When to do Research “On the Cheap”

A recent article in Inc. magazine recommends that businesses use online surveys for market research, since they’re both fast and cheap, and internet access has become mainstream. Online surveys can indeed be a great tool, however, it’s important to remember that the rules that apply to other market research apply to online surveys, too. The most important rule: “garbage in, garbage out.” If you design a bad questionnaire, the results may lead you in a completely wrong direction. An example of a common mistake: asking customers if they prefer product A or product B, without asking them to evaluate each one separately. When the survey comes back with a clear preference for product B, you may never find out that customers have grave concerns about product B – because you never asked them. And of course, you must be careful of the wording of the questionnaire: avoid questions that different people might interpret differently.

Consider talking to your market research consultant before you decide on a research method. A good researcher can help you determine the best methodology – should you conduct an online survey? Telephone interviews? Focus groups? Or perhaps a combination of several methods. For example, online surveys are great to get a quick read on questions when there is no reason to believe that online respondents will significantly differ from your target market as a whole. But if you want to understand some of the answers in greater depth, you might want to follow up your online survey with online bulletin board focus groups.

In the article, there’s an example of how 1-800-Got-Junk? used an online survey to poll franchisees about their opinions of an improvement to the company’s trucks, which the franchisees didn’t like. The company might have saved a great deal of time and money if it had conducted focus groups with franchisees (either in person or perhaps using video-conferencing) before they designed the new feature, both to receive input on the concept, as well as about franchisees’ other needs.

Source: “The survey says...,” Inc., October, 2005

When you think you might need to conduct market research, give us a call at Bureau West Marketing & Research (tel: 818-752-7210) to discuss which research method or methods are best for your specific situation.

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