Roper looks at role of Internet in reaching physicians
New York research firm Roper Starch Worldwide plans to launch a study on how best to integrate the Intemet with detailing, advertising and other marketing initiatives aimed at physicians. The results, broken out by physician specialty, will be available in September.
"The pharmaceutical industry spends billions on in-person detailing," says Roper Starch senior vice president Staats Abrams. "If the Internet could be used at times to reach physicians more efficiently, the cost-savings could be enormous. Yet, it is estimated that only one in three physicians use the Web to gain data needed to improve their practice. We want to learn what would spur more physicians to start turning to the Net to meet their information needs."
Called "Physicians and the Intemet," the study will identify and quantify the needs for different types of information, perceptions of available information sources, and attitudinal and physical barriers to Internet usage among all physicians practicing in the U.S. It will also examine interest in specific new online tools and applications and seek to make short-term forecasts of Intemet penetration by specialty.
Database of bank locations from Spatial Insights
Spatial Insights, Inc., a Vienna, Va., geographic information services company, has completed a nationwide database of bank locations, attributed with deposit balance. Leveraging continually updated bank and savings deposit balance data, Spatia! Insights geographically referenced and summarized more than 84,000 branches and offices of FDIC-insured institutions. In response to industry need, the data are available packaged in two data products: Bank Location Data and Summary Deposit Data.
The Bank Location Data provide one geocoded record for each financial institution. Attribute fields include total deposit balance, bank charter class and type, as we!! as locafional information such as address, lafitudeflongitude, and block group identifier. In developing the Summary Deposit Data, Spatial Insights enhanced the point data by creating aggregations by useful Census and postal geographies including ZIP code, county, and MSA (metropolitan statistical area). Requests for data summarized by custom client-defined boundaries are also welcomed. In addition to summarizing the bank totals, Spatial Insights has also calculated the number of financial institutions and deposit amounts for each of six bank charter classes: three commercial, two savings, and one foreign-chartered.
Both data products are available for years spanning 1994 through 2000, with the next update expected in December of 2001. The data work directly with ARC/INFO, ArcView, MapInfo Professional, and are available in a number of industry standard formats, including .TAB, .SHP, and .DBF.
Site usability tool from Modalis
Modalis Research Technologies, Inc., San Francisco, has released the Modalis User Experience Diagnostic (UXD) system, which is used to analyze Web site visitor behavior, measure site usability and capture users’ personal assessments of their online experiences. Modalis UXD has two primary components: a site path tracking tool, which records users’ behavior as they navigate a Web site, and a built-in interviewing technology that allows the users to describe their experiences as they happen. Users are directed to perform tasks on live Web sites using a familiar browser interface. This is accompanied by a click-stream analysis tool that shows the paths taken by the users and whether or not the chosen paths resulted in the successful completion of tasks.
Results from the Modalis UXD system can be used over time to monitor and improve the experiefice of Web site visitors. Diagnostic output shows how well a site performs at creating satisfied and loyal customers and whether usability issues stand as barriers to these goals. The system can also be used to test competitive sites and make quantitative comparisons.
LGBT panel debuts
PlanetOut Partners, Inc. and Modalis Research Technologies, Inc., San Francisco, have announced the formation of a panel of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. Drawing on PlanetOut.com and Gay.com’s more than 2.4 million registered users and 4.3 million unique visitors per month, the panel will provide representation of the estimated $450-billion LGBT market in the U.S.
The panel members will participate in ongoing Intemet based product and service surveys, which will be available to manufacturers and service providers who wish to understand the LGBT markets better. In addition to the master panel, which will be used for general consumer and business research, specialized sub-panels will be created. These sub-panels will focus on various industry and lifestyle segments of the LGBT community.
In addition to specialized research for specific manufacturers and service providers, general studies on the interests and plans of panelists will be released as syndicated reports. These studies may include topics such as personal financial and investment plans, travel plans, preferred brands, and planned purchases in a number of product and service categories.
Participation in the panel is completely opt-in at the member’s choice and the companies have ensured strict adherence to privacy and confidentiality standards. All members of the panel will have basic profiling information on file from which targeted samples can be drawn. Under no circumstances will individual responses or individual information be revealed; all data will be analyzed and reported in aggregate. All online research will be conducted under the code of ethics established by the Interactive Marketing Research Organization (IMRO).
