the entire SEPTEMBER 2013 issue of VUE

Transcription

vue
the magazine of the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association
SEPTEM BER 2013
PREDICTING WHO WILL VOTE
IN CANADIAN ELECTIONS
SENSITIVE TOPICS: ISSUES
AND STRATEGIES
Canadian Publications Mail Agreement #40033932
PRICING INNOVATIONS:
STRATEGIES FOR LAUNCHING
NEW PRODUCTS
A GREENER
WAY TO GO
vue
SEPTEMBER 2013
In this month’s features: Cover: Asa Goldman
(L to R) Asa Goldman, Sarah Abbott, Nicholas Ryan, Heather Gregg, Graham Pressey, Maryse Hudon, Briana Brownell
SPECIAL FEATURE
8
A GREENER WAY TO GO
Asa Goldman
FEATURES
12 PREDICTING WHO WILL VOTE IN CANADIAN ELECTIONS
Sarah Abbott, Heather Gregg, Adiza Mohammed,
Graham Pressey and Nicholas Ryan
16 SENSITIVE TOPICS: ISSUES AND STRATEGIES
Maryse Hudon
18 SUJETS DE NATURE DÉLICATE – ENJEUX ET STRATÉGIES
Maryse Hudon
21
PRICING INNOVATIONS: STRATEGIES FOR
LAUNCHING NEW PRODUCTS
Briana Brownell
COMMENTARY
4 Editor’s Vue
6 Letter from the President
INSTITUTE FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
24 COURSE CALENDAR FOR 2013–14
25 CONGRATULATIONS TO THE NEW CMRPs OF 2013
INDUSTRY NEWS
26 Qualitative Research Registry (QRR)
27 Research Registration System (RRS)
28 People and Companies in the News
COLUMNISTS
31 INNOVATION AND CREATIVITY
32 QUALITAS
VUE MAGAZINE IS PUBLISHED BY THE
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ASSOCIATION TEN TIMES A YEAR
ADDRESS
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Publishing Date: September © 2013.
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L’Association de la recherche et de l’intelligence marketing
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Canadian Publications Mail Agreement #40033932
ISSN 1488-7320
COMMEN TARY / CO MME NTAI R E
Editor’s Vue
Annie Pettit
Do you remember those glorious days when all you
had to worry about were showing up for class, writing
a few papers and exams, and hanging out with all your
friends, who conveniently lived just a few doors away in
your dorm?
I remember, as a psychology student, being the
odd duck who clamoured to take every psychometrics,
research design, and multivariate statistics class, while
everyone else tried to figure out how to be exempted
from them. I remember having to get departmental
permission to take an ethics class for which only
clinical psychology students could register. I remember
doing my dissertation on the comparison of response
effects such as random responding and extreme
responding in paper and online surveys.
At the time, I had absolutely no clue that there was
a career path called marketing research. Looking back,
however, it seems as though I must have known. Every
class I took was directly related to marketing research.
Vous rappelez-vous les beaux jours lorsque votre seule préoccupation était de savoir où se trouvait la salle de classe, de
rédiger quelques travaux et examens pour ensuite rejoindre
les amis vivant à quelques portes de votre chambre de la
résidence d’étudiants?
Je me souviens, lorsque j’étais étudiante en psychologie,
être cette étudiante étrange qui proclamait suivre tous les
cours de psychométrie, de méthodologie de recherche et
d’analyse statistique multidimensionnelle tout en essayant
d’en être exemptée. Je me souviens avoir obtenu la
permission de mon département de suivre un cours d’éthique
auquel n’étaient inscrits que des étudiants en psychologie
clinique. J’avais fait ma dissertation sur la comparaison des
effets des réponses, comme les réponses non spécifiques et
les réponses extrêmes, aux sondages sur papier et en ligne.
À cette époque, je n’avais aucune idée que ceci me
mènerait à une carrière dans le domaine de la recherche
marketing. En rétrospective cependant, il semble que j’en avais
l’intuition. Tous les cours que j’ai suivis étaient directement
associés à la recherche marketing.
With my ignorance behind me, it’s lovely to see that
a number of Canadian colleges now offer programs
in marketing research – not concentrations, not a
few courses, but fully developed marketing research
programs. Today’s lucky students get to learn what I
learned, but in a much more focused manner. They
learn about research design, survey design, and human
behaviour, all under the umbrella of applications in
marketing research. How great is that for our industry!
Maintenant que je suis plus sage, je suis heureuse de voir
un certain nombre de collèges canadiens offrant maintenant
des programmes d’études en recherche marketing – non
pas des concentrations ou quelques cours, mais bien des
programmes en recherche marketing complets. Les étudiants
d’aujourd’hui ont la chance d’apprendre ce que j’ai appris, mais
d’une manière beaucoup plus structurée. Ils apprennent les
méthodologies de recherche, la conception de plan d’enquête
et les aspects du comportement humain dans le cadre des
applications de la recherche marketing. Ceci est une excellente
nouvelle pour notre industrie!
I’m delighted to share, in this issue of Vue, the
outstanding work of several newly graduated marketing
research students. Consider whether you could have
conducted work of this quality when you were a
student. Consider whether the work you do now is of
this quality. Now consider whether you have an opening
at your company for one of these new graduates. Have
you hired a new graduate lately?
J’ai le plaisir dans ce numéro de Vue de partager le travail
remarquable de plusieurs étudiants récemment diplômés
des programmes de recherche marketing. Auriez-vous été en
mesure de présenter des travaux de si bonne qualité lorsque
vous étiez étudiant? Considérez maintenant si vos travaux
actuels ont le même niveau de qualité que ceux présentés
par les étudiants de nos jours. Y a-t-il des ouvertures au sein
de votre entreprise pour ces nouveaux diplômés? Avez-vous
embauché de nouveaux diplômés récemment?
Annie Pettit PhD, Chief Research Officer / Directrice de la recherche, Conversition
Editor-in-Chief, Vue / Rédactrice en chef, Vue • Email: [email protected] • (416) 273-9395 • t @LoveStats
4
vue September 2013
COMMEN TARY / CO MME NTAI R E
Letter from the President
Anastasia Arabia
Time to Reconnect – It’s
September…
Septembre – Temps de se
rebrancher…
Sun lovers can have a hard time with September – with
the leaves getting ready to turn and pulling out sweaters on ever increasing cool summer evenings. However, I
have always loved “back to school” time. It feels like an
exciting time full of possibility. As well, this is the time
the MRIA Chapters gear up with all their fall programming. It is time to connect with colleagues – get out to
some events and schedule in some ongoing learning and
conferences.
Septembre est un mois difficile pour les amoureux du soleil – les
changements subtils dans les couleurs des feuilles annonçant
l’automne et le retour des chandails pour profiter des dernières
soirées d’été. Malgré tout, j’adore la période de la « rentrée scolaire ».
Ce temps de l’année m’incite à contempler toutes les possibilités pour
l’avenir. C’est également le temps où les chapitres de l’ARIM préparent
leur programmation d’automne. Il est temps de reprendre contact
avec les collègues – sortir et participer à des événements, s’inscrire à
des cours de perfectionnement et à des conférences.
The Chapter Presidents and their boards work to put
together a Fall/Spring schedule that will be appealing
and engaging to members. Check out the local Chapter
calendars on the website for what is upcoming in your
area, http://mria-arim.ca/chapters. Please get in touch
or get involved with your local board if there are certain
topics you want covered or if you have ideas for particular
speakers.
National events coming up this fall include a half-day
conference on political polling, as well as full days with
CSRC on November 7th and with the Qualitative Research
Division on November 27th in Toronto. More details about
both these great events to come shortly, on our website
and via email.
Other ways to get involved? Most Chapters have
relationships with local post secondary institutions, who
are continuously looking for new speakers to come out
and connect with their MR classes. Why not volunteer to
sit on a panel and share your knowledge? Or offer to be
a mentor to a student interested in a marketing research
career? There are so many ways to get involved… If you
have suggestions or other ideas I’d love to hear from you.
Les présidents de chapitre et leur conseil préparent actuellement
un calendrier pour l’automne et le printemps qui ne manquera pas
de plaire et de stimuler les membres. Consultez les calendriers des
chapitres locaux pour savoir ce qui s’en vient dans votre région en
visitant notre site Web, http://mria-arim.ca/chapters. Communiquez
ou participez aux activités de votre conseil local si vous désirez
proposer certains sujets de discussion ou présenter des idées pour
des orateurs en particulier.
