Training Portal Access

In Search of Useful Market Research Displays: Don’t Forget Venn Diagrams

In Search of Useful Market Research Displays: Don’t Forget Venn Diagrams. Bored with bar and pie charts? Maybe it’s time to rethink the types of graphics you are using to display key research findings.

One graphic display that makes rare appearances in market research reports is the classic Venn diagram. It’s a wonderfully intuitive way to show overlapping groups. Attributed to John Venn, the Venn diagram was first introduced in 1880.

November 3, 2009 No Comments

It’s not a Survey, It’s a Contest!

People like contests. I don’t know why. Must have something to do with why so many people like gambling.

People generally don’t like surveys. And it’s getting worse. How I long for the days when 20% response rates were considered “low.”

October 26, 2009 1 Comment
Customer Insights

Letting Clients Be More Than Research Participants

Calling on customers as consultants also has a hidden benefit: if your topic of interest is something that people may find too personal, too hard to be honest about—asking them indirectly can be most revealing. Jack may not be willing to tell you bluntly that he thinks your product is hard to use—that might make him feel stupid. But if you ask him how your product could be improved, he will be more comfortable suggesting that “some people” will find the product easier to use if the dials were just a little larger. It’s a twist on the old ploy, “It’s not for me, but…

October 22, 2009 5 Comments

CloudMaker from Tribe Research: Word Clouds For Real Research

CloudMaker is a word cloud tool that can draw input from web pages, Twitter feeds (though, alas, restricted to Twitter’s self-imposed 20 tweet limit), and CSV files. The CSV files part is the important one—since this is what allows you to import any text you want…like open-ended responses from a survey you were loathe to tally the hard way.

October 17, 2009 2 Comments

Tying Market Research to the Whipping Post

…given a choice between having a disciplined approach to discovering and measuring customer attitudes and behaviors versus taking wild-ass guesses? I’ll take a market research approach 95% of the time.

October 9, 2009 3 Comments