Qualitatively Speaking:

A little homework can work wonders⁽¹⁾

Respondent homework assignments, such as collage-building, audio recording of spontaneous impressions or "thought log" diaries, can improve respondent bonding and increase productivity.

Depending on the goals of a specific qualitative research assignment, it can be highly productive for respondents to arrive at focus groups thoroughly primed and well-immersed in a particular category. In order to accomplish this, a skilled moderator calls upon various tools and techniques in the form of respondent homework assignments. These might include activities such as collage-building, “thought log” diaries, audio recording of spontaneous impressions, cognitive sequencing and in-situ product photographs, to name a scant few. A broad array of tools and techniques can be used in tandem or individually, depending on appropriateness and project objectives. While there is obviously no one-size-fits-all application of these techniques, it is generally felt by this moderator that some form of respondent preparedness can enhance many qualitative investigations by heightening the depth and breadth of insight and learning.

The premise here is that when respondents are thoroughly “into” a particular subject matter, on a premeditated level, they are more psychologically and verbally equipped to contribute, in a meaningful way, to the specific research goals at hand. This preparedness, in turn, combats what we as qualitative researchers and clients have all, at one time or another, disappointingly experienced: the cocked heads and quizzical, empty stares of respondents reacting to questions that, from their perspective, come far out of left field, jarringly out of context with their everyday living experiences and thought processes. This is sometimes what happens when clients and researchers are too close to their products, when objectivity and an unbiased perspective are lacking. Why we do research, after all, is to gain deep insight into how consumers conceptualize and think about a particular category, how they filter choices and actually use a given product, brand or service. This is great, but let’s give our respondents some useful tools to help them dig beneath the surface to produce information that is truly revelatory and useful to brand and marketing groups.

Take for example the goal of getting to the core of brand image/essence in repositioning and branding work. Asking respondents to create separate collages epitomizing a competitive set of brand values, for instance, can really help unearth image distinctions and nuance - and reveal thoughts, feelings and associations which may otherwise be extremely difficult for respondents to articulate. There are other reasons for using this type of tool: Groups are simply livelier and more productive from the get-go. Following brief introductions at the beginning of the actual focus groups, discussion kicks off energetically with respondents telling the “story” of their collages (or other homework assignments), interpreting with ease what the visual images mean to them.

In designing effective qualitative study methodologies, researchers and clients should, therefore, carefully consider whether or not respondent preparedness will benefit study output. Homework assignments may well yield a number of advantages relative to strengthening group dynamics and, therefore, the quality of the learning that ensues:

• Respondents immediately interact and bond with one another, resulting in less lost time due to respondent warm-up. When respondents arrive at focus groups with some form of homework assignment in hand, I have observed that they are far more likely to get acquainted with one another in the waiting area, which in turn reduces the amount of time required for group room warm-up. To set this interplay in motion, I typically drift into the respondent waiting area and announce that everybody in our group has, for example, kept a diary chronicling how kitchen remodelling decisions have been made - how design ideas were filtered, if and how husbands contributed to the overall process, the role of professional design consultants, what the biggest headaches were, etc. Given the animated discussion that usually follows, respondents then enter the group room with a sense of camaraderie and shared experience, which makes much of the standard introductory sequence superfluous.

• Groups are more productive from the get-go. Given the above scenario and enhanced levels of familiarity and ease, respondents are ready to jump right into conversation. Because they have already essentially bypassed stiff, ritualistic introductory formalities (e.g., name, work, household composition, etc.), respondents are primed and ready to contribute to the heart of the research endeavour with deeper and more revelatory insights. This is not to assume, however, that every research topic lends itself to this approach. While waiting-room conversation about interior design decisions can, for example, be encouraged with highly involving, positive results, issues of a highly sensitive and/or personal nature - subjects involving potentially embarrassing topics such as incontinence, female pattern baldness, impotence - obviously do not lend themselves to this type of uninitiated, open waiting-room discussion. In these instances, homework assignments such as diaries, sentence completion exercises, adjective check lists and storytelling may be better used as private instruments shared only with the moderator.

