Consumer
The Top Market Research Blog Posts of 2014
We've published a lot of interesting, inspiring, and thought-provoking
posts this year about market research, consumer insights, Big Data, social
media, data science, and more. So, we wanted to take a moment to look back on
our blog's most popular posts of 2014. Here are the topics our readers enjoyed
the most this year:
posts this year about market research, consumer insights, Big Data, social
media, data science, and more. So, we wanted to take a moment to look back on
our blog's most popular posts of 2014. Here are the topics our readers enjoyed
the most this year:
Desktop
to Wrist Watch Surveys: The Future of Market Research: When was the
last time you recall sitting at your computer with leisure time to web search
as you please? Between commuting, longer days at work, squeezing in that
workout, and finally eating. It is becoming very uncommon for one to find time
to sit down at a computer and search the internet. Minimal leisure Internet
time therefore makes reaching potential online survey panelists even more tough
to reach. How is this impacting the data collected from online market research?
For traditional online surveys, it seems it is becoming harder and harder to
reach preferred data numbers let alone certain target groups. Where does this
lead us to and how can we overcome this obstacle? To read the full post, click
here.
to Wrist Watch Surveys: The Future of Market Research: When was the
last time you recall sitting at your computer with leisure time to web search
as you please? Between commuting, longer days at work, squeezing in that
workout, and finally eating. It is becoming very uncommon for one to find time
to sit down at a computer and search the internet. Minimal leisure Internet
time therefore makes reaching potential online survey panelists even more tough
to reach. How is this impacting the data collected from online market research?
For traditional online surveys, it seems it is becoming harder and harder to
reach preferred data numbers let alone certain target groups. Where does this
lead us to and how can we overcome this obstacle? To read the full post, click
here.
Technology
Takes Toll on Consumer Psyche: Kit Yarrow, a Golden Gate University
professor and author of 'Decoding the New Consumer Mind: How We Shop and Buy,' says
the increasing mediation of rapidly advancing technology in our lives is having
a deep and profound psychological impact on people. It's not about what we're
doing with technology, she notes, but what technology is doing to us.
'People today think differently,' Yarrow said. Specifically, our
attention spans are shorter, we're less focused but we're more adept
multitaskers, and we require an increasingly higher level of novelty and
stimulation. To read the full post, click
here.
Takes Toll on Consumer Psyche: Kit Yarrow, a Golden Gate University
professor and author of 'Decoding the New Consumer Mind: How We Shop and Buy,' says
the increasing mediation of rapidly advancing technology in our lives is having
a deep and profound psychological impact on people. It's not about what we're
doing with technology, she notes, but what technology is doing to us.
'People today think differently,' Yarrow said. Specifically, our
attention spans are shorter, we're less focused but we're more adept
multitaskers, and we require an increasingly higher level of novelty and
stimulation. To read the full post, click
here.
Anthem
Blue Cross Research Head Confronts Post-ACA Unknowns: The challenge for
people like Doug Cottings, Staff VP of Market Strategy & Insights at Anthem
Blue Cross/Blue Shield (formerly WellPoint), is that new rules require fresh
tools. 'Everybody wants to know what the future looks like and to project business
results. Unfortunately, predicting the future by relying on what I used to in
the past'approaches that have been tried and true'they are not as effective as
they used to be,' he said. To read the full post, click
here.
Blue Cross Research Head Confronts Post-ACA Unknowns: The challenge for
people like Doug Cottings, Staff VP of Market Strategy & Insights at Anthem
Blue Cross/Blue Shield (formerly WellPoint), is that new rules require fresh
tools. 'Everybody wants to know what the future looks like and to project business
results. Unfortunately, predicting the future by relying on what I used to in
the past'approaches that have been tried and true'they are not as effective as
they used to be,' he said. To read the full post, click
here.
Data
to See: A Design Approach to Data Visualization & Storytelling: I
think this early understanding fueled my ability to write poetry and later on
in life, as a marketer, tweets. In the past year, I've become fascinated with
the appeal of the visual web and experiment on Instagram, often posting
powerful images with very little text, sometimes 1-3 words and/or hashtags and
nothing else to see what sort of resonance they receive. To read the full post,
click
here.
to See: A Design Approach to Data Visualization & Storytelling: I
think this early understanding fueled my ability to write poetry and later on
in life, as a marketer, tweets. In the past year, I've become fascinated with
the appeal of the visual web and experiment on Instagram, often posting
powerful images with very little text, sometimes 1-3 words and/or hashtags and
nothing else to see what sort of resonance they receive. To read the full post,
click
here.
Social
Media Market Research of YOU!: Googling your name is social media
market research of another kind. The kind you need to make sure has been done (keywords,
websites linked, profiles consistent), is in place (visibility on multiple
platforms), and practices are set (social media marketing) to keep you showing
up as the expert you are in your niche. I know what a Google search of my name
will show. I know this because I have carefully crafted my personal brand
across my website, my social media platforms, my posts, and through the events
I attend and talk about. To read the full post, click
here.
