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What is Fieldwork in Market Research?

Definition of Fieldwork

Fieldwork in market research refers to the collection of primary data directly from the source or field. This involves various techniques such as surveys, interviews, observations, and experiments conducted with targeted groups or individuals. The main aim of fieldwork is to gather raw data, providing firsthand, in-depth, and accurate information about customers’ behaviors, attitudes, preferences, or any other aspects needed for the study. This data is then used to make informed decisions or predictions about the market.

History of Fieldwork

The history of fieldwork in market research is as old as the history of market research itself. It dates back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries when businesses began recognizing the need for informed decisions based on customers’ perspectives. The modern practice of fieldwork, as part of the market research process, took shape after World War II, when there was increased competition in the market, leading to the need for more detailed consumer insights.

Initial fieldwork methodologies were very traditional, heavily relying on door-to-door surveys and in-person interviews. As technology advanced, fieldwork methodologies have also evolved significantly. They now incorporate online surveys, telephone interviews, video interviews, social media analytics, mobile data collection, etc., allowing researchers to reach larger and more diverse audiences.

• Surveys : One of the most common types of fieldwork. They can be conducted face-to-face, via telephone, or online. For instance, a beverage company could survey consumers about their flavor preferences for new product development.
• Interviews : These can be structured (with pre-defined questions) or unstructured (more open-ended). An example could be a car manufacturer conducting face-to-face interviews to understand consumers’ thoughts on their latest car model.
• Observations : Here, the researcher observes consumers in their natural settings. An example could be a clothing retailer observing consumer behavior in their store to understand how they interact with different product displays.
• Experiments : These are typically set up in controlled environments to test specific variables. For instance, a restaurant might experiment with different menu designs to see which results in higher sales.

Is the term fieldwork in market research known by any other names?

The term “fieldwork” in market research is often interchangeably used with several other terms, depending on the context and specific methods used. Some of these include:

• Primary Research : This term is used because fieldwork involves collecting original or primary data that has not been previously gathered. However, primary research also includes other techniques like experiments and content analysis, which may or may not be considered fieldwork, depending on their design.
• Data Collection : This is a more general term that refers to gathering information. Fieldwork is a type of data collection that occurs directly from the source or field.
• Ethnographic Research : While technically a type of fieldwork, this term is often used when the research involves immersive observation of the subject in their natural environment over extended periods.
• Survey Research : This term is commonly used when fieldwork primarily involves using surveys to gather information from a sample of individuals.

It’s important to note that while these terms often overlap with the concept of fieldwork in market research, they each have their nuances and specificities. Hence, the appropriate term to use would depend on the context and the precise nature of the research being conducted.

Fieldwork Use Cases

Fieldwork in market research has a broad spectrum of applications across various industries. Here are some common use cases:

• Product Development : Companies often conduct fieldwork to gather insights about consumer preferences and needs, which can guide the development of new products or services.
• Brand Positioning : Fieldwork helps understand consumers’ perceptions of a brand and its competitors, assisting in devising effective positioning strategies.
• Customer Satisfaction : By gathering firsthand data from customers, businesses can gauge the level of customer satisfaction and identify areas of improvement.
• Advertising Testing : Fieldwork can be used to test the effectiveness of advertising campaigns, with feedback used to optimize future efforts.
• Market Segmentation : Fieldwork helps in identifying different customer groups based on their behaviors, attitudes, and needs, aiding in the creation of targeted marketing strategies.

Fieldwork is a vital component of market research, offering a direct line to consumer insights and behaviors. Its robust methodologies, adaptable to changing market and technological conditions, make it a reliable tool for any business looking to succeed in its market.

Trends in Fieldwork in Market Research

As an integral part of market research, fieldwork is continually evolving, keeping pace with technological advancements and changing consumer behaviors. Some notable trends shaping the future of fieldwork include:

• Mobile Fieldwork : As smartphones become ubiquitous, they play a key role in shaping fieldwork methodologies. Mobile surveys are gaining traction thanks to their convenience and the ability to reach a broader audience. These surveys allow respondents to provide data in real-time, anywhere, at any time, providing researchers with immediate, valuable insights. An added advantage is leveraging smartphone features like geolocation and multimedia capabilities, enriching the data collected.
• Social Media Analytics : Social media platforms have become a goldmine of consumer behavior data. As consumers share their preferences, opinions, and experiences on these platforms, they leave a trail of valuable data points. By observing and analyzing these interactions, researchers can gain profound insights into consumer sentiments and trends. This practice is growing rapidly due to its potential to provide unfiltered, authentic, and timely data.
• AI and Machine Learning in Fieldwork : AI and machine learning technologies are revolutionizing fieldwork data processing and analysis. They provide sophisticated tools to handle large and complex data sets, reducing the time and effort traditionally required for data analysis. These technologies can uncover hidden patterns, predict trends, and provide deeper insights, thus enhancing the value derived from fieldwork. With the increase in computational power and the availability of big data, the role of AI and machine learning in fieldwork is set to expand.

These trends are evidence of an exciting evolution in the field of market research. Embracing these changes will enable researchers to conduct fieldwork more efficiently, effectively and deliver more accurate and actionable insights. As market research continues to evolve, it will be intriguing to see how these trends will further shape the future of fieldwork.

Challenges in Fieldwork in Market Research

While fieldwork plays a crucial role in market research, it has its hurdles. Understanding these challenges can help refine strategies and lead to more effective data collection and analysis. Here are some common challenges faced by researchers:

Data Quality : One of the foremost challenges in fieldwork is ensuring the quality of the data collected. Several factors can affect this:

• Respondent Fatigue : This occurs when respondents become tired or bored during data collection, leading to hurried or careless responses, thus affecting the data’s reliability.
• Bias : Bias can creep in from various sources – from the researcher’s side (e.g., leading questions) or from the respondent’s side (e.g., social desirability bias where respondents answer in a way they believe is socially acceptable rather than being truthful). Managing these biases is crucial to obtaining accurate data.
• Dishonesty : Some respondents may provide false information, either deliberately or unintentionally. Such misinformation can skew the research results.

Ethical Considerations : Fieldwork must be conducted responsibly, respecting participants’ rights and privacy:

• Privacy : Protecting respondent privacy is critical, especially with data protection regulations like GDPR. Researchers must ensure that personal data is collected, stored, and used ethically and legally.
• Informed Consent : Researchers must ensure respondents understand the purpose of the research, what their participation involves, and their rights, including the right to withdraw from the study at any time without repercussions.
• Sensitive Topics or Vulnerable Populations : Extra care must be taken when dealing with sensitive topics or vulnerable populations, such as children or people with disabilities. Appropriate measures should be implemented to ensure their comfort and safety during the research process.

Conducting Fieldwork in Rural Versus Urban Areas

Fieldwork in both rural and urban settings has its unique set of opportunities and challenges, given the differences in these environments.

Urban Areas:

Urban areas generally have a higher population density, diverse demographics, and better connectivity. This makes it easier to find and reach target respondents for fieldwork. However, urban respondents may have higher expectations for incentives or maybe less available due to busy lifestyles. There could also be more distractions, potentially affecting data quality.

Rural Areas:

Rural areas, on the other hand, may pose logistical challenges due to lower population density, less developed infrastructure, and potentially greater geographical distances between respondents. However, rural populations may be more available and willing to participate in fieldwork studies. It is also important to be aware of cultural and social norms, which may vary greatly from urban areas, and to adapt research methods accordingly.

Conducting Fieldwork in Multiple Countries

Fieldwork across different countries provides the opportunity to gather diverse and rich data. It enables comparative studies and offers insights into different markets. However, it also comes with its own set of challenges:

• Cultural Differences : Different countries have different cultural norms, values, and behaviors, which could affect the conduct and interpretation of fieldwork. Ensuring cultural sensitivity and understanding these differences is vital for successful fieldwork.
• Language Barriers : Communication can be challenging if the researchers and respondents do not share a common language. It may be necessary to hire local fieldworkers or translators.
• Legal and Ethical Considerations : Different countries may have different laws and regulations around data collection, privacy, and research ethics. It is important to understand and comply with these.
• Logistical Challenges : Time zones, travel arrangements, and scheduling can all present logistical difficulties when conducting fieldwork across multiple countries.

To overcome these challenges, careful planning, adequate resources, cultural training, and collaboration with local partners can be beneficial. By taking into account these considerations, fieldwork in different geographical and cultural contexts can yield valuable insights.

Key Considerations for Brands Conducting Fieldwork Research

Fieldwork can provide invaluable insights for brands, but it’s essential to approach it thoughtfully. Here are some crucial considerations:

• Defining Clear Objectives : The first step in any research initiative is to clearly outline what you hope to learn. The objectives of the fieldwork must be defined upfront to guide the design of the research methodology.
• Selection of Appropriate Methodology : Depending on the research objectives, brands should choose the right mix of fieldwork methods – surveys, interviews, observations, etc. The chosen methods should effectively gather the required information and be feasible in the given context.
• Sample Selection : Brands must determine who they will include in their fieldwork research. The sample should represent the population they want to make inferences about. Proper sample selection ensures the reliability and validity of the study.
• Training of Fieldworkers : The quality of data collected heavily relies on the skills of the researchers. Brands need to ensure that fieldwork researchers are adequately trained to conduct the research ethically and effectively, minimizing bias.
• Data Analysis : The data collected during fieldwork needs to be appropriately analyzed to derive meaningful insights. This might require statistical expertise and the use of appropriate data analysis tools.
• Respecting Privacy and Ethical Considerations : Brands must conduct their fieldwork per ethical guidelines and respect participants’ privacy. They need to ensure informed consent, anonymity, and data protection.
• Budget and Timeline : Brands must consider their resources in terms of budget and timeline. Fieldwork can be time-consuming and potentially expensive depending on the scale, so proper planning is necessary to ensure efficiency.
• Incorporating Findings into Strategy : Finally, brands should plan how to use the insights gathered from fieldwork. The findings should inform decision-making, strategy development, and improvement initiatives.

By considering these factors, brands can ensure their fieldwork research is effective, efficient, and beneficial to their strategic goals.

The Advantage of Partnering with a Market Research Company

Choosing to collaborate with a market research agency, particularly one as established as Kadence International, can be a strategic decision for brands for several reasons:

• Expertise : Market research agencies like Kadence bring a wealth of expertise in various research methodologies, including fieldwork. We know how to design effective research studies, choose appropriate data collection methods, select representative samples, and analyze data to derive meaningful insights.
• Experience Across Markets : Kadence International, with its global footprint, has experience conducting research in diverse markets. We understand cultural nuances, local market dynamics, and regional consumer behavior, which can be invaluable in multinational research.
• Access to Tools and Technologies : Market research agencies often have access to advanced research tools and technologies. This can range from sophisticated data analysis software to mobile or online survey platforms. These tools can enhance the efficiency and accuracy of the research.
• Time and Resource Efficiency : Conducting fieldwork can be time-consuming and resource-intensive. By outsourcing this task to a market research agency, brands can focus on their core competencies. Also, agencies often have established processes and resources to conduct research more quickly and efficiently.
• Impartiality : An external agency can bring an objective perspective to the research. They can minimize biases that may inadvertently creep into internally conducted research.
• Actionable Recommendations : Beyond data collection and analysis, market research agencies often provide actionable recommendations based on their findings. They can help translate research insights into strategic implications, making it easier for brands to apply the learnings.

