••• panel research
More than a survey site
Toluna.com launches social voting community
Wilton, Conn., research company Toluna has debuted Toluna.com, a social voting community Web site designed to allow members to connect with others while participating in surveys. In addition to making it easier for respondents to share related content on Facebook and Twitter, Toluna.com has added a social media community that aims to improve respondent quality by enabling members to follow content posted by other panelists; review posts by other members based on recommendations from others; and mark content as a favorite and recommending it to others.
The site also introduces the ability to earn Gifties. Gifties are virtual goods that members can buy with points they earn for completing surveys. Some of the Gifties can become real, through a type of instant lottery. For example, a virtual ice cream cone may become real, where a member will receive ice cream delivered to his/her home. They can also send Gifties to friends and colleagues, which is also a way to recruit new members for Toluna.com.
www.toluna.com
••• social media research
Weigh in on Twitter with Wayin
TwitPolls offers surveys and polls within Twitter
Denver social engagement service Wayin has launched TwitPolls, an interactive, social survey and polling service that aims to allow Twitter users to ask questions of their followers and receive tallied results at the close of the user-determined polling time frame. Brands can gather real-time feedback from their Twitter followers without forcing followers to leave the familiar Twitter environment.
Followers interested in a poll can click “Reply to this tweet” inside the Twitter news feed with the already-established hashtag answer. The core service of TwitPolls is free. Businesses that require additional functionality, such as leaderboards, additional games or customized charts and graphs, can contact a company representative for branded TwitPoll engagements.
www.twitpolls.com
••• gamification
Get in the game
New software brings social gaming techniques to consumer research
Nashville, Tenn., research company Consensus Point has debuted Huunu, a research software platform designed to use consumer knowledge by employing social gaming techniques to provide insights based on knowledge and judgment, rather than social and demographic qualifications. Huunu aims to offer comprehensive insights by rewarding participants based on their accuracy and knowledge of the topic. Gaming elements, such as leaderboards and net-worth scores, offer participants recognition, reward and status, as well as an opportunity to compete and collaborate.
www.consensuspoint.com
••• concept research
A faster GutCheck
Platform aims to expedite community access using social media
Denver research company GutCheck has launched Instant Research Communities, a private, secure platform that aims to allow groups of qualified respondents to react to, validate and discuss a company’s or brand’s proposed business decisions out of the public eye.
The solution is designed to give users direct consumer insights quickly and affordably by allowing marketers to tap into existing communities on their Web sites, Facebook fan pages, Twitter and Google+. GutCheck instantly recruits and qualifies respondents from these pools of brand advocates and can also recruit from its own consumer panel so that brands can compare sentiment between fans and the general public.
http://gutcheckit.com
••• packaging research
Even better than the real thing?
Vision Critical expands virtual shopping and reporting with PackTest
Vancouver, B.C., research company Vision Critical has launched Virtual PackTest, an expanded suite of online, virtual shopping-based package-testing services that feature immersive, simulated shopping exercises and interactive online reporting tools. Designed to quantify the impact of graphics, architecture and structural changes using online data collection and nationally-representative sampling, Virtual PackTest provides a range of solutions from individual ad hoc studies to enterprise-wide, globally-scalable testing platforms.
The Virtual PackTest suite employs virtual technology and computer-generated environments to mimic the in-store experience, engage consumers and quantify package performance on-shelf. An analytic framework quantifies breakthrough and purchase at-shelf, with virtual eye-tracking and automated verbatim analysis revealing rational and emotional benefit effectiveness and brand communication impact.
Virtual PackTest also provides clients with an interactive online reporting system and diagnostic refinement tools.
www.visioncritical.com
••• emotion research
Trio of tools
BehaviorMatrix debuts three offerings for measuring consumer emotions
Philadelphia research company BehaviorMatrix has launched a behavioral analytics platform to analyze human emotion, allowing brands to measure the full range of emotional connections, perceptions and social momentum responsible for consumer behavior. BehaviorMatrix will initially offer three products based on its technology: Emotional Indexes, EmScape Reports and EmPower Reports.
