For Market Research Professionals

How Can Market Researchers Get Social?

Growing Trends And Current Challenges In Social Market Research

by Tamara Barber, May 10, 2010

As consumer adoption of social media increases and companies expand their use of social media across the organization, market research professionals must consider if and how they can use social media in a way that adds value to their work. Forrester sees . . .

For Market Research Professionals

Predictions 2010: What Will Happen In Market Research

Ten Trends That Will Shape Consumer Market Research In 2010

by Reineke Reitsma, December 22, 2009

Like so many people, market researchers have been through a lot in the past year. They saw their workload change significantly in 2009 because of an increased need for information, with higher expectations but with fewer resources. Simultaneously, they . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Predictions 2010: What Lies In Store For Market Research Tech Vendors

by Brad Bortner, December 3, 2009

It's been a tough year in the research industry, but not for all vendors. While full-service firms have languished, online tool vendors have seen strong growth driven by enterprises in-sourcing some aspects of their research in a quest to do more with . . .

For Market Research Professionals

The Online Panel Quality Wars: All Market Researchers Benefit — Especially B2B Tech

by Brad Bortner, November 20, 2009

At the same time that online quantitative research has taken off, dubiousness abounds about the representation of the online panel sample. Buyers ask: Are panels representative of the markets researchers use them for? What can we do about the moral hazard . . .

For Market Research Professionals

What Type Of Market Research Online Community Vendor Should Tech B2B Market Researchers Use?

Three Choices Exist, Dependent On Budget, Usage Pattern, And Support Needs

by Brad Bortner, November 19, 2009

Market research online communities (MROCS) are the next wave in qualitative research, due to their combination of new qualitative research capabilities and ability to provide cheaper faster results. There is, however, buyer confusion about what type of . . .

For Market Research Professionals

Case Study: How Fox And Microsoft Used Mobile Research To Measure Movie Advertising Impact

Mobile Research Helped Gain Insight In The Buildup Of Movie Promotion

by Reineke Reitsma, November 10, 2009

Fox and Microsoft Advertising collaborated on a project at the end of 2008 to better understand the impact of and the interaction between the different media channels used to promote movies. They used MESH Planning's mobile research methodology, called . . .

For Market Research Professionals

The Forrester Wave™: Full-Service Market Research Online Community Vendors, Q4 2009

Communispace And Vision Critical Lead In A Space That's Heating Up

by Tamara Barber, October 22, 2009

In Forrester's 46-criteria evaluation of six full-service market research online community (MROC) vendors, we found that Communispace and Vision Critical led the pack because of the former's commitment to high customer service and deliverables and the . . .

For Market Research Professionals

Maximize Consumer Market Research In A Recession

Strategies To Optimize Available Budget And Increase Organizational Awareness

by Jacqueline Anderson, May 15, 2009

With many research budgets being cut this year, it's critical to maximize the budget that's still available. It's also critical to let the organization know exactly how useful its investment in research is. Simple steps taken by the research team can . . .

For Market Research Professionals

Market Researchers Demand High Panel Quality

New Initiatives Can Help With Quality — Particularly With B2B Sample

by Brad Bortner, April 3, 2009

The rapid embrace of online panels as a primary method of quantitative research in the US and Europe is a Faustian bargain. Online panels enable cheap, fast insights, but the quality of respondents is a concern. This concern is exacerbated for B2B, where . . .

For Market Research Professionals

Fused Research Modes Will Save You Money

How To Master The Faster And Cheaper Imperative In Stark Economic Times

by Brad Bortner, February 24, 2009

The economy is both eroding financial wherewithal to conduct market research and putting a larger burden on market research professionals to identify successful markets. While vast economies have already been realized in quantitative research using online . . .

For Market Research Professionals

Past, Present, And Future Of Market Research

Current Trends Shape Future Market Research Environment In Europe

by Reineke Reitsma, January 7, 2009

Over the past 10 years, the Internet has changed the role of market research agencies, survey respondents, and consumer market researchers. Overall, the market research industry has seen steady revenue growth year-over-year, and offline research in Europe . . .

For Market Research Professionals

Predictions 2009: What Happens In Market Research?

When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Innovative

by Brad Bortner, December 2, 2008

Tough economic times will actually serve to turbocharge the "faster, cheaper, better" changes that have been revolutionizing the business of market research &mdash but expect an increased emphasis on "cheaper." To save dollars in 2009, more firms . . .