SPSS releases SamplePower 2.0
SPSS Inc., Chicago, is now shipping SamplePower 2.0, the latest version of its power analysis software. SamplePower enables researchers to strike a balance among significance level, effect size and sample size. Researchers can use SamplePower before collecting data to determine the sample size needed to have a reasonable chance of rejecting the null hypothesis. SamplePower includes flexible presentation tools such as plain-language text reports, presentation-quality tables and high-impact charts. New features in SamplePower 2.0 include:
- New types of power analysis - SamplePower now includes survival analysis, loNstic regression and equivalence tests for more accurate research results.
- Interactive tables - Tables can be pivoted to provide different views of analytical results. Once a table is pivoted, any associated graphs are rebuilt automatically to reflect the new structure.
- Expanded exporting capabilities - Data can now be exported to Excel or other spreadsheet programs and charts can be saved in a variety of graphics formats for use in software such as Word or PowerPoint.
Guide to researching public relations
The Institute for Public Relations is now offering a study on the measurement and evaluation of public relations, entitled "Research Doesn’t Have to Put You in the Poorhouse." Written by Walter Lindenmann, former head of research at Ketchum in New York, the study outlines how to save money by using techniques such as quick-tab polls, piggyback questions, secondary analysis, Internet projects, and intercept interviews. The complete text of the study is available at www.instituteforpr.com.
Cozint, NDC Health launch health care research tool
Cozint Interactive, Inc., an Andover, Mass., e-health marketing services company, and NDCHealth, a provider of health information services and electronic commerce solutions, have introduced in_FACT, a real-time information tool for the health care industry that combines weekly/daily prescriber data with primary market research insight and analysis.
InFACT, an acronym for integrated fast analytical continuous tracking, provides information on prescriber behavior including the attitudes and perceptions that influenced the physician during the prescription writing process. Additionally, inFACT allows for continuous monitoring of the market vs. "wave" research methodologies. Through a strategic agreement between Cozint and NDC, inFACT integrates NDC’s weekly/daily U.S. prescription databases and Cozint’s Web-based physician surveys to monitor the market dynamics of new product launches, new formulations, and any other point in the product life cycle.
Update of STATISTICA available
StatSoft, Inc. Tulsa, Okla., is offering STATISTICA 6, an update of the firm’s data analysis and visualization software. STATISTICA 6 offers more new features and enhancements to the program than any other upgrade. In addition to a simplified user interface, increased possibilities for customization, and the options for Web-enablement, the latest release features built-in Visual Basic scripting allowing programmers to access every aspect of the program for their custom applications.
New research tool for financial services marketers
Stamford, Conn., research firm Rothstein-Tanber, Inc., is now offering financial services marketers access to marketing intelligence about financial intermediaries. Newly developed, Influent gathers marketing intelligence designed to meet the needs of marketers of financial services and products interested in reaching financial intermediaries. It is available only by subscription.
Influent, a new division of Rothstein-Tauber, Inc., conducts a series of focus group sessions with financial professionals (financial planners, lawyers, accountants, bankers, insurance agents, stockbrokers) and the wealthy and emerging affluent clients they advise. These two-hour sessions are made available to subscribers via live Web cast and CD. The first discussion groups are scheduled for June 4th.
Influent is available by a subscription that covers five topic areas over a 10-month period. Each topic is offered twice each year with a total of 160 in-depth discussions available to each subscriber. Marketers can subscribe to the service by topic or by target market.
System protects intellectual property on the Net
Long Beach, Calif.-based Neotrope Software has launched Neotrope Mprotect, which provides deterrence against casual copying of visual intellectual property on the Intemet, and offers protection against unauthorized re-use of copyrighted photographs and artwork.
The Neotrope Mprotect (Media Protect) system works by using aWeb server-side component to authorize those domain names on the Intemet which have permission to load graphical image files, and creates aliases of the actual locations of the images themselves. When loaded onto the authorized Web site, only the alias location is loaded into the HTML, precluding linking to the content from unauthorized locations. Even if the alias URL is loaded into a browser window, the result is an error page notifying the visitor that the content is protected by copyright, since the image alias isn’t being loaded from the authorized site.