Partnering with a market research agency like Kadence International can enhance the quality, efficiency, and impact of fieldwork research, driving informed decision-making and strategic success for brands.

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What is Field Research? Definition, Types, Methods, Examples

Appinio Research · 05.04.2024 · 29min read

Have you ever wondered how researchers gather data about real-life situations, behaviors, and interactions? Field research holds the answer. Field research is like stepping into the world around us to study things as they naturally happen. It's about going beyond the confines of a lab or a controlled environment to observe, interact with, and collect data from people, communities, or natural settings. Whether it's understanding how people make decisions, studying the behavior of animals in their habitats, or exploring cultural practices in different societies, field research offers a window into the complexities of our world. It's a hands-on approach that allows you to immerse yourself in the context you're studying, gaining firsthand insights and uncovering patterns that might not be apparent in artificial settings. From interviewing participants to conducting observations and surveys, field researchers employ a variety of techniques to capture the richness and diversity of human experiences and natural phenomena. In this guide, we'll explore the ins and outs of field research, from its importance and applications to practical tips for planning, conducting, and analyzing field studies.

What is Field Research?

Field research is a qualitative data collection method that involves studying phenomena in their natural settings. Unlike laboratory experiments or simulations, field research takes place in real-world environments, allowing you to observe, interact with, and gather data from participants or phenomena as they naturally occur. This approach enables researchers to gain firsthand insights into complex social, behavioral, or environmental dynamics, providing rich and contextually embedded data for analysis and interpretation.

Field research methods vary widely depending on the research objectives and context but may include techniques such as participant observation, interviews, surveys, focus groups, or ethnographic studies . Field researchers often immerse themselves in the field for an extended period, building rapport with participants, gaining trust, and capturing the nuances and complexities of the research context.

Importance of Field Research

Field research plays a crucial role in various disciplines and industries, serving as a cornerstone for generating new knowledge, understanding real-world phenomena, and informing decision-making and practice.

Here is why field research is important:

• Contextual Understanding:  Field research allows researchers to study phenomena in their natural contexts, providing a nuanced understanding of the social, cultural, and environmental factors that shape behavior, attitudes, and experiences. By immersing themselves in the field, you can capture the intricacies and complexities of real-life situations that may not be apparent in controlled laboratory settings.
• Insights into Human Behavior:  Field research provides valuable insights into human behavior, interactions, and relationships in diverse contexts. By observing and interacting with participants in their natural environments, researchers can uncover patterns, motivations, and social dynamics that influence individual and group behaviors. This understanding is essential for addressing societal challenges, designing interventions, and improving policy and practice.
• Generating Grounded Theory:  Field research often serves as the foundation for grounded theory development, where theoretical frameworks and hypotheses emerge from empirical observations and data analysis. By systematically collecting and analyzing data from the field, you can generate new theories, concepts, or models that are grounded in real-world phenomena and have practical relevance and applicability.
• Validating and Supplementing Existing Knowledge:  Field research provides an opportunity to validate or supplement existing knowledge derived from laboratory studies, surveys, or secondary data sources. By corroborating findings across different methods and contexts, you can enhance the credibility and robustness of their conclusions and contribute to the accumulation of knowledge in their respective fields.
• Informing Policy and Practice:  Field research findings have direct implications for policy development, program planning, and practice in various sectors such as healthcare, education, social services, and environmental management . By generating evidence-based insights and recommendations, field research can inform decision-making processes, guide resource allocation, and improve the effectiveness and relevance of interventions and policies.

Field research offers a unique opportunity to explore, understand, and address real-world phenomena in their natural contexts. By embracing the complexities and nuances of the field, researchers can generate valuable insights, advance theoretical understanding, and make meaningful contributions to scholarship, practice, and society at large.

How to Prepare for Field Research?

Laying the groundwork for your research journey is crucial before diving into the field. This involves a series of preparatory steps aimed at ensuring clarity, focus, and feasibility in your approach.

1. Define Research Objectives

Your research objectives serve as the guiding light throughout your field research endeavor. They delineate the purpose of your study and provide a clear direction for your investigative efforts. When defining your objectives, consider the overarching goals you aim to achieve and the specific outcomes you hope to attain through your research. Whether it's understanding a particular phenomenon, exploring a societal issue, or testing a theoretical proposition, articulate your objectives with precision and clarity.

2. Choose a Research Topic

Selecting the right research topic is paramount to the success of your field research project. Your topic should be aligned with your interests, expertise, and the broader context of your field of study. Consider the relevance, novelty, and significance of potential topics, and choose one that resonates with your intellectual curiosity and research goals. Additionally, ensure that your chosen topic is feasible within the constraints of time, resources, and access to data or participants.

3. Develop Research Questions

Research questions serve as the compass that guides your inquiry and shapes the trajectory of your research journey. These questions should be framed in a way that allows for systematic investigation and exploration of the phenomenon under study. When developing your research questions, strive for clarity, specificity, and relevance to your chosen topic. Consider the scope of inquiry, the level of detail required, and the potential implications of your questions for theory, practice, or policy.

4. Formulate Hypotheses

Hypotheses provide a framework for hypothesis-driven research, allowing you to make predictions about the relationships or patterns you expect to observe in your data. If your research is hypothesis-driven, formulate clear and testable hypotheses that articulate the expected outcomes or associations based on existing theory or empirical evidence. Ensure your hypotheses are falsifiable, meaning they can be rigorously tested and potentially disproven through empirical investigation.

5. Review Existing Literature

Before venturing into the field, take the time to immerse yourself in the existing literature relevant to your research topic. A comprehensive literature review not only provides valuable insights into the current state of knowledge but also helps you identify gaps, contradictions, or areas needing further exploration. Synthesize and critically evaluate the findings, theories, and methodologies presented in the literature, and use this knowledge to inform your own research design , questions, and hypotheses.

6. Secure Necessary Permissions and Resources

Obtaining the requisite permissions and resources is essential for the smooth execution of your field research project. Depending on the nature of your study, you may need to seek ethical approval from institutional review boards or obtain permits for conducting research in specific locations or with certain populations.

Additionally, ensure you have access to the necessary resources, such as funding, equipment, transportation, and logistical support, to carry out your research effectively. Be proactive in addressing potential challenges or barriers that may arise during the planning phase, and seek guidance or assistance as needed to navigate the regulatory and logistical requirements of your research endeavor.

How to Plan Field Research?

As you transition from the preparatory phase to the implementation stage, meticulous planning becomes essential to ensure the success and efficiency of your field research endeavors. Let's delve into the key components of planning field research, from selecting appropriate methodologies to anticipating and mitigating potential challenges.

1. Select Suitable Research Methods

Choosing the proper research methods is pivotal to the success of your field research project. Your research objectives, questions, and the nature of the phenomenon under investigation should guide the selection process. Consider the strengths and limitations of various research methodologies, such as qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods approaches, and choose the one that best aligns with your research goals. Factors to consider include:

• The level of depth and detail required.
• The type of data you aim to collect.
• The accessibility of research participants or sites.

Be prepared to adapt and refine your chosen methods as you gain insights and experience in the field.

2. Design Research Instruments

Once you've identified your research methods, the next step is to design the instruments or tools you'll use to collect data. Whether it's interview guides, survey questionnaires , observation protocols, or experimental materials , your research instruments should be meticulously crafted to elicit relevant and reliable information from your participants.

Pay attention to the clarity, comprehensiveness, and validity of your instruments, ensuring that they align with your research objectives and are appropriate for your target population or context. Pilot testing your instruments with a small sample of participants can help identify and address any ambiguities or issues before full-scale implementation.

3. Determine Sampling Techniques

Sampling is a critical aspect of field research, influencing the representativeness and generalizability of your findings. There are various sampling techniques available, each suited to different research designs and objectives. Consider factors such as the size and diversity of your target population, the accessibility of potential participants, and the level of precision required for your study.

Standard sampling techniques include probability sampling methods like simple random sampling, stratified sampling , or cluster sampling , as well as non-probability sampling methods like convenience sampling, purposive sampling, or snowball sampling. Choose the sampling technique that best balances practical considerations with the need for valid and reliable data.

4. Create a Research Schedule

Developing a well-structured research schedule is essential for keeping your field research project on track and ensuring you meet your deadlines and milestones. Start by breaking down your research activities into manageable tasks and allocating timeframes for each stage of the process, from pre-fieldwork preparation to data analysis and reporting.

• Be realistic in your estimations and build in buffer time for unexpected delays or challenges that may arise during fieldwork.
• Consider factors such as seasonal variations, logistical constraints, and the availability of participants when scheduling your research activities.
• Regularly review and update your schedule as needed to accommodate changes or revisions to your plans.

5. Identify Potential Challenges and Mitigation Strategies

Field research is inherently unpredictable, and you're likely to encounter various challenges and obstacles along the way. Anticipating these challenges proactively and developing mitigation strategies can help minimize their impact on your research outcomes. Common challenges in field research include logistical issues, recruitment difficulties, ethical dilemmas, and interpersonal conflicts.

Take the time to identify potential risks and vulnerabilities inherent in your research design and context, and develop contingency plans or alternative courses of action to address them. Collaborate with peers, mentors, or experienced researchers to brainstorm solutions and draw on their insights and expertise. By being prepared and adaptable, you can navigate the complexities of field research with confidence and resilience.

How to Conduct Field Research?

Now that you've laid the groundwork and meticulously planned your field research project, it's time to roll up your sleeves and immerse yourself in the field.

Data Collection Techniques

Data collection is the heart of field research, enabling you to gather firsthand insights and observations from the field. You can employ several techniques to collect data, depending on your research objectives, context, and the nature of your study.

• Observational Methods:  Direct observation involves systematically observing and documenting behaviors, interactions, or phenomena in natural settings without interfering or influencing the subjects. This method is particularly useful for studying social interactions, environmental dynamics, or animal behavior.
• Interviewing:   Interviews allow researchers to engage in structured, semi-structured, or unstructured conversations with participants to gather in-depth insights, perspectives, or experiences related to the research topic. Depending on logistical constraints and participant preferences, interviews can be conducted face-to-face, over the phone, or via digital platforms.
• Surveys and Questionnaires :  Surveys involve administering standardized questionnaires or surveys to a sample of respondents to collect quantitative data on their attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, or demographics. Surveys can be distributed in person, via mail, email, or online platforms, depending on the target population and accessibility.
• Focus Groups :  Focus groups bring together a small group of participants to engage in facilitated discussions or brainstorming sessions around specific topics or issues. This method allows you to explore group dynamics, consensus, or dissent among participants and generate rich qualitative data through interaction and dialogue.

Choose the data collection techniques that best align with your research objectives, methodology, and participants' preferences. Be mindful of ethical considerations, informed consent procedures, and the need to maintain confidentiality and privacy during data collection.

As you navigate the intricacies of data collection in your field research journey, imagine streamlining the process and gaining valuable insights in a fraction of the time. With Appinio 's intuitive platform, you can accelerate your research endeavors, transforming hours of data collection into minutes of actionable insights. Empower yourself to make informed decisions swiftly and seamlessly, all while embracing the dynamic nature of field research.   Ready to experience the efficiency of Appinio firsthand? Book a demo now and unlock the power of real-time data collection and research!

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Fieldwork Logistics

Effective management of fieldwork logistics is essential for the smooth execution of your research project and the well-being of both researchers and participants. This entails careful planning, coordination, and organization of various logistical aspects, including participant recruitment, site selection, equipment management, and safety protocols.