For Market Research Professionals

Market Researchers: A Compass In The Financial Sandstorm

A List Of Must-Read Research To Help You

by Brad Bortner, November 17, 2008

Things are not looking good for the economy: Although the first half of 2008 showed a steady pace of technology spending, that pace is not continuing. In a down economy, businesses face tough decisions and inevitably look to cut spending. For market researchers, . . .

For Market Research Professionals

Best Practices: The Next Wave In Customer Satisfaction Studies Is CRM Integration

How Firms Move From Measuring To Fixing Customer Problems

by Brad Bortner, October 17, 2008

A rising tide of customer satisfaction research is also lifting the tide of another type of software enabled solution to harness these insights. They are enterprise feedback management (EFM) systems that combine elements of survey tools with tight customer . . .

For Market Research Professionals

Is The Long Online Panel Quality Nightmare Over?

Yes — If The Industry Embraces Several Key Quality Initiatives

by Brad Bortner, June 9, 2008

Today, almost half of the quantitative research in the US is being conducted with online panels. While online panels provide vastly lower costs and increased speed, they also create heartburn and anxiety for market researchers because of the lack of confidence . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

New Uses For Brand Monitoring

by Peter Kim, April 16, 2008

J.D. Power and Associates acquired brand monitoring firm Umbria, combining industry-focused consumer satisfaction and rankings with consumer-generated media (CGM) insights. The deal highlights the use of brand monitoring as a key input to formulating . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Introducing Forrester's B2B Technology Market Forecasting

Our Methodology For Sizing Your Market And How To Get Value From Our Forecasts

by Eric G. Brown, TJ Keitt, April 8, 2008

Emerging and high-growth product categories present exciting opportunities for firms as they put their bets on which markets will reap the biggest return for them. Forrester's market sizings and forecasts help navigate the unknown landscape of these new . . .

For Market Research Professionals

Ten Ways To Recession-Proof Market Research

Focus On Business Outcomes — Starting With Revenue — To Retain Budget

by Ted Schadler, March 19, 2008

Market researchers should act quickly to establish their business relevance and preserve their budgets before recession fears start affecting budgets and spending. We have identified 10 ways that consumer and business-to-business (B2B) market research . . .

For Market Research Professionals

Does Declining Research Projectability Matter?

Yes, But Not As Much As You Think

by Brad Bortner, February 22, 2008

Conventional wisdom holds that online panels are inherently problematic in supplying projectable findings to the general population &mdash online and offline. Critics assert that online panels aren't representative and that new types of dirt in the . . .

For Market Research Professionals

How To Select A Market Research Portal Approach

Choose From Three Popular Approaches

by Brad Bortner, TJ Keitt, February 1, 2008

Market researchers tell us they want their rich and plentiful research data to permeate their firms &mdash fueling strategic and tactical business decisions. Many market researchers are turning to a market research portal &mdash a single Web interface . . .

For Market Research Professionals

Professional Survey Takers: Still A Threat!

How To Reduce Corruption Risk From Voracious Online Survey Takers

by Brad Bortner, January 22, 2008

Professional survey takers (PSTs) are the potential Achilles' heel of the online panel industry. This issue was thrust into the awareness of the market research community almost three years ago when comScore indicated that its behavioral tracking panel . . .

For Market Research Professionals

Top Market Researcher Predictions For 2008

by Brad Bortner, December 31, 2007

The market researcher profession continued to be redefined by the Internet in 2007. The rise of online panels, industry-level attention to the lack of standardization of online metrics, and the much talked about Web 2.0 communities for research set the . . .

For Market Research Professionals

The Untold Truth About Hispanic Online Panels

If You Think Hispanic Online Research Is Easy, Think Again

by Tamara Barber, November 30, 2007

Fielding Hispanic online surveys is tricky business. Misguided by their experience with general market panels, consumer market researchers see online surveys as a panacea for their critical Hispanic research needs &mdash and at a fraction of the cost . . .

For Market Research Professionals

Five Keys To Success With Online Panels

How To Research Effectively In A Market Of Hard-To-Assess Panel Quality

by Brad Bortner, July 19, 2007

Market research professionals assume significant risk when designing studies to drive business decisions. Bogus study findings can lead to bad decisions, and research will run aground if the surveyed population is not representative of your market. Online . . .

For Market Research Professionals

Best Practices In SOHO Research

Maximize The Precision And Usefulness Of Small Office/Home Office Studies

by J.P. Gownder, May 14, 2007

Market researchers often ask Forrester about how to precisely measure the market opportunity for their products among small office/home office (SOHO) buyers. The best approach? Disaggregate into five subgroups: consumers who work from home, formal telecommuters, . . .