Google Consumer Surveys accomplishes what we’ve known we should be doing but had neither the resources nor motivation to pursue. Google has disintermediated all of us. Continue reading »

Here are 7 distortions that too many companies accept at face value. Continue reading »

Rather than grow larger and larger panels with dozens of profiling questions repeated over and over, perhaps we should find new ways of identifying qualified participants. With some very basic filtering and analysis of my customer database, for example, I can reach response rates in excess of 30%. By targeting followers of relevant brands on Twitter, I can do the same in those cases where I need to reach outside my CRM system. Continue reading »

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote what turned out to be a somewhat controversial opinion piece about things I would do if I were a market research company. The writing process was not a “fair and balanced” editorial; it reflected my current opinions and beliefs based on what I believe are long-term trends in how research is conducted and acted upon in my corner of the world. I listed eight changes I would pursue, if it were my decision to make. Most of these changes were very substantial, but didn’t include much depth as to why or when or how. Continue reading »

As I read today’s story about Harris Interactive‘s continued operating losses, I asked myself “what would I do if I were in their shoes.” Or any research vendor’s shoes, for that matter. I don’t envy them, nor would I look forward to the many changes in strategy inevitably required to return Harris to profitability.

But change they must…change, we all must.

Here’s where to start: Continue reading »

Several marketing research trade groups have been exploring online research privacy issues, in the hopes of establishing common standards and a code of conduct to govern how “responsible” researchers should treat consumer data. An earlier debate on privacy practices in the social media age can be summed up (in my opinion) in two words: losing battle. This is particularly true as it relates to games research — console, handheld, casual, or any other. Continue reading »

Creating compelling game experiences (and by corollary, creating compelling gamified research) requires more than just the mechanics of a game. After all, we’ve all played something that just wasn’t fun. And if it’s not fun, what was the point of gamifying it in the first place? Continue reading »