Online Market Research Research Articles

Online Surveys May be Hazardous to your Corporate Health: A Framework for Assessing and Improving Market Research Survey Quality

This paper identifies a number of difficulties associated with interpreting the results of online surveys used to gather market research data. Because of the nature of data collection, researchers are able to exert little control over who completes these surveys and how often they do so. As a result, findings based on online survey data can be very misleading. We highlight several problematic aspects of online market research surveys (unspecified objectives, unknown probability of selection, non-response bias, accessibility and privacy issues) and suggest that any or all of these possess sufficient potential to destroy the credence of any research findings the online survey may generate. We conclude by outlining ways to maximize the utility of research findings of this increasingly popular mode of survey administration.

Brand Experience on the Pitch: How the Sponsors Fared in the World Cup

ABSTRACT Brands see major live events as opportunities to connect with consumers and to build brand equity and sales. In this article, we describe how the classical MCA® methodology was adapted and how a modified MCA® questionnaire was applied to interview a sample of 10,000 urban young adult respondents in 10 major world cities before and after the FIFA 2006 World Cup event. We emphasize the online quantitative methodology choice by addressing (1) the major concerns about online market research particularly with respect to the sampling and demographic issue, and (2) the appropriateness as well as (3) the benefits of online market research. We then discuss how the metrics derived from this research were used to address the following two key questions: (1) Did sponsoring the World Cup help brands? (2) Are sponsoring contacts more influential than others?

The Future of Online Market Research

<h3>ABSTRACT</h3> As new online technologies open doors to new opportunities in market research, the research industry must take care to uphold the integrity of its work in the online and mobile media space. This article takes a look ahead to the future of online market research and suggests three key areas on which the industry should focus to ensure that the research opportunities associated with the online advertising are maximized.

Ethische und verbraucherpolitische Aspekte sowie Limitationen der Beobachtungen in der internetbasierten Marktforschung

Obervation as a method for gaining information in the internet offers new opportunities and potentials in market research. Although, its application is somehow limited because of consumer related criticism and public scrutiny related to ethical and privacy concerns. This paper discusses some central ethical and consumer and society related aspects and limitations of the application of observation methods in online market research.

A primer for the use of internet marketing research tools: The value of usability studies

Website strategy has evolved from a simple web presence to ensuring consumer purchases. These trends make it imperative for marketing researchers to understand the online consumer experience in terms of both the quantity and the quality of website visits. This paper reviews several commonly used online marketing research techniques, suggesting that many inadequately measure the quality of a user's website experience. More recently developed methods found within the marketing literature that rectify the shortcomings in online marketing research are identified, and usability studies are singled out as an effective tool for creating a more complete assessment of online consumer activity.

Online marketing research

Marketing decisions are typically made on the basis of research conducted using direct mailings, mall intercepts, telephone interviews, focused group discussion, and the like. These methods of marketing research can be time-consuming and expensive, and can require a large amount of effort to ensure accurate results. This paper presents a novel approach for conducting online marketing research based on several concepts such as active learning, matched control and experimental groups, and implicit and explicit experiments. These concepts, along with the opportunity provided by the increasing numbers of online shoppers, enable rapid, systematic, and cost-effective marketing research.

Market research for requirements analysis using linguistic tools

Numerous studies in recent months have proposed the use of linguistic instruments to support requirements analysis. There are two main reasons for this: (i) the progress made in natural language processing and (ii) the need to provide the developers of software systems with support in the early phases of requirements definition and conceptual modelling. This paper presents the results of an online market research intended (a) to assess the economic advantages of developing a CASE (computer-aided software engineering) tool that integrates linguistic analysis techniques for documents written in natural language, and (b) to verify the existence of the potential demand for such a tool. The research included a study of the language – ranging from completely natural to highly restricted – used in documents available for requirements analysis, an important factor given that on a technological level there is a trade-off between the language used and the performance of the linguistic instruments. To determine the potential demand for such tool, some of the survey questions dealt with the adoption of development methodologies and consequently with models and support tools; other questions referred to activities deemed critical by the companies involved. Through statistical correspondence analysis of the responses, we were able to outline two “profiles” of companies that correspond to two potential market niches, which are characterised by their very different approach to software development.

Market research for requirements analysis using linguistic tools

Numerous studies in recent months have proposed the use of linguistic instruments to support requirements analysis. There are two main reasons for this: (i) the progress made in natural language processing and (ii) the need to provide the developers of software systems with support in the early phases of requirements definition and conceptual modelling. This paper presents the results of an online market research intended (a) to assess the economic advantages of developing a CASE (computer-aided software engineering) tool that integrates linguistic analysis techniques for documents written in natural language, and (b) to verify the existence of the potential demand for such a tool. The research included a study of the language – ranging from completely natural to highly restricted – used in documents available for requirements analysis, an important factor given that on a technological level there is a trade-off between the language used and the performance of the linguistic instruments. To determine the potential demand for such tool, some of the survey questions dealt with the adoption of development methodologies and consequently with models and support tools; other questions referred to activities deemed critical by the companies involved. Through statistical correspondence analysis of the responses, we were able to outline two “profiles” of companies that correspond to two potential market niches, which are characterised by their very different approach to software development.

Internet based marketing research: a serious alternative to traditional research methods?

This paper examines how online market research is utilised within UK market research agencies and what opportunities or problems this new research tool is giving the market research industry. The research involved sending 120 postal questionnaires to UK based market research agencies that claimed to do Internet based research. The main findings from the study show that the dramatic growth predicted by industry commentators is not evident among practising market researchers. Internet research is tending to be used for specialist types of research study such as Web site evaluation, business to business and employee research, where the audience is more likely to be online, or are part of an easily accessible database list supplied by clients. The research also found continuing concern about sample frames, attrition of panel members and response rates. Many in the industry are still undecided on the likely problems and opportunities associated with Internet research. There needs to be far more research and development if Internet based research is to become a serious alternative to traditional research methods.

The Field behind the Screen: Using Netnography for Marketing Research in Online Communities

The author develops “netnography” as an online marketing research technique for providing consumer insight. Netnography is ethnography adapted to the study of online communities. As a method, netnography is faster, simpler, and less expensive than traditional ethnography and more naturalistic and unobtrusive than focus groups or interviews. It provides information on the symbolism, meanings, and consumption patterns of online consumer groups. The author provides guidelines that acknowledge the online environment, respect the inherent flexibility and openness of ethnography, and provide rigor and ethics in the conduct of marketing research. As an illustrative example, the author provides a netnography of an online coffee newsgroup and discusses its marketing implications.