• Recruiting Participants:  Identify and recruit eligible participants using appropriate sampling techniques and recruitment strategies. Clearly communicate the purpose and expectations of the study, obtain informed consent, and address any concerns or questions raised by participants.
• Establishing Field Sites:  Select and secure suitable field sites or locations where data collection will take place. Consider factors such as accessibility, safety, privacy, and the relevance of the site to your research objectives. Obtain any necessary permits or permissions required for conducting research in specific locations.
• Managing Equipment and Supplies:  Ensure that you have all the necessary equipment, materials, and resources required for data collection, recording, and storage. This may include audio or video recording devices, notebooks, pens, measuring instruments, or digital devices for data entry.
• Ensuring Research Ethics and Safety:  Adhere to ethical principles and guidelines governing research with human subjects, animals, or sensitive environments. Prioritize participant welfare and safety by implementing appropriate risk management measures, emergency procedures, and protocols for handling sensitive or confidential information.

Regularly assess and reassess the logistical needs and challenges encountered during fieldwork, and be prepared to adapt and improvise as needed to overcome obstacles and ensure the successful completion of your research objectives.

Data Recording and Management

Accurate and systematic data recording is crucial for maintaining the integrity and reliability of your research findings. Establish clear protocols and procedures for recording, organizing, and managing your data throughout the fieldwork process.

• Data Recording:  Document observations, interviews, survey responses, or other forms of data systematically and consistently. Use standardized formats, codes, or identifiers to ensure uniformity and ease of analysis. Consider using digital tools or software for data collection and recording to streamline the process and minimize errors.
• Data Storage and Backup:  Store your data securely and responsibly to prevent loss, theft, or unauthorized access. Back up your data regularly using reliable storage devices or cloud-based platforms to safeguard against data loss or corruption. Implement encryption, password protection, or other security measures to protect sensitive or confidential information.
• Data Validation and Quality Control:  Conduct periodic checks and validations to ensure the accuracy, completeness, and validity of your data. Double-check entries, reconcile discrepancies, and address any outliers or inconsistencies identified during the data collection process. Maintain detailed documentation of any revisions or corrections made to the dataset.

By implementing robust data recording and management practices, you can enhance the reliability, transparency, and reproducibility of your research outcomes and facilitate the analysis and interpretation of your findings.

Field Research Examples

Field research plays a pivotal role in helping businesses understand their customers, market dynamics, and competitive landscape. Here are some examples of how field research can be applied in real-world scenarios.

Customer Observation and Ethnography

Imagine a retail company seeking to improve its store layout and enhance customers' shopping experience. By conducting field research through customer observation and ethnographic studies , researchers can immerse themselves in the retail environment, observing how customers navigate the store, interact with products , and make purchasing decisions.

Through careful observation and note-taking, you can uncover valuable insights into customer preferences, behaviors, and pain points, informing strategic decisions around product placement, signage, and store design.

In-Depth Interviews and Focus Groups

A tech startup developing a new mobile app wants to gather feedback from potential users to refine its features and user interface. Through in-depth interviews and focus groups conducted in the field, researchers can engage directly with target users, exploring their needs, preferences , and usage patterns.

Asking probing questions and facilitating group discussions can elicit rich qualitative insights into user experiences, pain points, and desired functionalities. This firsthand feedback can guide the iterative development process, ensuring that the app meets the needs and expectations of its intended audience.

Market Research and Competitive Analysis

A multinational corporation launching a new product in a foreign market conducts field research to assess market demand and understand local competitors. Researchers may conduct surveys, interviews, and market observations to gather data on consumer preferences, buying behavior, and competitor offerings.

By analyzing this data, the company can identify market opportunities, refine its marketing strategy, and tailor its product offerings to meet the specific needs and preferences of the target market . Field research also provides valuable insights into competitive positioning, allowing the company to differentiate itself and capitalize on its unique strengths.

User Testing and Usability Studies

A software development company wants to ensure that its website is user-friendly and intuitive for visitors. Through field research methods such as user testing and usability studies , researchers can observe real users interacting with the website in a naturalistic setting.

By monitoring users' actions, navigation patterns, and feedback, you can identify usability issues, areas of confusion, and opportunities for improvement. This iterative process of testing and refinement helps optimize the website's design and functionality, ultimately enhancing the user experience and driving customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Employee Feedback and Organizational Culture

A large corporation embarks on a field research initiative to better understand employee satisfaction, engagement, and organizational culture. Through surveys, focus groups, and participatory observation, researchers gather feedback from employees across different departments and hierarchical levels.

By exploring topics such as work-life balance, communication channels, and leadership effectiveness, you can identify areas of strength and areas for improvement within the organization. This insights-driven approach enables the company to implement targeted interventions, policies, and initiatives to foster a positive and inclusive work environment, ultimately enhancing employee morale, productivity, and retention.

In each of these examples, field research serves as a valuable tool for generating actionable insights, informing strategic decision-making, and driving business success. By embracing a hands-on, experiential approach to research, businesses can gain a competitive edge in today's dynamic and rapidly evolving marketplace.

How to Analyze Field Research Data?

Once you've collected data in the field, the next critical step is to analyze it to derive meaningful insights and draw conclusions.

1. Clean and Organize Data

Before delving into the analysis, it's essential to clean and organize your data to ensure its quality and integrity. Data cleaning involves identifying and rectifying errors, inconsistencies, or missing values in your dataset. Data cleaning tasks include:

• Removing Outliers:  Identify and remove any extreme or erroneous data points that may skew your analysis or distort your findings.
• Handling Missing Data:  Address missing values by imputing them using appropriate techniques such as mean imputation, regression imputation, or multiple imputation.
• Standardizing Variables:  Ensure consistency in measurement units, scales, or formats across variables to facilitate comparison and analysis.
• Checking for Data Entry Errors:  Review data entries for typos, duplicates, or other inaccuracies that may arise during data collection or recording.

Once the data cleaning process is complete, organize your dataset in a structured and systematic manner to facilitate analysis. Create variables, labels, or categories as needed, and document any transformations or manipulations applied to the data for transparency and reproducibility.

2. Apply Analytical Techniques

With a clean and organized dataset in hand, you can now apply analytical techniques to uncover patterns, relationships, or trends within the data. The choice of analytical techniques will depend on your research questions, objectives, and the nature of your data.

Analytical methods used in field research include:

• Descriptive Statistics :  Calculate measures of central tendency, variability, and distribution to summarize and describe your data.
• Inferential Statistics :  Use statistical tests such as t-tests, chi-square tests, regression analysis , or analysis of variance (ANOVA) to test hypotheses, compare groups, or examine relationships between variables.
• Qualitative Analysis:  Employ qualitative data analysis techniques such as thematic analysis , content analysis, or grounded theory to explore themes, patterns, or meanings embedded within textual or narrative data.
• Mixed Methods Analysis:  Integrate quantitative and qualitative data to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the research phenomenon through triangulation or data transformation techniques.

Select analytical techniques appropriate for your research design, data type, and research questions. Ensure your analyses are conducted rigorously and transparently, adhering to established standards and guidelines in your field.

3. Interpret Findings

Once the analysis is complete, it's time to interpret the findings and draw meaningful conclusions from your data. Interpretation involves making sense of the results in the context of your research objectives, theoretical framework, and empirical evidence.

• Contextualizing Results:  Situate your findings within the broader context of existing literature, theoretical perspectives, or real-world phenomena to provide meaningful insights and interpretations.
• Identifying Patterns and Trends:  Highlight recurring patterns, trends, or relationships observed in the data and discuss their implications for theory, practice, or policy.
• Exploring Alternative Explanations:  Consider alternative explanations or interpretations of the findings and discuss their potential implications for the validity and reliability of your conclusions.
• Addressing Unexpected Findings:  Acknowledge and address any unexpected or counterintuitive findings that may challenge existing assumptions or theories and offer plausible explanations or avenues for further exploration.

Communicate your interpretations clearly and concisely, using evidence from your data to support your claims and conclusions. Be transparent about the limitations and uncertainties inherent in your findings, and discuss their implications for future research or practice.

4. Address Limitations and Bias

No research study is without limitations or biases, and it's essential to acknowledge and address these shortcomings transparently. To address limitations and bias in your field research:

• Methodological Limitations:  Discuss any limitations or constraints inherent in your research design, sampling methods, or data collection techniques that may have influenced the validity or generalizability of your findings.
• Selection Bias :  Be mindful of selection bias, where certain groups or individuals are overrepresented or underrepresented in your sample, and consider its potential impact on the reliability and validity of your results.
• Social Desirability Bias:  Recognize the influence of social desirability bias, where participants may provide responses that are perceived as socially acceptable rather than truthful, and consider strategies to mitigate its effects.
• Researcher Bias:  Reflect on your own biases, assumptions, or preconceptions that may have influenced the research process or interpretation of findings, and strive for objectivity and reflexivity in your analysis and reporting.

By acknowledging and addressing limitations and biases transparently, you demonstrate intellectual honesty and integrity, and contribute to the credibility and robustness of your research outcomes.

How to Report Field Research Results?

Communicating your research findings effectively is essential for sharing your insights with the academic community, policymakers, practitioners, and other stakeholders. Here are some strategies for reporting and presenting your results:

• Structuring the Research Report:  Organize your research report in a clear and logical manner, following the conventions of academic writing. Include sections such as introduction, literature review, methodology, results, discussion, and conclusions. Each section should flow cohesively, guiding the reader through the research process from inception to conclusion.
• Writing Techniques and Guidelines:  Use clear, concise, and jargon-free language to convey your findings to a diverse audience. Structure your sentences and paragraphs logically, and use headings, subheadings, and bullet points to enhance readability. Pay attention to grammar, spelling, and punctuation, and adhere to the formatting style prescribed by your discipline or publication venue.
• Creating Visual Representations: Enhance your research report or presentation with visual representations such as tables, charts, graphs, heatmaps , or diagrams. Choose visual formats that effectively illustrate key findings or trends in your data. Ensure that your visuals are clear, accurate, and appropriately labeled, and provide a brief caption or explanation to contextualize the information presented.
• Preparing Presentations:  Design engaging and informative presentations highlighting your research's main findings and implications. Use slides, visuals, and storytelling techniques to capture your audience's attention and convey your message effectively. Structure your presentation logically, with a clear introduction, main body, and conclusion, and allow time for questions and discussion.
• Sharing Findings with Stakeholders:  Share your research findings with relevant stakeholders, including academic peers, policymakers, practitioners, or community members. Tailor your communication approach to the needs and preferences of your audience, and choose appropriate dissemination channels such as conferences, seminars, publications, or social media platforms. Invite feedback or collaboration whenever possible, and be open to engaging in dialogue and knowledge exchange with your audience.

Effective reporting and presentation of research results not only showcase the significance and impact of your work but also contribute to knowledge dissemination, collaboration, and informed decision-making in your field. Strive for clarity, coherence, and engagement in your communication efforts, and consider your audience's diverse needs and interests when crafting your messages.

