We are nearing the end of another great year for the marketing research industry! Are you interested in reading a few of Quirk's most popular articles from 2017? We went back to our archive and compiled a few of the most-viewed e-newsletter and magazine articles of 2017.
Most-viewed articles of 2017
(listed in no particular order)
Survey fatigue? A checklist for improving response rates
The ability to gather and act on feedback has become a common necessity for most organizations. Across all industries there is tremendous pressure to listen, engage and cater to the audience – and ensure the consumer experience is a positive one. Conducting surveys is one medium that can help organizations accomplish this while also gaining a deeper understanding of how their audiences feels, acts and what they expect. With this data, companies can analyze and improve internal and external procedures. Read more.
Exploring Millennials’ social media use
Social media has transformed the way companies communicate with their consumers and has given consumers unique ways of communicating with/about companies, sharing their consumer experiences, good and bad, with their friends/followers. As a result, brands have less control over their image and messaging than ever before.
This article introduces a research methodology for measuring the extent to which consumers communicate about brands and consumption experiences on social media. Read more.
Are you limiting the value of quantitative research?
Kevin and Koen may buy the same brand for the same reasons. On the other hand, they may buy the same brand for different reasons, buy different brands for the same reasons or even buy different brands for different reasons. The brands they purchase and the reasons why may vary by occasion.
What is quantitative research?
Quantitative research has been defined in various ways. Here is one definition from the University of Southern California: Read more.
Coffee break: Two corporate researchers chat about handling their first MR project
Professional development is an ongoing evolution each of us tackle in our career. We seek out teams that match our skills, passions and – essential to marketing research – curiosity for the world. With an ever-changing market, companies need to move and react quickly. Getting up to speed is key to success in meeting stakeholder needs, as projects don’t have time to slow down when new team members come on board.
But how do you add value to your new position? What resources should you lean on? Read more.
A case study in sales forecasting
Before Malcolm Gladwell became a super-famous writer, he penned a long article in The New Yorker in 1997 that chronicled the adventures of professional coolhunters searching for the next big thing in the athletic shoe industry. Gladwell wrote about people named DeeDee and Baysie who scoured the edgiest streets of big cities everywhere for what was hot, before it became mainstream hot. The companies they worked for – Converse, Reebok, others – then placed bets on which shoes to take to market. Read more.
We’re not from the Stone Age: a Baby Boomer responds to a Millennial’s ‘brutal truths’
“Jane, you ignorant slut!” If you’re a self-defining Millennial (who, according to Goldman Sachs Research, is made up of people born between 1980-2000 and numbering 92 million) and reading this, you might be thinking, “What the…?”
If, like me, you’re a Baby Boomer (born between 1946-1964 and numbering 77 million), you are smiling and recalling that brilliant banter between Dan Aykroyd and Jane Curtin on Saturday Night Live back in 1976 during their “Point/Counterpoint” sketch. Read more.
Reshaping primary marketing research for the evolving health care landscape
The United States health care industry is complex and evolving, the result of consolidation, conflicting stakeholder interests and reforms in health care and regulatory policy. It’s no secret, either. If one thing is constant in the pharmaceutical and biosciences industry, it’s that nothing stays the same for long.
What isn’t nearly as well-understood, however, is how these factors will transform a key driver of competitive advantage in the industry: primary market research. Read more.
Researchers, it’s OK to give bad news (and here’s how to do it)
Marketing researchers don’t always get to give good news. Researchers often find themselves in the uncomfortable position of having to explain that the product isn’t great, sales efforts are failing or marketing is kind of meh.
People pay for research when something goes wrong. To avoid a shoot-the-messenger scenario, marketing researchers need excellent business communication skills. Here’s our approach for delivering bad news in a constructive way. Read more.
4 frameworks for mapping customer decision journeys
We live in an omnichannel world where the path-to-purchase is complex, dynamic and easily disrupted by new options and inputs. If you are looking to undertake a digital customer experience transformation, it’s important to first go back to the basics by mapping the customer decision journey.
Framework precedes methodology
Customer decision journeys vary significantly from industry to industry depending on category engagement, length of decision-making process and stakeholder involvement. Read more.