Media Market Research of YOU!: Googling your name is social media
market research of another kind. The kind you need to make sure has been done (keywords,
websites linked, profiles consistent), is in place (visibility on multiple
platforms), and practices are set (social media marketing) to keep you showing
up as the expert you are in your niche. I know what a Google search of my name
will show. I know this because I have carefully crafted my personal brand
across my website, my social media platforms, my posts, and through the events
I attend and talk about. To read the full post, click
here.
The
Rise of the Visual Web: Why Quality Data Visualization Is Crucial: Cognitive
psychology tells us that humans are wired to favor visuals over text. We
process images faster. We remember visuals better. We find well-designed
visuals more credible. And when credible images engage us, they trigger
emotional processing that leads to creativity and higher-quality
decision-making. All of these things'speed, recall, credibility, engagement and
quality decision-making'are critical to the delivery of market research insight
and to a company's ability to turn insight into strategies and actions. To read
the full post, click
here.
Rise of the Visual Web: Why Quality Data Visualization Is Crucial: Cognitive
psychology tells us that humans are wired to favor visuals over text. We
process images faster. We remember visuals better. We find well-designed
visuals more credible. And when credible images engage us, they trigger
emotional processing that leads to creativity and higher-quality
decision-making. All of these things'speed, recall, credibility, engagement and
quality decision-making'are critical to the delivery of market research insight
and to a company's ability to turn insight into strategies and actions. To read
the full post, click
here.
Get
to Know Your Audience Better with Facebook's New Insights Tool: Facebook
recently launched its Audience Insights tool for advertisers, which
was designed to help marketers learn more about their target audiences,
according to the social network. The company stated, 'The more
customer insights you have, the better you're equipped to deliver meaningful
messages to people.' Today, social media allows marketers to reach
consumers in a unique, nontraditional environment where they are deeply
engaged and constantly generating meaningful conversations. There is a huge
opportunity in making sense of the social data created by the
billions of users who broadcast their interests and opinions across social
media channels like Facebook. To read the full post, click
here.
to Know Your Audience Better with Facebook's New Insights Tool: Facebook
recently launched its Audience Insights tool for advertisers, which
was designed to help marketers learn more about their target audiences,
according to the social network. The company stated, 'The more
customer insights you have, the better you're equipped to deliver meaningful
messages to people.' Today, social media allows marketers to reach
consumers in a unique, nontraditional environment where they are deeply
engaged and constantly generating meaningful conversations. There is a huge
opportunity in making sense of the social data created by the
billions of users who broadcast their interests and opinions across social
media channels like Facebook. To read the full post, click
here.
Visa
Canada's Head of Mobile Talks Canadian Shopper Culture: Not long ago we
may have been able to argue that retailers thought that Big Data was just a
bunch of hype that didn't actually lead to better returns, but we've come a
long way since then. In fact, a recent survey reveals that 73 percent of retailers
consider shopper insights to be very important or essential to the
performance of the departments in which they work. In addition, 76 percent
think leveraging insights is important to the performance of the company as a
whole. We caught up with speaker Derek
Colfer, Head of Mobile at Visa Canada, to discuss how Canada's shopper culture
is unique to the rest of North America. To read the full post, click
here.
Canada's Head of Mobile Talks Canadian Shopper Culture: Not long ago we
may have been able to argue that retailers thought that Big Data was just a
bunch of hype that didn't actually lead to better returns, but we've come a
long way since then. In fact, a recent survey reveals that 73 percent of retailers
consider shopper insights to be very important or essential to the
performance of the departments in which they work. In addition, 76 percent
think leveraging insights is important to the performance of the company as a
whole. We caught up with speaker Derek
Colfer, Head of Mobile at Visa Canada, to discuss how Canada's shopper culture
is unique to the rest of North America. To read the full post, click
here.
How
Fashion Week utilizes Social Media: Brands clamor on twitter and
Facebook to ensure that the wireless networks are abuzz with their followers.
Take Barbie's QR code enabled scavenger hunt through Manhattan, for a
rewarding gratification of having the city at your touch phone savvy
fingertips. Digital marketing has shown to be the Launchpad when targeting the
yuppy iPhone and android tugging urbanite. View DKNY's inventive paper-clad
e-vitation, as a blaring example of new times. DKNY is one of many brands that
successfully converted followers on social platforms into shoppers. To read the
full post, click
here.
Fashion Week utilizes Social Media: Brands clamor on twitter and
Facebook to ensure that the wireless networks are abuzz with their followers.
Take Barbie's QR code enabled scavenger hunt through Manhattan, for a
rewarding gratification of having the city at your touch phone savvy
fingertips. Digital marketing has shown to be the Launchpad when targeting the
yuppy iPhone and android tugging urbanite. View DKNY's inventive paper-clad
e-vitation, as a blaring example of new times. DKNY is one of many brands that
successfully converted followers on social platforms into shoppers. To read the
full post, click
here.
The
Era of Brilliant Alchemy: Data Anthropology: "Show me the
numbers," it's often said. After all, data IS proof. But data is nothing
without context, without a story, the whole story. As a small child, I was
fascinated by historical remnants of societies long gone, Pompeii, Masada,
Taino, Aztec... Who were these people? What did they care about? What happened
to them? How different were they from you and I? Or were they just like
me? To read the full post, click
here.
