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Research Methodologies
July 28, 2010
As mobile interfaces improve, the applicability of mobile in market research will only grow.
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Market Research is currently going through a transition phase with very little innovation having happened in the last decade or two. Efficiencies have definitely been created with online and CATI playing a prominent role during this period. However no real true innovation has made a major impact and been universally accepted in mainstream MR. Of the more prominent innovations around, Mobile research has largely been restricted to smartphones and Neuro MR is still in its infancy. Both have had a mixed bag of limited success.
Staying with Mobile MR, the method and technology has been around for a while now with solutions available and in use across the world, but they either are restricted to certain types of phones or use SMS based campaigns which due to the channel has very limited depth when it comes to any deep diagnostic market research. Mobile Application based MR however would open it to the general public and use handsets already existing in the general population. This would not only make the user / respondent more accessible but also have a major impact on data delivery and cost; as no hardware investment on the part of agencies and suppliers would be involved.
Leaving our homes we take our wallet/purse, keys & of course our mobile phones. Even when we return home our wallets and keys have parking spots, while the mobile may have multiple points – for charging or simply moves with you. Having said that, it is important to view Mobile Research in the right perspective. Depending on its applicability, there will be a few areas in MR where mobiles will have distinct advantages over other methods. This will also force marketers and researchers to focus on the core issue at hand; and for maximum impact restrict the applications output to the core only. For any deeper understanding other methods will come into play and Mobile MR will always work in conjunction with traditional methods. Today’s post highlights these areas and the reasons why they will retain their appeal over other methods.
1. Tracking Studies – any kind of tracking, especially diary based mobile tracking methods will score over more traditional methods. This is because all the other methods measure consumption / perceptions at a given point of time & have a certain level of past recall always built in. Even if the diary frequency is every day, most respondents always fill the dairy only once a day, typically at the end of a day, while using a mobile the user can fill the diary regularly throughout the day on the go. A few areas where Mobiles score in consumption tracking is :
2. Shopper / Location based Research– a buzz word amongst both retailers and manufacturers, and often current MR methods often falls short of delivering in the moment insights. As often getting natural instant responses / reactions to stimuli at a store setting is always hard to either observe or simulate.
3. Mobile Metering & Multi-Media Consumption Monitoring – One of the claimed reasons mobile has not has as great an impact as it ought to have by now is the lack of real verifiable data on usage, consumption and demographic profiling of mobile users. The below two mobile solutions would address this to a great extent.
4. Qualitative Research – allows and requires more creativity and free flowing inputs; Mobiles can ideally be exploited by the respondents to add the dimension of mobility to the equation.
As mobile interfaces improve, the applicability of mobile in MR will only grow. Like speculation driven investments in the internet space was all the rage in 2000 (not like financial speculation in 2009) and slowly fulfilled it potential within the next 5 years, similarly I believe 2005 was the year Mobile technologies got a lot of airplay and the slow but sure potential of the mobile is being realized in 2010. I see Market Research being one of the big beneficiaries and adopters of Mobile technologies in 2010 & beyond. With more and more mobile innovation like Augmented Reality and QR codes added to the mix, all having great potential to engage consumers in multiple areas including shopper related studies interesting times lie ahead. Any research establishments or researchers looking at Mobile MR as a hobby or a cool area to be associated with; will lose out as it’s a constantly evolving beast that you can only tame if you ride with it! As networks and phones improve we will see a convergence of mobile and online with the most effective solutions straddling both interfaces keeping the respondent’s convenience firmly in the centre and working the requirements of research around consumers’. Until my next blog, Namaste!
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The views, opinions, data, and methodologies expressed above are those of the contributor(s) and do not necessarily reflect or represent the official policies, positions, or beliefs of Greenbook.
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