Les événements nationaux qui auront lieu à Toronto cet automne
incluent une conférence d’une demi-journée sur les sondages
politiques ainsi qu’une conférence d’une journée avec le CSRC le
7 novembre et une conférence d’une journée avec la division de la
recherche qualitative le 27 novembre. Plus de renseignements sur
ces événements seront disponibles sous peu. Consultez notre site
Web ou envoyez-nous un message par courriel.
Comment pouvez-vous participer à nos activités? La plupart
de nos chapitres entretiennent d’excellentes relations avec les
établissements d’enseignement postsecondaire dans leur région.
Ces établissement sont toujours à la recherche de nouveaux
orateurs pour faire des présentations et communiquer avec les
étudiants en recherche marketing. Vous pourriez faire partie d’un
panel de discussion et partager vos connaissances… ou offrir
un mentorat à un étudiant s’intéressant à une carrière dans
le domaine de la recherche marketing. Ce ne sont que deux
exemples vous permettant de participer aux activités de l’ARIM.
À vous de trouver la vôtre… offrez-nous vos suggestions et
présentez-nous vos idées. Nous voulons savoir ce que vous
pensez et intégrer vos idées dans notre démarche.
Anastasia Arabia, Partner / Partenaire, Trend Research Inc.
President, Marketing Research and Intelligence Association / Présidente, L’Association de la recherche et de l’intelligence marketing
Email: [email protected] • 780-485-6558 ext./poste 2003
6
vue September 2013
Connections
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Marketing Research and Intelligence Association
L’Association de la recherche et de l’intelligence marketing
MRIA 2013-14 Board of Directors
OFFICERS
PRESIDENT
PRESIDENT-ELECT
VICE-PRESIDENT SECRETARY-TREASURER
INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Anastasia Arabia
Shane Skillen, CMRP
Carolyn O’Keefe, CMRP
Tricia Benn
John Ball, CMRP
Trend Research Inc.
Hotspex Inc.
MQO Research
Rogers Connect Market Research & Client Services
MRIA DIRECTORS
MRIA PRESIDENT PRESIDENT-ELECT
PAST-PRESIDENT (EX-OFFICIO)
AT-LARGE
AT-LARGE
AT-LARGE
AT-LARGE
BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS RESEARCH DIVISION
CHAPTER COUNCIL
CLIENT-SIDE RESEARCHER COUNCIL
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH DIVISION
RESEARCH AGENCY COUNCIL
WESTERN CANADA REGION
ONTARIO REGION
QUEBEC REGION
ATLANTIC CANADA REGION
Anastasia Arabia
Shane Skillen, CMRP
Sandra Janzen
Fergus Gamble, CMRP
Carolyn O’Keefe, CMRP
Julie Sylvestre, CMRP
Paul Street Tricia Benn
Tracy Bowman, CMRP
Joseph Chen
Kamal Sharma
Margaret Brigley, CMRP
Adam Froman
Mark Wood, CMRP
Dave McVetty, CMRP
Kristian Gravelle
Christian Bourque, CMRP
Carol Wilson, CMRP
Trend Research Inc.
Hotspex Inc.
Independent Consultant
MQO Research
Sylvestre Marketing
Bell Media
Rogers Connect Market Research & Client Services
Protegra
Unilever Canada
Sobeys Inc.
Corporate Research Associates
AskingCanadians
TNS Canada (Canadian Facts)
Parks Canada
Kraft Canada Inc. - Consumer Insight & Strategy Group
Leger
Spielo International
MRIA 2013-14 Portfolio Chairs
BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS RESEARCH DIVISION
Maggie Weaver CHAPTER COUNCIL
Tracy Bowman, CMRP
Joseph Chen
DEAN OF MRIA INSTITUTE FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Stephen Popiel, CMRP
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT & CERTIFICATION Fergus Gamble, CMRP
GOVERNMENT RELATIONS
Don Mills, CMRP, FMRIA
INTER-ASSOCIATION LIAISON
Sandra Janzen
LITIGATION AND REGULATORY RESOURCES COMMITTEE
Ruth Corbin, CMRP
MARKET INTELLIGENCE
Kimberlee Niziol Jonas
MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS
Shane Skillen, CMRP
MEMBERSHIP
Dave McVetty, CMRP
PUBLICATIONS
Annie Pettit
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH DIVISION
Margaret Brigley, CMRP
Adam Froman
STANDARDS
Ruth Corbin, CMRP
Shaftesbury Associates
Protegra
Unilever Canada
GfK Canada
CorbinPartners Inc.
Hotspex Inc.
Parks Canada
Conversition Strategies
AskingCanadians
CorbinPartners Inc.
MRIA 2013-14 Chapter Council/Chapter Presidents
CHAPTER COUNCIL CHAIR
ALBERTA
ATLANTIC CANADA
BRITISH COLUMBIA
OTTAWA
PRAIRIE
QUEBEC
TORONTO
Tracy Bowman, CMRP
Carolyn Kildare
Christina Waddy, CMRP
Adam DiPaula
Randa Bell, CMRP
Tracy Bowman, CMRP
Daniel Brousseau, CMRP
Leah McTiernan, CMRP
Protegra
Mercer
Sentis Market Research Inc.
ASDE Survey Sampler
Protegra
Ipsos ASI
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vue September 2013
7
A GREENER
WAY TO GO
Asa Goldman
8
vue September 2013
S P ECIAL F EATUR E
Of those two famous certainties of life, one of them is death.
We may be living longer lives but, as death is still inevitable,
we will always need a way to deal with human remains.
In recent years, we have become more concerned with the
impact we have on the environment. There are various
options for living in a greener way, so it is natural to think
about greener ways to manage death and burial.
The research described here was conducted for the
Natural Burial Association (NBA), a non-profit organization
first established in 2005 to promote greener alternatives
for burials in Canada. Its current goals are to raise public
awareness of natural burial in Canada and to support the
establishment of natural burial cemeteries. Currently, there
is one such cemetery in Victoria, BC, and there are natural
burial sections of Cobourg Union Cemetery in Cobourg,
Ontario, and the Meadowvale Cemetery in Brampton,
Ontario, the latter operated by the Mount Pleasant Group
of Cemeteries.
The NBA is heavily involved in fundraising campaigns,
with the aim of creating a fund that can be used to
purchase appropriate land to establish dedicated natural
burial cemeteries in the future. Since the NBA was about
to embark on more extensive promotional efforts, it was
of utmost importance to know if such an effort would be
worthwhile. Is there enough interest out there?
With this question in mind, the purposes of the research
project were to determine the degree of awareness of and
support for natural burial among the general population,
and to identify key characteristics of potential supporters.
So what is natural burial? To different people it can
mean slightly different things, but in general it refers to
burying human remains in a manner that creates the least
disturbance possible to the environment. A practice typical
of natural burial would be not embalming the body, as
embalming fluids are usually toxic and can be released
into the soil. The body would be contained either in a
biodegradable shroud or a simple casket without varnishes
or fittings that will not decompose.
Tombstones are not used, the preference being to have
the area revert to a natural woodland state as much as
possible. To that end, grounds are not manicured (thereby
also avoiding emission of greenhouse gases from lawn
maintenance machines), and only native trees and vegetation
are planted in the area.
While not all interested organizations agree, the NBA
does not consider cremation to be consistent with natural
burial, due to the energy required for burning and the
potential for release of hazardous compounds into the air
(such as from heavy metals often found in dental fillings).
For the study, an online survey was completed by 650
subscribers of the Canada Talk Now online panel, hosted by
iTracks (see http://canadatalknow.ca). The use of this panel
was made possible through a strong mutually beneficial
relationship developed between Georgian College’s Research
Analyst Program and iTracks. The respondents were Ontario
residents of at least 25 years of age. Younger individuals were
excluded because, in this era, most young people are not
at the point of making decisions on end-of-life matters for
themselves.
A second phase of the study was conducted as a real-time
online focus group using the iTracks focus group platform.
This phase explored impressions of natural burial and also
examined whether religious affiliation and religious beliefs
play a role in determining people’s openness to the natural
burial option.
Who Is Aware?
It was expected from the beginning that the overall
awareness of natural burial and of the Natural Burial
Association would be relatively low, yet it was still important
to get a sense of how far the NBA’s current promotional
efforts have penetrated. Overall, the results are not that dire:
20 per cent of those sampled had at least some familiarity
with natural burial; however, only 2.5 per cent considered
themselves to be “quite familiar” with the concept.
Awareness of the Natural Burial Association itself was
quite dismal, with very low awareness. Of those who had
some familiarity with natural burial, only 24 per cent had
any familiarity with the NBA, a figure which represents only
5 per cent of the sample as a whole. These findings certainly
indicate the need for more promotional efforts.