Era of Brilliant Alchemy: Data Anthropology: "Show me the
numbers," it's often said. After all, data IS proof. But data is nothing
without context, without a story, the whole story. As a small child, I was
fascinated by historical remnants of societies long gone, Pompeii, Masada,
Taino, Aztec... Who were these people? What did they care about? What happened
to them? How different were they from you and I? Or were they just like
me? To read the full post, click
here.
Spotify
Looks Inside Data & Music Intelligence for Insights: Attention
music lovers and market researchers alike: Spotify has created a The
Spotify Insights Blog that will use consumer data to highlight how the
world is listening to music. The music blog will feature
articles about music and how people experience it - pulling from the company's
own listening data and music intelligence from The Echo Nest, the technology
company Spotify bought in March that powers Web radio, recommendations, and
playlists. To read the full post, click
here.
Looks Inside Data & Music Intelligence for Insights: Attention
music lovers and market researchers alike: Spotify has created a The
Spotify Insights Blog that will use consumer data to highlight how the
world is listening to music. The music blog will feature
articles about music and how people experience it - pulling from the company's
own listening data and music intelligence from The Echo Nest, the technology
company Spotify bought in March that powers Web radio, recommendations, and
playlists. To read the full post, click
here.
Big
Privacy: It's Coming: High-profile gaffes by Facebook, Apple (I'm
referring to "Locationgate" not the naked photo scandal) and the like
have done much to educate the public on the data-for-service arrangements those
of us who didn't read the Privacy Policy unknowingly entered into with such
companies. I think most people have since resigned themselves to this
trade-off. Maybe that's because many of us did a rough cost-benefit
analysis and, if not ideal, we found the model acceptable, harmless,
reasonable' The absence of any evidence suggesting widespread public
outrage has to do with the fact that people don't think they have any choice. But
I suspect that more likely than not, the relative absence of any evidence that
suggests widespread public outrage has to do with the fact that people don't
think they have any choice in the matter. To read the full post, click
here.
Privacy: It's Coming: High-profile gaffes by Facebook, Apple (I'm
referring to "Locationgate" not the naked photo scandal) and the like
have done much to educate the public on the data-for-service arrangements those
of us who didn't read the Privacy Policy unknowingly entered into with such
companies. I think most people have since resigned themselves to this
trade-off. Maybe that's because many of us did a rough cost-benefit
analysis and, if not ideal, we found the model acceptable, harmless,
reasonable' The absence of any evidence suggesting widespread public
outrage has to do with the fact that people don't think they have any choice. But
I suspect that more likely than not, the relative absence of any evidence that
suggests widespread public outrage has to do with the fact that people don't
think they have any choice in the matter. To read the full post, click
here.
Data
Brokers: Shadow Industry, Privacy Flashpoint, Research Problem: I
attend a lot of research conferences and I've noticed that when the subject of
privacy comes up, people frequently check out'laptops open, fingers wander to
phones, sometimes eyes even roll'I attribute this to the fact that heretofore
privacy has been pretty much a non-issue for researchers. Arguably no other
industry adheres to more rigid privacy standards. The problem, however, is that
we live in a world where data are no longer rare, and researchers obviously
aren't the only ones who trade in information nowadays. To read the full
post, click
here.
Brokers: Shadow Industry, Privacy Flashpoint, Research Problem: I
attend a lot of research conferences and I've noticed that when the subject of
privacy comes up, people frequently check out'laptops open, fingers wander to
phones, sometimes eyes even roll'I attribute this to the fact that heretofore
privacy has been pretty much a non-issue for researchers. Arguably no other
industry adheres to more rigid privacy standards. The problem, however, is that
we live in a world where data are no longer rare, and researchers obviously
aren't the only ones who trade in information nowadays. To read the full
post, click
here.
About the Author:
Amanda Ciccatelli, Social Media Strategist of the Marketing Division at IIR USA, has a background in digital and print
journalism, covering a variety of topics in business strategy, marketing, and
technology. Amanda is the Editor at Large for several of IIR's blogs
including Next Big Design, Customers 1st, Digital Impact, STEAM Accelerator and ProjectWorld
and World Congress for Business Analysts, and a regular contributor to Front End of Innovation and The Market Research Event,.
She previously worked at Technology Marketing Corporation as a Web Editor where
she covered breaking news and feature stories in the technology industry. She can
be reached at aciccatelli@iirusa.com. Follow her at @AmandaCicc.
Amanda Ciccatelli, Social Media Strategist of the Marketing Division at IIR USA, has a background in digital and print
journalism, covering a variety of topics in business strategy, marketing, and
technology. Amanda is the Editor at Large for several of IIR's blogs
including Next Big Design, Customers 1st, Digital Impact, STEAM Accelerator and ProjectWorld
and World Congress for Business Analysts, and a regular contributor to Front End of Innovation and The Market Research Event,.
She previously worked at Technology Marketing Corporation as a Web Editor where
she covered breaking news and feature stories in the technology industry. She can
be reached at aciccatelli@iirusa.com. Follow her at @AmandaCicc.
