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April 21, 2010

Tracking Behavior, Data Mining Compliment Surveys, Not Replace Them

Posted by Peter Shafer

The explosion of data available to marketers and senior management is creating even more friction between traditional market research tools and new statistical modeling tools. And rather than focus on how the tools can work together, too many marketers and public relations professionals are treating market research and data mining as separate discreet tools.

Consumers have and continue to be tracked and monitored constantly. All those pieces of data are fed into complex mathematical and statistical models in hopes of predicting current and future consumer behavior. The goal of the modeling is to improve the “overall customer experience” and target consumers with the products they both want and need which will lead to more sales and more loyalty.

The basic question is, “if I can track behavior and mine that data, why do I need to continue to conduct market research?”

Behavioral data is really “transactional” data. In fact, it is even wide open to interpretation. Behavioral data captures the elements of the actual transaction — but it does not capture the environment in which the transaction occurs. It misses the emotional attitudes, the key messages and the ego that factor into a purchase decision.

In addition, most behavioral models only capture “successful” transactions while ignoring why a consumer DID NOT buy or engage with a brand. Market research tools such as surveys can help clarify why a consumer did not engage with an offer or a brand.

In order to increase the odds of winning, work on combining the two research tools to build a more robust and complete picture of the market. Executives should use both types of research. Surveys, focus groups and in-depth interviews are exceptional tools for uncovering attitudes, emotions and key messages that resonate which can then provide the context for the mined data.

Mine the data and then match it up with consumer attitudes using other market research methods.

It is not about the tools, it is about the outcomes the tools can produce.

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January 15, 2010

Your Clients Deserve Quality Research

Posted by Peter Shafer

It was offensive to me as a researcher to see the mainstream television news media spend so much time reporting on a flimsy and utterly inane survey conducted on Facebook about killing President Obama. The fact that (1) it was labeled as a survey on Facebook and (2) that 730 people responded is simply sickening and stunning.

This kind of horrid activity should never be labeled as "research" or a "survey" or a "poll". By doing so only makes it harder for legitimate survey data to get substantive media coverage.

This sensational and ridiculous story resonated with me for several reasons:

1. Almost all research conducted on social media websites is NOT representative nor is it true. It is mostly created by people who don't know how to craft questions, analyze results or draw conclusions from the data.
2. Asking the "right" questions is even more important now. I would say that almost 75% of all questions asked in surveys are either biased, poorly worded or written in a way that confuse consumers - and this confusion is leading to the WRONG responses and then WRONG conclusions.
3. Technology is making it easier for bad research to enter into the mainstream, which is diluting and overshadowing good research work. Technology certainly makes it more convenient and less costly to conduct research - but the REAL value in research is the analysis and consulting - those activities provide "clear direction" versus simply fun facts and figures that grab headlines.
4. The old adage "You get what you pay for" rings so true in research today - the cheaper the data, the higher likelihood the data (and the research) has serious issues and it will lead to poor results.
5. Don't fall into the trap that "sensational" means "good" or "meaningful." The farce mentioned above created media attention, but it also created major problems for Facebook and the persons involved. The reward was not worth the risk.

Bad data is leading to bad decisions and possibly leading to bad outcomes. Your clients deserve much better.

Do yourself a favor and don't succumb to the "down and dirty" schemes of research.

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