The Interest Is There
Despite the low level of awareness in the population, there
seems to be some broad degree of willingness to consider
natural burial. Forty-four per cent of those surveyed
agreed that natural burial was an option that appealed to
them. While agreement did drop when participants were
specifically asked if they would prefer a natural burial, 34
per cent still agreed – not bad, as this percentage represents
more people than were initially aware of the option.
Because theoretical interest often does not translate into
action, participants were further asked to indicate, on a scale
from 0 to 10, how likely they would be to choose natural
vue September 2013
9
SPECIAL FEATURE
burial for their own funeral. In this sample, approximately
28 per cent answered 7 or higher. We can then conclude that
there may be potential interest from a substantial proportion
of the population in choosing natural burial.
Qualitative investigation indicates a great potential for
securing interest if more information is provided. Focus
group participants indicated an overall interest in the goals
and aims of natural burial, and several individuals indicated
a desire for this type of burial in their own circumstances.
There were some concerns expressed, including cost
issues, but most of these could be allayed with additional
information. This finding, together with the survey results,
indicates that more support can be found through more
effective communication and that a promotional campaign
can be worthwhile.
What Is the Profile for Natural Burial?
So who are those interested people? Demographically, there
was a higher proportion of older participants who were
unlikely to choose natural burial. As concerns religion,
those with the least likelihood to choose natural burial were
Christians, particularly non-Catholic Christians. People who
belong to non-Christian religions or who identify themselves
as spiritual, despite not subscribing to an organized religion,
were more likely to indicate such a desire.
While this category of “spiritual” has not traditionally
been included as an option in questions
asking participants their religion,
Fig.
survey pretesting indicated that several
individuals felt the list of religions
(including “no religion,” based on
categories used by Statistics Canada) did
not provide a category that accurately
described their religious status. And in the
final tally, 73 respondents – 11 per cent
of the sample – placed themselves in the
spiritual category, which turned out to
be an important subgroup. I believe this
less official, but still spiritual, approach to
religion is increasingly popular, and will
likely be important in future research on a
variety of topics.
Another interesting measure was related to preferred
leisure activities. Individuals who prefer to hike in natural
areas were more likely to choose natural burial than those
who prefer other pastimes, such as reading, shopping, or
10 vue September 2013
watching TV. Perhaps one could surmise that those who
like to spend time in natural areas in life will prefer to be in
those same places in death as well.
A key assumption made in the promotion of natural
burial is that those with concern for the environment are
more likely to be in favour of natural burial, for fairly
evident reasons. Currently, NBA promotional messages
are directed towards members of environmental groups, as
they are easily identifiable and considered likely supporters.
And, in fact, these individuals with stated environmental
affiliations are more aware of natural burial, indicating that
the message is starting to be heard.
So are members of environmental groups more likely to
choose natural burial? Yes, they are, but they’re not the only
ones. Only 10 per cent of those in the sample indicated that
they belong to such a group, while we have just established
that the potential audience is substantially larger than this.
Likely choosers of natural burial were more likely to
engage in most environmental behaviours, to various
degrees. Particularly dramatic results were seen when
asking about buying organic and spending more money on
environmentally friendly products. Looking at one indicator,
represented in the figure below, buyers of organic foods
were more likely to choose natural burial (40% of frequent
buyers, compared to 24% of occasional buyers and 15% of
infrequent buyers).
1 Organic Foods Go with Green Burial
Likelihood of Choosing Natural Burial
Notably, a mirror pattern is evident (see the left side of
the figure), showing that those who do not buy organic
are most unlikely to choose natural burial. As people who
regularly purchase organic food can be located, say, at
S P ECIAL F EATUR E
natural foods stores, these findings open up a possible new
avenue for information distribution in order to reach a
larger audience.
The other participants agreed that this solution would
allay their concerns over the lack of headstones, and they
were very interested in the proposed concept of virtual
memorials that are not tied to the specific gravesite.
What Is Important to the Public?
To look with a little more detail into how people choose
burial options, the study ranked various funerary
considerations by personal importance. Across the board,
the more basic, practical considerations were considered
more important than those applying directly to natural
burial, such as minimizing environmental impact and
returning land to a natural state.
One factor I had thought would be important but was
consistently the least selected option was establishing a
memorial. However, its absence from the top rankings of
considerations does not necessarily mean it is unimportant,
and the issue of markers and memorials was a key discussion
area in the focus group.
When study participants were asked how they felt about
depictions of a typical cemetery and a natural forested area
as final resting places, there was hesitance in seeing the
natural area as a spiritual environment, while there was none
for the traditional cemetery. On probing, several participants
mentioned the lack of headstones as the missing element
and also acknowledged that the lack of such markers can be
a significant barrier to choosing natural burial.
One of the great benefits of qualitative research is that
new ideas can be explored and sometimes new solutions can
even be found. One participant had already come up with
a solution to the problem of markers before the end of the
session. She had this to say:
Recommendations
Based on the above research, four recommendations were
presented to the NBA. The first, and most important, was
that an extensive promotional campaign is needed and
justifiable. There is a very clear lack of public knowledge
regarding natural burial; but as interest exceeds awareness,
promoting the option would likely be fruitful. The directors
of the NBA already suspected awareness was low, but finding
that potential interest exceeds awareness was very important
to them. The other recommendations dealt with focusing
on people with environmental habits, exploring options
for virtual memorials, and being sure to be very clear in
communication of cost and other issues.
Action is already under way to increase natural burial
options. Shortly after presenting my research to the NBA,
I was invited to present my report to the Mount Pleasant
Group of Cemeteries, Canada’s largest cemetery company.
Since providing burial options is one of its founding
principles, the company has embraced natural burial and
was quite interested in my findings. Already operating
Meadowvale Cemetery, the Mount Pleasant Group opened
a natural burial section at Duffin Meadows Cemetery, in
Pickering, this past June, bringing the number of natural
burial options in the province to three.
So while we all have to go sometime, perhaps soon we
“There are other ways to denote who is
will indeed have “a greener way to go.”
buried in an area, if one is not tied to the
idea of a particular slice of land being
delineated. There could be a building with
an account, open to wide access, which
could have pictures, videos, songs of the
transitioned one for everyone to see.
Families could put up family trees showing
exactly where the transitioned one belonged
in the lineage.”
Asa Goldman has a BA in psychology from the University
of Guelph, including co-op terms with Canada’s federal
government. Later, he attended culinary school and worked
in fine dining restaurants but eventually returned to
research, to continue pursuing his passion for knowledge and
understanding. Newly graduated from the Research Analyst
Program at Georgian College, Asa is now employed as a research
assistant at R.A. Malatest & Associates in Toronto.
vue September 2013
11
F E ATURE
PREDICTING WHO WILL
VOTE IN CANADIAN
ELECTIONS
Sarah Abbott
Nicholas Ryan
Discussion surrounding voting decisions has endured for
decades and has led to the questions of when the voting
decision is made and what factors affect that voting decision.
While it was initially thought that campaign materials
acted as a form of advertisement that stimulated voters to
choose one candidate over another, there has been much
analysis of past election data which suggests “that many
vote decisions had been made prior to the beginning of the
campaign. Thus, it was clear that the campaign was not the
central mechanism by which vote choice was shaped,” (see
Cameron D. Anderson & Laura B. Stephenson’s 2010 article
“The Puzzle of Elections and Voting in Canada,” published
in UBC Press’s Voting Behaviour in Canada, available
at http://www.ubcpress.ca/books/pdf/chapters/2010/
VotingBehaviourInCanada.pdf ).
This finding led to the development of a new theory that
focused specifically on social features dictating candidate
preference, arguing that social and economic factors, as well
as religion and residence, could determine voting behaviour:
Heather Gregg
Graham Pressey
there is essentially a “need to understand one’s background
in order to understand one’s vote” (Anderson & Stephenson,
2010).
However, this theory did not produce strong results when
researchers looked at long- and short-term influences on
voting in the 1948 American presidential election (Anderson
& Stephenson). The Survey Research Center of the
University of Michigan, in its 1960 report, The American
Voter, argued that both the long- and short-term influences
on voting behaviour could be understood through a “funnel
of causality” (see the figure on the following page). This
concept organized social characteristics such as ethnicity,
race, religion, education, occupation, class, while also
recognizing that factors such as evaluation of candidates,
evaluation of issues, campaign effects, and conversations
with friends and family influenced voter behaviour
(Anderson & Stephenson). The Michigan model, as it
became known, was based on the premise that all factors
combined influence how one chose to vote.
F EATUR E
The Funnel of Causality
Ethnicity
Race
Religion
Education
Occupation
Class
Candidate evaluations
Party
identification
Issue evaluations
Campaign evaluation
Vote
decision
Family and friends
Parental
partisanship
In order to determine the influence of these factors,
we chose to create a logistic regression model. A logistic
regression model is one that examines the effect of
independent variables on a binary or categorical outcome.