• Descriptions/portrayals of brand persona are animated and involving - and respondents are more able to verbalize emotional and multi-sensory responses that are otherwise difficult to articulate. Homework assignments involving all types of collage-building, cartoon drawing, fictionalized balloon dialoguing, and personifications are particularly useful to help respondents differentiate within categories that may be functionally commoditized. Take for example cooking oil, specifically corn oil. Without homework assignments and the application of projective techniques, home-makers in groups were unable to delineate, to any significant degree, between oil brands. When asked to develop collages at home that epitomized the respective brands, however, rich descriptions revealed brand-differentiating imagery which was firmly rooted in regional cooking traditions and the trans-generational influences of one’s mother, even grandmother.

• The subtleties of situational context and spontaneous thought can be captured as they occur, rather than through the potentially distorting filter of recall. We all know what it’s like to try to reach back into the deep recesses of our minds and recreate a specific situation or set of circumstances - perhaps a range of conflicting emotions we felt at particular point in time, what factors influenced a specific buying decision, how a fragrance or aroma affected our mood, what distractions may have pulled us away from initial impulses, how the advice of a good friend or coercive salesperson may have eroded our buying convictions, etc. The point here is that, with the passage of time, our memory of occurrences gets clouded, and it is virtually impossible to reconstruct in focus group rooms many spontaneous thought processes. Recording this information through various homework assignments can, however, document this invaluable information.

• The resulting expression of nuance can be useful for ad agencies and creative development. Client teams are able to quickly distil what brand essence and usage scenarios are all about.

Worth the effort

While it may cost researchers more time in terms of upfront planning and preparation, the application of homework assignments can often be worth the extra effort. An experienced moderator can determine whether or not this approach will benefit a given study and set of research objectives.

By Barbara Champion

Barbara Champion is principal of Chicago research firm B. Champion Associates.

(1) This article was originally published in December 2005 by Quirk’s Marketing Research Review

A Practitioner’s Perspective

Don’t blame the focus group for leaders’ shortcomings

By Susan Abbott⁽¹⁾ and Chris Shields Kann⁽²⁾

In an age of hyper-competition in virtually every industry, and rising consumer expectations, it seems curious that anyone would be criticized for listening to their customers. But even as the exhortations to be customer focused have grown louder, one of the key tools for good listening – the focus group – regularly comes under criticism.

One of the most influential books of the last decade, The Cluetrain Manifesto (2001), by Christopher Locke, Rick Levine, Doc Searls and David Weinberger, urged organizations to “come down from their Ivory Towers and talk to the people with whom they hope to create relationships.” Customers, they said, “have ideas for you too: new tools we need, some better service. Stuff we’d be willing to pay for,” and urged leaders to listen.

Listening, then, is a good thing. Few would argue that listening is what organizations must do. But some still insist they must not use marketing research techniques – especially focus groups – to do that listening?

Curious.

In 2009, Catharine P. Taylor, writing for The Social Media Insider in an article titled, “Listen Up Marketers: The Focus Group is Dead,” references several examples of high profile reversals resulting from “not listening.” The Tropicana packaging change, the Motrin ad that offended mommy bloggers, the widely criticized name change of Syfy for the Sci-Fi channel, and Facebook’s 2009 design changes. When you deconstruct her article, you see that most of the examples are actually related to another phenomenon. Facebook made its 2009 format changes “without user input,” according to Taylor. No focus groups there.

Tropicana and Sci-Fi didn’t talk to “loyalist” customers, although they did do research. They may have done the wrong research. And Syfy changed their name even after they heard from their loyalists.

Misplaced criticism

So what Ms. Taylor is really slamming here is not marketing research at all, but marketing research that is badly used or even badly constructed. And she is also slamming those that didn’t bother to seek user input. She is slamming poor management decisions.

People tend to blame focus groups for all manner of poor judgment; for the innovative products that supposedly don’t get launched and for the good ideas that apparently are killed because of focus groups. But the question really is, did the focus group kill a good idea, or did it save the organization a ton of money on a potentially failed marketing effort?