Emotional Indexes is a data feed that extracts and quantifies an individual emotional factor (i.e., joy, trust, fear, etc.) as it relates to a brand and its competitors. Emotional Indexes are updated daily.
EmScape Reports is a customized analysis of the entire emotional landscape surrounding a brand or product. EmScape Reports also benchmarks the brand against an average of the competition.
EmPower Reports is an analysis of the emotional and competitive landscape surrounding a brand or product. These reports provide a segmented analysis of emotional signals, including demographics of opinion leaders (both promoters and detractors) and a complete comparative analysis of competitive brands and products.
www.behaviormatrix.com
••• data analysis
Greater visibility for MarketSight reporting
Updated survey analysis platform features interactive charts and dashboards
MarketSight LLC, a Cambridge, Mass., research company, has released MarketSight 9.0, the latest version of the company’s crosstabulation survey analysis software. MarketSight 9.0 features several enhancements, including the addition of interactive charts and dashboards, aimed to provide a more widely-accessible online platform for sharing research results, even with novice or non-researchers.
The added dashboard and interactive charting capabilities are designed to allow MarketSight users to create their own dashboards without custom development or additional costs. Access to dashboards can be limited to specific colleagues or clients or open to the public without requiring a MarketSight login. Interactive charting features allow viewers to modify the content and display of a chart, providing a level of analysis that can be performed by anyone, regardless of expertise.
www.marketsight.com
••• CPG/retail research
Predicting the future
New initiative sets out to define the next decade of consumer and retail analytics
Chicago research company SymphonyIRI has launched Analytics2020, a consumer packaged goods and retail industry initiative intended to identify and define the roadmap for consumer and retail analytics innovation in the next decade.
The initiative will comprise a global industry survey to study in detail the requirements for success in the retail landscape and how to use analytics to create competitive advantage, coupled with creation of an Analytics2020 Consortium, including leading manufacturers and retailers, academics and media agencies.
The Consortium will develop a series of position papers to articulate the capabilities and anticipated results of the new generation of analytics on manufacturers, retailers and shoppers. An online field guide will be published to take the research into practice.
www.symphonyiri.com
••• health care research
All together now
The Quality Report aims to standardize health care research reporting
The Trust Alliance, a Bonita Springs, Fla., research advocacy group, has reached an agreement on a common standard for post-field reporting of health care data collection, dubbed The Quality Report. While its members currently produce field reports for clients, the information, format and definitions have all been different, making it hard for agencies and end clients to understand and compare fieldwork performance. The Quality Report is designed to offer a common approach to the reporting of this information.
www.thetrustalliance.org
••• mobile research
All responses welcome
Research service offers survey solution for all cell phone users
CMS Research, Toledo, Ohio, has developed its mobile research plan to survey all potential cell phone respondents on both feature phones and smartphones. CMS Research’s delivery options are intended to open up the survey to any cell phone user by utilizing an automated phone survey using interactive voice response (IVR). IVR can be combined with smartphone-exclusive Web surveys or used as the sole survey vehicle.
One programming effort produces both a Web and IVR option, which can be delivered via text, with all data collected in the same data file. Respondent identification numbers are checked against the same database so respondents can respond with one methodology or the other – not both.
www.cmsresearch.com
••• research software
Updates on the Horizons
Confirmit launches version 17 of multichannel software solution
Oslo, Norway, research software company Confirmit has released version 17 of Confirmit Horizons, its multichannel software solution. Confirmit Horizons Version 17’s updated features include new mobile and Web survey layouts; new customization and branding options; enhanced collection and processing of unstructured data using a text analytics suite; support for a wider range of Web platforms for designing surveys and reporting on feedback; further integration of mobile data into the Confirmit platform; the ability to view media captured on mobile devices, such as photos and video clips, from within Confirmit’s reporting suite; new panel management; and enhanced speed and ease-of-use.
www.confirmit.com
••• survey software
SurveyBuilder’s new construction
Survey-authoring solution debuts updates
Encino, Calif., research company uSamp has unveiled a series of upgrades to SurveyBuilder, its online survey authoring and on-demand consumer audience platform. New features include automatic formatting of all surveys for mobile devices, geographic targeting and image-based questions.
