Portland State University

Using the Internet for Market Research

Kent Lewis

Anvil Media, Inc.

http://www.anvil-media.com/psucourse

Background

“There are three kinds of lies…

lies, damn lies and research”

-Mark Twain

Agenda

Introduction & BackgroundInstructorStudentsSpeakersSyllabus

Market Research OverviewPrimary & secondaryQualitative & quantitativeOnline & offline

ExerciseSurvey

Introduction

Class ObjectiveUnderstand how, when and why to use the Internet for

market research

InstructorAgency backgroundgoodguys.comAnvil

Student IntroductionsSpeakers

i-OPTweak InteractiveWebCriteria

Syllabus

I: Market research overview

II: Internet tools & techniques

III: IPA review

IV: IPA development

V: Presentation development

VI: Class presentations

Market Research Overview

Research helps validate intuition and make solid business decisions.

Research helps gain insight into:Market size

Demand

Usage

Growth potential

Trends and opportunities

Common Reasons for Research

Defining and understanding a market

Understanding and segmenting the target audience

Competitive analysis and positioning

Product and service evaluation

New product concepts

Usability testing

Typical Research Questions

How many site visitors are customers?

How many of our customers use the site?

What do customers want on the site?

How can we increase our conversion ratio?

Why are customers leaving this page?

What other sites do our customers visit?

How do we get more traffic to our site?

Research Process

Identify and understand objectiveGather all available researchDetermine if data is sufficientAnalyze what additional data is requiredSelect appropriate method of researchMinimize biasCollect and analyze dataMake recommendations accordingly

Research Costing Function

Research budget = (CWD x NoR) – (CWD xYesR)

Where: CWD = cost of making the wrong decision NoR = percentage chance of making the wrong decision without research YesR = percentage chance of making the wrong decision with research

Sample budget($100,000x30%) – ($100,000x5%) = $25,000

Primary & Secondary Research

Primary: Experimental

Non-experimental

Laboratory & field

Secondary:Internal

External

Secondary: Free Offline Resources

Research firms

Government

Publications

Trade associations

Public company SEC filings

Library reference desk

Secondary: Free Online Resources

Newsgroups

Discussion lists

Bulletin boards

Directories

Competitor’s sites

Newswires (press releases)

Secondary: Paid Resources

Subscriber information services Dow JonesLexis Nexis

Syndicated research YankelovichUSADATAResearchPortal

Brand tracking Millward BrownHarris InteractiveCyberDialogue

Media measurement NetRatingsMediaMetrixArbitron

Primary: Qualitative Research

Overview: Soft & fuzzyAttitudes & opinionsExploratory tool

Used for:Brand testingConcept validationAd pre-testing

Format:Focus groups, interactive sessions

Limitations:Sample sizeModerator capabilitiesGeographical interpretation

Primary: Quantitative Research

Overview: Numbers = reliabilityNonverbalRepresentative sample

Used for:Determining market factorsCustomer behavior, attitudes & opinions

Format:Web & email-based surveys, purchase data, log files

Limitations:ConfiningWeak for conceptsAccessibilityMisrepresentation

Sampling

You’re only as good as your list

Central limit theorem:68% of all observations fall within 1 std. dev.

95% fall within two standard deviations

Error is determined by samples size

Non-response creates automatic bias

Sample should mirror population closely

Random is ideal, convenience is common

Sweet spot: Internet users/target audience

Sample Metrics

Classification: Demographic

Socioeconomic

Webographic

Behavioral: Visits

Number

Frequency

Types of purchases

Attitudinal: Desirability

Ratings

Research Can Be Flawed

Quantitative significance at 500 responses

Non-response bias

Incentives skew results: must be relevant

You’re only as good as your:Sample

Questions

Analysis

Class Survey

Java survey powered by i-OP

Go to anvil-media.com/psucourse

Click on Survey link under Class I

Complete survey

We will review results real-time