Katrina Noelle
- Conducts focus groups, ethnographies, in-depth interviews, intercepts, and online qualitative methodologies.
- Combines methodologies from traditional in-person research with online and mobile approaches to create custom research design for her clients.
- Clients include companies in the retail, fashion, personal care, consumer packaged goods, technology, medical and financial service industries.
- All 7 Best Practices
- Pre-Meeting Discovery Process
- One-on-One Call with Expert
- Meeting Summary Report
- Post-Meeting Engagement
Online, Mobile and Hybrid Qualitative Market Research Methodologies
Key Trends
- The availability of robust mobile and online solutions has improved user experience research.
- Most mobile and online qualitative research solutions started becoming available around 2000. Many companies now offer a user-friendly user interface to collect information in a timely manner. This is a positive trend as competition in data gathering is a good thing. As the number of solutions has grown, so too has the use of user experience research. User experience research has become even more important in recent years given the explosion in social media and the growing need for websites that are truly appealing to the customer with a message that is successful and consistent.
- With more data-gathering options, the use of qualitative research is growing.
- Some companies (as well as researchers) are building their own apps and coming out with their own platforms. Overall, there are more options as everyone everywhere is becoming more tech-savvy. As a result, teams at companies can build their own solutions as an alternative to using outside vendors. Companies are also making use of live chat, bulletin boards and online forums to get feedback from customers.
- Big data is a buzz word but there is still a need for qualitative analysis and interpretation.
There is more data available today than ever before. And while that may sound great for internal research departments, it poses a dilemma: How do companies listen to it to glean accurate and informative feedback? How do they analyze and interpret it once they have it?
A lot of companies are excited that so many vendors can give them big data. But the data still needs to be interpreted and presented in a way that is absorbable and relevant. Qualitative market research analyzes big data to give marketers answers to "how" and "why" questions. These insights help marketers develop or launch successful new products, better understand a brand or category, and gain competitive insight and intelligence.Although big data is getting bigger, it's not always getting better. And it's dangerous to think that big data can replace the "small data" that is traditionally collected through qualitative research. It's the small data that really gets to the heart of small changes in consumer behavior and attitudes.
- Companies are using social media as a research tool.
- Companies are now getting used to the fact that they hear from customers immediately via Facebook, Yelp, Twitter and other social media. Companies have to be fast on their feet so that they can detect nuances in the marketplace. Companies have to be increasingly nimble in an ever-changing world in which consumers are overwhelmed with messages in the media all day, every day. They're looking for more ways to connect quickly. And they need help harnessing that information and figuring out how to best make use of social media tools.
This makes participants more open to hear from them in online methods are well. Consumers today are more vocal than ever about their experiences with products and services, and they have a lot more avenues for expressing their thoughts. They also have many more choices so are more apt to try a new product or service (such as online research platform) if it seems new and exciting. - Research through social media is also blending with customer service.
Thanks to social media, customers can try a product and write a quick review on Amazon. They can take a trip and complain about a hotel on TripAdvisor. As a result, companies can see what customers are saying and react accordingly. Companies can't just rely on what they're seeing on Facebook or Twitter. Companies should not be basing consumer-driven decisions only on what they are seeing online.
While the customer service department monitors these social media feeds, answers questions and puts out fires, the research department should also look to social media platforms to create user groups, ask pointed questions and otherwise engage these customers proactively to harness feedback on specific research objectives.