Conclusion for Field Research

Field research is a powerful tool for gaining a deeper understanding of the world around us. By venturing into real-life settings, you can uncover valuable insights into human behavior, societal dynamics, and natural phenomena. Whether studying the behavior of animals in their natural habitats or exploring the intricacies of human interactions, field research offers a unique perspective that complements other research methods. By embracing the complexities and nuances of the field, researchers can generate knowledge that is grounded in real-world experiences and has practical implications for addressing pressing societal challenges. Furthermore, field research isn't just about collecting data—it's about making a difference. The i nsights gained from field studies can inform policy decisions, shape interventions, and drive positive change in communities and organizations . By sharing their findings with stakeholders, you can contribute to evidence-based decision-making and foster collaboration between academia, government, and civil society.

How to Conduct Research in Minutes?

Introducing Appinio , your gateway to lightning-fast market research within the realm of field research. As a real-time market research platform, Appinio revolutionizes how companies access consumer insights, empowering them to make swift, data-driven decisions. With Appinio, conducting your own market research becomes a breeze, eliminating the challenges typically associated with field research.

Here's why Appinio stands out:

• From questions to insights in minutes:  Say goodbye to lengthy research processes. With Appinio, you can gather crucial consumer insights in mere minutes, allowing you to keep pace with the dynamic business landscape.
• Intuitive platform for everyone:  No need for a PhD in research. Appinio's user-friendly interface makes it accessible to anyone, empowering you to delve into market research without the hassle of complex technicalities.
• Rapid response time:  With an average field time of less than 23 minutes for 1,000 respondents, Appinio ensures swift data collection without compromising quality or accuracy.

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How to do market research in 4 steps: a lean approach to marketing research

From pinpointing your target audience and assessing your competitive advantage, to ongoing product development and customer satisfaction efforts, market research is a practice your business can only benefit from.

Learn how to conduct quick and effective market research using a lean approach in this article full of strategies and practical examples. 

Last updated

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A comprehensive (and successful) business strategy is not complete without some form of market research—you can’t make informed and profitable business decisions without truly understanding your customer base and the current market trends that drive your business.

In this article, you’ll learn how to conduct quick, effective market research  using an approach called 'lean market research'. It’s easier than you might think, and it can be done at any stage in a product’s lifecycle.

How to conduct lean market research in 4 steps

What is market research, why is market research so valuable, advantages of lean market research, 4 common market research methods, 5 common market research questions, market research faqs.

We’ll jump right into our 4-step approach to lean market research. To show you how it’s done in the real world, each step includes a practical example from Smallpdf , a Swiss company that used lean market research to reduce their tool’s error rate by 75% and boost their Net Promoter Score® (NPS) by 1%.

Research your market the lean way...

From on-page surveys to user interviews, Hotjar has the tools to help you scope out your market and get to know your customers—without breaking the bank.

The following four steps and practical examples will give you a solid market research plan for understanding who your users are and what they want from a company like yours.

1. Create simple user personas

A user persona is a semi-fictional character based on psychographic and demographic data from people who use websites and products similar to your own. Start by defining broad user categories, then elaborate on them later to further segment your customer base and determine your ideal customer profile .

How to get the data: use on-page or emailed surveys and interviews to understand your users and what drives them to your business.

How to do it right: whatever survey or interview questions you ask, they should answer the following questions about the customer:

Who are they?

What is their main goal?

What is their main barrier to achieving this goal?

Pitfalls to avoid:

Don’t ask too many questions! Keep it to five or less, otherwise you’ll inundate them and they’ll stop answering thoughtfully.

Don’t worry too much about typical demographic questions like age or background. Instead, focus on the role these people play (as it relates to your product) and their goals.

How Smallpdf did it: Smallpdf ran an on-page survey for a couple of weeks and received 1,000 replies. They learned that many of their users were administrative assistants, students, and teachers.

Next, they used the survey results to create simple user personas like this one for admins:

Who are they? Administrative Assistants.

What is their main goal? Creating Word documents from a scanned, hard-copy document or a PDF where the source file was lost.

What is their main barrier to achieving it? Converting a scanned PDF doc to a Word file.

💡Pro tip: Smallpdf used Hotjar Surveys to run their user persona survey. Our survey tool helped them avoid the pitfalls of guesswork and find out who their users really are, in their own words. 

You can design a survey and start running it in minutes with our easy-to-use drag and drop builder. Customize your survey to fit your needs, from a sleek one-question pop-up survey to a fully branded questionnaire sent via email. 

We've also created 40+ free survey templates that you can start collecting data with, including a user persona survey like the one Smallpdf used.

2. Conduct observational research

Observational research involves taking notes while watching someone use your product (or a similar product).

Overt vs. covert observation

Overt observation involves asking customers if they’ll let you watch them use your product. This method is often used for user testing and it provides a great opportunity for collecting live product or customer feedback .

Covert observation means studying users ‘in the wild’ without them knowing. This method works well if you sell a type of product that people use regularly, and it offers the purest observational data because people often behave differently when they know they’re being watched. 

Tips to do it right:

Record an entry in your field notes, along with a timestamp, each time an action or event occurs.

Make note of the users' workflow, capturing the ‘what,’ ‘why,’ and ‘for whom’ of each action.

Don’t record identifiable video or audio data without consent. If recording people using your product is helpful for achieving your research goal, make sure all participants are informed and agree to the terms.

Don’t forget to explain why you’d like to observe them (for overt observation). People are more likely to cooperate if you tell them you want to improve the product.

💡Pro tip: while conducting field research out in the wild can wield rewarding results, you can also conduct observational research remotely. Hotjar Recordings is a tool that lets you capture anonymized user sessions of real people interacting with your website. 

Observe how customers navigate your pages and products to gain an inside look into their user behavior . This method is great for conducting exploratory research with the purpose of identifying more specific issues to investigate further, like pain points along the customer journey and opportunities for optimizing conversion .

With Hotjar Recordings you can observe real people using your site without capturing their sensitive information

How Smallpdf did it: here’s how Smallpdf observed two different user personas both covertly and overtly.

Observing students (covert): Kristina Wagner, Principle Product Manager at Smallpdf, went to cafes and libraries at two local universities and waited until she saw students doing PDF-related activities. Then she watched and took notes from a distance. One thing that struck her was the difference between how students self-reported their activities vs. how they behaved (i.e, the self-reporting bias). Students, she found, spent hours talking, listening to music, or simply staring at a blank screen rather than working. When she did find students who were working, she recorded the task they were performing and the software they were using (if she recognized it).

Observing administrative assistants (overt): Kristina sent emails to admins explaining that she’d like to observe them at work, and she asked those who agreed to try to batch their PDF work for her observation day. While watching admins work, she learned that they frequently needed to scan documents into PDF-format and then convert those PDFs into Word docs. By observing the challenges admins faced, Smallpdf knew which products to target for improvement.

“Data is really good for discovery and validation, but there is a bit in the middle where you have to go and find the human.”

3. Conduct individual interviews

Interviews are one-on-one conversations with members of your target market. They allow you to dig deep and explore their concerns, which can lead to all sorts of revelations.

Listen more, talk less. Be curious.

Act like a journalist, not a salesperson. Rather than trying to talk your company up, ask people about their lives, their needs, their frustrations, and how a product like yours could help.

Ask "why?" so you can dig deeper. Get into the specifics and learn about their past behavior.

Record the conversation. Focus on the conversation and avoid relying solely on notes by recording the interview. There are plenty of services that will transcribe recorded conversations for a good price (including Hotjar!).

Avoid asking leading questions , which reveal bias on your part and pushes respondents to answer in a certain direction (e.g. “Have you taken advantage of the amazing new features we just released?).

Don't ask loaded questions , which sneak in an assumption which, if untrue, would make it impossible to answer honestly. For example, we can’t ask you, “What did you find most useful about this article?” without asking whether you found the article useful in the first place.

Be cautious when asking opinions about the future (or predictions of future behavior). Studies suggest that people aren’t very good at predicting their future behavior. This is due to several cognitive biases, from the misguided exceptionalism bias (we’re good at guessing what others will do, but we somehow think we’re different), to the optimism bias (which makes us see things with rose-colored glasses), to the ‘illusion of control’ (which makes us forget the role of randomness in future events).

How Smallpdf did it: Kristina explored her teacher user persona by speaking with university professors at a local graduate school. She learned that the school was mostly paperless and rarely used PDFs, so for the sake of time, she moved on to the admins.

A bit of a letdown? Sure. But this story highlights an important lesson: sometimes you follow a lead and come up short, so you have to make adjustments on the fly. Lean market research is about getting solid, actionable insights quickly so you can tweak things and see what works.

💡Pro tip: to save even more time, conduct remote interviews using an online user research service like Hotjar Engage , which automates the entire interview process, from recruitment and scheduling to hosting and recording.

You can interview your own customers or connect with people from our diverse pool of 200,000+ participants from 130+ countries and 25 industries. And no need to fret about taking meticulous notes—Engage will automatically transcribe the interview for you.

4. Analyze the data (without drowning in it)

The following techniques will help you wrap your head around the market data you collect without losing yourself in it. Remember, the point of lean market research is to find quick, actionable insights.

A flow model is a diagram that tracks the flow of information within a system. By creating a simple visual representation of how users interact with your product and each other, you can better assess their needs.

You’ll notice that admins are at the center of Smallpdf’s flow model, which represents the flow of PDF-related documents throughout a school. This flow model shows the challenges that admins face as they work to satisfy their own internal and external customers.

Affinity diagram

An affinity diagram is a way of sorting large amounts of data into groups to better understand the big picture. For example, if you ask your users about their profession, you’ll notice some general themes start to form, even though the individual responses differ. Depending on your needs, you could group them by profession, or more generally by industry.

We wrote a guide about how to analyze open-ended questions to help you sort through and categorize large volumes of response data. You can also do this by hand by clipping up survey responses or interview notes and grouping them (which is what Kristina does).

“For an interview, you will have somewhere between 30 and 60 notes, and those notes are usually direct phrases. And when you literally cut them up into separate pieces of paper and group them, they should make sense by themselves.”

Pro tip: if you’re conducting an online survey with Hotjar, keep your team in the loop by sharing survey responses automatically via our Slack and Microsoft Team integrations. Reading answers as they come in lets you digest the data in pieces and can help prepare you for identifying common themes when it comes time for analysis.

Hotjar lets you easily share survey responses with your team

Customer journey map

A customer journey map is a diagram that shows the way a typical prospect becomes a paying customer. It outlines their first interaction with your brand and every step in the sales cycle, from awareness to repurchase (and hopefully advocacy).

The above  customer journey map , created by our team at Hotjar, shows many ways a customer might engage with our tool. Your map will be based on your own data and business model.

📚 Read more: if you’re new to customer journey maps, we wrote this step-by-step guide to creating your first customer journey map in 2 and 1/2 days with free templates you can download and start using immediately.

Next steps: from research to results

So, how do you turn market research insights into tangible business results? Let’s look at the actions Smallpdf took after conducting their lean market research: first they implemented changes, then measured the impact.

Implement changes

Based on what Smallpdf learned about the challenges that one key user segment (admins) face when trying to convert PDFs into Word files, they improved their ‘PDF to Word’ conversion tool.

We won’t go into the details here because it involves a lot of technical jargon, but they made the entire process simpler and more straightforward for users. Plus, they made it so that their system recognized when you drop a PDF file into their ‘Word to PDF’ converter instead of the ‘PDF to Word’ converter, so users wouldn’t have to redo the task when they made that mistake. 

In other words: simple market segmentation for admins showed a business need that had to be accounted for, and customers are happier overall after Smallpdf implemented an informed change to their product.

