Know Your Research #2 Quantitative Research
Quantitative marketing research is the application of quantitative research techniques to the field of marketing research. It has roots in both the positivist view of the world, and the modern marketing viewpoint that marketing is an interactive process in which both the buyer and seller reach a satisfying agreement on the "four Ps" of marketing: Product, Price, Place (location) and Promotion.
Quantitative Market Research is a technique to ask questions to the target audience in an organized manner using surveys, polls or questionnaires. Received responses can be analyzed to make well-thought decisions for improving products and services, that will in turn help increase respondent satisfaction levels. Well-founded results can be achieved in case a large sample size that represents a population is surveyed.
Features of Quantitative Market Research
The basic characteristics of quantitative market research are:
The premise that quantitative market research operates on is to confirm the hypothesis of the phenomena of how many.
The data collected is solely in the form of numbers and statistical formula can be applied to this data to come up quantified actionable insights.
Data collected and the mode of collection is very structured. It is a mix of questionnaires, surveys etc.
The research study is designed in a way that the questions are structured and the possible responses to these questions are also structured. This is laid out well in advance before the study.
Since the questions are not open ended, they point towards certain answers so the scope for uncertainty is limited.
But before we dive into the steps that are required to carry out a successful Quantitative Market Research study, let’s look at a few more critical reasons why you need to do so.
Research is the first step for a successful marketing campaign, be it a new product launch, sales pitch positioning or conducting a data-oriented statistical analysis.
By conducting an online quantitative market research, insights about marketing activities like updating the website, social media page management or newsletters can also be received.
By implementing Quantitative Market Research, questions like “Who are currently buying my products/services?”, “Why are the others not buying my product?”, “How to reach out to my potential clientele?” are answered.
Quantitative research starts with survey creation, designing, and distribution. After the survey is sent out to the right people, data collection and analysis has to be done to get desired insights.
Conducting Quantitative Research
While the big two methods of gathering data are surveys and questionnaires, there are plenty of ways to conduct these methods.
OMNIBUSING
When you only need a few questions answered and can’t justify the cost of rolling out a full-scale survey, an omnibus is a good solution. This style groups questions from multiple businesses into one survey so that the time and effort spent recruiting and compensating participants can be spread across several companies who have only a few questions.
EMAIL OR SNAIL MAIL SURVEYS
Digital or printed surveys are the most common for a reason: They are extremely cost-effective because they are automated. Results roll in without needing a person to make a phone call or interact with every individual respondent. These are most effective when the questions are straightforward, like choosing A vs. B. They’re not so effective in nuanced preference questions, like describing how A vs B makes a participant feel.
TELEPHONE SURVEYS
The human interaction of phone surveys can make a participant feel more engaged than a digital or printed survey, leading them to give more considered answers – this creates better data. Telephone surveys also allow the researcher to understand a participant’s answer more clearly based on their voice and tone. The statistical reliability of a survey over an interview also remains intact because the questions are consistent across participants. Telephone surveys are best:
If the survey questions end with a “Why?” or “Can you explain?”
If the survey questions are longer or slightly complicated and require better participant concentration than normal
If you are pilot (or metric) testing your online survey questions before they are deployed widely online. “Why?” and “Can you explain?” phone questions can capture the most common answers, which can then be listed as checkbox options A, B, C, and D in the widely distributed online survey. This will discourage write-in answers, making your data easier to analyze.
FACE-TO-FACE SURVEYS
A criticism of surveys, in general, is that they don’t allow for conversation or elaboration. While this is a benefit in keeping data consistent, it also leaves findings on the table that a researcher could have used to better understand the participant’s feedback. In face-to-face surveys, a researcher still can’t go off script, but they can make note of a scrunched nose when a product is mentioned or a disengaged stance. Face-to-face surveys are best when the survey questions delve into emotions. An example might be survey questions for emotionally charged products or campaigns, like Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty. “How does marketing around women’s beauty products today make you feel?”
