International Journal of Market Research

Volume 51 Issue 2 2009

VIEWPOINT

Visual puffery in advertising Marc Fetscherin and Mark Toncar The positive power of the reviewing process Agnes Nairn

FORUM MAIN PAPERS

Research 2.0: engage or give up the ghost? Martin Oxley and Brendan Light The truth is out there! How external validity can lead to better marketing decisions Greg Rogers and Didier Soopramanien Rethinking data analysis part two: some alternatives to frequentist approaches Ray Kent The influence of brand usage on responses to advertising awareness measures Jenni Romaniuk and Samuel Wight Online audio group discussions: a comparison with face-to-face methods Colin C. Cheng, Dennis Krumwiede and Chwen Sheu Estimating store brand shelf space Mnica Gmez and Shintaro Okazaki

CONFERENCE NOTES

IJMR Research Methods Forum: Methods Matter: Interviewing and Beyond Peter Hutton Meatball Sundae Seth Godin

BOOK REVIEWS What Are Your Staff Trying To Tell You?

International Journal of Market Research Vol. 51 Issue 2

FORUM Research 2.0

Engage or give up the ghost?1
Martin Oxley and Brendan Light
BuzzBack Market Research

For.decades.the.research.industry.has.spoken.about.the.issue.of.response.rates .. Although.it.is.not.the.most.exciting.of.subjects,.it.is.very.important ..Now.with.the. advent.of.internet.technologies.we.are.in.a.world.where.the.rules.have.changed .. This. article. outlines. our. arguments. for. why. the. adoption. of. more. engaging. research.tools.will.help.the.research.industry.address.these.new.challenges .

There.is.no.doubt.that.the.transition.to.internet-based.market.research.has. been.fraught.with.challenges ..However,.it.is.also.the.case.that.the.train.has. left.the.station.and.only.now.are.questions.being.asked.about.the.ultimate. destination.of.internet.research . To.put.it.into.context,.if.one.examines.the.evolution.of.market.research,. it. is. apparent. that. there. have. been. significant. improvements. in. many. areas ..But,.in.the.age.of.the.internet,.despite.having.the.most.powerful.and. ubiquitous. communication. advances. at. its. disposal,. the. market. research. industry.has.used.the.web.merely.to.conduct.the.same.research.online.as. it.would.have.done.offline . Given. the. amount. of. consumer-generated. data. already. free-flowing. (literally).on.the.web,.and.the.growing.number.of.consumers.online,.the. market. research. industrys. development. seems. stunted. in. comparison .. Other. industries,. such. as. online. financial. trading. (not. in. existence. 20.years.ago),.are.engaging.seriously,.and.successfully,.with.this.resource .. The. global. conversation. is. happening,. as. Locke. et al .. predicted. in. The. Cluetrain Manifesto.in.2000:
Received.(in.revised.form):.25.November.2008
1

. This.paper.extends.arguments.first.outlined.in.an.article.in.the.May.2008.issue.of.Admap .

2009 The Market Research Society DOI: 10.2501/S1470785309200396

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A. powerful. global. conversation. has. begun .. Through. the. Internet,. people. are. discovering.and.inventing.new.ways.to.share.relevant.knowledge.with.blinding. speed ..As.a.direct.result,.markets.are.getting.smarter..and.getting.smarter.faster. than.most.companies .

Stuck in the 1990s?

