’sevenmoreimportantthanevertotrytoliveintheconsumer’sshoes(USA)

Weobservemoreandaskless,thesedays(UK)

Behaviourmorecentral videoethnography,mobilephonediaries,immersionstudies,pre‐tasks

Behaviouralchallenges

‘Ethno‐lite’ buthowlite?

defini'ons

standards

training

Interpreta'oniskey

I’ve done ethnography, webnography and the output was

not so good, it didn’t add anything to the traditional stuff (Brazil)

Rolesofqualita'veresearchers

Themethodusedwillbedeterminedbytheproject,theprojectiscondi'onedbyhowresearchisframed:

so,whatdoclientswantfromqualita'veresearch

…andqualita'veresearchers?

scholar

geek scien'stjesterar'st geniusconsultant

detec've listener therapist

curious observer storyteller guru mediatorideasperson

teacher

ideaspersonlistener

consultant

curious

therapiststoryteller geekdetec've guruobserver

Sumupinasingleword

Mul'faceted

Cri'caldimensions: insidevsoutside

ideasvsinforma'on

specialistvsgeneralist

speedvsdepth

picturesvswords

Rolehasexpanded,emphasisshided…

…butatitsheartremainsthesame

‘wide‐eyed’andcuriousbutbusinesssavvy(with)astrongpulltowardsthosewhocanspeaktheinternallanguage

I’lltellyouwhatIwant

theresearcherroleshouldmovefrom'mediator'toamixof'observer’,‘story‐teller’and‘businessconsultant'.Ihavegreatfaithinqualdone…inahuman‐centricandcrea2veway

thequalresearcherislargelyafollower,Iwishthemtobemoreofconsultant…(less)carryingoutwhatisassignedtothem(but)braveenoughtobeforwardandstrategicthinking

Theheartofthemaeer

theheartofitisrespondentsbeinglistenedto;beinglistenedtoishappeninglessandless…andthisistrueforourclientsaswell

ifweabandonthetriedandtrustedways,weimpoverishthequalityofourinsight,notgrowit

thefundamentalshavenotchanged,wes2llneedtoknowwhypeopledowhattheydo.Thebasicskillis(s2ll)aboutwonderingwhy.

Ashidfrom…

consumerclient

QR

ideas informa'on

Ashidto…

consumerclient

QR

results experienceINSIGHTideas informa'on

Wheretonow?

Explore

Examine

Exper'se

Onwardsandupwards

Explore thenewermethodsandtechniques

addtoandfitwithourcoreskills

usedappropriatelyandwell

expandF2FbeyondFGD

Dowonder

Examine

‘Perhapsitisstrangetospeakofwonderasamethod.Butifweunderstandmethodasmethodos,aspathorway,thenwemayconsiderwonderanimportantmo'veinhumanscienceinquiry.The"way"toknowledgeandunderstandingbeginsinwonder.

Fromthismomentofwonder,aques'onmayemergethataddressesusandthatisaddressedbyus.It

shouldanimateone'sques'oningofthemeaningofsomeaspectoflivedexperience.’

(DrMaxVanManen,Phenomenologist)

Exper'se

Justdoitwell Exper'se

face‐to‐face/observa'on:‘wholeperson’methods

howtoreclaim/holdourground?‘Agoodconversa'onisoneinwhichyousaywhatyouhaveneversaidbefore…Conversa'on…doesn’tjustexchangefactsbuttransformsthem…doesn'tjustreshufflethecards,itcreatesnewcards.’

(TheodoreZeldin)

fundamentalinquiryvalueso curiosity,respect,imagina'on,courage

Whichway…?

Anywayweplease,star'ngintheValley