It’s easy for face-to-face surveys to become interviews, but keep in mind the difference is that surveys do not go off script. The survey researcher must stick to the order of the questions and the exact wording to keep statistical reliability, and in an interview, the researcher has control over the order, pacing, and structure of all questions.
Quantitative research techniques
Primary techniques are the most common forms of conducting quantitative market research. Some of the most common and widely used forms are:
Surveys: Traditionally, surveys were conducted using paper-based methods and have gradually evolved into online mediums. Closed-ended questions form a major part of these surveys as they are more effective in collecting quantitative data. The survey makes include answer options which they think are the most appropriate for a particular question. Surveys are integral in collecting feedback from an audience which is larger than the conventional size. A critical factor about surveys is that the responses collected should be such that they can be generalized to the entire population without significant discrepancies. Quantitative market research is conducted under two broad buckets of the frequency they are administered at:
Cross-sectional research survey: Cross-sectional market research is a quantitative market research method that analyzes data of variables collected at one given point of time across a sample population. population or a pre-defined subset. This research method has people who are similar in all demographics but the one that is under research.
Longitudinal research survey: Longitudinal market research is a quantitative market research method where research is conducted over years or decades on a target demographic markets or certain individuals to collect statistical data.
One-on-one Interviews: This quantitative data collection method was also traditionally conducted face-to-face but has shifted to telephonic and online platforms. Interviews offer a marketer the opportunity to gather extensive data from the participants. Quantitative interviews are immensely structured and play a key role in collecting information. There are two major sections of these online interviews:
Face-to-Face Interviews: An interviewer can prepare a list of important questions in addition to the already asked survey questions. This way, interviewees provide exhaustive details about the topic under discussion. An interviewer can manage to bond with the interviewee on a personal level which will help him/her to collect more details about the topic due to which the responses also improve. Interviewers can also ask for an explanation from the interviewees about unclear answers.
Online/Telephonic Interviews: Telephone-based interviews are no more a novelty but these quantitative interviews have also moved to online mediums such as Skype or Zoom. Irrespective of the distance between the interviewer and the interviewee and their corresponding time zones, communication becomes one-click away with online interviews. In case of telephone interviews, the interview is merely a phone call away.
Computer Assisted Personal Interview: This is a one-on-one interview technique where the interviewer enters all the collected data directly into a laptop or any other similar device. The processing time is reduced and also the interviewers don’t have to carry physical questionnaires and merely enter the answers in the laptop.
Advantages of quantitative market research:
Produces numerically rational theories: The result of the quantitative research is based on numbers because of which results are extremely instrumental for an organization to make well-thought decisions to market a product/service in a better manner. The numbers analyzed in this can be then put into charts and graphs for better representation and review.
Easily calculable and analyzable data: Due to the exactness in the answers received for quantitative questions, it’s extremely favorable for research to evaluate the data.
Enhanced willingness of respondents: Quantitative research mostly comprises of close-ended questions which are quick and less time-consuming for the respondents to answer. This is an essential reason for high response rates for this market research.
Less investment to create brand awareness: These days, quantitative research is used for brand awareness which is generally conducted through online mediums. Cost invested in the research is thus reduced to create awareness about the brand.
Disadvantages of quantitative market research:
Statistical data isn’t always complete: Data could be collected from a huge number of people but there is no way to dig deep down into they “why” of an answer. Data isn’t actionable with just numbers and no concrete explanations to back that data.
Structured interviews and questionnaires: The biggest strength but also a weakness of quantitative market research questions is the limited scope to digress from a structured answer. Whilst this provides actionable numbers, the questions do not allow to validate those numbers due to the nature of how the survey is set-up.
Sample size isn’t indicative of a larger population: If the respondents of the market research survey have attributes that do not match those of a larger demographic, the data collected cannot be equated to a larger sample as the data collected isn’t necessarily a representation of the larger audience.
Self-report isn’t always trustworthy data: People when given the liberty to respond to a survey are skeptical to give out too much information and if any information provided is incorrect or haphazard, that discounts the complete validity of the survey.