Specialist research techniques
Specialist techniques in market research are areas that often involve prices, modelling and statistical estimation, or that blend data sources, or more complex statistics still require expertise. Whereas research into likes and dislikes or simple attitudes and preferences is easy to carry out, more advanced market research requires better tools and more statistical design.
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Brand equity and brand value |
The term Brand equity is used to describe both the value of the brand and the brand's component values. It's value may be calculated in financial terms in comparison to unbranded products, shown as an increase in a rate of return, or presented as a more complex mix of softer market metrics such as awareness, consideration, brand strength or brand image. |
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Customer satisfaction measurement |
Customer Satisfaction can start with simplistic Net Promoter Score (NPS) or dive in to more complex customer satisfaction programs using menu-driven customer satisfaction measurement using our Cxoice Survey System. |
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Product development and product positioning |
![]() Product managers need to carry out a wide-range of specialist research, from initial idea generation, concept screening, feature prioritisation, formal product testing, pricing and market sizing, market forecasting and message development to final launch materials and market monitoring. |
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Pricing research and pricing optimisation |
Market context, positioning and price strategy are extremely important in setting prices - what are you trying to do with your prices - win share or maximise revenue or profits? And how are you planning to structure the pricing for sales and value. In business markets "value-in-use" or "total cost" may be more important than absolute price. Price modelling and market models are a fundamental part of pricing research to estimate demand, price sensitivity, optimum points and competitor responses and to plan a pricing strategy to deliver maximum value. |
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Market segmentation |
![]() The process of segmentation starts with research and market analysis to identify key segments. However, the findings of the research are just the start. To be successful, implementing a segmentation strategy involves aligning the organisation to deliver appropriately for each segment and there are real business considerations with segmentation to be considered because each segment requires investment if it is to be properly addressed. |
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Pricing research tips |
Even within a business, price can be talked about in terms of product positioning by marketing people, but as about income, profits and return on investment for finance directors, and about sales, discounts and promotions among sales directors. Consequently price works at multiple levels, with multiple meanings. |
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Specialised qualitative research |
Our sensory-emotional technique is a particularly powerful way of exploring and eliciting the hidden patterns that drive our responses to products and advertising. |
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Advertising testing |
On top of the survey research are the behavioural measurements of responses - click-thrus and conversion rates on online media advertising and social media monitoring and then repeating and improving with methods like A/B testing. |
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Key accounts research |
For businesses working on a project-by-project basis, win-loss research helps the business understand and improve the bids and offers it makes to customers. |
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Sensory-emotional research |
Our sensory-emotional research process is a proprietary technique for uncovering the deep patterns and emotional responses that we have towards products and brands. Whilst we outline the technique here, it is best understood in a face-to-face demonstration which we would happily arrange with potential clients. |
Menus, configurators, mock-ups and Simalto |
The benefit of any form of research into choices and trade-offs is that it forces people to make decisions and so reveal what they most want or most prefer. Although conjoint analysis is by far the best known of what can be characterised as 'trade-off analysis' it is not the only option. There are many cases where conjoint analysis is not applicable and other trade off techniques such as MaxDiff, menu-building or configurators, brand-price trade-offs (BPTO) or techniques like SIMALTO (simultaneous alternative level trade-off) or trade-off grids are more applicable, or observing real choices can be combined with questions and reasoning behind the choices being made. | |
Usability and customer experience research |
Design is a fundamental part of technology and services, not just software or web design as usability affects even simple things like where products are placed in a shop, or how a queuing system works in a bank. Good design comes from insights gathered by observing and understanding how people use technology and the ways in which they expect to interact with it. This could be as simple as looking over someone's shoulder while they do something, but can involve following complex customer journeys, with possibilities for qualitative discussion with users about what they are trying to achieve. Research and experiments are typically used iteratively with a design or technical team, to test and evaluate different factors of design through the stages of wireframing, prototyping to final finished product or service. | |
New Market Research (NMR) |
Market research has been changing rapidly in the past decade. New technologies have changed the way people shop, communicate and share information. Businesses have huge sets of observational data about customers (subject to privacy laws) and where and how they shop. Researchers have new ways to collect information from photos, video, social media and interactive tools using artificial intelligence. New ideas from neuroscience about how people make decisions and the need to understand emotional content of products and services meaning that the traditional linear questionnaires and formalised research needs to step up. Businesses have automated systems and dashboards for monitoring customer performance and interest. As machines start to use AI to learn and predict preferences directly from observed behaviour, what is the role of research? |