Pity the poor focus group, a multi-function tool being blamed for the mistakes of its users. It’s like blaming the chairs at a dinner party for the quality of the food. When you look closely at most of these articles so critical of the focus group, the writer is usually trying to make quite a different point – they are usually trying to expose management cowardice or poor leadership that relies too much on research and those who won’t take a position of their own.

Malcolm Gladwell, author of Blink, is often thought to be the one who really put a stake in the heart of the focus group. In a speech to an advertising agency conference in 2005 he said,

Market research, when it is observational or when it is interpretative, is profoundly useful. But those are two critical things. They require the intervention of the person conducting the research. They require the findings that are gathered are considered,  and thought about, and processed and interpreted. ⁽³⁾

As a researcher, I have found that a good dose of creativity is vital to bring up original solutions. Also, I have found that creativity comes from hard work. Only after many hours of study, I come to a point when I feel ready to view from different angles all the facts and quotations.

So Gladwell’s real argument is for nuance, for finesse, and for brains in research – not for ceasing to research. He suggests that the aesthetic of the Aeron chair was disliked in focus groups because it was so unfamiliar (despite rating very high on comfort). That Herman Miller management chose to go ahead with a launch of the chair despite these findings and generated a massively successful product, is taken to mean the focus group did not do its job.

But perhaps this is a story of a focus group doing its job well, and management doing its job well too. Management knew what initial reactions to the new product would be and could plan accordingly. The history of the Aeron chair on the Herman Miller website in fact makes it clear that extensive consumer research, including focus groups, informed the development of the product.

The focus group is often criticized as the wrong tool for product innovation. It is true that people don’t always know what the solution to their problems is, but they usually have a pretty good understanding of their problems.

Innovations come about because of a deep understanding of the customer experience. Organizations develop this deep knowledge by consistently talking to users, customers, and consumers.

The Listening Epidemic

The denigration of formal listening and insight processes – otherwise known as research –is not isolated to business. In the political sphere, the overall spending on opinion research by a given administration is viewed as governing by poll or similar criticisms. If our governments did not consult voters and taxpayers through research tools – including focus groups – they would be influenced only by the people they speak to directly.

Would we really be better off without qualitative research and its flag-carrier, the focus group? Or would a handful of bloggers and lobbyists drown out the voices of others?

The truth is, we live in a very complex world. Managers and executives are risk averse for good reason: mistakes are expensive in real dollars and in career terms. Making strategic decisions involves finding your way through complex information and often competing agendas.

So one might be sympathetic to a client that wished for research to actually make the ecision for them, instead of informing their decisions.

But research does not set strategic direction – managers do that. Your outside researcher, who spent many hours poring over the fieldwork, can give you an informed, independent and often very valuable viewpoint. But they should not make your management decisions. It would be nice to think that effective listening to customers could happen without all the infrastructure of the research industry, but this is wishful thinking. To gain the most insight, the listening process is best done with enough structure to assure validity.

Raise the Bar on Research

Instead of firing the focus group, we need to raise the bar on the researchers. You raise the bar by insisting on a professional, for a start. The act of asking a question doesn’t make it a good question. Many people have the skills needed to lead a group discussion, but that doesn’t make it a focus group. You find professionals by finding people who are engaged in their professional organizations, constantly investing in their own learning and the learning of others.

We need to raise the bar on ourselves as consultants and advisors. The Qualitative Research Consultants Association (QRCA) is actively engaged in providing education for its members and other professionals who use research for that reason: to improve the chance of qualitative research playing a key role in guiding and advising important management decisions.

The marketing research industry does have challenges. But it is far from stagnant. In fact, this industry has rapidly embraced the potential of new communications technologies to connect with people faster, cheaper, and in richer ways. We are, in fact, an industry of professional listeners. Our collective mission is to make the world a better place through the power of our listening and insight. The mirrored room and all that infrastructure – they are just the tables and chairs, and should never be confused with the main course.

⁽¹⁾ Susan Abbott is a qualitative researcher, facilitator and consultant specializing in customer experience. She helps organizations discover insights, design innovative solutions, and deliver results.

⁽²⁾ Chris Shields Kann is the President and Owner of CSK Marketing, Inc., a marketing services firm that provides marketing assistance in the form of qualitative market research, facilitation, and product management support.

