Microtab debuts XP 2002
Atlanta-based research software fLrm Microtab Inc., has introduced Microtab XP 2002, its latest Windows-based software release. The Standard and Professional Editions allow unlimited questionnaire length and unlimited tables on as many as 10 million surveys. The Professional Edition also includes sample balancing, statistical testing and data manipulation features. Both Windows Editions come with 24/7 free support from Microtab, which also provides online searchable help and documentation.
QualTalk.com now offers partner program
Nashville-based QualTalk.com, a provider of qualitative market research software, has introduced a new partner-based marketing plan for the latest version of its software. The QualPartner program will give market research firms the software enabling them to use the Intemet to conduct qualitative - research. Firms will set up shop online for a start-up fee and then pay for services on a per-usage basis. The progam includes free training, tech support, and software updates at no additional cost.
Census tools from MarketResearch.com
MarketResearch.com has released Census Looks, a new series of Census 2000 database tools. Census Looks are available in Excel spreadsheet format and offer complete historical data from the 2000, 1990, and 1980 censuses, providing detailed figures on the metropolitan statistical area (MSA), county, and state levels. The product series will be expanded to include more detailed demographic reports as more complete 2000 Census numbers are released. Census Looks reports contain demogaphic indices measuring the similarity and dissimilarity of individual geographic areas to the state and national averages.This tool allows the user not only access to the raw data, but also to put this information into context.
Study examines Japanese dining habits
The NPD Group, Inc., a Port Washington, N.Y., research firm, and Japan-based research firm Util, Inc., have conducted The Japanese Dining. Habits Benchmarking Study, to examine consumer attitudes and behaviors regarding dining out, take-out foods, and in-home dining. The database was created from the responses of 3,000 people in the metropolitan Tokyo and Osaka areas. Seventy-seven major restaurant chains (including supermarkets, department stores, take-out shops, etc.) are profiled and compared. In addition, restaurant type segments are compared by consumer awareness, usage and intent-to-visit for all demographic segments.
Research project management product upgraded
Seattle-based Global Market Insite (GMI) has launched Net-MR 2.0, a new version of its end-to-end, Web-based platform for market research management. Built on the same technology used in Net-MR 1.5, Net-MR 2.0 adds new modules which allow for mixed-mode data collection, and further streamlining of market research processes via project and client management tools. Net-MR 2.0 allows for panel management, project management, data collection, data processing, data analysis and reporting, as well as the management of multi-lingual panel and client portals. All licensees of Net-MR 1.5 will be able to upgade to Net-MR 2.0 with no additional cost.
A look at the future of wholesale distribution
The sixth edition of the National Association of Wholesaler Distributors’ (NAW) Distribution Research and Education Foundation (DREF) study, titled "Facing the Forces of Change: Future Scenarios for Wholesale Distribution," is now available. The study included surveys of 1,600 manufacturers, distributors, and customers across 50 different industries and 75 in-depth interviews with supply chain and distribution channel experts. The study is designed to provide manufacturers, wholesaler-distributors, suppliers,, and their customers with insight into shifts in the industry environment through 2006 and a scenario-planning methodology to help companies prepare for the future.
Euromonitor adds consumer lifestyles module
Euromonitor International has added a Consumer Lifestyles module to its Web-based Global Market Information Database (GMID). The component offers analysis of consumer preferences and key market drivers across 60 countries worldwide. The new Consumer Lifestyles database will indicate which factors are affecting consumer decision-making and spending habits, and provide analysis of the factors that will determine future expenditure patterns. Its coverage of over 200 countries (with detailed coverage of 52 core countries) constitutes 90 percent of the world’s population and 95 percent of worldwide consumer expenditure.
ATP completes Quantum conversion ATP Ltd., a provider of IT services to the market research industry, has completed the Quantum to triple-s conversion program, qtsss, which is available as a free download from www.triple-s.org. The program is available for SCO Unix, Solaris, and as a console application for Windows. SPSS MR supplied the source code of nqtspss as the basis for the new program - this contained the underlying structures for Quantum programs which made the qtsss program development quicker.
Product assesses doctors’ reactions to sales calls
Pharmaceutical companies now have real-time, online access to physician assessments of sales call effectiveness, including the messages presented and their impact on prescribing, with FastNet Tracker. New from Livingston, N.J.-based Market Measures Interactive (MMI), FastNet Tracker delivers a view of doctors’ reactions to a company’s own and competitive sales visits - with findings sorted by product, specialty, geography, and message type. The information can be used to refine messaging, respond to market changes, defend against competitive threats and optimize promotional ROI. Based on e-mail interviews with target physicians, FastNet Tracker offers evaluative measures for determining andimproving call impact. Findings reveal: the main messages the physician heard; the time spent on the product detail; the doctor’s perception of the believability and importance of the messages shared during the presentation; "head-to-head" comparisons between a company’s own products and its competition; and the call’s effect on prescribing - including the "cause-effect" link between the detail and the prescription choice.
