The last presidential election was a stunning win for online polls and a drubbing defeat for telephone polls. It provoked a loud and contentious debate among survey methodologists about the accuracy of polls and about how (and whether) to revise our methods. So here we are again, four years later with technology having moved faster…
Even just a few years ago the idea of using SMS text messaging for surveys seemed absurd. There were strong demographic skews to cell phone usage, and among SMS usage as well. Texting was often a cost add-on for cell phone users, so they carefully guarded it. And of course research companies could barely manage…
There is an important directional bias in our culture such that things above tend to be perceived as better than things below. Top is better than bottom. Up is better than down. Over is better than under. Whatever the reasons for this bias (and there are several compelling theories) recent research shows that it affects…
A favorite pastime in my household is to laugh at the absurd statistics our local weatherman conjures up to make his reports sound dramatic, scientific, and driven by a deep analysis of data. Things like, “These are the first three consecutive days since 1989 of 90+ degree temperatures following an immediately preceding four-week string of…
Who can resist those flashy brain image scans showing that certain words, colors, images, or brands (or maybe your latest marketing message) magically light up consumers’ brains, presumably making them want to buy? Or, if you’re a cynic, who can resist sharing with colleagues the brain image scan of a dead salmon showing brain activity…
That Nespresso survey I got via my work email—surely it must be SPAM, right? I have no relationship with the company and have never inquired about it. Some sleazy market research company harvested a huge list of e-mails and blasted it out to hundreds of thousands of people like me. So I decided to report…
I often look to excellent journalism as a model for how researchers should turn data into stories: Do investigative work, interview the right people, analyze the details, then lay out a meaningful and contextualized narrative about the who, what, when, where and why. In fact, when I talk about our research and analysis approach that turns data…
Polling and phone technologies may finally have reached the point where mobile phones are no longer a threat to phone-based surveys, but a superior alternative. Only half (52%) of U.S. households now have a landline telephone. In contrast, more than nine out of ten adults have a mobile phone. And the latest findings from Pew…
Here’s a market research tip you can give to your sales team without doing any costly research of your own. A seller can close more sales if, during the negotiations, he or she pairs a price concession with a request that the buyer do a favor in return. Why does this work? Because asking for…
Not long ago we were inspired to reflect on lessons learned from vendors. We are all vendors to clients (even corporate researchers have internal clients they serve), and we are all clients to vendors (even supply-side vendors have their own chain of vendors). So, we asked, what can all of us in the market research…