As the outcome in this case is binary – that is, a person
either votes or does not vote – a logistic regression
model is appropriate for understanding the effect of the
independent variables on voting behaviour as measured in
the AmericasBarometer study.
Hypothesis and Variables
Taken from Cameron D. Anderson & Laura B. Stephenson’s 2010 article
“The Puzzle of Elections and Voting in Canada,” published in UBC Press’s
Voting Behaviour in Canada, available at http://www.ubcpress.ca/books/pdf/
chapters/2010/VotingBehaviourInCanada.pdf
A modified version of this model presents “a valence
model of voting behavior. The valence model focuses
on the voter’s expectations of what the candidates will
be able to accomplish in office – in other words, it goes
beyond campaign promises and policy stances to consider
whether the candidate will be able to deliver” (Anderson &
Stephenson), moving to a fuller conceptualization of the
funnel factors.
While the role of social class in Canadian voting was
found to be weak, “religion has been found to be one
of the strongest vote determinants.” Values and beliefs
about politics are also factors that have an impact on voter
decision, including cynicism and trust. “Whereas increasing
distrust in the Canadian electorate fostered abstention, it
had a more significant impact by facilitating third-party
support.” A further finding that was identified concerns the
effect of issues and economic evaluations on voter decision:
“the collective wisdom suggests that issues do matter in
Canada” (Anderson & Stephenson).
In a similar fashion, the authors of the present article
were interested in determining how voters’ decision to vote
– rather than how they voted – was affected by factors such
as the importance of religion in one’s life, how proud one
is to be Canadian, pride in the political system of Canada,
interest in politics, trust in the justice system, political
parties and the prime minister, how often one has tried
to persuade others to vote, the level of interest in politics,
whether one has been a crime victim over the past twelve
months, and what one feels the government should do to
reduce poverty and inequality in Canada.
The hypothesis of the study carried out by the authors of
this article was that there is a significant positive relationship
among independent variables that are based on the following
questions:
• How many times have you been a crime victim over the
past twelve months?
• To what extent do you trust the political parties?
• To what extent do you trust the prime minister?
• How important is religion in your life?
• How much interest do you have in politics?
• To what extent do you trust the justice system?
• To what extent are you proud of being a Canadian?
• What should the government do to reduce poverty and
inequality in Canada?
• How often have you tried to persuade others to vote for a
party or candidate?
• To what extent do you feel proud of living under the
political system of Canada?
The dependent variable was whether respondents voted
in the last Canadian federal election, held in May 2011.
Relationships
Adapting the Michigan model’s funnel of causality, we
chose independent variables concerning aspects of voting
similar to those used in the model described by Anderson
& Stephenson. Religious values, faith in the political
system and party leader, interest in politics, the effect of
issues, and economic evaluation were chosen, following
the theory based upon the funnel of causality, while other
variables were chosen to allow the researchers to observe
other possible causal factors concerning Canada’s voting
behaviour, among them, to what extent voters trust the
justice system, their pride in being Canadian, any attempts
to persuade another person to vote, and what they believed
should be done to reduce poverty and inequality in Canada.
vue September 2013
13
F E ATURE
Strength of Association
The independent variables chosen to predict voting
were categorical and continuous-level data. Pearson and
Spearman correlation tests were conducted to help measure
the extent to which the variables interrelate with one
another. Correlation coefficients for the predictor variables
were between 0.35 and 0.616, with p-values less than
0.05, meaning that the predictor variables are moderately
correlated with each other (a medium to large correlation
effect).
Interrelationship tests between the outcome and predictor
variables weren’t demonstrated statistically, but secondary
research showed the existence of a relationship between the
selected independent and dependent variables. A very strong
interrelationship can indicate that the different variables
are measuring a similar concept. As this is not the case, the
independent variables are appropriate to use in the analysis.
Method
The stepwise method (forward LR) was selected. Predictor
variables were entered on the basis of statistical criteria (i.e.,
relative contribution to predicting outcome). That is to say,
the individual score statistic with significant contribution
effects was added to the model. The independent variables
with insignificant effects on the overall dependent
variable were excluded from the final statistical analysis.
Furthermore, the stepwise method was chosen to help
explore and validate the predictor variables that contribute
significantly to the predictability of the outcome variable,
since correlations among variables weren’t previously
demonstrated.
cent of the respondents in the AmericasBarometer sample
indicated that they had voted, the initial model predicts
voting with 68.3 per cent accuracy. The Wald statistic of the
initial model is 401.666, with a p-value of 0.000, meaning
that the addition of the predictor variables will significantly
increase the model’s overall predictive power when compared
to the most common frequency of the dependent variable
alone.
The model summary table shows the initial log likelihood
statistic, which is similar to the standardized residual in
multiple regression analysis, (log of likelihood function is
–2LL) as 1384.288. This statistic decreased to 1236.540 as
the predictor variables were added to the model, meaning
that the model fit is better with the inclusion of predictor
variables. The Nagelkerke coefficient (R-squared) is 0.161
(coefficient of determination is 16.1%), indicating that
16.1% proportion of variance is explained or shared by the
predictor variables in the model.
The p-value of the Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-offit test increases from 0.062 to 0.182 with a chi-squared
statistic of 11.371 for the final model. This result indicates
that what was observed did not differ significantly from
what was expected in the analysis (insignificant difference in
residuals).
The predictability of the final model is 79.7%, so the
overall percentage shows an increase in the predictive power
of the model. The histogram doesn’t show an ideal situation,
because the probabilities of Y (VB2) are slightly positively
skewed. Therefore, the model will have some accuracy
problem in predicting who did not vote when compared to
those who did vote.
Analysis. Logistic regression analysis of the results was
guided by Alan Agresti’s Data Analysis of Ordinal Categorical
Data (2nd ed., 2010).
Variables excluded from model. After conducting the
analysis, five of the ten independent variables were not
included in the final model, as they did not significantly
contribute to the predictive power of the model overall.
These excluded variables are those based on following
questions:
• To what extent do you trust the political parties?
• To what extent do you trust the prime minister?
• How important is religion in your life?
• To what extent do you trust the justice system?
• To what extent do you feel proud of living under the
political system of Canada?
The strength of a logistic regression model is measured
by the difference between the initial predictive power – the
mode or most frequent value – and the final model, which
takes into account the independent variables. As 68.3 per
The remaining predictor variables were added to the final
model.
Although the variable based on the question “What
should the government do to reduce poverty and inequality
Logistic Regression Analysis
Participants. We used a data file of 1,500 respondents
representing the Canadian adult population. The
AmericasBarometer survey research and data were provided
by Environics Institute.
Outcome. Respondents voted (1) or did not vote (0).
F EATUR E
in Canada?” was included in the final analysis, the individual
p-values associated with the Wald statistic for each category
in the group variable (soc10 group categories) were all
greater than 0.05. This result means that the categories of
this independent variable did not contribute significantly to
the predictive model. As a result, logistic regression analysis
was repeated a second time without that variable.
important in helping forecast voters’ decision to take part
in an election. However, additional analysis of some other
variables in the data is recommended to help reduce the
proportion of unexplained variance in the model.
Variables included in the model. The variables that were
included in the model were based on following questions:
• Have you been a victim of any type of crime in the past
twelve months?
• How much interest do you have in politics?
• To what extent are you proud of being a Canadian?
• How often have you tried to persuade others to vote for a
party or candidate?
The regression model with the beta coefficients or values
for each predictor variable included in the model is this:
Sarah Abbott has an undergraduate honours degree in
Vote = 0.776 (interest in politics) + 0.277 (persuading
others) – 0.112 (proud Canadian) – 0.554 (victim of crime)
Heather Gregg began her career in event planning and tourism
This equation can be interpreted as follows.
First predictor. Individuals with an interest in politics
are more likely to vote in a Canadian federal election.
As interest in politics increases, the probability of voting
increases.
Second predictor. Individuals who persuade others to
vote are more likely to vote in a Canadian federal election.
Therefore, individuals that persuade others to vote, are more
likely to vote themselves.
Third predictor. Citizens who are not proud to be
Canadians are less likely to vote in a federal election. The
less proud of being Canadian individuals are, the less likely
they are to vote.
anthropology from Carleton University and a post-graduate
diploma in marketing business intelligence research from
Algonquin College of Applied Arts and Technology.
marketing. The Marketing & Business Intelligence Research
(MBIR) post-graduate program at Algonquin College has
enhanced and further developed her analytical abilities. She can
be reached at [email protected]
Adiza Mohammed obtained a degree in community capacity
development extension services from the University of Guelph
before entering Algonquin’s Marketing and Business Intelligence
Research program. You can reach Adiza at [email protected]
Graham Pressey, a graduate of Algonquin College’s Marketing
and Business Intelligence Research program and of Carleton
Fourth predictor. Individuals experiencing few or no
criminal events in the last twelve months are more likely
to vote when compared to those that have been a victim of
crime more often.