StatSoft updates data mining product
Tulsa, Okla.-based StatSoft, Inc. has released STATISTICA Enterprise-wide Data Mining System version 6 (Data Miner), a set of data mining tools designed to enable users to analyze their data to uncover hidden trends, explain known patterns, and predict the future. STATISTICA Data Miner features a large selection of algorithms for classification, prediction, clustering, and modeling as well as an icon-based interface. The data mining solutions in STATISTICA Data Miner are driven by procedures from five modules: General Slicer/Dicer with OLAP, General Classifier, General Modeler/Multivariate Explorer, General Forecaster/General Neural Networks Explorer. Users choose between graph types to visualize their data after cleaning, slicing, and drilling down and can publish these results via the Web (options for complete Web enablement available). When data change, analyses and results can be set to update automatically.
Catapult releases InquisiteCorporate survey software
Austin, Texas-based Catapult Systems Corp., has released InquisiteCorporate, a survey development, deployment, and management software product. InquisiteCorporate can scale an unlimited number of users and respondents. In addition, the software supports a variety of survey mediums, including Web-based surveys, email surveys, and scannable paper forms. Other key features include: centralized control, allowing a single central manager to activate and deactivate surveys, limit responses, assess the history of one or more surveys, analyze data, and publish results; enhanced security, allowing passwords to control access to administrative functions, reports and survey data; online reporting tools designed to simplify analysis and distribution of survey results across multiple users; skip logic/branching; respondent authentication, verifying respondents only took the survey once, ensuring accurate results; and customization, enabling customers to build surveys that match the look and feel of a company’s existing collateral.
Briefly
Barry Leeds & Associates, New York, is now offering WebShop, an Internet-based research tool that provides real-time reporting on customer service and consumer opinions toward the financial industry.
London-based NOP Research Group is now offering The Customer Access Trail, or CAT, a new syndicated tracking study of Great Britain consumers. Consumers will be asked about their travel and shopping habits.
B. N. Newman is now offering focus group transcription and editing services.
"Mobile Marketing - The evolution of a new marketing channel," a report on mobile marketing and "m-commerce" in the U.S. and Europe, is now available from CyTexx Media.
The Physicians Advisory Council, an Internet panel of medical professionals administered by Arlington, Texas-based research firm Decision Analyst, has expanded into Western Europe. The panel’s site has been translated into French and German and physicians in the U.K., France, and Germany are being recruited.
San Diego marketing information firm Claritas Inc., has launched MyBestProfiles, the fourth Web site in its MyBest series of sites designed to provide access to marketing information. The other three sites are MyBestProspects, MyBestCustomers and MyBestLists.
Information Resources, Inc., Chicago, has expanded by 10,000 households its InfoScan multi-outlet electronic household panel, through which it tracks purchases of consumer products by individual households. The addition brings the number of households in the panel to 65,000.
QuestionBuilder.com, East Quogue, N.Y., has released version 3.5 of its QuestionBuilder.com online survey and questionnaire development product.
Profile Marketing Research, Lake Worth, Fla., has joined with Mature Marketing and Research, Boston, to conduct a national probability sample of the Boomer generation. Categories include automotive, financial services, Internet/PC usage, and travel and leisure.
MarketResearch.com is now offering several reports from Packaged Facts: "The U.S. Market for Feminine Hygiene Products," "The U.S. Pet Supplies Market," "The U.S. Market for Men’s Grooming Products," "The U.S. Market for Plus Size Apparel," "Coffee and Tea Market: 2001," and "The U.S. Hispanic Market." Redlands, Calif.-based GIS software firm ESRI is now offering ArcLogistics Route 3, a new release of its desktop routing and scheduling solution designed to help businesses and organizations deliver goods or services more efficiently.
DemographicsNow.com has enhanced its product offerings to include: new data, including current year data for consumer expenditures with 180 variables, marriage and family, educational attainment and population by gender; a new look and feel; and the ability to obtain maps and reports for multiple drive times from the selected locations. Chicago litigation and communication consulting firm Zagnoli McEvoy Foley Ltd. has introduced zOpinion, a custom online survey service.
Cheskin, a Redwood Shores, Calif., research firm, has released "The Wireless Future - A Look At Youth Unplugged," a study examining wireless communication and mobile technology behaviors and attitudes of young people from 13 to 24. The 44-page report includes the results of a quantitative survey in addition to insights from experts in the wireless, mobile device, digital communications, and gaming industries.
The American Productivity & Quality Center (APQC) has released a new study entitled "New Product Development: Gaining and Using Market Insight." Eleven organizations, including 3M, Maytag, and Xerox, participated in the study, in which the APQC sought to understand the specific tools, methods, and techniques used by innovative organizations to ensure that their products have customers.