The. consumer. internet. is. evolving. away. from. the. introductory. Web. 1 .0. stage.to.the.phase.of.online.activity.and.engagement.known.as.Web.2 .0 .2. This. new. iteration. of. the. internet. is. marked. by. a. transition. away. from. mere. digital. paper. production. to. a. platform. that. is. visually. stimulating,. has.intuitive.interfaces.and.encourages.(even.depends.on).increased.usergenerated. content .. But,. despite. this,. and. everything. that. is. now. readily. available.in.terms.of.sophisticated.web.applications,.tools,.entertainment. and.media.capability,.the.market.research.industry.has.failed.to.adequately. engage. consumers. in. a. meaningful. way. online .. It. needs. to. realise. how. to. gain. and. retain. the. attention. of. the. exceedingly. cynical,. distracted,. research-wary.and.yet.highly.vocal.consumer ..According.to.Massachusetts. Institute. of. Technology. Professor. Eric. Brynjolfsson. (2008),. information. has. become. a. commodity. and. attention. is. the. scarce. resource .. The. challenge. is. that,. at. any. moment,. respondents. are. just. one. click. away. from.thousands.of.more.interesting.websites ..Even.the.best.online.research. efforts.are.at.risk . Some.examples.of.enabling.technologies.include.sites.such.as.YouTube. and.Flickr,.where.the.average.visit.lasts.about.30.minutes3..as.long.as.the. average.TV.programme ..As.a.result,.cyberspace.is.replete.with.voluntary. data.that.consumers.have.linked.from.site.to.site ..Clearly,.consumers.need. technologies.that.are.more.immersive,.engaging.and.facilitating.to.personal. expression.than.what.is.on.offer.on.todays.online.research.menu ..The.fact. that. established. web. retailers. (e .g .. Amazon,. eBay,. Dell). and. technology. start-ups.(such.as.Facebook,.MySpace.and.Wikipedia).are.pursuing.these. technologies.is.a.potential.threat.to.our.very.existence ..As.an.industry.we. cry.out.about.low.cooperation.rates,.but.actually.do.little.about.it . So.far,.so.bad..it.seems.that.the.only.significant.exploitation.of.the.web. is.to.deliver.research.faster.and.cheaper .

2 3

. We.will.not.even.mention.the.challenges.of.Web.3 .0.that.lie.just.around.the.corner . . www .netratings .com

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If.the.internets.power.is.harnessed.properly.there.is.little.limit.to.what. can.be.achieved ..And.the.good.news.is,.the.relationship.between.effort.and. payback.is.not.linear..even.the.smallest.efforts.to.leverage.the.web.have. significant.rewards.for.marketer.and.respondent.alike . So. what. is. needed. is. not. a. revolution. in. market. research,. but. simply. the. application. of. the. intuitive. technology. that. consumers. already. use .. We. need. to. ask. the. question,. What makes. these. more. interesting. websites.so.successful?.Take,.for.example,.Amazon .com,.which.has.used. the. web. to. revolutionise. an. everyday. experience .. Amazon. has. taken. the. simple,. anonymous. act. of. buying. a. book. and. turned. it. into. a. powerful,. insight-driven. consumer. interaction .. Consumers. are. willing. participants. because.they.are.captivated,.entertained.and.engaged.by.a.unique.online. experience ..Not.only.can.you.browse.titles.but.you.can.view.covers,.read. reviews,. search. inside. to. view. specific. pages,. and. interact. with. readers. of.similar.taste ..Plain.and.simple,.it.is.fun ..And.while.other.retailers.are. currently.failing.in.this.troubled.economy,.Amazon.is.wildly.successful .

Using visual techniques to tap into the subconscious

By. not. taking. full. advantage. of. Web. 2 .0. capabilities. such. as. intuitive. technology,. the. market. research. industry. is. handicapping. itself .. It. continually.relies.on.research.techniques.that.only.scratch.the.surface.of. what. consumers. think. and. feel .. What. it. needs. is. a. fresh. approach .. The. traditional. quantitative. research. process. goes. something. like. this:. brief. with.words;.collect.the.data.with.words.and.numbers;.analyse.with.words. and. numbers;. debrief. with. words. and. numbers .. Even. the. addition. of. a. qualitative. question. such. as,. Other. than. price,. why. did. you. buy. this. product?. fails. to. elicit. much. more. than. a. rationally. literal. response .. As. consumers.ourselves,.we.know.that.brand.decisions.are.mostly.irrational,. subconscious.and.non-verbal ..So.why,.as.researchers,.do.we.habitually.rely. on.consumer.verbalisation.methods.that.excessively.use.rational,.left-brain. processing? Not.only.does.this.approach.seem.clumsy,.but.it.is.contrary.to.findings. from. many. contemporary. areas. of. psychology. and. neuroscience,. which. prove. that. the. vast. majority. of. decision. making. takes. place. in. the. subconscious ..Author.and.Harvard.Professor.Gerald.Zaltman.(2003).has. found. that. only. 520%. of. thought. and. decision. making. is. conscious,. with. 80%. or. more. of. all. human. communication. being. non-verbal .. Further.studies.have.found.that.only.7%.of.the.meaning.in.any.message. is.contained.in.verbal.language,.and.that.visual.metaphors.are.especially.