SurveyBuilder includes geographic audience targeting by designated market area (DMA), allowing users to select survey respondents based on location and from any DMA in the U.S.
www.usamp.com
••• Briefly
Columbia, Md., research company Arbitron Inc. has launched a syndicated, mobile consumer research service in the U.S., dubbed the Arbitron Mobile Trends Panels. The service includes an opt-in panel of approximately 6,000 smartphone and tablet users and is designed to use a proprietary, on-device software meter to provide information on how mobile consumers use apps; surf the Web; engage in social media; participate in e-commerce; are exposed to and act on advertising; and use their device to communicate. The service gathers data whether the device is online, connected to a cellular or Wi-Fi network or used offline.
www.arbitron.com
SocialQ, a San Diego market intelligence engine, has designed a system for profiling respondents based on data points such as activities, attitudes and preferences - from favorite TV shows and sources of news to education and political affiliation. SocialQ collects this information by asking panelists to connect via Facebook.
www.socialiq.com
San Francisco research company MarketTools Inc. has expanded its shopper research solutions with the addition of new Web technologies intended to collect technical data, including behavioral metrics like time on task, selection order and pause time.
www.markettools.com
Google, Mountain View, Calif., has launched its first consumer survey tool. Google Customer Surveys prompts users to answer a question before accessing gated, premium content. Google then analyzes the answer.
Up to two questions can appear in each pop-up and the cost is $.10 per response for a general Internet audience or $.50 per response for a targeted audience. Publishers of the sites on which surveys appear also get paid by Google. They receive $.05 per survey response.
www.google.com/insights/consumersurveys
Vancouver, B.C., research company Vision Critical has released the Vision Critical Surveys App for HootSuite, a Vancouver, B.C., social media management company. The app is designed to allow users to distribute survey links via social media and view results from within the HootSuite dashboard. The app provides direct access to Vision Critical Surveys. The Vision Critical Surveys App is available for free to all HootSuite users.
www.visioncritical.com/hootsuite
San Leandro, Calif., research company Opinionmeter International has released its TouchPoint survey app for Android.
www.opinionmeter.com
Toronto research company Hotspex Inc. and Toronto marketing company LEVEL5 Strategy Group have partnered to offer BrandMap, an online research tool designed to quantify and link emotional and rational drivers of brand usage. Rooted in emotional science, BrandMap aims to deliver insight into the emotional consumer-brand relationship and measure its impact to shape brand strategy.
www.hotspex.biz
Creative Research Systems, Petaluma, Calif., has released an Android version of its interviewing software. The app does not require a live Internet connection and includes logic abilities, such as branching, piping, randomizing and more. It can also show pictures, play sound and record respondents’ answers in their own voices.
www.surveysystem.com
Cincinnati research company ThinkVine and Richardson, Texas, marketing solutions company KBM Group have partnered to extend KBM’s customer intelligence analysis in marketing-mix modeling and what-if scenario-planning across consumers, tactics and channels. The combined capabilities are intended to allow KBM to help clients better engage with customers and improve marketing planning, sales and ROI in a time of evolving media.
www.thinkvine.com
Convergys Corporation, a Cincinnati customer management company, has received a new patent from the United States Patent and Trademark Office for an analytics technique designed to improve the customer experience within an interactive voice response (IVR) system by statistically linking IVR and caller satisfaction data.
