Colleges are suspending in-person classes, large events such as Coachella and the New York International Auto Show have been rescheduled, and the media is flooded with the latest COVID-19 news. The world is in panic mode while trying to prepare for and control the outbreak of the new virus.
COVID-19, commonly known as the coronavirus, will certainly put a pause to in-person qualitative research methods for the meantime. However, there are a number of market research methodologies we can explore during the COVID-19 outbreak that serves as a great alternative.
There is no reason to cancel or reschedule your plans for market research altogether. This is where the advancement of market research technologies plays a heavy and important hand.
In this blog post, Drive Research, a full-service market research firm, will explain four effective market research methods your company can utilize to keep gaining insights during the COVID-19 outbreak.
This includes mobile ethnography, online surveys, online focus groups, and in-depth interviews.
Thinking of canceling an in-person market research project due to the COVID-19 outbreak? Here are 4 alternative methodologies to consider instead.
Mobile Ethnography
What better way to learn about your consumers than through their own video, audio, and text responses? Mobile ethnography allows research participants to share their opinions through their own mobile devices, giving your company an inside perspective to your customers’ experiences with your brand (or your competitors).
Whether it’s a mobile diary, activity-specific research, an in-depth interview, or an in-home usage test, mobile ethnography is a remote, cost-effective, and insightful market research method that can bring value to your company without needed to gather participants in a focus group facility.
Regardless of the recent outbreak, mobile ethnography is also a great alternative to intercept surveys. It removes the need for on-site moderators allowing a research team to gain feedback from customers who just left your store or competitors.
Online Surveys
One of the most widely used market research methods is online surveys. This quantitative market research methodology is cost-effective since surveys can be easily sent to a specific target audience and taken at their own convenience. Surveys online also eliminate any geographical restrictions. At the touch of a button, an online survey can be sent to anyone in the country. This advantage is not possible with focus groups or in-person interviews.
Online surveys are flexible by design, allowing market researchers to accommodate different types of questions and survey formats. For example, market researchers can now incorporate video responses instead of the respondent typing an open-ended question.
Doing so allows for more thought-provoking and detailed feedback as respondents tend to talk fast than they type.
Online Focus Groups
How can your company gain all of the benefits that a focus group offers without putting a group of participants in a focus group facility together? Online focus groups are an easy way to get around that.
Online software, such as Zoom, has made online focus groups possible. People from around the world are able to share their opinions and offer feedback within an online webchat.
Similarly to online surveys, this opens up your pool of research participants dramatically. Instead of needing to recruit focus group participants who live in or near Syracuse, NY, you are now able to speak to anyone in the country. An extra bonus being that recruitment costs will likely be lowered!
In-depth Interviews
Instead of sitting down face-to-face with a participant for an in-depth interview, technology has made it possible to conduct an interview from anywhere in the world.
There are a number of methods market researchers can use to conduct in-depth interviews. For a standard one-on-one interview, a phone call might suffice. However, if materials or video need to be shared, online software, such as Zoom or Google Hangouts, can be utilized.
Drive Research is a market research company located in Syracuse, NY. Our team has the knowledge and tools to design a robust market research study both online and in-person.
Interested in learning more about our market research services? Reach out through any of the four ways below.
- Message us on our website
- Email us at [email protected]
- Call us at 888-725-DATA
- Text us at 315-303-2040