Tuesday, March 8, 2011

The NGMR Top-5-Hot vs Top-5-Not



Here's our take on the top 5 hot vs. not goings on in the world of research (in no particular order)...

HOT

  1. The continued acceptance of online methods to the arsenal of qualitative research tools.  In a recent article, we examined the viability of online qual as an alternative or complement to traditional methods...pretty interesting stuff.
  2. Mobile Research.  So many qualitative and quantitative research possibilities are opening up due to increasing adoption of smartphones and other mobile devices.
  3. The continued pursuit of faster, cheaper, and higher quality research offerings, and the challenge for research suppliers to provide such offerings
  4. Ubiquity of broadband connectivity, creating the ability to reach once offline-only respondent segments online.  We're not there yet, but hopefully connectivity gap will continue to narrow.
  5. Qual/Quant hybrid methodologies.  All of the above opening up the possibility for really cool research study designs.
NOT
  1. Net Promoter.  For the love of God, haven't we seen enough evidence to proceed with caution in using this as a standalone measure?  Consider emotional loyalty as an alternative.
  2. Fresh baked cookies at focus group facilities.  No good can come of these, and it seems like more and more facilities are serving them.  I lose all control when the warm cookies hit the back room.  Anything that makes me look like Messy Marvin from the old Hershey's Syrup commercials in front of my clients can't be good for our industry.
  3. Supply Chain Management.  It seems like corporate research teams are feeling a growing amount of influence from Supply Chain.  I'm all for scrutiny of research agencies...it makes our industry stronger.  However, research isn't office stationery, and it shouldn't be commoditized as if it were.  Doing so waters down the insights that corporate researchers rely on to meet their internal business partners' needs.
  4. Lily White Online Panels.  As mentioned above, hopefully the lack of diversity in online panels is in the process of becoming a thing of the past.
  5. Cookie Cutter Research Programs.  One size no longer fits all.
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