University, is a communications consultant at the Government
of Canada’s Office of the Superintendent of Financial
Institutions. He can be contacted at [email protected]
Overall Assessment of Results
While the final model generated after the analysis is
not completely accurate in predicting who will vote in
comparison to those who will not vote, the addition of the
independent variables improves the overall predictive power
of the model. This result means that the predictors are
Nicholas Ryan has a two-year diploma in business marketing.
This year, Nic and his team will be working with the Ottawa
Convention Centre in providing recommendations based on
their research questions.
vue September 2013
15
F E ATURE
SENSITIVE TOPICS:
ISSUES AND STRATEGIES
Maryse Hudon
As researchers, we are often asked to explore sensitive topics
with respondents. Doing so necessitates a combination of
skills and strategies in order to ensure that client objectives
are met while fully respecting respondents’ vulnerabilities.
In this article, we will define what makes a topic
sensitive and discuss the researcher’s required skill set, the
necessary logistics, the research methodology parameters,
the importance of the debriefing phase, and some reporting
considerations.
Delineating Sensitive Topics and the
Researcher’s Skill Set
Topics tend to be sensitive depending on the context, the
cultural norms, and the values to be explored. For example,
the context contributes to sensitivity when topics are private,
stressful or sacred – as may be the case with sexuality, death,
and activities related to religious beliefs, to mention just a
few. And exploring cultural norms may address feelings of
stigma or fear, as might be aroused by the illegal behaviour
of teenage respondents. Overall, any topic that is likely to
elicit an emotional response is considered sensitive.
The greatest challenge for researchers who are exploring
topics that are potentially emotional for respondents is to
balance sensitivity to a respondent’s feelings with their own
emotional response while keeping an objective eye on the
research objectives at hand.
An open, friendly, non-judgmental, supportive and
genuine disposition is a must. Being attentive to distress
cues – expressed verbally, or physically through body
language – will communicate that the researcher is accepting
of respondents’ emotions, in the hopes of helping those
respondents feel safe in continuing to disclose their thoughts
and feelings.
F EATUR E
Mirroring techniques are especially important in creating
a sense of collaboration and association. Being fully prepared
on sensitive topics – through secondary research via blogs,
related websites, and advocacy groups, for example –
definitely helps moderators anticipate the emotional charge
of the topics to be discussed and demystifies the topics
before the fieldwork begins.
Research Methodologies
Given the wide range of methodologies currently available,
sensitive issues can be addressed in ways that maximize
respondents’ comfort level in sharing thoughts and feelings.
For private issues such as sexuality, online bulletin boards
allow respondents to share with others while preserving
their anonymity. Journal entries provide the privacy required
for sharing over a time span longer than a one-hour indepth interview. In-person, in-depth interviews may be
more appropriate when stigmas associated with topics may
discourage respondents from sharing in a group setting;
for example, some HIV objectives may be better addressed
through in-person one-on-ones when the respondent’s
history is explored. Ethnographic methodologies are well
suited to addressing sensitive topics, as the respondents are
in the comfort of their own setting.
The flow and design of the discussion guide are
especially important. A gradual easing into the topic
will create conditions comfortable for sharing increasing
depth of feelings. The timing allocated to each section
also needs to allow for the expression of some emotions
and the researcher’s validation of respondent feelings.
Built-in flexibility in the order of the research topics
will accommodate respondents, allowing them to reveal
themselves at their own pace and, in a spontaneous way, in
their own order.
The vocabulary used in the research instrument needs
to be most respectful and should reflect the verbal reality
commonly used in the respondent profile. Adapting to
regional colloquialisms will add to the overall comfort of the
research interview.
Logistics
The recruiting instruments need to be particularly
attentive in order to screen with consideration and offer
ample reassurances of the anonymity of the research effort.
Offering, either in the recruiting phase or at the outset
of the research exercise, a brief agenda of the topics to
be covered will invariably increase the comfort level of
respondents, reassuring them that they are highly capable of
participating in the study.
The actual recruiting can reach out to advocacy groups,
special interest groups, and specialized online groups
for their endorsement, thus contributing greatly to the
credibility of the research being done. Sharing of a portion
of the study results can encourage this type of collaboration.
Increasingly, research facilities are recognizing the need
for less businesslike settings for research into sensitive
topics. More friendly settings mimicking living rooms
are frequently used for more relaxed and less corporate
environs. Furthermore, flexible seating configurations can
accommodate respondents with restricted mobility, who are
encountered in some health-related research.
Catering needs can easily be adapted to respondents’
needs by providing more nutritious items during the regular
meal-hour interviews or healthy snack alternatives for
patients likely to require food intake with their medication.
Another alternative is the provision of fruit and cheeses
for diabetic patients, as opposed to the common cookie or
muffin offerings.
Timing the fieldwork during appropriate field windows
can be crucial. One would avoid fielding any financially
related topics during the income tax filing season, for
example. Ensuring there are no conflicts with special events
will not only increase recruit response rates and overall
participation, but doing so will also send the message that
the input of respondents is so valued that their schedule
guides the researchers.
Combined efforts in providing a safe, nurturing
environment will clearly demonstrate the importance
researchers place on respondents’ well-being during the
research process.
Debrief
The debriefing tasks encompass those done with the
respondent, the client, the researchers, and the support staff.
When in a situation where sensitive topics will be discussed,
consider the following recommendations:
• In the research preamble, begin by asking participants
to list members of their support network and the coping
mechanisms they have developed.
• At the conclusion of the research event, acknowledge
that the discussion may have stirred up some emotions
in respondents, remind them of their support system,
and offer some additional suggestions for support from
community networks and associations.
• Be attentive to the emotional needs of the clients and of
peripheral staff viewing or supporting the research project.
Allowing for thorough debriefs with all observers as soon
vue September 2013
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F E ATURE
as possible after the fieldwork will enable those involved to
express any emotions aroused.
• Last but not least, the researchers themselves need to have
an outlet for the expression of their own emotions and
thoughts on the sensitive issue. Colleagues or any persons
of trust can provide the opportunity for the release of
emotions in order to allow for a more objective perspective
on the findings.
Reporting
Respondent confidentiality is always top of mind, but
it becomes particularly critical with sensitive issues.
Respondents will need to be reassured that their sharing will
be respected and kept anonymous. Getting permission to
use any portion of their input as testimonials for clients is
mandatory and standard practice in research circles.
Research into sensitive topics tends to elicit a wider range
of emotional nuances. Reporting these nuances may be a
challenge, but it is definitely critical in the development of
more in-depth strategic applications.
The tone of the report should not be exploitative, but
rather, supportive of the reality of respondents, with a view
to improving their situation.
Closing Comment
The resulting satisfaction of knowing that the respondents
are well represented and well respected far outweighs the
additional attention and expanded skill set required in all
phases of the research process. Seeing the respondents of
a focus group leave the research facility and head to the
nearest coffee shop to continue sharing their experiences
is extremely rewarding for the researcher but, more
importantly, it is a great indicator that the research process
had far-reaching and positive impacts on the respondents.
Maryse Hudon is founder and president of Maryse Hudon
Marketing Research Services, based in Montreal, Quebec.
Her firm specializes in bilingual and bicultural qualitative
research in the life sciences. Maryse can be reached at
[email protected]
SUJETS DE NATURE DÉLICATE –
ENJEUX ET STRATÉGIES
En tant que chercheurs, nous devons souvent aborder des
sujets délicats auprès des répondants. Cela nécessite une
combinaison de compétences et de stratégies permettant
de répondre aux objectifs des clients tout en respectant
pleinement les vulnérabilités des répondants.
Dans cet article, nous définirons ce qui représente un
sujet délicat, quel est l’ensemble des habiletés que doivent
posséder les chercheurs, la logistique requise, les paramètres
de la méthodologie de recherche, l’importance de la phase de
compte-rendu et quelques considérations sur la rédaction des
résultats de la recherche.
Définition de ce qu’est un sujet de nature délicate
La nature délicate des sujets diffère fonction du contexte,
des normes culturelles et des valeurs à explorer. Par exemple,
le contexte contribue à la nature délicate du sujet lorsqu’il
touche la vie privée ou des sujets stressants et/ou sacrés,
comme la sexualité, la mort et des activités associées à des
croyances religieuses entre autres. L’exploration de normes
culturelles peut provoquer des sentiments de stigmatisation
ou de peur chez les répondants adolescents lorsqu’il s’agit d’un
comportement illégal, par exemple. En résumé, tout sujet
qui risque de générer une réponse émotive est considéré
comme étant de nature délicate.
