Author: Jay Zaltzman

How to Avoid Research Mistakes

I’m working on a presentation entitled  “Don’t Waste Your Research Dollars: Research Bloopers and How to Avoid Them.”  The presentation will include many hair-raising stories and talk about how to avoid those situations, but in order to keep things short and protect the innocent (and the not-so-innocent!), I’ll just give you the highlights here.

I collected stories about research mistakes, both from my own experience and those of colleagues, and realized most relate to two issues:

  • Incorrect assumptions about the marketing question
  • Designing the research without professional input

Making incorrect assumptions can be difficult to catch.  For example, imagine your customers aren’t using a new feature.  You naturally assume there’s something they don’t like or don’t understand about the feature.  You conduct focus groups to learn exactly where the problem is, and it turns out that nobody knew about the feature because of a technical glitch: the information never reached the customers!  How do you prevent this?  First, pay close attention to any assumptions included in your objectives for a study.  And second, consider options for quick pre-study research: can you do a small online survey with customers?  Or perhaps a round of phone calls with the sales reps?

Another common area for incorrect assumptions is in knowing your customer.  Marketers frequently assume their customer is similar to them and their fellow executives.  In many cases, they live very different lives and have very different values.  If you find yourself laughing at focus group participants, that’s time to pay close attention.  Could that laughter be covering up some discomfort with the gap between who you think your customer is and who they really are?

When it comes to designing the research, it’s easy to fall into the trap of “let’s do four focus groups near corporate headquarters with our best customers, just like we did last time.”  But is that the most effective way to do the research?  Depending on your research objectives, there might be better ways to conduct the research.  Your research partners can be a great resource – as long as you’re willing to use them.  Let them know your research objectives and your budget and have them recommend the best approach.  I’ve encountered situations where a company wanted to conduct focus groups with their own employees to save on recruiting costs.  In some (rare) cases, that might work.  But in others, your research partner might come up with a better solution; for example, telephone interviews with actual customers.

Want to avoid research mistakes?  Call me, and let’s have an in-depth discussion about your research objectives and how best to achieve them.  Call 818-752-7210 or email info at bureauwest.com.  And let me know if you’re interested in the full presentation: “Don’t Waste Your Research Dollars: Research Bloopers and How to Avoid Them.”

P.S.  Do you have any research “horror stories” to share?  I’d love to hear them so I can include them in my presentation.

Posted on by Jay Zaltzman

Understanding Cognitive Bias

“Cognitive biases” are those ways of thinking that aren’t completely rational, but that we do for convenience.  (For example, the “confirmation bias,” where people recall information that supports their existing beliefs.  You may have seen it in focus groups, where an observer seemed to only remember participant statements that agreed with their own opinions!)

There are dozens of different cognitive biases (see Wikipedia’s list here); identifying them can yield important insights to better understand customers and market to them more effectively.  But we don’t have to memorize them all, because Buster Benson created a great cheat sheet here.  (The article actually appeared last year; thank you to my friend and colleague David Spenser for pointing it out.)

Benson categorizes the cognitive biases based on the four problems they help us address:

  1. Dealing with too much information (the confirmation bias is one example of a mechanism that addresses this problem)
  2. Our need to ascribe meaning to the limited information we have (e.g., stereotyping)
  3. The need to make decisions quickly (e.g., the tendency to prefer the simple solution)
  4. We can’t remember everything (e.g., forgetting details, remembering only the high points)

Or as he puts it:

In order to avoid drowning in information overload, our brains need to skim and filter insane amounts of information and quickly, almost effortlessly, decide which few things in that firehose are actually important and call those out.

In order to construct meaning out of the bits and pieces of information that come to our attention, we need to fill in the gaps, and map it all to our existing mental models. In the meantime we also need to make sure that it all stays relatively stable and as accurate as possible.

In order to act fast, our brains need to make split-second decisions that could impact our chances for survival, security, or success, and feel confident that we can make things happen.

And in order to keep doing all of this as efficiently as possible, our brains need to remember the most important and useful bits of new information and inform the other systems so they can adapt and improve over time, but no more than that.