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effective.at.surfacing.hidden.knowledge ..In.the.field.of.psychotherapy,.the. use. of. metaphors. has. been. proven. to. help. patients. make. subconscious. experiences. progressively. more. conscious. and. communicable .. Clearly,. visuals. and. images. have. the. ability. to. activate. the. silent. within. a. respondent . To.illustrate.the.point.that.we.think.of.images.before.words,.consider. Figure.1 ..Did.the.image.of.the.black.triangle.come.first,.or.the.language. used. to. describe. it?. The. brain. processes. visual. information. by. first. translating.the.stimulus.into.thoughts.and.then.into.words ..(This.process. draws.on.ideas.from.neuro-linguistic.programming .).Quite.frankly,.there.is. a.world.of.insight.to.be.gained.from.understanding.that.translation . These.findings.are.especially.relevant.to.the.area.of.market.research.as. consumers.make.specific.emotional.decisions.and.behaviour.choices.before. (or.whenever).they.put.a.single.thought.into.words ..Qualitative.research. has. addressed. this. issue. to. a. degree,. but. not. in. a. scalable,. comparable. and. globally. organised. way .. Consider. the. researchers. challenge,. for. example,.when.struggling.to.understand.why.a.particular.brand.becomes. an.impulse.purchase.at.checkout,.or.what.motivates.the.buyer.to.purchase. a.particular.brand.when.standing.in.the.aisle.(besides.a.coupon) ..For.this. to.happen,.the.product.needs.to.be.a.top-of-mind.brand ..But.what.makes. a. brand. top. of. mind?. What. moves. the. consumer. to. make. that. impulse. purchase?. If. we. rely. on. traditional. verbal. techniques,. the. consumers. answers. will. be. predictable. at. best. and. not. really. actionable .. Thats. because.the.manoeuvring.that.leads.to.the.impulse.purchase.is.occurring.at. the.subconscious.level,.and.traditional.word-driven.techniques.will.rarely. tap.into.those.emotions ..At.best,.you.might.get.the.consumers.conscious. interpreting. of. his. or. her. own. subconscious .. Clearly,. something. else. is. needed . What comes next in this series?

Or was it: Was your rst thought: A black triangle?

Figure 1 The traditional research process lacks the vital ingredient of visuals and images that can activate the silent

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International Journal of Market Research Vol. 51 Issue 2

Research 2.0:4 capitalising on Web 2.0 advancements and applying them to the market research experience
If.we.consider. the. aforementioned. challenges.facing. the.market. research. industry,.we.might.wonder.how.best.to.face.them ..This.is.why.we.use.the. expression. Research. 2 .0,. since. our. models/tools. of. acceptable. research. need.to.be.re-examined.in.the.light.of.todays.Web.2 .0.reality ..In.order.to. do. this,. we. should. focus. on. the. online. habits. and. desires. of. consumers .. With. this. fresh. perspective,. we. will. not. only. be. able. to. use. the. internet. to. obtain. better. and. more. digestible. information. but. we. may. also. find. potential.for.re-engineering.traditional.research.techniques . As. an. example. of. this,. BuzzBack. Market. Research. has. developed. the. award-winning5. eCollage. tool .. Based. on. a. common. research. technique,. BuzzBacks.eCollage.transforms.traditional.collage.making.into.a.modern,. game-like. exercise. in. self-expression,. where. consumers. use. intuitive. online. functionality. and. a. familiar. drag-and-drop. feature. to. reveal. their. innermost.beliefs,.characteristics.and.attitudes ..The.creativity.is.still.there,. but. unlike. traditional. collages,. the. visually. rich. and. interactive. eCollage. records. image. selection,. swapping,. sequence,. placement. and. more .. The. underpinning.technology.captures.all.the.data,.as.placement.of.each.image. on.the.online.canvas.is.a.measurable.transaction ..These.data.can.then.be. overlaid.with.consumers.other.survey.data,.including.follow-up.questions. about.their.eCollage . We. have. found. that. image-based. stimulation. online. yields. unique. and. profound. open-end. responses. that. get. to. the. core. of. what. makes. consumers.tick ..With.all.this.rich.data.captured.electronically,.we.can.still. deploy. the. heavy-lifting/heavy-duty. analytics. against. the. conscious. and. subconscious. responses. to. unlock. deeper. insights .. Further,. by. leveraging. the.reach.of.the.internet,.this.technique.quickly.gets.at.consumer.emotion. on. a. quantitative. level,. and. because. we. can. ensure. consistency. in. image. use,.we.have.added.a.bit.of.science.to.the.exploration.of.emotions ..Best. of.all,.because.the.method.is.quantitative,.we.have.empirical.evidence.that. it.works,.as.described.in.the.following.example . In. an. engagement. with. Lean. Cuisine,. we. wanted. to. understand. how. consumers.perceive.a.competitor.brand:.Healthy.Choice ..We.compared.the. reactions.to.a.word-based.request,.Describe.how.you.feel.about.Healthy. Choice. frozen. dinners. and. entres versus. an. eCollage. +. text. request,. Create. a. collage. that. shows. how. you. feel. about. Healthy. Choice. frozen.
4 5

