We are experts at using online research methodologies to help our clients make connections with their target audiences in order to explore their thoughts, feelings, beliefs, habits and practices.
Sometimes clients unfamiliar with online qualitative research wonder if they can get an in-depth understanding of their target audience through an online bulletin board vs. in-person research?
In this newsletter I would like to share a case study of how we helped a clothing retailer get in touch with their target audience and uncover in-depth insights using an online platform and leveraging the video recording capability of mobile phones.
Case Study: Shopping for Tops
A clothing retailer approached us with a desire to understand the motivations, attitudes and behaviors of young females in regards to shopping for tops. In order to address their research objective, we proposed using an online platform with three video recording assignments.
An online bulletin board was chosen to allow for connecting with young women in several fashion forward cities at the same time.
The three assignments we designed were:
- Assignment 1: Take us on a tour of your closet and tell us about the three most recent tops you purchased. We asked them to describe their reasons for purchase, where they purchased and all of the things that influenced their purchase decision.
- Assignment 2: Take us shopping with you to purchase a top. We gave each woman $50 and asked them to visit three retailers while shopping. In their video they showed what they purchased, where they purchased it and discussed what they liked and disliked about shopping for tops.
- Assignment 3: Create a video telling us what they like and dislike about shopping for tops at our client’s stores.
The result:
Creating video recording assignments allowed our client to peek into women’s closets, go shopping with them for tops and listen to potential shoppers talk about their stores. The women spoke passionately about what drove them to shop for tops, occasions that prompted purchases and what was important to them in regards to the retail shopping environment. The online bulletin board platform allowed for geographic diversity and for asking follow-up questions to their videos.
Key Client Insight:
There are different factors that influence customers’ purchase decisions when purchasing tops as “basics” versus tops for other purposes, such as special occasions, showing off personality, work or evening.
Benefits of Online Research
What makes it a good approach to accomplish objectives
- Cost – online research can be cheaper than in-person research, especially when factoring in travel costs
- Geographic Reach – online studies can allow us to increase the geographic diversity of our studies without having to get on a plane
- Speed of recruitment – online recruitment can be faster than phone recruiting methods
- Efficiency – online research tools can allow us to have multiple individual conversations with your target audience at one time
- Video Deliverables – mobile devices can be easily incorporated to allow respondents to record video talking about themselves and our clients’ products and services
- Hard to reach target audiences – B2B research and executives can be easier to reach via online focus groups or bulletin boards.