Measure results

According to the Lean UX model, product and UX changes aren’t retained unless they achieve results.

Smallpdf’s changes produced:

A 75% reduction in error rate for the ‘PDF to Word’ converter

A 1% increase in NPS

Greater confidence in the team’s marketing efforts

"With all the changes said and done, we've cut our original error rate in four, which is huge. We increased our NPS by +1%, which isn't huge, but it means that of the users who received a file, they were still slightly happier than before, even if they didn't notice that anything special happened at all.”

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Market research (or marketing research) is any set of techniques used to gather information and better understand a company’s target market. This might include primary research on brand awareness and customer satisfaction or secondary market research on market size and competitive analysis. Businesses use this information to design better products, improve user experience, and craft a marketing strategy that attracts quality leads and improves conversion rates.

David Darmanin, one of Hotjar’s founders, launched two startups before Hotjar took off—but both companies crashed and burned. Each time, he and his team spent months trying to design an amazing new product and user experience, but they failed because they didn’t have a clear understanding of what the market demanded.

With Hotjar, they did things differently . Long story short, they conducted market research in the early stages to figure out what consumers really wanted, and the team made (and continues to make) constant improvements based on market and user research.

Without market research, it’s impossible to understand your users. Sure, you might have a general idea of who they are and what they need, but you have to dig deep if you want to win their loyalty.

Here’s why research matters:

Obsessing over your users is the only way to win. If you don’t care deeply about them, you’ll lose potential customers to someone who does.

Analytics gives you the ‘what’, while research gives you the ‘why’. Big data, user analytics , and dashboards can tell you what people do at scale, but only research can tell you what they’re thinking and why they do what they do. For example, analytics can tell you that customers leave when they reach your pricing page, but only research can explain why.

Research beats assumptions, trends, and so-called best practices. Have you ever watched your colleagues rally behind a terrible decision? Bad ideas are often the result of guesswork, emotional reasoning, death by best practices , and defaulting to the Highest Paid Person’s Opinion (HiPPO). By listening to your users and focusing on their customer experience , you’re less likely to get pulled in the wrong direction.

Research keeps you from planning in a vacuum. Your team might be amazing, but you and your colleagues simply can’t experience your product the way your customers do. Customers might use your product in a way that surprises you, and product features that seem obvious to you might confuse them. Over-planning and refusing to test your assumptions is a waste of time, money, and effort because you’ll likely need to make changes once your untested business plan gets put into practice.

Lean User Experience (UX) design is a model for continuous improvement that relies on quick, efficient research to understand customer needs and test new product features.

Lean market research can help you become more...

Efficient: it gets you closer to your customers, faster.

Cost-effective: no need to hire an expensive marketing firm to get things started.

Competitive: quick, powerful insights can place your products on the cutting edge.

As a small business or sole proprietor, conducting lean market research is an attractive option when investing in a full-blown research project might seem out of scope or budget.

There are lots of different ways you could conduct market research and collect customer data, but you don’t have to limit yourself to just one research method. Four common types of market research techniques include surveys, interviews, focus groups, and customer observation.

Which method you use may vary based on your business type: ecommerce business owners have different goals from SaaS businesses, so it’s typically prudent to mix and match these methods based on your particular goals and what you need to know.

1. Surveys: the most commonly used

Surveys are a form of qualitative research that ask respondents a short series of open- or closed-ended questions, which can be delivered as an on-screen questionnaire or via email. When we asked 2,000 Customer Experience (CX) professionals about their company’s approach to research , surveys proved to be the most commonly used market research technique.

What makes online surveys so popular?  

They’re easy and inexpensive to conduct, and you can do a lot of data collection quickly. Plus, the data is pretty straightforward to analyze, even when you have to analyze open-ended questions whose answers might initially appear difficult to categorize.

We've built a number of survey templates ready and waiting for you. Grab a template and share with your customers in just a few clicks.

💡 Pro tip: you can also get started with Hotjar AI for Surveys to create a survey in mere seconds . Just enter your market research goal and watch as the AI generates a survey and populates it with relevant questions. 

Once you’re ready for data analysis, the AI will prepare an automated research report that succinctly summarizes key findings, quotes, and suggested next steps.

An example research report generated by Hotjar AI for Surveys

2. Interviews: the most insightful

Interviews are one-on-one conversations with members of your target market. Nothing beats a face-to-face interview for diving deep (and reading non-verbal cues), but if an in-person meeting isn’t possible, video conferencing is a solid second choice.

Regardless of how you conduct it, any type of in-depth interview will produce big benefits in understanding your target customers.

What makes interviews so insightful?

By speaking directly with an ideal customer, you’ll gain greater empathy for their experience , and you can follow insightful threads that can produce plenty of 'Aha!' moments.

3. Focus groups: the most unreliable

Focus groups bring together a carefully selected group of people who fit a company’s target market. A trained moderator leads a conversation surrounding the product, user experience, or marketing message to gain deeper insights.

What makes focus groups so unreliable?

If you’re new to market research, we wouldn’t recommend starting with focus groups. Doing it right is expensive , and if you cut corners, your research could fall victim to all kinds of errors. Dominance bias (when a forceful participant influences the group) and moderator style bias (when different moderator personalities bring about different results in the same study) are two of the many ways your focus group data could get skewed.

4. Observation: the most powerful

During a customer observation session, someone from the company takes notes while they watch an ideal user engage with their product (or a similar product from a competitor).

What makes observation so clever and powerful?

‘Fly-on-the-wall’ observation is a great alternative to focus groups. It’s not only less expensive, but you’ll see people interact with your product in a natural setting without influencing each other. The only downside is that you can’t get inside their heads, so observation still isn't a recommended replacement for customer surveys and interviews.

The following questions will help you get to know your users on a deeper level when you interview them. They’re general questions, of course, so don’t be afraid to make them your own.

1. Who are you and what do you do?

How you ask this question, and what you want to know, will vary depending on your business model (e.g. business-to-business marketing is usually more focused on someone’s profession than business-to-consumer marketing).

It’s a great question to start with, and it’ll help you understand what’s relevant about your user demographics (age, race, gender, profession, education, etc.), but it’s not the be-all-end-all of market research. The more specific questions come later.

2. What does your day look like?

This question helps you understand your users’ day-to-day life and the challenges they face. It will help you gain empathy for them, and you may stumble across something relevant to their buying habits.

3. Do you ever purchase [product/service type]?

This is a ‘yes or no’ question. A ‘yes’ will lead you to the next question.

4. What problem were you trying to solve or what goal were you trying to achieve?

This question strikes to the core of what someone’s trying to accomplish and why they might be willing to pay for your solution.

5. Take me back to the day when you first decided you needed to solve this kind of problem or achieve this goal.

This is the golden question, and it comes from Adele Revella, Founder and CEO of Buyer Persona Institute . It helps you get in the heads of your users and figure out what they were thinking the day they decided to spend money to solve a problem.

If you take your time with this question, digging deeper where it makes sense, you should be able to answer all the relevant information you need to understand their perspective.

“The only scripted question I want you to ask them is this one: take me back to the day when you first decided that you needed to solve this kind of problem or achieve this kind of a goal. Not to buy my product, that’s not the day. We want to go back to the day that when you thought it was urgent and compelling to go spend money to solve a particular problem or achieve a goal. Just tell me what happened.”

— Adele Revella , Founder/CEO at Buyer Persona Institute

Bonus question: is there anything else you’d like to tell me?

This question isn’t just a nice way to wrap it up—it might just give participants the opportunity they need to tell you something you really need to know.

That’s why Sarah Doody, author of UX Notebook , adds it to the end of her written surveys.

“I always have a last question, which is just open-ended: “Is there anything else you would like to tell me?” And sometimes, that’s where you get four paragraphs of amazing content that you would never have gotten if it was just a Net Promoter Score [survey] or something like that.”

What is the difference between qualitative and quantitative research?

Qualitative research asks questions that can’t be reduced to a number, such as, “What is your job title?” or “What did you like most about your customer service experience?” 

Quantitative research asks questions that can be answered with a numeric value, such as, “What is your annual salary?” or “How was your customer service experience on a scale of 1-5?”

 → Read more about the differences between qualitative and quantitative user research .

How do I do my own market research?

You can do your own quick and effective market research by 

Surveying your customers

Building user personas

Studying your users through interviews and observation

Wrapping your head around your data with tools like flow models, affinity diagrams, and customer journey maps

What is the difference between market research and user research?

Market research takes a broad look at potential customers—what problems they’re trying to solve, their buying experience, and overall demand. User research, on the other hand, is more narrowly focused on the use (and usability ) of specific products.

What are the main criticisms of market research?

Many marketing professionals are critical of market research because it can be expensive and time-consuming. It’s often easier to convince your CEO or CMO to let you do lean market research rather than something more extensive because you can do it yourself. It also gives you quick answers so you can stay ahead of the competition.

Do I need a market research firm to get reliable data?

Absolutely not! In fact, we recommend that you start small and do it yourself in the beginning. By following a lean market research strategy, you can uncover some solid insights about your clients. Then you can make changes, test them out, and see whether the results are positive. This is an excellent strategy for making quick changes and remaining competitive.

Net Promoter, Net Promoter System, Net Promoter Score, NPS, and the NPS-related emoticons are registered trademarks of Bain & Company, Inc., Fred Reichheld, and Satmetrix Systems, Inc.

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Brandwatch Consumer Research

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Published October 17 th 2023

10 Essential Methods for Effective Consumer and Market Research

When it comes to understanding the world around you, market research is an essential step.

We live in a world that’s overflowing with information. Sifting through all the noise to extract the most relevant insights on a certain market or audience can be tough.

That’s where market research comes in – it’s a way for brands and researchers to collect information from target markets and audiences.

Once reliant on traditional methods like focus groups or surveys, market research is now at a crossroads. Newer tools for extracting insights, like social listening tools, have joined the array of market research techniques available.

Here, we break down what market research is and the different methods you can choose from to make the most of it.

What is market research, and why is it critical for you as a marketer?

Market research involves collecting and analyzing data about a specific industry, market, or audience to inform strategic decision-making. It offers marketers valuable insights into the industry, market trends, consumer preferences, competition, and opportunities, enabling businesses to refine their strategies effectively.

By conducting market research, organizations can identify unmet needs, assess product demands, enhance value propositions, and create marketing campaigns that resonate with their target audience. 

This practice serves as a compass, guiding businesses in making data-driven decisions for successful product launches, improved customer relationships, and a stronger positioning in the business landscape. 

For marketers and insights professionals, market research is an indispensable tool. It helps them make smarter decisions and achieve growth and success in the market.

These 10 market research methods form the backbone of effective market research strategies. 

Continue reading or jump directly to each method by tapping the link below.

• Focus groups
• Consumer research with social media listening
• Experiments and field trials
• Observation
• Competitive analysis
• Public domain data
• Buy research
• Analyze sales data

Use of primary vs secondary market research

Market research can be split into two distinct sections: primary and secondary. These are the two main types of market research.

They can also be known as field and desk, respectively (although this terminology feels out of date, as plenty of primary research can be carried out from your desk).

Primary (field) research

Primary market research is research you carry out yourself. Examples of primary market research methods include running your own focus groups or conducting surveys. These are some of the key methods of consumer research. The ‘field’ part refers to going out into the field to get data.

Secondary (desk) research

Secondary market research is research carried out by other people that you want to use. Examples of secondary market research methods include studies carried out by researchers or financial data released by companies.

