Putting yourself in the consumer’s shoes
The heart of market research is asking questions and interpreting the answers. In order to arrive at new insights however, it is just as important to observe what consumers do, and to listen to what they have to say. As a marketer, you would often love to be a fly on the wall in consumers’ homes, so that you can observe their habits and see how they use certain products. Or, at other times, you would like to be able to follow consumers for a certain period of time.
What are e-Safaris?
Using online qualitative research, e-Safaris make it possible to put yourself in consumers’ shoes and observe them in their ‘natural habitats’, without them feeling inhibited by the presence of a researcher. Potential applications include:
- Mapping out the customer journey
- Gathering insights
- Concept development and co-creation
- Ethnographic research
- Longitudinal studies (longer-term product testing)
- Communications research
How does it work in practice?
A pre-selected group of respondents are given assignments, both inside and outside of their homes, open-ended questions, multiple choice questions, and, if desired, they can interact with one another. In addition, Motivaction applies a variety of projective and associative techniques, and both researchers and respondents alike can add photos and videos to illustrate and enrich questions and answers. The duration of the project and structure of the assignments are completely customized to your particular problem or question.
We use an online environment in which every respondent has his or her own page. As the client, you will also be able to see what the researcher sees via his or her dashboard. During the project, you will be able to follow the respondents’ questions and answers live, and be able to see the videos and photos they upload. During the course of the project, we will also ask the respondent additional questions and streamline tasks.
How can e-Safari help you?
Since respondents will be in their own environments during the study, they are able to report on their behavior as it occurs (this means that we don’t have to rely on the respondent’s memory). This way, qualitative online research generates surprising new insights into conscious (or subconscious) behavior. Motivaction analyses and reports the insights, and translates these into practical recommendations you can apply within your organization.