⁽³⁾ Excerpts from a speech given by Malcolm Gladwell to the American Association of Advertising Agencies' Account Planning Conference in 2005, published in Advertising Age under the title “Focus groups should be abolished”, August 8, 2005.

This post was originally posted on GreenBook Directory website.

Consumer’s behaviour. Restaurant Industry

Spanish attendance to bars is changing. This article sheds light on the reasons that explain why the average purchase per person has increased during the current crisis in Spain, even though the sales figures of the restaurant industry have shown a decline.

According to NPD Group’s Consumer report on Eating Trends, the Spanish restaurant industry, as well as ready-to-eat foods/beverages retail establishments suffered a drop in its sales of 2% along 2010.

In fact, if compared with 2006, the study shows that the restaurant industry has lost around 40 visits per person and year. This represents roughly the loss of 1 visit per week. In spite of this, NPD stresses the fact that Spain is still amongst the European countries where people enjoy eating out more frequently.

The lost in sales is partially put down to a fall in the visits of clients, which showed a 3% decline across 2010. In the hospitality business, some believe that any explanation of the facts should consider a three-fold perspective:

• A change in the behaviour of Spaniards, who are now part of a more Europeanized society
• The local enforcement of the anti-smoking law, which banned smoking in restaurants and bars
• The economic crisis, which seems to have hit Spain more than Italy, the UK or Germany

However, what is most striking is that Spaniards increased the average expenditure by 1% during the same period. It is possible to infer that this behaviour is also a consequence of the economic crisis itself, as individuals go less frequently to the bar, but when they go, they tend to indulge themselves lavishly. Arguably, it doesn’t seem to be a bad way to face the crisis!

A Practitioner’s Perspective

The value of a right question

Anibal Marrón, MD with MG Research Solutions and QRCA member, comments on the importance that many social researchers attribute to questions. Are we expecting too much from the answers?

Generally speaking, a researcher’s objective is to understand the way the variables play and how they interact with the issue that triggers the need for research in a given client. Usually, it involves making considerations about a mix of market signals and making choices about what is important; however, the signals are sometimes very weak or not self-explanatory.

Within this context, I tend to believe that questions are far more important than answers.  When I fail to perceive clear signals from the market all my alarms tend to switch alertness “on".  It is because I come to the conclusion that the mental model I am using to comprehend the facts is wrong. Thus, I assume that an important piece of the puzzle is missing and I need to think creatively to see beyond. 

As a researcher, I have found that a good dose of creativity is vital to bring up original solutions. Also, I have found that creativity comes from hard work.  Only after many hours of study, I come to a point when I feel ready to view from different angles all the facts and quotations.

Just then, I am able to deconstruct the knowledge and to forget momentarily the relationships attributed to the pieces of the jigsaw.  At this point in time, not only listening is important but also changing the mindset.  Search is thus guided by new questions that come from sensing different viewpoints, from exploring different sources of knowledge that may develop even further my ability to critically evaluate the issues.

In this respect, new questions enable practitioners to envision new relationships and new variables.  It is like fine-tuning our ears to hear a different frequency.  Basically, the value of a question lays not necessarily in obtaining an answer but in eliciting a new approach.

 

Questions help us to channel and categorise knowledge, they are intended to make us comprehend the meaning of the signals and only when we are capable of understanding them, we will be in a condition to reduce uncertainty.  Maybe, I should specify here that I am talking about big questions.  Those that are hard to find but, when structured, transform our perspective, our perceptions and patterns of measure.

In fact, this type of question has the power to introduce us into a new dimension.  A good question unfolds before us alternative pathways; its value resides in that it leads us to interpret reality through a different coordinate system.  Just then the answers become important.

Barcelona. Growing trend in medical tourism

Barcelona appears to be far more active in attracting the international patients on the lookout for medical services that are seemingly unavailable in their home countries due to lack of affordability, lack of availability, and/or lengthy waiting lists. The article examines the news and highlights some of its fieldwork implications.

