Well, it’s 2021. Happy new year! And while the new year always seems brimming with possibilities in these early weeks, this year things seem especially uncertain, strange, and off-kilter. With COVID-19 vaccinations underway across the country, and the possible return to something that looks like life as we know it starting to look like true light at the end of the tunnel and not an oncoming train, we here at DDG are feeling hopeful for the future. But we also know that the events of the past year will continue to impact consumers, and businesses, for quite some time. In this blog we’d like to take a moment to look back at some of the insights we gathered in 2020.
As of this writing (from my home office, of course), over 5 million people in the United States have contracted the novel coronavirus known as COVID-19. After a period of reopening businesses across the country, climbing case rates have driven many states to begin closing back down again. Almost seven months after the first U.S. case was reported, there are still no clear indicators of when life will return to normal.
The past few weeks have required fundamental changes in the way consumers and businesses operate, in the US (and globally). With 175 million people in the US currently being asked to shelter at home, activity in the streets of many of our cities and towns has slowed to a crawl.
For the past twenty years, DDG has been collecting data for a massive, multi-utility customer satisfaction study. Because many of these utilities service residential customers in geographies that are heavily rural, where Internet access is not a guarantee, this study has heretofore been conducted using a telephone data collection methodology. However, as TCPA restrictions on the use of predictive dialers, decreasing penetration of land lines, and flagging telephone response rates have made meeting monthly targets more and more challenging, DDG undertook a significant redesign of the study to allow for multimode data collection. For the first time, online interviews would supplant some of the telephone interviews.
In my previous post, I talked about the effects of different sampling approaches on the proportion of web versus telephone completes on our newly multimode customer satisfaction program. Now let’s look at how the resulting survey data were impacted by the transition from a fully phone-only methodology to collecting some portion of the completes online.
For the past twenty years, DDG has been collecting data for a massive, multi-utility customer satisfaction study. Because many of these utilities service residential customers in geographies that are heavily rural, where Internet access is not a guarantee, this study has heretofore been conducted using a telephone data collection methodology. However, as TCPA restrictions on the use of predictive dialers, decreasing penetration of land lines, and flagging telephone response rates have made meeting monthly targets more and more challenging, DDG undertook a significant redesign of the study to allow for multimode data collection. For the first time, online interviews would supplant some of the telephone interviews.
Are you conducting data-driven research? Custom online research panels continue to be one of the most effective tools to reliably reach your customers for surveys, focus groups, and online communities. Designed and used correctly, an online panel allows you to tap your customers for quick and accurate answers to your most pressing research questions. This includes concept tests, customer satisfaction and engagement, product and package design, and more. In addition, with the advent of customer and consumer data appends, custom online research panels are transforming the way companies mine insights from their available data. As you begin to consider if a custom online research panel is right for you, consider these five advantages vs. sourcing a general online panel.
So you’ve built your custom online panel. Now, how can you make sure the resource is being used effectively? Your consumer panel functions as an extension of your brand and needs to be cared for, like any other valued resource. The most important thing to remember about your custom panel is that it is comprised of people. They are your customers first and foremost, so it is extremely important for it to be carefully and actively maintained, without being overused. In addition to managing the frequency of survey invitations, there are a number of other key areas that require focus and attention.
Google’s announcement and launch this week of a market research offering has had the market research and technology industries buzzing. And understandably so. As this article from the GreenBook blog points out, the world’s biggest search engine company already has access to millions of consumer data points (thanks to Gmail and Android phones), and now they are going to ask those millions of users and their friends about their shopping, product, and marketing preferences one question at a time.
The focus group (online or in person) is a tried-and-true method for gleaning qualitative insight from a subset of your target audience. One of the most attractive benefits of the focus group is the presence of a trained moderator, who can direct and manage conversations so as to target specific questions in order to obtain the results that you are looking for.