10 effective methods to do market research

The methods in this list cover both areas. Which ones you want to use will depend on your goals. Have a browse through and see what fits.

1. Focus groups

It’s a simple concept but one that can be hard to put into practice.

You bring together a group of individuals into a room, record their discussions, and ask them questions about various topics you are researching. For some, it’ll be new product ideas. For others, it might be views on a political candidate.

From these discussions, the organizer will try to pull out some insights or use them to judge the wider society’s view on something. The participants will generally be chosen based on certain criteria, such as demographics, interests, or occupations.

A focus group’s strength is in the natural conversation and discussion that can take place between participants (if they’re done right).

Compared to a questionnaire or survey with a rigid set of questions, a focus group can go off on tangents the organizer could not have predicted (and therefore not planned questions for). This can be good in that unexpected topics can arise; or bad if the aims of the research are to answer a very particular set of questions.

The nature of the discussion is important to recognize as a potential factor that skews the resulting data. Focus groups can encourage participants to talk about things they might not have otherwise, and others might impact the group. This can also affect unstructured one-on-one interviews.

In survey research, survey questions are given to respondents (in person, over the phone, by email, or via an online form). Questions can be close-ended or open-ended. As far as close-ended questions go, there are many different types:

• Dichotomous (two choices, such as ‘yes’ or ‘no’)
• Multiple choice
• Rating scale
• Likert scale (common version is five options between ‘strongly agree’ and ‘strongly disagree’)
• Matrix (options presented on a grid)
• Demographic (asking for information such as gender, age, or occupation)

Surveys are massively versatile because of the range of question formats. Knowing how to mix and match them to get what you need takes consideration and thought. Different questions need the right setup.

It’s also about how you ask. Good questions lead to good analysis. Writing clear, concise questions that abstain from vague expressions and don’t lead respondents down a certain path can help your results reflect the true colors of respondents.

There are a ton of different ways to conduct surveys as well, from creating your own from scratch or using tools that do lots of the heavy lifting for you.

3. Consumer research with social media listening

Social media has reached a point where it is seamlessly integrated into our lives. And because it is a digital extension of ourselves, people freely express their opinions, thoughts, and hot takes on social media.

Because people share so much content on social media and the sharing is so instant, social media is a treasure trove for market research. There is plenty of data to monitor , tap into, and dissect.

By using a social listening tool, like Consumer Research , researchers can identify topics of interest and then analyze relevant social posts. For example, they can track brand mentions and what consumers are saying about the products owned by that brand. These are real-world consumer research examples.

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Social media listening democratizes insights, and is especially useful for market research because of the vast amount of unfiltered information available. Because it’s unprompted, you can be fairly sure that what’s shared is an accurate account of what the person really cares about and thinks (as opposed to them being given a subject to dwell on in the presence of a researcher).

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Learn how to get started with social listening

4. Interviews

In interviews, the interviewer speaks directly with the respondent. This type of market research method is more personal, allowing for communication and clarification, making it good for open-ended questions. Furthermore, interviews enable the interviewer to go beyond surface-level responses and investigate deeper.

However, the drawback is that interviews can be time-intensive and costly. Those who opt for this method will need to figure out how to allocate their resources effectively. You also need to be careful with leading or poor questions that lead to useless results. Here’s a good introduction to leading questions .

5. Experiments and field trials

Field experiments are conducted in the participants’ environment. They rely on the independent variable and the dependent variable – the researcher controls the independent variable in order to test its impact on the dependent variable. The key here is to establish whether there’s causality.

For example, take Hofling’s experiment that tested obedience, conducted in a hospital setting. The point was to test if nurses followed authority figures (doctors) and if the authority figures’ rules violated standards (The dependent variable being the nurses, the independent variable being a fake doctor calling up and ordering the nurses to administer treatment.)

According to Simply Psychology , there are key strengths and limitations to this method.

The assessment reads:

• Strength: Behavior in a field experiment is more likely to reflect real life because of its natural setting, i.e., higher ecological validity than a lab experiment.
• Strength: There is less likelihood of demand characteristics affecting the results, as participants may not know they are being studied. This occurs when the study is covert.
• Limitation: There is less control over extraneous variables that might bias the results. This makes it difficult for another researcher to replicate the study in exactly the same way.

There are also massive ethical implications for these kinds of experiments and experiments in general (especially if people are unaware of their involvement). Don’t take this lightly, and be sure to read up on all the guidelines that apply to the region where you’re based.

6. Observation

Observational market research is a qualitative research method where the researcher observes their subjects in a natural or controlled environment. This method is much like being a fly on the wall, but the fly takes notes and analyzes them later. In observational market research, subjects are likely to behave naturally, which reveals their true selves. 

They are not under much pressure. However, if they’re aware of the observation, they can act differently.

This type of research applies well to retail, where the researcher can observe shoppers’ behavior by day of the week, by season, when discounts are offered, and more. However, observational research can be time-consuming, and researchers have no control over the environments they research.

7. Competitive analysis

Competitive analysis is a highly strategic and specific form of market research in which the researchers analyze their company’s competitors. It is critical to see how your brand stacks up to rivals. 

Competitive analysis starts by defining the product, service, brand, and market segment. There are different topics to compare your firm with your competitors. It could be from a marketing perspective: content produced, SEO structure, PR coverage, and social media presence and engagement. It can also be from a product perspective: types of offerings, pricing structure. SWOT analysis is key in assessing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

We’ve written a whole blog post on this tactic, which you can read here .

8. Public domain data

The internet is a wondrous place. Public data exists for those strapped for resources or simply seeking to support their research with more data.  With more and more data produced every year, the question about access and curation becomes increasingly prominent – that’s why researchers and librarians are keen on open data.

Plenty of different types of open data are useful for market research: government databases, polling data, “fact tanks” like Pew Research Center, and more. 

Furthermore, APIs grant developers programmatic access to applications. A lot of this data is free, which is a real bonus.

9. Buy research

Money can’t buy everything, but it can buy research. Subscriptions exist for those who want to buy relevant industry and research reports. Sites like Euromonitor, Statista, Mintel, and BCC Research host a litany of reports for purchase, oftentimes with the option of a single-user license or a subscription.

This can be a massive time saver, and you’ll have a better idea of what you’re getting from the very beginning. You’ll also get all your data in a format that makes sense, saving you effort in cleaning and organizing.

10. Analyze sales data

Sales data is like a puzzle piece that can help reveal the full picture of market research insights. Essentially, it indicates the results. Paired with other market research data, sales data helps researchers better understand actions and consequences. Understanding your customers, their buying habits, and how they change over time is important.

This research will be limited to customers, and it’s important to keep that in mind. Nevertheless, the value of this data should not be underestimated. If you’re not already tracking customer data, there’s no time like the present.

Choosing the right market research method for your strategy

Not all methods will be right for your situation or your business. Once you’ve looked through the list and seen some that take your fancy, spend more time researching each option.You’ll want to consider what you want to achieve, what data you’ll need, the pros and cons of each method, the costs of conducting the research, and the cost of analyzing the results.

Get it right, and it’ll be worth all the effort.

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What Is Market Research?

• How It Works
• Primary vs. Secondary
• How to Conduct Research

The Bottom Line

• Marketing Essentials

How to Do Market Research, Types, and Example

Joules Garcia / Investopedia

Market research examines consumer behavior and trends in the economy to help a business develop and fine-tune its business idea and strategy. It helps a business understand its target market by gathering and analyzing data.

Market research is the process of evaluating the viability of a new service or product through research conducted directly with potential customers. It allows a company to define its target market and get opinions and other feedback from consumers about their interest in a product or service.

Research may be conducted in-house or by a third party that specializes in market research. It can be done through surveys and focus groups, among other ways. Test subjects are usually compensated with product samples or a small stipend for their time.

Key Takeaways

• Companies conduct market research before introducing new products to determine their appeal to potential customers.
• Tools include focus groups, telephone interviews, and questionnaires.
• The results of market research inform the final design of the product and determine how it will be positioned in the marketplace.
• Market research usually combines primary information, gathered directly from consumers, and secondary information, which is data available from external sources.

Market Research

How market research works.

Market research is used to determine the viability of a new product or service. The results may be used to revise the product design and fine-tune the strategy for introducing it to the public. This can include information gathered for the purpose of determining market segmentation . It also informs product differentiation , which is used to tailor advertising.

A business engages in various tasks to complete the market research process. It gathers information based on the market sector being targeted by the product. This information is then analyzed and relevant data points are interpreted to draw conclusions about how the product may be optimally designed and marketed to the market segment for which it is intended.

It is a critical component in the research and development (R&D) phase of a new product or service introduction. Market research can be conducted in many different ways, including surveys, product testing, interviews, and focus groups.

Market research is a critical tool that companies use to understand what consumers want, develop products that those consumers will use, and maintain a competitive advantage over other companies in their industry.

Primary Market Research vs. Secondary Market Research

Market research usually consists of a combination of:

• Primary research, gathered by the company or by an outside company that it hires
• Secondary research, which draws on external sources of data

Primary Market Research

Primary research generally falls into two categories: exploratory and specific research.

• Exploratory research is less structured and functions via open-ended questions. The questions may be posed in a focus group setting, telephone interviews, or questionnaires. It results in questions or issues that the company needs to address about a product that it has under development.
• Specific research delves more deeply into the problems or issues identified in exploratory research.

Secondary Market Research

All market research is informed by the findings of other researchers about the needs and wants of consumers. Today, much of this research can be found online.

Secondary research can include population information from government census data , trade association research reports , polling results, and research from other businesses operating in the same market sector.

History of Market Research

Formal market research began in Germany during the 1920s. In the United States, it soon took off with the advent of the Golden Age of Radio.

Companies that created advertisements for this new entertainment medium began to look at the demographics of the audiences who listened to each of the radio plays, music programs, and comedy skits that were presented.

They had once tried to reach the widest possible audience by placing their messages on billboards or in the most popular magazines. With radio programming, they had the chance to target rural or urban consumers, teenagers or families, and judge the results by the sales numbers that followed.

Types of Market Research

Face-to-face interviews.

From their earliest days, market research companies would interview people on the street about the newspapers and magazines that they read regularly and ask whether they recalled any of the ads or brands that were published in them. Data collected from these interviews were compared to the circulation of the publication to determine the effectiveness of those ads.

Market research and surveys were adapted from these early techniques.

To get a strong understanding of your market, it’s essential to understand demand, market size, economic indicators, location, market saturation, and pricing.

Focus Groups

A focus group is a small number of representative consumers chosen to try a product or watch an advertisement.

Afterward, the group is asked for feedback on their perceptions of the product, the company’s brand, or competing products. The company then takes that information and makes decisions about what to do with the product or service, whether that's releasing it, making changes, or abandoning it altogether.

Phone Research

The man-on-the-street interview technique soon gave way to the telephone interview. A telephone interviewer could collect information in a more efficient and cost-effective fashion.

Telephone research was a preferred tactic of market researchers for many years. It has become much more difficult in recent years as landline phone service dwindles and is replaced by less accessible mobile phones.

Survey Research

As an alternative to focus groups, surveys represent a cost-effective way to determine consumer attitudes without having to interview anyone in person. Consumers are sent surveys in the mail, usually with a coupon or voucher to incentivize participation. These surveys help determine how consumers feel about the product, brand, and price point.