L’ensemble des compétences que doit
posséder le chercheur
Le plus grand défi pour les chercheurs explorant des sujets
potentiellement émotifs avec des répondants est de déterminer
l’équilibre entre la nature délicate du sujet et les émotions
des répondants par rapport à ce sujet tout en maintenant les
objectifs de la recherche.
Il est nécessaire de maintenir une attitude ouverte, amicale,
non critique, encourageante et honnête. Demeurer attentif
aux signes de détresse exprimés verbalement et physiquement
par le langage corporel communique aux répondants que
nous acceptons et respectons leurs émotions. L’objectif est
de fournir aux répondants un sentiment de sécurité en les
encourageant à exprimer leurs pensées et sentiments. Les
techniques de réponse en miroir nous sont très utiles pour
établir un sentiment de collaboration et de complicité.
Grâce aux renseignements obtenus de source indirecte sur
F EATUR E
le sujet délicat à aborder, comme des blogues, des sites Web
sur le sujet et des groupes d’intervention, les modérateurs et
modératrices sont bien préparés pour anticiper les réactions
émotives des répondants aux questions posées et pour
démystifier les sujets délicats à discuter avant d’entreprendre
les travaux de recherche sur le terrain.
Méthodologies de recherche
Étant donné le vaste éventail de méthodologies actuellement
disponible, les sujets de nature délicate peuvent être discutés
de manière à inciter les répondants à partager leurs pensées
et sentiments. Pour les sujets de nature privée, comme
la sexualité, des babillards électroniques permettent aux
répondants de partager avec d’autres, tout en maintenant
l’anonymat. Des entrées dans un journal quotidien
permettent également le respect de la vie privée lorsque les
répondants doivent répondre à des questions sur une période
plus longue que celle d’une entrevue approfondie d’une heure.
Des entrevues approfondies en personne peuvent être plus
efficaces lorsqu’une stigmatisation associée à certains sujets
risque de décourager certains répondants à partager avec
un groupe. Par exemple, il peut être préférable de discuter
de certains aspects du VIH en menant des entrevues face
à face lorsque l’historique du répondant est exploré. Une
méthodologie ethnographique peut s’avérer préférable pour
discuter de sujets délicats, puisque les répondants sont dans le
confort de leur propre entourage.
Le débit et la conception du guide de discussion sont
particulièrement importants. Une approche graduelle au
vif du sujet crée un environnement confortable permettant
aux répondants de partager des sentiments de plus en plus
profonds. De plus, le temps alloué à chaque section doit
permettre aux répondants d’exprimer certaines émotions et
au chercheur de valider les sentiments qu’ils expriment. Faire
preuve de souplesse dans l’ordre des sujets de recherche peut
inciter les répondants à révéler leur intimité à leur propre
rythme et spontanément selon l’ordre des sujets.
Le vocabulaire utilisé dans l’instrument de recherche doit
être très respectueux et refléter la réalité verbale couramment
utilisée par le profil de répondant. S’adapter à des patois
ajoutera au confort général de l’entrevue de recherche. Tester
l’instrument de recherche au préalable permettra de peaufiner
le vocabulaire utilisé et le degré d’intervention requis.
Logistique
Lors de l’élaboration du guide de recrutement, porter
une attention particulière à la sélection des répondants
selon certaines considérations en leur offrant la garantie
que leur anonymat sera maintenu durant la recherche.
Fournir une courte liste des sujets à discuter durant la phase
de recrutement ou au début de l’exercice de recherche
améliorera inévitablement le niveau de confort du répondant
en le rassurant sur sa capacité de participer à l’enquête. Le
recrutement comme tel peut se faire par l’intermédiaire de
groupes de soutien, de groupes d’intérêts spéciaux et de
groupes spécialisés en ligne pour obtenir leur approbation,
ce qui contribue grandement à la crédibilité de la recherche
effectuée. Le partage d’une portion des résultats de l’étude
peut encourager ce type de collaboration.
De plus en plus, les installations de recherche reconnaissent
qu’il est préférable de discuter de sujets délicats à l’extérieur
d’un environnement de bureau. Des environnements plus
amicaux, ressemblant plutôt à des salons, offrent un cadre
plus décontracté et moins corporatif. Des configurations plus
souples du mobilier permettent d’accommoder les répondants
à mobilité réduite participant à des enquêtes dans certains
domaines de recherche associés à la santé.
Les besoins alimentaires peuvent être facilement adaptés
aux besoins des répondants en leur offrant des aliments
nutritifs pendant les entrevues qui ont lieu durant les heures
régulières des repas ou en offrant des choix de collations
saines aux patients qui doivent manger avant de prendre leurs
médicaments. Un autre exemple est de substituer des fruits et
fromages pour les patients diabétiques aux biscuits et muffins
typiquement offerts aux répondants.
Planifier un horaire approprié pour les travaux sur le
terrain peut s’avérer essentiel. Par exemple, il est souhaitable
d’éviter d’aborder des sujets associés aux finances pendant la
saison de soumission des déclarations de revenus. Éviter de
mener les entrevues au même moment que des évènements
spéciaux. Cela assure non seulement un meilleur taux
de réponse et de participation en général, mais transmet
également aux répondants le message que leur participation
est appréciée au point tel que notre propre horaire est établi en
fonction de leur participation.
Les efforts combinés pour fournir un environnement
sécuritaire et stimulant démontreront clairement l’importance
accordée au bien-être des répondants durant le processus de
recherche.
Compte-rendu
Le répondant, le client, les chercheurs et le personnel de
soutien participent tous à l’établissement du compte-rendu.
Lorsque des sujets délicats doivent être discutés, prenez en
considération les éléments suivants :
• Tout d’abord, demandez aux participants de dresser
une liste des membres de leur réseau de soutien et des
mécanismes d’adaptation qu’ils ont élaborés au préalable en
vue des travaux de recherche.
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F E ATURE
• À
la fin de l’entrevue, exprimez aux répondants votre
reconnaissance du fait que la discussion ait pu brasser
certaines émotions pour eux, rappelez-leur quel est
leur système de soutien et faites quelques suggestions
additionnelles de réseaux communautaires et associations.
• S oyez attentifs aux besoins émotifs de leurs clients et du
personnel périphérique chargé de la surveillance et du
soutien du projet de recherche. Préparez des comptes
rendus approfondis avec tous les observateurs dès que
possible après le travail sur le terrain pour leur permettre
d’exprimer des émotions qui ont pu surgir pendant le
processus.
• D
ernier point, mais non le moindre. Les chercheurs euxmêmes doivent avoir un moyen d’exprimer leurs propres
émotions et pensées sur le sujet de nature délicate discuté.
Faites appel à des collègues ou une personne de confiance
à qui vous pouvez confier vos émotions librement, ce
qui vous aidera à demeurer plus objectif par rapport aux
conclusions de la recherche.
Rédaction du rapport sur les résultats
de la recherche
La protection de la vie privée de nos répondants est prioritaire
pour nous, plus particulièrement lorsqu’il s’agit de sujets
de nature délicate. Les répondants doivent être rassurés que
leur vie privée et leur anonymat seront respectés lorsqu’ils
partagent des renseignements personnels. L’obtention de la
permission des répondants pour l’utilisation de n’importe
quelle portion de leurs commentaires comme témoignage
pour les clients est obligatoire et cette pratique est standard
dans le milieu de la recherche.
Les travaux de recherche sur des sujets délicats suscitent
davantage d’émotions très nuancées. La description de ces
nuances peut s’avérer difficile, mais elle est essentielle à
la détermination des implications stratégiques profondes
découlant de la recherche.
Le rapport ne devrait pas mettre l’accent sur l’exploitation
des données, mais plutôt sur le soutien aux répondants en
vue d’améliorer leur situation personnelle en prenant en
considération leur réalité.
Mot de la fin
La satisfaction découlant du fait de savoir que nos répondants
sont bien représentés et respectés dépasse de loin l’attention
additionnelle et l’ensemble des compétences requises à chaque
phase du processus de recherche. Il est très valorisant pour
le chercheur de voir les répondants d’un groupe d’étude
se diriger vers un café après la séance pour poursuivre le
partage de leurs expériences, mais cela est surtout un très bon
indicateur que le processus de recherche a eu des impacts
positifs profonds sur les répondants.
Maryse Hudon est la fondatrice et présidente de l’entreprise
Maryse Hudon Marketing Research Services située à Montréal,
Québec. Son entreprise est spécialisée dans la recherche qualitative
bilingue et biculturelle dans le domaine des sciences de la vie.