Nowadays, based on its well developed medical service offer, Catalonia is trying to introduce itself as a location of health tourist providers.  With that in mind, this year the Catalan Agency of Tourism will be present in Los Angeles (EE.UU) at the World Medical Tourism & Global Healthcare Congress (WMT&GHC).  Before then, Barcelona will be hosting in April 2011 the IV European Medical Travel Conference, which is expected to gather around 400 participants.

According to BCM, the organization that works with 22 other private clinics to provide services at prestigious medical centres, over 10,000 international patients have been treated during 2008.   The figures published show a 4% increase in the hospitalizations and outpatient surgeries performed in foreign patients.  More precisely, there have been 4,710 procedures performed and around 5,100 consultations from international clients.

Having some of the most important hospitals and private clinics in Spain, Barcelona has long attracted highly respected physicians in many areas of expertise. This could be reason enough to choose it as a location for a consultation or a medical procedure but, more recently, the comparatively low cost of medical services and neighbouring countries’ legislation has helped Barcelona to get where it stands now.

Services typically sought by travellers include elective procedures as well as complex specialized surgeries such as joint replacement (knee/hip), cardiac surgery, dental surgery, cosmetic surgeries. 

Fieldwork implications

• The researcher can find top respondents and key opinion leaders in almost all the specialities including plastic surgeons, cardiologists and fertilization specialists.
• The newest techniques and procedures are likely to be performed in Barcelona.
• It stands out as one of the ideal locations to research medical devices and medical instruments

   HOLIDAY SEASON GREETINGS

The holiday season is around the corner and we would like to acknowledge publicly how grateful we are to our customers, our employees and all the teams of professionals that work with us, side by side, to deliver the best possible qualitative services and to provide accurate information for those who are not familiar with the Spanish market.

Along this year, it has been a source of inspiration to be in touch with you all, clients and professionals. It has been both delightful and fulfilling to count with your continual support. To this purpose, we will continue working to help our clientele to stay in synchrony with their clients and hope to strengthen our relationship in the upcoming year.

Have a Happy Holiday Season!!

Why do practitioners always choose the same city to carry out focus groups in Spain?

Madrid and Barcelona are the most frequent destination for practitioners attending focus groups.                                

Madrid and Barcelona are the most frequent choice to field research projects.  Amongst the main considerations to make these choices appear familiarity with the vendor, frequency and cost of flights, availability of viewing facilities, Spanish client’s branch location, hotel preference and interest for the project.

However important these aspects are for consideration, each project is unique and there is an array of additional issues to weigh up prior to launching fieldwork.  Many times, the lack of information introduced a bias at the time of selecting the right location.  Under these circumstances, choosing “where to research” turns into “where there is a reliable contact”.  With this in mind, the most likely thing to do is to end up in Madrid or Barcelona, irrespective of the appropriateness of the city to gather the relevant information. 

These are obviously not the most relevant cities for all types of research.  However, technically, given their infrastructures and population, they have an advantage over the remaining cities as you tend to find people from all walks of life.

TIP

• Never assume that Madrid or Barcelona are the right location without gathering information about the market of your interest. If you do not have it, ask your client or get a chat with your Spanish adviser.

Does the growth of online methodologies in Spain means the death of traditional qualitative methodologies?

Nowadays, 47% of Spaniards are regular users of Internet ⁽¹⁾ and the trend appears to be unstoppable when considering that in Spain the use of Internet has been steadily growing by approximately 20% each year since 2001. 

These days, we are getting used to buying airline tickets, applying for jobs, purchasing in a different country, reading international press, making phone calls at ridiculous fares or even paying taxes online.   Does it suffice to believe that we can approach any project via online research?

Right now, Spain is almost reaching 18 millions of Internet users from which 13 millions⁽²⁾ participate in social networks, such as Facebook, with visitation levels growing rapidly. 

In accordance with this growth, the acceptance of online market research has also been growing and some clients have passed from complete scepticism to sheer curiosity or from utter rejection to being champions of online methodologies.  Still, many companies remain cautious and hesitate when having to choose online methodologies. 