www.convergys.com
London research company YouthSight has developed Bright Young Minds, a research tool based on its panel of 115,000 respondents ages 16-to-28. Bright Young Minds uses a profiling system intended to segment the best and the brightest students and young people into the following groups: Connecteds, Creatives, Curious Minds, Market Mavens and Civic Activists.
www.youthsight.com
Roger Green and Associates Inc., a New Hope, Pa., research company, has launched the Health Payer Council (HPC), an online community of medical and pharmacy directors from leading U.S. medical insurers and benefit managers. The HPC is a shared community, providing research tools and private discussion opportunities for its members. The site will be funded by subscriptions from health care product manufacturers, along with marketing research studies.
www.rogergreen.com
InSites Consulting, a Ghent, Belgium, research company, has released a set of mobile and social media extensions to its market research online communities, including integration with Facebook.
www.insites-consulting.com
New York research company Ipsos Healthcare has launched a new suite of Molecular Diagnostic Monitors to complement its Global Therapy Monitors. This family of studies aims to provide a multi-stakeholder view of the molecular diagnostics (MDx) market in multiple indications. First in line is the Oncology MDx Monitor.
www.ipsos-na.com
Essential Research, London, has launched The Essential Eye, a quarterly tracking study of 3,000 U.K. adults that aims to reveal how audiences are using new media technology and what they are using it for.
www.essentialresearch.co.uk
Cleantech Group, a San Francisco research company, has released the latest update to its i3 market intelligence platform, designed to combine its clean-tech industry database with ways for users to identify and connect with prospective partners, investors and customers. The latest release allows subscribers to contribute content, receive targeted alerts, make connections and keep private notes.
http://i3.cleantech.com
London research company TNS has released the findings of The Automotive Path to Purchase Study (TAPPS), a study intended to help international automotive brands gain a stronger foothold in Eastern markets. TAPPS is an interactive, online study that aims to measure in real-time the actual sequence of events in the buying process over a period of four-to-six months across all touchpoints. TAPPS highlights five new rules for car companies hoping to grow their presence in China.
www.tnsglobal.com
Jeofrey Bean of Del Mar Research and Consulting LLC, Del Mar, Calif., and Sean Van Tyne of Fair Isaac have released The Customer Experience Revolution - How Companies Like Apple, Amazon, and Starbucks Have Changed Business Forever, a book that details the critical management decisions and best practices that take place at companies dubbed “experience makers.”
www.delmarresearch.com
New York research company Ipsos Public Affairs has released the 15th edition of its U.S. Diversity Markets Report. The biennial report covers demographics and market characteristics for the Hispanic, African-American and Asian-American markets, built from 4,700 interviews among diverse consumers.
www.ipsos-na.com
Kinesis Survey Technologies LLC, Austin, Texas, has published a white paper, titled Issues and Considerations for Migrating Large Panels. The white paper offers recommendations about how to successfully move a market research panel from one software platform to another.
www.kinesissurvey.com/resources/whitepapers
New York researcher The Nielsen Company has released its The State of the Hispanic Consumer: The Hispanic Market Imperative report, which highlights trends across Hispanic culture, population shifts, purchasing behaviors and media consumption.
www.nielsen.com
Los Angeles industry and market research reporting company IBISWorld has released the U.S. Industry Market Research Report.
www.ibisworld.com
Encino, Calif., research company uSamp has launched a Hispanic panel of over 100,000 members.
www.usamp.com/panels
Paris research company Ipsos has launched a panel in the United Arab Emirates.
www.ipsos.com
London research company Marketest has published Extreme Outdoor Sport, a report on consumer opinion regarding an extreme sports holidays package for adults.
www.marketest.co.uk.
Irvine, Calif., research company MacKenzie Corporation has redesigned its Web site at www.mackenziecorp.com.
Correction: In the May 2012 Product and Service Update, Atlanta research technology company ActiveGroup's Web address was listed incorrectly. The company is online at www.activegroup.net.