Vous pouvez communiquer avec Maryse à l’adresse courriel
suivante : [email protected]
F EATUR E
PRICING INNOVATIONS:
STRATEGIES FOR
LAUNCHING NEW
PRODUCTS
Briana Brownell
Revolutionary products are easy to name: the Xerox
photocopier, the Apple iPod, Facebook, …. Many companies
aspire to launching new blockbuster products because the
payoff can be enormous. However, developing and marketing
an innovation is a significant risk, since predicting whether
a certain offering will succeed or fail is extremely difficult.
Concept testing is a nuanced art in which good marketing
research can play a key role.
Much empirical and theoretical research has gone into
explaining how new products are adopted by consumers and
the underlying reasons for adoption. A firm that can take into
account the dynamics of adoption has a much better chance
of launching a successful product than the firm that does
not bear such dynamics in mind. What’s more, the firm has
something at its disposal that can help it directly influence the
adoption of its new product: the price it charges. Developing
a pricing strategy can help the firm maximize the benefit from
its new innovation.
The Steps to Adoption
There are consistent patterns in the way innovations diffuse
through the market. Even if the innovation has a clear benefit,
consumers adopt gradually, and adoption throughout the
entire market occurs in reliable stages. First, there is a period
of relatively slow adoption, followed by a sharp takeoff and,
finally, growth slows as the market becomes saturated. This
pattern gives the s-shaped market adoption curve with which
we are most familiar.
However, despite consistency in the broad stages, there
are suggestive differences in the early periods of adoption for
some products. These differences make the eventual success of
a new product extremely difficult to forecast during the initial
stages. New products often sell much less than executives and
product designers predict or, alternatively, take off rapidly
and unexpectedly, causing major growing pains for small
companies. No single adoption model can explain the variety
of shapes found in empirical data, suggesting that there are
different underlying mechanisms at work.
An early and influential model of adoption created by
Robert J. Lavidge and Gary A. Steiner in 1961 suggests
that consumers must move through multiple steps before
adopting: they must become aware of the product, learn
what it does, develop a preference for it and, finally, choose
to adopt. (See Lavidge & Steiner’s “A Model for Predictive
Measurements of Advertising Effectiveness” in the October
1961 issue of Journal of Marketing, 26/6, pp. 59–62.)
This model was initially studied in order to use effective
advertising messaging to help consumers along the path to
adoption; however, it has been extended to take into account
the effect of word of mouth. This fundamental piece – how
adopters influence those who have not yet adopted – helps
explain the adoption patterns that are seen empirically.
The diversity of innovations means that the explanations
and theories for adoption are also diverse. Three general
reasons that new products diffuse have been explored in
different fields: awareness, social influence, and informational
needs (see Peyton H. Young’s 2009 article, “Innovation
Diffusion in Heterogeneous Populations: Contagion, Social
Influence, and Social Learning,” in The American Economic
Review, 99/5, pp. 1899–1924). Each of these explanations
applies to a certain class of products that a firm may wish to
vue September 2013
21
F E ATURE
introduce, and each reason relates differently to the steps in
Lavidge and Steiner’s product adoption model.
Awareness. All a consumer may need in order to be willing
to adopt a product is the knowledge that it is available.
Adopters can receive information about new products
through one of two channels: advertising or word of mouth
from other adopters. If the effect of word of mouth is very
strong, the company may wish to encourage adoption early
on to take advantage of this effect.
This model is most appropriate for a product that
consumers already understand and for which there is no social
risk to adoption. For example, an ice cream vendor in a large
park may wish to give out some ice cream cones early in the
day so that, as the recipients of free cones walk around the
park, others see that ice cream is available and then decide to
seek out an ice cream cone.
Social influence. No one wants to be the only person
who signs up for a workplace slowpitch team. If adopting
a product has some kind of inherent social risk, potential
adopters may require that a certain number of others purchase
before they themselves are willing to adopt. Consumers
each have a personal threshold for how much adoption is
necessary before they will adopt. Some are early adopters
who will purchase even if there are few other adopters, while
others may require that a majority have purchased before they
themselves consider adopting. A firm that is able to establish
that initial user base may be able to encourage widespread
adoption, as the social risk to adoption becomes lower with
growing numbers of adopters.
Informational needs. In the case of a truly categorycreating new product, consumers may not be able to assess
the value of the product. Instead, they receive and interpret
information from adopters. There may also be an advantage
here for the firm to spur adoption early on, because few
may be willing to adopt with no information. Then, as
early adopters create more and more information about the
attractiveness of adoption, other consumers may then decide
to adopt. A firm that can positively influence the creation and
maintenance of the information from current adopters can
influence the market adoption of its product.
The Best Pricing Strategy
Research into pricing is notoriously difficult. In the case of an
established product, firms have a few tricks up their sleeves:
sales measures for comparable products; price experiments;
and consumer research into pricing using some clever
techniques, such as monadic testing, the price sensitivity
meter, or conjoint analysis. Unfortunately, for an innovative
product, none of these methods are effective. The purchasing
patterns of an existing product may be quite different,
and consumers may not be able to provide meaningful
information using marketing research methods.
Fortunately, the models developed in various fields allow
us to predict, mathematically, the adoption of a new product.
Then, consumer research can determine the firm’s best pricing
strategy. Using the specific why for the product in question,
we can determine whether the firm should launch its new
product at a lower introductory price in order to encourage
adoption or whether it should offer the product at a high
price and then decrease it as the product diffuses through the
market.
Launching Straightforward New Products
Among the simplest and most influential models for new
product adoption was the one developed by Frank Bass
(see his 1969 article, “A New Product Growth Model for
Consumer Durables,” in Management Science, 15/5, pp.
215–227). For a straightforward new product, the potential
adopter needs nothing more than an awareness of the
product’s availability to have a desire to adopt. For this reason,
the Bass model has often been compared with contagion, as
adoption can be “caught” by contact with other adopters.
There are two ways in which a consumer can receive
information about the availability of the new product:
advertising and word of mouth from other adopters.
Therefore, the firm may do better by encouraging adoption
in the early periods, perhaps by an introductory offer, because
there is a positive effect on future adoption from word of
mouth.
However, consumers’ price sensitivities also determine the
firm’s strategy. If there is large variation in price sensitivity
among consumers, the firm may be better off to take
advantage of the lower price sensitivity of early adopters in the
initial months after product launch. A firm can decide which
strategy is appropriate by determining the relative strength of
these effects.
However, after a majority of the market has adopted,
there is no reason for the firm to maintain its introductory
offer. Firms will always do better by charging a higher price
and taking advantage of the lower price sensitivity among
remaining adopters.
Launching Socially Relevant New Products
Thomas C. Schelling examined new product adoption in
relation to a broad class of behavioural changes (see his
1971 article, “Dynamic Models of Segregation,” in Journal
of Mathematical Sociology, 1, pp. 143–186). New product
F EATUR E
adoption is modelled in relation to its social relevance, and
the adoption of the product is considered to have a social
risk. Each individual adopter differs in his or her tolerance
for participation in the unpopular activity of adoption and
requires that a certain number of people participate before
he or she is willing to do the same. This model is particularly
applicable to socially relevant products, such as social
networks or club memberships.
The firm’s strategy in this case depends on the distribution
of social thresholds in the market. If adopting the product
has a fairly high social risk, consumers, on average, require
a fairly high number of adoptions by others before they are
willing to adopt, and then the firm may spend so much trying
to encourage adoption that it is never able to recoup the loss.
Here, the optimal strategy for the firm is different. It would
benefit most from a smaller launch that is targeted at early
adopters, realizing that the product is unlikely ever to reach
the mass market.
Similarly, if there is a lot of diversity in the perceived
social risk of adoption (for example, for a product that is
highly risky for a certain demographic but much less risky
for another due to social conventions or interests), then the
firm may never be able to bring about mass adoption of its
product.
Much rides on the firm’s being able to assess the social
risk inherent in the new product accurately. There may be a
point after which it is impossible to move adoption. Further,
the firm may never be able to bring about mass adoption,
regardless of its strategy.
Launching Category-Creating New Products
When a new product is truly category-creating, consumers
may not be able to understand fully how it may integrate into
their lives. For this reason, they may require a certain amount
of information about the product’s value before being willing
to adopt. Each individual requires a different amount of
information: some early adopters will try out the product with
little to no information, while others will adopt only if they
are certain of the product’s desirability.
Some diffusion patterns have been observed as having
an early period during which sales begin to decline before
taking off unexpectedly. This phenomenon has been termed
“percolation.” If the information generated by consumers who
have already adopted accumulates by way of media stories,
product reviews, and discussions of the product with friends
and family, then this model is able to explain the observed
slowdown in sales before a rapid takeoff.
