Month: February 2010

Jay will present at the Worldwide Conference on Qualitative Research

Jay is honored to have been chosen to present a workshop at Inspiration in Action 2010 – the Worldwide Conference on Qualitative Research, which will take place in Prague, Czech Republic,  May 19-21, 2010.   The workshop is entitled “New qualitative research options: How to choose.”  During the workshop, Jay will discuss his experiences and those of other “agnostic” early adopters of emerging methods.

He’ll cover a wide variety of new qualitative methods, including their strengths and weaknesses. He’ll then share his thinking about how to make strategically smart choices among the methods. Finally, the workshop will engage attendees in the decision process on some sample qualitative projects, followed by a discussion of the issues encountered.

If you’d like to discuss which methods would work best for your research needs, give us a call at (818) 752-7210.

Worldwide Conference on Qualitative Research, 19-21 May 2010

Posted on by Jay Zaltzman

The Changing Consumer, Part 2

In our last Research Tidbit, we talked about the recession’s impact on consumers.  Wharton recently held a Marketing Conference, “Connecting with the Evolving Consumer,” which included some great insights on the topic.  Among them:

  • Consumers’ tendency to do a mental calculation of value, that is, quality divided by price, has trickled down from major purchases like cars and refrigerators to minor ones, like cans of soup.  Companies like Campbell Soup have looked for ways to reassure customers they’re indeed getting quality, such as highlighting nutritional information.
  • Consumers are willing to spend more for an assurance of quality.  In uncertain times, they don’t want to run the risk of buying an inferior product that won’t get used.  Calphalon has capitalized on this trend by emphasizing its technological improvements.

There is no doubt that consumers are making trade-offs in some areas and trading down in some others.  It’s still hard to say to what extent these changes will last as the economy emerges from the recession… but we’ll keep you posted!  In the meantime, to figure out where your customers stand, give us a call at (818) 752-7210.

Source: “Marketing In A Weak Economy,” Knowledge@Wharton, February 5, 2010

Posted on by Jay Zaltzman