And most important for us as marketers, here’s his summary of the ways in which biases lead to errors in the four areas above:

  1. We don’t see everything. Some of the information we filter out is actually useful and important.
  2. Our search for meaning can conjure illusions. We sometimes imagine details that were filled in by our assumptions, and construct meaning and stories that aren’t really there.
  3. Quick decisions can be seriously flawed. Some of the quick reactions and decisions we jump to are unfair, self-serving, and counter-productive.
  4. Our memory reinforces errors. Some of the stuff we remember for later just makes all of the above systems more biased, and more damaging to our thought processes.

As marketers, we can “mine” the errors above to find insights that will lead the way to developing more effective marketing.  Let’s find out how cognitive biases can lead to opportunities with your business!  Call me at 818-752-7210 or email info at bureauwest.com.


Sources: “Cognitive Bias Cheat Sheet,” Better Humans, 9/1/16; “List of Cognitive Biases,” Wikipedia; Bureau West research

Posted on by Jay Zaltzman

When Advertising Taps into Social Issues

The past month has seen two ads trying to tap into social issues to sell their product – with very different results.  A few weeks ago, Pepsi released an ad in which Kendall Jenner joins a protest that was perceived to be tone-deaf and thought to trivialize the Black Lives Matter movement.  In contrast, Heineken just released an ad that shows people with opposing views find common ground, which has received overwhelmingly positive response.

The Heineken ad shows pairs of people working together to build some furniture and getting to know each other.  They are then shown video clips of each other expressing their polar opposite views (e.g., one pair consists of a transgender woman and a man who feels transgender is “not right”).  They are then given the choice to leave or stay and discuss their differences over a Heineken; they find they are much more open to dialogue than they were before.

The ad highlights a basic human mechanism: when people get to know each other, they’re less likely to demonize the other person and more willing to engage in a constructive exchange.  We utilize this approach in focus groups (and not just on social issues): get people with opposing views (e.g., customers and non-customers) to have a discussion, and see which arguments sway people.  Bonus tip: have them fill out a written survey of their opinions before and after the discussion – that way, they don’t have to admit publicly to changing their minds.

Let’s look for ways to change your prospects’ minds!  Call me at 818-752-7210 or email info at bureauwest.com.

 

Sources: “Pepsi’s Tone-Deaf Kendall Jenner Ad Co-opting the Resistance Is Getting Clobbered in Social,” Adweek, 4/4/17; “Heineken Just Put Out The Antidote to That Pepsi Kendall Jenner Ad,” Fast Company, 4/26/17; Bureau West research

Posted on by Jay Zaltzman

Conducting Global Research

I find conducting qualitative research in multiple countries to be fascinating, but international projects also present some unique challenges.  Here are some tips for the next time you need to conduct global research:

Involve your local research partners.  Don’t assume you can simply copy the research you’re doing in the US and do the exact same thing in the other countries.  Work with your local research partners in each of the countries.  Make sure they know the objectives of the study and share the discussion guide with them early.  Does it make sense to ask the questions that way in their country?  The researchers in each of the countries understand the locals’ mentality as well as the local background.  Encourage them to let you know if something in the discussion guide doesn’t make sense locally.

When it comes to logistics, again, make sure to consult the local research partners.  Are there any holidays that could impact the research?  At what times of day is it best to conduct the research?  If you want to do things differently than local custom, make sure to check if it will present a problem.  For example, when we asked for table tents in England instead of name tags, that was no problem.  But in the Netherlands, when we asked to keep the objectives of the research vague, we got strong pushback, because participants there want to know what they will be discussing in advance of the focus groups.

Plan your itinerary.  Always arrive at least a day before the research, to leave room for flight delays.  And take into account that jet lag might hit you hard: you might find you can’t keep your eyes open in the back room.  I like to take one or two little bottles of 5-Hour Energy with me; when I have one of those moments where I feel like I can’t keep my eyes open, I drink a half-dose, and it works wonders!

If you need to conduct research overseas, we would be happy to help!  Call me at 818-752-7210 or email info at bureauwest.com.

 

Posted on by Jay Zaltzman