. This.expression.was.coined.by.Martin.Oxley.at.a.Centaur.Consumer.Insight.Conference.in.2006 . . BuzzBack.was.winner.of.the.2007.MRS/ASC.Award.for.Technology.Effectiveness .

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dinners.and.entres . The.text-based.word.count.averaged.18.words,.while. the. eCollage-based. word. count. averaged. 40. words .. As. noted. above,. in. word.count.there.was.also.a.much.richer.emotional.response.to.the.visual. stimulation.of.eCollage ..Consumers.emotional.response.was.expressed.by. a.uniquely.story-telling.language,.packed.with.metaphors,.which.provided. Lean.Cuisine.with.the.keys.to.unlocking.the.optimal.way.of.talking.to.its. consumers.in.their.own.language . The.information.gleaned.from.this.engagement.also.consisted.of.short. word.descriptions ..In.the.visual-based.approach.the.common.elements.of. these.descriptions.were.health/wellness,.convenience.and.choice ..With.the. text-based.approach.the.common.elements.dealt.with.product.features.such. as.taste,.nutritional.content.and.ingredients ..Quite.literally,.we.found.that. the.eCollage.experience.elicited.much.more.of.an.out-of-the-box.feeling. about. the. product. compared. to. the. on-the-box. feedback. we. received. from.the.non-collage.approach ..See.Figure.2.for.more.information . Subsequent.studies.have.continued.to.yield.similarly.enlightening.results .. One.example.is.a.study.conducted.among.psychiatrists.and.patients.with. depression .. This. study. aimed. to. illuminate. any. differences. in. perception. between.the.two.groups ..Using.the.exact.same.image.set,.psychiatrists.and. patients. were. asked. to. create. a. collage. that. demonstrated. why. patients. decided. to. take. medication. to. deal. with. depression .. Figure. 3. displays. top. image. choices. within. the. two. groups .. The. eCollage. image. choices.

100

Without collage +23pp With collage

80

38pp

60 % 40

Product attributes

Positive feelings

Healthy living

Healthy eating habits

Negative images

Figure 2 Use of eCollage dramatically shifts coded open-end responses about feelings of Healthy Choice away from functional to emotional

158

+12pp

20

+37pp

+32pp

International Journal of Market Research Vol. 51 Issue 2

Patients

Psychiatrists

35%

46%

25%

30%

Figure 3 Image selections depicting a gap in perception: patients focus on the problem while psychiatrists focus on the solution

clearly.depict.a.gap.in.perception:.patients.focused.on.the.problem.while. psychiatrists.focused.on.the.solution . A.parallel.cell,.identical.in.all.aspects.except.that.it.lacked.the.eCollage. component,.was.also.fielded.among.patients ..In.this.cell,.the.collage.was. replaced.with.a.traditional.open-ended.question:.Why.did.you.decide.to. take. medication. for. your. depression. and/or. anxiety?. Among. the. more. interesting.findings.from.this.cell.was.how.the.collage.technique.affected. the. nature. of. the. words. the. patients. used .. A. comparison. of. the. coded. open-ends.between.the.cells.shows.a.considerably.different.mind-set.as.a. result.of.the.respondent.experience.(see.Figure.4) . What. the. above. engagements. reveal. is. that. combining. Web. 2 .0. functionality. with. re-engineered. research. methods. provides. rich. and. different. types. of. information. that. cannot. be. elicited. through. standard. techniques .. Importantly,. we. can. demonstrate. empirically. that. these. methods. work .. By. providing. an. engaging. and. interactive. experience. for. respondents,. we. have. found. a. direct. and. clear. benefit. for. the. marketing. professional .

