Articles

Do People Join Panels Simply for the Money?

Ever wonder what makes panelists tick? Why do they sign up? Is it a money-grab?

It is well known that incentives do enhance response rates with self-completion surveys, including online methods. However, it has been suspected that rewards are not the only reason for motivation. Some research has shown that non-financial rewards, such as curiosity can be important for panelists.A recent white paper by Pete Comley's, Understanding the Online Panelist, attempts to answer the age old question why panelist participate. The results found a wide spectrum of reasons that can be summarized into four general areas; "Helpers", "Professionals", "Opinionated" and "Incentivised".

The largest group was the "Opinionated" at 35% who are characterized as being motivated by having their views heard and will sometimes do surveys without reward. The second largest group at 30%, was the "Professionals" who are strongly motivated by financial rewards but willing to do shorter surveys daily. The "Incentivised" group at 20% is particularly motivated by offers and will occasionally do surveys without rewards. Finally, the "Helpers" group makes up 15% of panelists and enjoys doing surveys without payment.

The conclusion of the paper outlines that panels should offer a variety of incentives to ensure that no matter what group the panelists belong to, they are motivated to complete surveys.

If you would like to read the white paper, click here.

Vision Critical has a team of panel experts who evaluate the best variety to meet a client's research goals for both recruiting and maintaining happy panelists. Contact Julie Romas (e: julie.romas@visioncritical.com / p: 604.647.3557) to learn more.

Posted on April 11, 2007
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Simulated Test Marketing, Actual Results

Are you frustrated with a product or marketing campaign that your gut says should have been successful but somehow it wasn’t? You’re not alone. Ninety percent of new products or services fail.

In Market New Products Successfully by Kevin J. Clancy, Peter C. Krieg, and Marianne McGarry Wolf talk about how to avoid the problems with conventional approaches to market testing and not become part of this devastating statistic.R.M. Gordon, a marketing professor in business management at John Hopkins University in Baltimore, reviews the book in Marketing Management magazine.

In Market New Products Successfully, the authors introduce a different type of test marketing, the simulated test marketing (STM). As opposed to testing in the real world, as most marketers do, STM can deliver better information and more reliable forecasts.

A good STM system will give you a forecast of market responses to your product and campaign, but also diagnostic information such as how to position, price and advertise the product. The authors articulate popular mistakes to avoid, like setting high expectations for the level of distribution in the first year.

R.M. Gordon gives two thumbs up. This book is "clearly written and easy to understand - without being dumbed down. This is the best practitioner book I've seen on the subject". The book outlines how to use STM, how different STM systems work and the strengths and weaknesses of each.

If you would like to run an STM, we can offer our Fusion suite of interactive 3D applications and environments. Respondents can explore virtual retail stores or interact with products from a shelfset. Clients can present various package designs, alternating store locations, shelfset position and point-of-purchase materials to gauge purchase intent. For more information on Fusion, click here.

Posted on March 19, 2007
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Procter & Gamble’s CMO Has New Mantra of Dialogue-Driven Communications

One of the world’s largest marketers, Procter & Gamble, is leading a major cultural shift away from “telling and selling” type of marketing to building relationship with customers.

At the Association of American Advertising Agencies’ Media Conference, Jim Stengel, Procter & Gamble’s Chief Marketing Officer, talked about the future of marketing being about a two way dialogue. “It’s about engaging with people in a two way relationship and seeking to understand the other person rather than control them”.Jim Stengel's session lived up to its billing as one of the must-see presentations with plenty of examples to describe the two-way community-oriented strategy. One such example was the "human" approach taken by Procter & Gamble to getting the Folgers factory in operation after the devastating Hurricane Katrina. The stories told by the factory's employees were used in Folgers' advertising. What was the result for the brand? It recovered its market share and exceeded it past the pre-hurricane mark.

However, Jim Stengel did give words of caution to marketers taking on this cultural shift. "It takes stepping outside of your comfort zone and eliminating barriers that separate you from your consumers". [One way to get closer to your customers is with Vision Critical's Panel + software.] "It's not going to happen overnight but if we make one big bet on the future, the smart money is on building relationships".

The Association of American Advertising Agencies' Media Conference was held in Las Vegas from February 28 to March 2. Read Jim Stengel's full transcript here.

Posted on March 12, 2007
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How Retailers are Building Customer Advocates

The cover story in Stores Magazine outlines how more retailers are focusing on building customer advocates.

Shoppers become “active advocates” when they feel strongly enough to share their positive experiences with friends and family. An “active advocate” speaks well about your brand or store, but they also spend more.

So how do you measure advocates? One technique that has gained a lot of attention recently is Net Promoter Score (NPS), developed by Fred Reichheld, author of “The Ultimate Question”. Companies with a high NPS score also had exceptional revenue growth.The entire study boils down to one question that asks respondents to rank on a scale from 0 to 10 the following ƒ?ohow likely are you to recommend this company/store to a friend or colleague?ƒ?? The NPS score is achieved by taking the percentage of positive responses and subtracting the percentage of negative responses.

Stores Magazine tested this very question over the 2006 holiday season. Stores along with BIGresearch polled 8,000 consumers over the age of 18 and asked which store they had purchased the most of their 2006 holiday gifts. Then respondents were asked to rate, on a scale of 0 (lowest) to 10 (highest), how likely they would recommend the store or chain to friends. Amazon.com (60.7%) and Costco (55.6 %) earned the highest NPS results which compares with Fred Reichheldƒ?Ts findings, Costco (79%), Amazon.com (73).

If you would like to build active advocates, consider developing a customer advisory panel with Vision Critical. Customer advisory panels are groups of people (usually into the tens of thousands) who have agreed to participate in research inquiries. Since 2000, we've developed 150 panels for organizations such as Liz Claiborne Inc., RIM Blackberry, Cleveland Clinic, Nestle, Valvoline, Telus, Virgin Mobile, WestJet and Sirius Satellite Radio. If you would like to learn how we can help your organization, contact Julie Romas at julie.romas@visioncritical.com or call 604.647.3557.

Posted on March 6, 2007
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The Consumer Panel Reinvented

Early this February, Marketing News selected consumer panels as this issue’s hot topic. And it’s easy to see why. Today’s consumer research panels have evolved to be faster, more efficient and cost effective – costing almost half as much as traditional telephone surveys. Research panels are quickly becoming the favoured method of research.In the '50s and '60s consumers and marketers met face to face. The '70s brought self-completion methods like mail questionnaires. The '80s capitalized on the telephone but times changed when telemarketers posed as researchers and created a hostile audience. With the internet a new door has opened, respondents have greater control when to participate. This control leads to higher participation in studies and what some might say is more open and honest feedback without the influence of a researcher listening on the phone or watching your every move in a focus group. Researchers are however, augmenting the panel research by using some of the old methods, such as the phone, to conduct more in-depth interviews.

Technology today, [such as Panel+ƒ,› from Vision Critical] has made collecting, caring and maintaining panels much easier and quicker. Consumer panels are made up of people (usually into the tens of thousands) who have consented to participate in research inquiries. For those research die-hards concerned about the accurate representation within a panel, the make-up is controlled to ensure a fair sample from various audiences. If one segment is less responsive, it can be augmented to gather more data and collect a properly representative yield.

It's taken time to evolve from mail questionnaires and telephone surveys to a multi-channel consumer panel, but researchers agree that it all comes back to the desire for efficient primary research.

Posted on February 21, 2007
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