Additionally, a browser client-side component uses JavaScript to deactivate the mouse-click function, and provides a pop-up dialog when a visitor attempts to mouse-click any image on the protected page. The pop-up box announces that the images on the site are protected by copyright, and unauthorized copying and/or reproduction is prohibited.
Neotrope also offers an optional service called ReMark, which embeds two types of invisible "watermarks" into the image files. The watermark is an invisible fingerprint, containing copyright and owner information both in the file data itself as well as interlaced into the image content. This process is done prior to placing the files onto the Intemet, and is a one-time process, it is not done dynamically by the Mprotect system.
Centralize research purchasing with QuickLink
MindBranch, Inc., a North Adams, Mass., research and business information firm, has launched QuickLink, a Web-based tool designed for business and corporate intranet desktops that helps companies centralize purchasing of market research, track research expenditures, and allows users to share information about reports that they have purchased across their entire organizations. Quick, ink is a free, cobranded Web interface customized for client companies, available through their corporate intranet, and includes information on more than 16,000 market-research products; information exclusive to the client such as targeted daily news feeds, analyst insights, customized newsletters; and online account histories.
Observe Web site interactions remotely
Sunnyvale, Calif., research firm NetRaker Corporation has included a new application, NetRaker Experience Recording (NRER), in the new version of the NetRaker Web Site Research. NRER enables users to remotely observe and record customer interactions, and conduct real-time testing. NetRaker Experience Recording is now available with the NetRaker Web Site Research from NetRaker.
By using a screen-sharing technology integrated with the NetRaker Web Site Research application, NRER enables users to observe customer interactions remotely - what customers saw, what they typed, where they clicked and where they got lost. In addition, NRER allows users to capture a customer’s experience as they use the Web site or application by recording their actions and feedback in real-time, rather than Nving an account of their experience after the fact. NRER can be used to test concepts, early designs, and complete Web sites and software applications.
Megaputer ships PolyAnalyst 4.4 data mining system
Bloomington, Ind.-based Megaputer Intelligence Inc. has released PolyAnalyst 4.4, a data mining tool offering new features that simplify the integration of results obtained through PolyAnalyst data analysis in any external decision support applications and help the processing of very large databases in their entirety. The new PolyAnalyst Model Application Wizard allows simple scoring of data in any external source through a standard SQL-based protocol, OLE DB. PolyAnalyst can export created models in XML/PMML format or store these models in a new OLE DB for Data Mining format suitable for direct data scoring. Additionally, PolyAnalyst 4.4 provides In-Place Data Mining capability for working with very large data in dynamic SQL mode through an intuitive interface.
Database of consumer mindsets
Yankelovich, Norwalk, Conn., has introduced a new profiling tool designed to help marketers understand what motives consumer spending. MONITOR MindBase is a database of American consumers’ mindsets. Through analysis and predictive mod-cling, Yankelovich has identified eight major groups of Americans. The eight groups can be further broken down into 32 distinct segments that represent high-value targeting opportunities for marketers. Based on a multi-year study of American values, it reflects an analysis of how values drive the choices that consumers make in the marketplace. It reveals how the underlying perspectives or core values form the context within which consumers receive and interpret marketing messages. MONITOR MindBase can be appended to third-party lists and compiled databases to increase their predictive value.
ArcView 8.1, MapObjects 2.1 from ESRI
ESRI, a Redlands, Calif.-based geographic information system software firm, has released ArcView 8.1, the firm’s desktop GIS and mapping software. The product provides geographic data visualization, query, analysis, and integration capabilities along with the ability to create and edit geographic data. ArcView 8.1 includes a new architecture, providing an enhanced user experience, based on current standards in the information technology arena. ArcView 8.1 maintains the base functionality ofArcView GIS 3.x and adds improvements. New features include a catalog for browsing and managing data, on-the-fly coordinate and datum projection, metadata creation, customization with built-in Visual Basic for Applications, new geographic editing tools, support for static annotation, enhanced cartographic tools, and more. ArcView 8.1 is Internet enabled, allowing the integration of Internet map data with a user’s local data.
The firm is also offering MapObjects 2.1, the newest version of its embeddable mapping and GIS components. MapObjects 2.1 offers new features including support for AutoCAD 2000 DWG files, ActiveX Data Objects (ADO), image catalogs, ArcSDE 8.1 support, the latest ESRI projection engine, data previously included in ESRI’s ArcView StreetMap for geocoding, custom symbols for chart rendering, and a new run-time deployment utility for easier application distribution. MapObjects 2.1 also supports versioning for ESRI’s ArcSDE layers; it can connect to any ArcSDE version and allow users to view it. Users can also identify and select versions based on version names.