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% 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0

Without collage With collage

+13pp

+9pp

Under a doctors care

Physical symptoms

Emotional symptoms

Situational causes

Sleep problems

Tied down/ trapped/ in prison

Figure 4 Use of eCollage highlights the complexity of depression patients at the time of medication in a way that traditional measures do not

The future
There. is. now. no. doubt. that. the. web. can. bring. much. more. than. just. speed. and. cost-effectiveness. to. the. research. process .. To. achieve. this,. we. need. to. look. beyond. our. current. practices,. and. start. building. tools. and. models. that. reflect. the. new. reality. of. Research. 2 .0 .. If. we. learn. from. the. places. to. which. consumers,. by. the. million,. are. voluntarily. flocking. and. contributing,. without. prompt. or. financial. incentive,. we. can. then. selectively.and.proactively.choose.whats.coming.next ..As.William.Gibson. (1999).said,.The.future.is.already.here..its.just.unevenly.distributed .

References
Brynjolfsson,.E ..(2008).Managing.information.overload ..Interview,.based.on.Gartner.podcast,. E ..Brynjolfsson.(Massachusetts.Institute.of.Technology).and.E ..Paulak.(Gartner.moderator),. 14.August . Gibson,.W ..(1999).The.Science.of.Science.Fiction ..Interview.for.The Talk of the Nation,. National.Public.Radio,.Washington,.D .C ..Retrieved.from.www .npr .org/templates/story/ story .php?storyId=1067220 . Locke,.C .,.Levine,.R .,.Searls,.D ..&.Weinberger,.D ..(2000).The Cluetrain Manifesto: The End of Business as Usual ..Cambridge:.Perseus . Zaltman,.G ..(2003).How Customers Think: Essential Insights into the Mind of the Market. Boston:.Harvard.Business.School .

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International Journal of Market Research Vol. 51 Issue 2

About the authors

Martin. Oxley. is. Managing. Director. of. BuzzBack. Market. Research .. Martin. has. worked. in. research. for. 20. years. and. during. this. time. has. worked.for.two.of.the.biggest.global.firms:.Ipsos.and.TNS.in.managing. director.positions ..He.has.been.banging.on..as.a.former.colleague.called. it..about.online.since.the.early.days.and.is.now.pleased.to.see.that.the.real. promise.of.the.internet.is.being.fulfilled ..He.has.worked.with.many.brands. in.a.wide.variety.of.sectors.and.is.a.regular.speaker.at.research.events .. Brendan.Light.is.Senior.Vice.President.of.Research.and.Development.at. BuzzBack. Market. Research .. Brendan. brings. over. 12. years. of. experience. in. roles. as. a. client. and. research. supplier. to. BuzzBack,. and. leads. the. research. and. product. development. strategy .. Prior. to. joining. BuzzBack,. Brendan.served.as.Research.Director.for.Grey.Interactive ..Using.a.mixture. of. qualitative,. quantitative. and. Internet-based. tools,. Brendan. managed. Greys. practice. which. included. concept. testing,. consumer. exploratory. research,. advertising. effectiveness,. usability,. panel. development,. brand. development.and.ad/brand.tracking . Address.correspondence.to:.Martin.Oxley,.BuzzBack.Market.Research,. Regal.House,.70.London.Road,.Twickenham,.Middlesex.TW1.3QS . Email:.moxley@buzzback .com

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Calls for Papers

The following Calls for Papers are current. Successful submissions will be published on an ongoing basis and not in special themed issues. Researching Voting Intentions There has been little recent coverage of this field in IJMR, despite its continuing importance to the market research industry. What are the latest developments in this field? What challenges are faced by pollsters around the world and how are they being addressed? Submission deadline: during 2009 Market Research in a Recession Economies around the world are moving into recession following the global financial crisis what will be the likely impact on market research methodologies, applications, structure? How will client needs be met? What can we learn from previous recessions? How can the industry prepare for the economic upturn? Submission deadline: during 2009 Deliberative Public Engagement Deliberative research, Deliberative Polling, citizens juries, town meetings and public engagement are all forms of 'deliberative public engagement'. A relatively new high profile field of growing importance to the market and social research sector, but with little discussion to date about methods and applications. We are particularly interested in submissions discussing methodologies, case studies, best practice and the issues faced by researchers working in this field. Submission deadline: by 30th September 2009

Submissions can be intended as formal papers, Forum articles and Viewpoints. Further details, including our Guidelines for Contributors, can be found at www.ijmr.com or within this issue.

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