Online Market Research

With people spending more time online, market research activities have shifted online as well. Data collection still uses a survey-style form. But instead of companies actively seeking participants by finding them on the street or cold calling them on the phone, people can choose to sign up, take surveys, and offer opinions when they have time.

This makes the process far less intrusive and less rushed, since people can participate on their own time and of their own volition.

How to Conduct Market Research

The first step to effective market research is to determine the goals of the study. Each study should seek to answer a clear, well-defined problem. For example, a company might seek to identify consumer preferences, brand recognition, or the comparative effectiveness of different types of ad campaigns.

After that, the next step is to determine who will be included in the research. Market research is an expensive process, and a company cannot waste resources collecting unnecessary data. The firm should decide in advance which types of consumers will be included in the research, and how the data will be collected. They should also account for the probability of statistical errors or sampling bias .

The next step is to collect the data and analyze the results. If the two previous steps have been completed accurately, this should be straightforward. The researchers will collect the results of their study, keeping track of the ages, gender, and other relevant data of each respondent. This is then analyzed in a marketing report that explains the results of their research.

The last step is for company executives to use their market research to make business decisions. Depending on the results of their research, they may choose to target a different group of consumers, or they may change their price point or some product features.

The results of these changes may eventually be measured in further market research, and the process will begin all over again.

Benefits of Market Research

Market research is essential for developing brand loyalty and customer satisfaction. Since it is unlikely for a product to appeal equally to every consumer, a strong market research program can help identify the key demographics and market segments that are most likely to use a given product.

Market research is also important for developing a company’s advertising efforts. For example, if a company’s market research determines that its consumers are more likely to use Facebook than X (formerly Twitter), it can then target its advertisements to one platform instead of another. Or, if they determine that their target market is value-sensitive rather than price-sensitive, they can work on improving the product rather than reducing their prices.

Market research only works when subjects are honest and open to participating.

Example of Market Research

Many companies use market research to test new products or get information from consumers about what kinds of products or services they need and don’t currently have.

For example, a company that’s considering starting a business might conduct market research to test the viability of its product or service. If the market research confirms consumer interest, the business can proceed confidently with its business plan . If not, the company can use the results of the market research to make adjustments to the product to bring it in line with customer desires.

What Are the Main Types of Market Research?

The main types of market research are primary research and secondary research. Primary research includes focus groups, polls, and surveys. Secondary research includes academic articles, infographics, and white papers.

Qualitative research gives insights into how customers feel and think. Quantitative research uses data and statistics such as website views, social media engagement, and subscriber numbers.

What Is Online Market Research?

Online market research uses the same strategies and techniques as traditional primary and secondary market research, but it is conducted on the Internet. Potential customers may be asked to participate in a survey or give feedback on a product. The responses may help the researchers create a profile of the likely customer for a new product.

What Are Paid Market Research Surveys?

Paid market research involves rewarding individuals who agree to participate in a study. They may be offered a small payment for their time or a discount coupon in return for filling out a questionnaire or participating in a focus group.

What Is a Market Study?

A market study is an analysis of consumer demand for a product or service. It looks at all of the factors that influence demand for a product or service. These include the product’s price, location, competition, and substitutes as well as general economic factors that could influence the new product’s adoption, for better or worse.

Market research is a key component of a company’s research and development (R&D) stage. It helps companies understand in advance the viability of a new product that they have in development and to see how it might perform in the real world.

Britannica Money. “ Market Research .”

U.S. Small Business Administration. “ Market Research and Competitive Analysis .”

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By Sachin Waikar and LeeAnn Shelton  

Welcome to the first installment of a new series, “The Industry Ahead,” in which our faculty share the latest trends in hiring across a variety of career fields. First up, we’re chatting all things marketing with clinical professor Jim Lecinski , past winner of the Lavengood Outstanding Professor of the Year Award, the school’s highest honor for teaching. 

What’s the best marketing career path for me? 

That’s a question Professor Lecinski gets often — and it’s a question he can relate to. A former VP at Google and senior level leader at renowned agencies DDB Worldwide and Young & Rubicam, he has charted his own unique journey through the industry. 

His answer to students is always the same: “It depends” — on what the person’s passions are and what skills they want to gain. In this post, Lecinski shares his views on how to think about a rewarding marketing career, and how Kellogg resources can position aspiring marketers for success. 

Think in Quadrants

Lecinski encourages MBAs and other early-career professionals to take a framework-based approach to their marketing career vision. Specifically, he suggests using a 2x2 structure with generalist-versus-specialist as one axis and in-house-versus-external as the other. Here’s how he breaks down those distinctions: 

In-house vs. external 

• In house: You work as a marketer for a startup or an established brand, like Coca-Cola, Apple, Google, etc. “The buck stops with you,” he says, and you go deep on a specific product or line. 
• External: Your role is at an advertising agency, within the marketing practice of a consulting firm like McKinsey or Bain, or a specialist brand-strategy agency like Prophet. You’re working within the constraints of your client’s budget, and you may get exposure to a wider range of projects across sectors. 

Generalist vs. specialist 

• Generalist: You’re responsible for the totality of marketing. For example, a brand manager for Tide laundry detergent at Procter & Gamble may manage all of sales, marketing and customer service and look after all four P’s: product, price, promotion, and place. Students who aim for eventual senior leadership — CEO, CMO, general manager, etc. — often rise up through the generalist space. 
• Specialist: You’re instead focused on a narrow vertical of the function, like for example director of social media at Coca-Cola. 
• Implicit in those job examples above is a third axis: sector.  
• Beyond thinking about breadth and employer, current and aspiring marketers should consider what sector they find most appealing: packaged goods, food and beverage, automotive, or others. 

Find the right intersection—and industry 

When it comes to choosing a specific space of focus, Lecinski counsels, “Look for the intersection of what the world needs, what you’re passionate about, and what you’re good at. Don’t just chase what’s hot and buzzy. You have to like it.” 

The process needs to start with self-reflection and, potentially, self-assessments such as the Meyers-Briggs Trait Inventory and others—many of which the Kellogg Career Management Center offers. “Know thyself first,” Lecinski says. 

So, where’s the right opportunity, industry-wise? It may not be where most people think. Factors like fears of an economic recession, supply chain challenges and the tech bust have challenged many sectors, Lecinski says. “But people still buy potato chips and toilet paper,” he notes. In 2024, that means brand management in traditional consumer-focused sectors like food and beverage can be a lower-risk, viable path, one supported by multiple Kellogg offerings. “What’s old is new again,” Lecinski says. 

Gain the right skills 

As the marketing industry continues to grow and adapt, in-demand skills increasingly include data analytics, digital marketing, ecommerce marketing and sustainability and ethical marketing. Knowing how to use AI-enabled tools, whether predictive AI or large language models like GPT-4, makes established or aspiring marketers even more attractive to employers. That’s a skillset rising professionals might more quickly gain, he says. 

The Kellogg Career Management Center has seen the marketing function expand across industries, no longer limited to just consumer facing product companies and brand management roles. Recently, Kellogg students have seen success landing roles such as product marketing managers, digital analytics manager, strategic initiatives and partnerships manager and go-to-market program manager, at companies like Google, Adobe and Hims&Hers.   

Students wanting to enter this field should plan to acquire a firm grasp of both qualitative and quantitative aspects of marketing — left and right brain skills. 

Whatever their path, rising marketers will have to become capable and conversant with data and technology, including AI. “For decades, marketing was viewed as a right-brain-led career — creativity, imagination, big ideas, Super Bowl ads, a place for people who didn’t like numbers,” Lecinski says. “But then along came direct marketing, which is database-driven, then digital marketing with optimizing Facebook and Google ads. So, it’s really “whole-brain” marketing now, with math, science and creativity.”

The Kellogg advantage 

Kellogg is the birthplace of the modern field of marketing and remains a top destination for MBA students wanting to specialize in this space. Our broad and deep resources for aspiring marketers, both inside and outside the classroom, include:  

• Academic rigor and a variety of course topics. “We’ve got a lot of vertical courses like marketing in healthcare, tech, luxury goods,” Lecinski says. “It’s a nice combination of left- and right-brain courses, like Customer Analytics and AI and Ethnographic Customer Insights .” The latter is among Kellogg’s highest-rated courses among students. Research centers like the new Ad-Tech Research Lab (AdTLab) keep Kellogg faculty at the forefront of business knowledge and thought leadership in marketing as the field becomes more technical and data-driven. Marketing, data science and strategy leaders from the top tech companies consult with AdTLab faculty to share what they are seeing in the industry, including cutting-edge approaches to advertising research and areas of opportunity for emerging leaders. 
• A dedicated marketing major consisting of four credits taken from a variety of courses and topics. This in-depth specialization  teaches students how to deliver superior customer experiences that strengthen competitive advantage and drive sustainable growth.  
• Experiential marketing courses. “Students work on a computer simulation or live project with an actual client to solve an actual problem,” Lecinski says. “This moves beyond reading an article or just discussing a case. Doing it is important.” His Marketing Strategy course, for example, includes a 10-week simulation. 
• Student clubs and extracurricular events , including Kellogg Marketing Clubs for Full-Time  and Evening & Weekend  students. In these groups, students help one another to prepare for successful marketing careers. These groups connect with corporate partners, prepare classmates for job and internship interviews, and host dozens of events per year, including the renowned Super Bowl Ad Review . A rewarding annual event, the Kellogg Marketing Competition, gives first-year students an opportunity to put their marketing skills to the test and design marketing campaigns for sponsoring companies. The competition culminates in a special pitch competition to current brand managers of CPG companies, marketing professors, and KMC executive committee members.  
• A deep and broad alumni network that invests in you. More than 850 Kellogg alumni work in marketing, advertising and market research roles, with the highest concentrations located in Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco and New York. Common job titles of Kellogg graduates include brand manager, product marketing manager, senior analyst and more. Alumni are accessible and eager to help support current students by serving as CMC Industry Advisors, contributing to the Kellogg Alumni Edge initiative [which provides excusive Q&As and insights from alumni from the top of their field] and working with the CMC Employer Relations team to recruit Kellogg talent.  
• Career guidance tailored for you. Our Career Management Center  at Kellogg offers unlimited one-on-one coaching to students, a dedicated research specialist to help you chart your professional path, and resources that extend even after graduation. We also have a well-rounded suite of opportunities to educate students on careers in marketing through panels with alumni, interviewing workshops specific to marketing roles, and over 15 marketing-focused CMC Industry Advisors to offer guidance. Yearly CMC-led treks in Chicago, New York, and other locations give students the opportunity to connect live with alumni in marketing roles at companies like McDonalds, Uber, Molson Coors, Estee Lauder and others. 

Curious about what an MBA in marketing at Kellogg can do for you? Follow the links here to read about students and alumni in marketing and discover the latest research from our marketing faculty . Or, explore our degree programs  to find the right fit for you. 

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Students conduct field research for regenerative ranching Grand Challenge project

Boise State’s Grand Challenges are all about taking ambitious, complex issues and tackling them with interdisciplinary research and collaboration with the help of students, community stakeholders, industry, government, non-governmental organizations and fellow institutions of higher education.

When Jared Talley, an assistant professor of environmental philosophy and governance, heard about the opportunity to receive financial support from the Division of Research and Economic Development, he knew exactly what topic he wanted to focus on: carbon projects on lands in the American West.