Free access to results of corporate executive survey
Patrick Marketing Group (PMG), a Calabasas, Calif.-based full-service marketing agency, has released the results of its latest online survey of U.S. corporate executives. The findings underscore directions in marketing and business development, revealing the plans and priorities of decision makers across the country. PMG sent the survey to executives in business-to-business sectors that are experiencing significant change in their markets. The 180 respondents provide a cross-sectional view of major trends and market conditions. The survey gathered data on topics in sales, marketing, and e-business, including: identification of the business issues driving change in the market; the major objectives of current e-business initiatives; major challenges impacting the success of the sales force; the trend toward direct versus broad-based marketing activities.
NPD tracks Harry Potter phenomenon
Marketing information provider The NPD Group, Inc., Port Washington, N.Y., has introduced The NPD Harry Potter Prophet, a series of seven reports that will provide insight on Harry Potter-related trends. The reports will capture information on attitudes and behavior among children and adults, revealing which Harry Potter products are most popular, who plans to purchase Harry Potter products in the future, and what potential lies ahead for these products before, during, and after the release of the Harry Potter movie.
System looks at key business benchmarks
Stat Resources of Chestnut Hill, Mass., and InterTabs USA have partnered to create TRIPOD Metrics, a system designed to give companies an understanding of their customers, employees, and business performance. It uses pre-validated measures of customers, employees, and market dominance and gives benchmarks against other firms in the same or similar industries as well as similarly-sized companies in any industry. In addition, customers and employees are segmented based on loyalty.
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Accent on Research has opened a new focus group facility in Los Angeles, including audio-visual equipment, translation capabilities, and recruiting from the entire Los Angeles metro area.
Sage Research, Inc., a Natick, Mass., research firm providing demand-side research to IT vendors and service providers, has launched its redesigned Web site at www.sageresearch.com. The site provides information about how market research is conducted and used to develop marketing and sales strategies.
NPD HomeTrak, the home goods division of Port Washington, N.Y.-based The NPD Group, Inc., has launched two new services that will track the sales of crystal giftware and dinnerware accessories sold in department stores.
MapInfo Corporation, Troy, N.Y., plan integrate Census 2000 data into its market analysis products. MapInfo TargetPro v3.6 will be the first MapInfo solution to utilize the newly released data by incorporating a full set of estimates based on corrected state totals.
SPSS Data Entry 3.0, survey design and data collection software from SPSS Inc., Chicago, is now available for the Linux and Sun Solaris platforms. SPSS Data Entry 3.0 features a new architecture designed to deliver better Web performance, faster processing times and increased online security.
Chicago research software firm SPSS MR has introduced mrinterview, a Web survey product, as part of its Dimensions suite of products. Instead of writing html in the script, there are html templates where users dictate screen layout; instead of copying files over, there is an activation wizard that goes live based on user specifications. Routing, rotation and randomization, can also be incorporated.
ACNielsen U.S., Schaumburg, Ill., has expanded its Homescan Hispanic panel from 725 to 1,500 households. The panel consists of a representative number of Los Angeles Hispanic households in which English is the preferred language, those that are bilingual: and those in which Spanish is the language of choice, enabling the Los Angeles Hispanic community to be segmented by language preference. Using in-home scanners, panelists record all UPC-coded products that they purchase.
New York-based Light Reading, an information resource for the optical networking industry, has launched a new Web site, www.lightreading/research, covering market research on industry trends and developments.
Total Research Corp., Princeton,N.J., has developed Customer Profitability Management, an analytic approach that links customer loyalty and customer profitability to show the cost of retaining and growing a company’s most profitable companies.
Lexington, Ky., research firm The Matrix Group has opened a new meeting and conference center along with expanded capabilities for focus groups and other qualitative research.
Las Vegas-based MRCGroup Research Institute has opened its new Executive Video Conference Center, which provides multi-site video meetings via Worldwide Sprint or MRCGroup’s own Internet streaming media.
Decision Analyst, Arlington, Texas, has created a new Web site, www.secondarydata.com, which includes links to a variety of free economic data and marketing research sites.