Using Mobile In Market Research

Note: I hope you all enjoyed your Labor Day as much as I did. Since we took the day off, so did the blog. But never fear, it was just a day delayed.

Everywhere I go, I hear more reasons of why companies and individuals need to go mobile. How you go mobile is based on you, the business and industry you are in, and the time you have available to commit to it.

Mobile Research Impacting The Market Research World

Recently there has been a lot of articles, blogs, and discussions about mobile market research.  This may be due to the fact that the Market Research in the Mobile World (MRMW) conference, which was organized by The Merlien Institute, was last week.

I do very little in mobile research due to a number of reasons.  A lot of it is because it involves “big data” and analytics and there are lots of companies that do a great job at that side of the business.  It is also becoming a more important part of the business decision making process.

Think Outside The Survey

Courtesy of Research Rockstar, LLC

As in every industry, things are in constant evolution. Market research is no different. I was fortunate enough to sit in on a webinar a few weeks back about some of the new and innovate market research methodologies being used. Kathryn Korostoff wrote an e-book called Think Outside The Survey.

In the e-book, Kathryn highlights the need for innovative research methods due to skepticism of the value of market research, unreasonable and constraining time requirements, sampling and response issues, and, of course, more and more restrictive budgets.

However, because of the cost and ease of technology, there should be no reason for any company to resist the activity of measuring customer attitudes and behaviors.  With the variety of insight tools available, customer insight can be created at virtually any budget level and within nearly any timeline constraint.   She discusses 14 innovative methods

1. Biometrics
2. Crowdsourcing
3. Ethnography
4. Expert Interviews
5. Idea Management
6. Instant Polls
7. Mobile Research
8. Market Research Online Communities
9. Netnography
10. Neuromarketing
11. Prediction Markets
12. Social Media Research
13. Text Analytics
14. Video Research

Now discussion of each of these may be a blog post in of itself.  However, it cannot be done here at this point.  I highly recommend you download it from here.  It is a good read whether you use market research, are interested in market research, or feels like market research is a waste,  Also, if you are interested in how new technology is used in business, it will also be a good read for you.

Have you used any of these in your research?  How do yo feel you can use any of these methods in your business? 

–J. Nolfo helps companies understand their market and customers though a variety of market research strategies. He has over ten years of experience of market research for strategic planning purposes. He is the Director of Research at Rhino Market Research. He shares his thoughts about market research and business concepts with his blog “Pensare…Understanding Market Research in Business“. If you would like to discuss this blog or how J. can help you understand your market and customer needs, email him at jnolfo@rhinomarketresearch.com.