A carbon project is when a company working to achieve carbon neutrality buys ‘carbon credits’ from land owners or managers. These credits represent one ton of carbon dioxide removed from the atmosphere. For example, an airline that is trying to achieve carbon neutrality could buy carbon credits from a farmer who practices regenerative agriculture and whose practices encourage ground carbon sequestration.

The surprising thing is that, despite the vast expanses of carbon-sequestering public rangelands available in the West, these lands are not being used for carbon projects. Talley and his Grand Challenge partners want to know ‘Why’?

Talley’s curiosity and engagement with community stakeholders hit the bullseye: he was awarded nearly $50,000 to further his research with a team of dedicated students. Regional stakeholders include Warm Springs Consulting, Idaho Department of Lands, Idaho State Department of Agriculture, Cecil D. Andrus Wildlife Management Area, Idaho Fish and Game, the United States Forest Service, Utah State University, rancher Bob Howard and Nevada Gold Mines, LLC.

“There’s 250 million acres of lands out here sequestering carbon, and there’s thousands of carbon projects across the world on all sorts of land types and jurisdictions. Why are there none in the West?” Talley said. “What needs to happen in order to be able to set up carbon sequestration on these sorts of rangelands and promote better management?”

These are big questions with significant economic and environmental impact for states like Idaho. Ranching is the predominant use of western lands, and Talley’s team wants to discover if different grazing management plans– such as grazing that focuses on soil health, fire management and wetland restoration – could impact how much carbon the soil can sequester. The more carbon that soil can sequester, the greater the economic opportunity for rural Idaho ranchers to contribute to their local communities through carbon projects, all while helping recover public land ecosystems.

To begin answering these questions, Talley’s group of six students traveled into the Cecil D Andrus Wildlife Management Area. There they collected soil samples and helped Talley figure out the logistics of credit development to see what infrastructure would be needed to scale up these projects in the state. The samples are analyzed for specific data points to see if regenerative ranching techniques positively impacted the soil’s ability to sequester carbon.

Phaedra Roby, a sophomore studying environmental studies and minoring in biology, was the team lead for one of the groups collecting samples. Camping in tents along the Idaho and Oregon border, the team carried buckets and augurs and collected five samples each day, in coordination with the US Forest Service and Idaho Fish and Game. The travel, coordination, camping and soil collecting, in addition to the realities of Idaho’s midsummer desert conditions “took physical and mental persistence”, Roby said.

Roby had never before been part of field work like this, but was eager to hone new skills outside of the classroom.

“I was given the job of driving my team’s vehicle to the nearest access point and back to home base at the end of each day. Due to the terrain and setting we were working in, we required both knowledge of the outdoors, of basic GIS and also carried along fire equipment to maintain fire code in the area. We logged vegetation, coordinates and soil texture tests on data sheets.”

While her Grand Challenge project role was her first foray into fieldwork, Roby says that post graduation, she intends to continue conducting impactful research for a better world.

“I hope to be doing something within wildlife conservation,” Roby said. “Whether that be working on better policy, or going in to restore injured habitats and wildlife, I know I want to be working towards a healthier place for everyone.”

Environmental studies alum Derek Freitag (’23) dove into the fieldwork alongside Roby and fellow students: environmental studies sophomore Cooper Simpson, geosciences alum Lacey Kerr (‘23), ecology, evolution and behavior doctoral student Yas Jafari, and environmental studies junior Haley Hester.

Like Roby, Freitag found the field work component to be a new challenge, and the autonomy of the student-led group was a novel experience. Ultimately, he felt that it helped him gain unexpected confidence in his field abilities, as well as a glimpse into conducting similar research in the professional world.

“The confidence that I was able to build by making calls in the field is invaluable to me and my professional development, and was such a fantastic take-away as I feel that this project helped to demonstrate what it is like in the real world, where you are not in a controlled environment where mistakes can be unmade by instructors,” said Freitag.

Since graduating in December of 2023, Freitag said that the Grand Challenge project had a profound impact on his education and how he can use research to help people.

“Rather than just learning about carbon cycles, I was able to see the material effects that this knowledge could provide for communities throughout our state. This project really spoke to me because it was a way to see how we could create real benefits for communities that need them most,” he said. “Ranching as a historical practice is an important culture within Idaho and the West at large, and this project aimed to both help slow environmental degradation, as well as potentially provide another means of revenue for a community that is very necessary for the functioning of our state.”

Please follow the Grand Challenges website for a follow-up article in which Talley’s Grand Challenge students take the next steps in this research and tackle the economic and policy quandaries of carbon credits in the West.

-By Brianne Phillips

Office of Communications and Marketing

E-Commerce Marketing Capabilities Towards Strategic Performance: Customer Engagement and Moderating Role of E-Trust in Emerging Economy

• Published: 29 April 2024

Cite this article

• Zahid Yousaf 1 &
• Maria Palazzo   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-8710-9054 2  

This study’s major goal is to examine the relationships that already exist among customer engagement, E-commerce marketing capabilities (ECMC), and effective strategic performance. The methodology involved gathering data from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) engaged in digital activities in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region of Pakistan in 2021. A questionnaire was employed as a means of obtaining results through random sampling. The findings of the study indicate their potential usefulness in investigating this field of study and in facilitating future research endeavors. Through the incorporation of E-commerce capabilities, we provide firms with a demonstration of the pathway towards achieving enhanced efficiency and strategic performance. In addition, this study contributes to the existing literature by providing a strong basis for examining how ECMC and customer engagement impact the enhancement of strategic business performance, considering the moderating effect of E-trust. By integrating seamlessly with prior research, this study builds upon the current knowledge in the field. The findings hold potential value for managers engaged in international digital business, as they must comprehend the significance ascribed to ECMC. Indeed, the assimilation of ECMC within an organization amplifies opportunities for customer engagement and aids in augmenting strategic performance. The methodology employed in this research aligns with prior theoretical examinations and exhibits captivating trends within the domain of international digital enterprises. Furthermore, the study imparts valuable perspectives pertaining to the E-commerce sphere, forging connections across various facets to attain a profound comprehension and comprehensive examination of each constituent influenced by the ECMC paradigm.

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Yousaf, Z., Palazzo, M. E-Commerce Marketing Capabilities Towards Strategic Performance: Customer Engagement and Moderating Role of E-Trust in Emerging Economy. J Knowl Econ (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13132-023-01645-7

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For the first time Rosatom Fuel Division supplied fresh nuclear fuel to the world’s only floating nuclear cogeneration plant in the Arctic

The fuel was supplied to the northernmost town of Russia along the Northern Sea Route.

The first in the history of the power plant refueling, that is, the replacement of spent nuclear fuel with fresh one, is planned to begin before 2024. The manufacturer of nuclear fuel for all Russian nuclear icebreakers, as well as the Akademik Lomonosov FNPP, is Machinery Manufacturing Plant, Joint-Stock Company (MSZ JSC), a company of Rosatom Fuel Company TVEL that is based in Elektrostal, Moscow Region.

The FNPP includes two KLT-40S reactors of the icebreaking type. Unlike convenient ground-based large reactors (that require partial replacement of fuel rods once every 12-18 months), in the case of these reactors, the refueling takes place once every few years and includes unloading of the entire reactor core and loading of fresh fuel into the reactor.

The cores of KLT-40 reactors of the Akademik Lomonosov floating power unit have a number of advantages compared to the reference ones: a cassette core was used for the first time in the history of the unit, which made it possible to increase the fuel energy resource to 3-3.5 years between refuelings, and also reduce the fuel component of the electricity cost by one and a half times. The FNPP operating experience formed the basis for the designs of reactors for nuclear icebreakers of the newest series 22220. Three such icebreakers have been launched by now.

For the first time the power units of the Akademik Lomonosov floating nuclear power plant were connected to the grid in December 2019, and put into commercial operation in May 2020. The supply of nuclear fuel from Elektrostal to Pevek and its loading into the second reactor is planned for 2024. The total power of the Akademik Lomonosov FNPP, supplied to the coastal grid of Pevek without thermal energy consumption on shore, is about 76 MW, being about 44 MW in the maximum thermal power supply mode. The FNPP generated 194 million kWh according to the results of 2023. The population of Pevek is just a little more than 4 thousand, while the FNPP has a potential for supplying electricity to a city with a population of up to 100 thousand people. After the FNPP commissioning two goals were achieved. These include first of all the replacement of the retiring capacities of the Bilibino NPP, which has been operating since 1974, as well as the Chaunskaya TPP, which has already been operating for more than 70 years. Secondly, energy is supplied to the main mining companies in western Chukotka in the Chaun-Bilibino energy hub a large ore and metal cluster, including gold mining companies and projects related to the development of the Baimsk ore zone. In September 2023, a 110 kilovolt power transmission line with a length of 490 kilometers was put into operation, connecting the towns of Pevek and Bilibino. The line increased the reliability of energy supply from the FNPP to both Bilibino consumers and mining companies, the largest of which is the Baimsky GOK. The comprehensive development of the Russian Arctic is a national strategic priority. To increase the NSR traffic is of paramount importance for accomplishment of the tasks set in the field of cargo shipping. This logistics corridor is being developed due regular freight voyages, construction of new nuclear-powered icebreakers and modernization of the relevant infrastructure. Rosatom companies are actively involved in this work. Rosatom Fuel Company TVEL (Rosatom Fuel Division) includes companies fabricating nuclear fuel, converting and enriching uranium, manufacturing gas centrifuges, conducting researches and producing designs. As the only nuclear fuel supplier to Russian NPPs, TVEL supplies fuel for a total of 75 power reactors in 15 countries, for research reactors in nine countries, as well as for propulsion reactors of the Russian nuclear fleet. Every sixth power reactor in the world runs on TVEL fuel. Rosatom Fuel Division is the world’s largest producer of enriched uranium and the leader on the global stable isotope market. The Fuel Division is actively developing new businesses in chemistry, metallurgy, energy storage technologies, 3D printing, digital products, and decommissioning of nuclear facilities. TVEL also includes Rosatom integrators for additive technologies and electricity storage systems. Rosenergoatom, Joint-Stock Company is part of Rosatom Electric Power Division and one of the largest companies in the industry acting as an operator of nuclear power plants. It includes, as its branches, 11 operating NPPs, including the FNPP, the Scientific and Technical Center for Emergency Operations at NPPs, Design and Engineering as well as Technological companies. In total, 37 power units with a total installed capacity of over 29.5 GW are in operation at 11 nuclear power plants in Russia. Machinery Manufacturing Plant, Joint-Stock Company (MSZ JSC, Elektrostal) is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of fuel for nuclear power plants. The company produces fuel assemblies for VVER-440, VVER-1000, RBMK-1000, BN-600,800, VK-50, EGP-6; powders and fuel pellets intended for supply to foreign customers. It also produces nuclear fuel for research reactors. The plant belongs to the TVEL Fuel Company of Rosatom.

Rosatom obtained a license for the first land-based SMR in Russia

On April 21, Rosenergoatom obtained a license issued by Rostekhnadzor to construct the Yakutsk land-based SMR in the Ust-Yansky District of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia).

ROSATOM and FEDC agree to cooperate in the construction of Russia's first onshore SNPP

ROSATOM and FEDC have signed a cooperation agreement to build Russia's first onshore SNPP in Yakutia.

Rosatom develops nuclear fuel for modernized floating power units

Rosatom has completed the development of nuclear fuel for the RITM-200S small modular reactor designed for the upgraded floating power units.