In fact, according to ESOMAR Industry Report 2009, Spain does not appear amongst the Top 10 countries with highest online research spend.  Furthermore, local data⁽³⁾ show that online research account for 25% of the turnover by type of methodology but as much as 80.7% of this figure is due to quantitative projects. Accordingly, the rapid increase of online research does not appear to be related to its use in qualitative projects.  Despite the fact that it showed a staggering 25% growth in 2008, it is still struggling to gain a foothold in the qualitative research arena.

Frankly, we believe that online research is a great tool that has its own place within the research armamentarium.  Online Focus Groups and Bulleting Boards are great but are not suitable for all types of projects.  Surely, sensible qualitative research with traditional focus groups and face to face interviews will continue filling a researchers’ need for many years.

Fieldwork Implications

Naturally, the choice of methodology needs a lot of thinking and requires the consideration of many different issues.  On balance, we believe that no matter how complex this decision is, the starting point for any choice between online and in person qualitative methodologies involve answering the following questions: 

·         How representative is the sample available?

·         How reliable are the providers of samples?

·         What is the level of computer literacy required by the project?

·         Is typing speed a must?

·         May age range/ health condition be a limitation?

·         Do products need to be handled?

·         Are client materials highly confidential?

·         Does the subject of research restrict the use of online methodologies?

·         Does the country have availability of local professionals experienced in online methodologies?

TOP 20 Hospitals in Spain

The results of the VII edition of the “Top 20 Hospitals” that measure the quality and economic efficiency of the Spanish hospitals have been presented by the Ministry of Health. 

This time, the sample included 116 public -52% of the hospitals included in the National healthcare system- and 27 private hospitals, which have voluntarily accepted to be evaluated by a consultancy.

The ranking shows that ten out of the first twenty hospitals listed are located in Barcelona .  Clínica Corachan leads the private hospital ranking while Hospital Clínic, Bellvitge and Vall D’Hebron hold the first positions as public hospitals.

Fieldwork Implications

The fact that Barcelona has such a number of reference centres explains why it is so frequently selected for international healthcare projects.  Hospitals that appear at the top of the ranking have a proven record in dealing successfully with complex specialities that required a high degree of technology and specialised training. 

These organizations are at the forefront of research and their specialists are, to say the least, well informed about the latest treatments.  For fieldwork purposes, considering an international perspective, there are two important conclusions to be drawn upon Barcelona :

·         It is a place that shouldn’t be left aside in any local or multi-country healthcare research sample.

·         It is the place of many national and regional Opinion Leaders; most of the pharmaceutical companies select hospitals in Barcelona to carry out clinical trials

9 tips to make special your working days in Barcelona

Having to work in December and January, Barcelona is a great place for you and your clients to indulge yourselves after a hard working day.  In this special occasion, AWindow would like to offer all clients who use our facility throughout the holiday season a complimentary bottle of Cava (Catalan sparkling wine).

9 tips to make special your working days in Barcelona

One way you can indulge yourself during special occasions, is to give yourself extra “you time” for the day.  Here, there are some ideas to make your business trip unforgettable:

• Barcelona has old buildings, narrow streets and a friendly atmosphere; why not to stroll around to find out the ideal location for entertaining your clients?

• If you have the budget to do so, you could choose to indulge yourself in a spa or to get a massage.

• Appreciating and caring for ourselves really means more than most of us realize. Why don’t you take a time to think about all the things that make you smile and feel special: children, projects, ideas, etc?

• How about buying a pretty bouquet of flowers or a tie so that everyone knows you are special?

• Take yourself out to dinner or to a drink

• Get yourself a present that you would enjoy.

• Visit the Olympic Port of Barcelona and go to the cinema to watch that film put off for so long.

• Visit the craft market in the Born area. The Born area is good for shopping and it is also very pretty during the Christmas period, with dim lights and narrow streets. The market itself offers classy products such as jewellery, scarves and ornaments

• Get a tour to see Barcelona by night.  There is an extensive and varied selection of sightseeing tours by coach.  Visit the most emblematic buildings of the city such as The Temple of Sacred Family or La Pedrera

 

Facts and figures. Did you know?

AWindow it is only 26 minutes drive from the airport and it is located in the premier area of central Barcelona at a walking distance from important landmarks.

Call us at +34 934593103 or mail us at services@awindow.info

Working around the holiday season!!