Initially, early adopters purchase and use the product,
and they generate information about its uses and desirability.
However, since there are fewer new early adopters, sales
may begin to decline. During this period, the information
percolates into the mass market. Then, once a critical amount
of information has been generated, many potential adopters
are satisfied that adoption would be worthwhile at roughly the
same time, and they too adopt.
Eventual adoption depends on how much information
potential adopters need in order to understand the value of
the new product. Subsidizing early adopters creates more
information for the majority. However, if the information
generated by early adopters fades, this subsidy may not be
strong enough to encourage widespread adoption. In this case,
the firm does better by catering, instead, only to the early
adopters. An important component is the accumulation of
information. If firms could encourage adopters to generate
information and advocate for the product, they would
improve their long-run performance.
Applying the Results
To determine the best pricing strategy, an executive must first
determine what type of product the firm is launching. For
a product that is straightforward, awareness of availability
may be all that is needed. A socially relevant new product
should be modelled by considering the social risk of adoption.
Finally, an executive launching a category-creating product
must know how much information consumers need for them
to understand how the new product can be integrated into
their lives.
The model foundations are mathematically based, and
the sociological and psychological foundations are based on
inherent consumer attitudes and characteristics. A researcher
can measure the crucial components he or she needs by
determining the relevant psychographics of consumers in
the market. Companies can then use these results to forecast
adoption and determine the best pricing strategy. Using
this methodology, the firm can increase its odds of having a
successful new product launch.
Briana Brownell is completing her MA in economics at Carleton
University, in Ottawa. In 2013, she received the Canada-wide
Paul Stothart Memorial Scholarship for her work in mineral
economics. Her thesis, Optimal Intertemporal Pricing Strategies
for Firms Introducing New Products, mathematically
establishes ways in which firms can most benefit from new
innovations by pricing them strategically. Briana has worked
in marketing research since 2007 and is currently manager of
analytics at Insightrix Research Inc.
vue September 2013
23
INSTITUTE FOR PRO F E SSI O NAL D E VE LO PME NT
MRIA Institute of Professional Development
C
OURSE CALENDAR FOR 2013–14 IS POSTED ON OUR WEBSITE AND NOW
MRIA Institute
ACCEPTING REGISTRATIONS
Professional DevelopmentTHROUGH OUR PORTAL
for
Grace Woo, Manager Member & Board Relations
Institut de développement
Although you don’t have to be a member
to register
and attend, substantial discounts are available to members, which often,
professionnel
de l’ARIM
with just two courses, cover the cost of the membership itself. And of course, with MRIA membership, you are afforded many
other benefits to you personally and also to the marketing research industry as a whole by funding projects that just would not
be possible without everyone chipping in a little bit.
MRIA Institute for
Institute for Professional Development
Institut de développement professionnel
Professional Development
Simul-casting
over the Internet (New
this year)
For members outside of the city where the course will be held, many of the courses will also be simulcast. Registrants of this
option have the same opportunities as those attending in-person to participate live from their home or office and to ask the
instructor questions.
The following table is a partial list of our course schedule. Please see mria-arim.ca/education for details on all the courses
and login to mriaportal-arimportail.ca to view the entire schedule, qualify for early bird rates and to register:
Register early to avoid disappointment!
Course
Start Date
Deadline to Register
Location
Other comments
202-Questionnaire Design
102-Ethics
203-Marketing Research Statistics & Data Analysis (2 days)
Moderator Training: Basic
203-Statistique en recherche marketing & Analyse de données 101-Introduction to Marketing Research
Gamification
201-Marketing Research Design
402-Advanced Analysis Techniques (2 days) Moderator’s Tool Box: Mapping & Projective Techniques
102-Ethics
Communicating Research Results with High Impact Graphs
303-Marketing Management for Researchers CMRE Prep (2 days)
Market Segmentation Research
204-Qualitative Marketing Research Writing Results
Measuring Customer Satisfaction, Loyalty & Retention
Mesure de satisfaction et de fidélisation de la clientèle
401-Online Research
204-Qualitative Marketing Research 403-Advanced Qualitative Marketing Research Categorical Data Analysis
302-Market Intelligence
Semiotics
Measuring Customer Satisfaction: Advanced
Conjoint Analysis
SPSS: Introduction
SPSS: Advanced (2 days)
301-Competitive Intelligence
403-Advanced Qualitative Marketing Research Communicating Insights
CMRE Prep Course (2 days)
September 17, 2013
September 27, 2013
October 3, 2013
October 7, 2013
October 16, 2013
October 23, 2013
October 31, 2013
November 1, 2013
November 7, 2013
November 20, 2013
November 28, 2013
December 5, 2013
December 10, 2013
January 7, 2014
January 23, 2014
February 4, 2014
February 11, 2014
February 20, 2014
February 21, 2014
February 26, 2014
March 4, 2014
March 5, 2014
March 18, 2014
April 3, 2014
April 8, 2014
April 17, 2014
April 22, 2014
April 23, 2014
April 24, 2014
April 29, 2014
May 6, 2014
May 13, 2014
June 3, 2014
September 10, 2013
September 20, 2013
September 26, 2013
September 30, 2013
October 9, 2013
October 16, 2013
October 24, 2013
October 25, 2013
October 31, 2013
November 13, 2013
November 21, 2013
November 28, 2013
December 9, 2013
December 31, 2013
January 16, 2014
January 28, 2014
February 4, 2014
February 13, 2014
February 14, 2014
February 25, 2014
February 25, 2014
February 26, 2014
March 11, 2014
March 27, 2014
April 1, 2014
April 10, 2014
April 15, 2014
April 16, 2014
April 17, 2014
April 22, 2014
April 29, 2014
May 6, 2014
May 27, 2014
Toronto
Ottawa
Toronto
Toronto
Montreal
Toronto
Edmonton
Toronto
Toronto
Toronto
Toronto
Toronto
Ottawa
Toronto
Toronto
Toronto
Toronto
Toronto
Montreal
Toronto
Edmonton
Edmonton
Toronto
Toronto
Toronto
Toronto
Toronto
Toronto
Toronto
Toronto
Toronto
Toronto
Toronto
simulcast
simulcast
MAX 6 participants
simulcast
simulcast
simulcast
MAX 6 participants
simulcast
simulcast
simulcast
simulcast
simulcast
simulcast
simulcast
NEW
simulcast
simulcast
simulcast
simulcast
IN ST IT UT E FOR P ROFE SS IONAL DE VELO PMEN T
MRIA INSTITUTE FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
INSTITUT DE DÉVELOPPEMENT PROFESSIONNEL DE L’ARIM
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE NEW CMRPs OF THE 2013 COMPREHENSIVE
MARKETING RESEARCH EXAM SUMMER SITTING!
FÉLICITATIONS AUX NOUVEAUX PARM DE 2013!
Congratulations to the following members who have earned the prestigious
Certified Marketing Research Professional (CMRP) designation after successfully passing the rigorous
Comprehensive Marketing Research Exam (CMRE) in June 2013:
L’ARIM félicite chaleureusement les membres suivants qui ont reçu la désignation de
professionnel agréé en recherche marketing (PARM) après avoir réussi l’examen écrit d’accréditation
en recherche marketing (EARM) lors de la séance cette année :
Sandra Almeida
ICOM, a Division of Epsilon Targeting
Senior Consumer Insight Manager
Toronto
Ryan Brown
Purdue Pharma
Market Research Analyst
Pickering
Susan Ellsworth
OMD
VP, Research Director
Toronto
Robert Labbe
Canadian Air Transport Security Authority
Senior Research Advisor
Ottawa
Brian Lisek
Purdue Pharma
Associate Manager, Market Research
Pickering
Nadia Nyahoho
Unilever Canada
Category Shopper Insights Manager
Mississauga
Tracy Rideout MQO Research Research Director
St. John’s
For more information on attaining the CMRP designation and for a complete list of all MRIA CMRPs, visit
http://mria-arim.ca/directories/cmrp-designated-members
Pour obtenir plus de renseignements sur la désignation de PARM et pour obtenir une liste
complète de tous les PARM de l’ARIM, visitez le site http://mria-arim.ca/directories/cmrp-designated-members
vue September 2013
25
IN DUSTRY N E WS
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH REGISTRY (QRR)
In accordance with federal privacy laws, MRIA’s Qualitative Research Registry (QRR), or
Registre de la recherche qualitative (RRQ) in French, was created to provide an ongoing,
user-friendly vehicle for tracking those who do not want to be contacted or should not be
contacted for qualitative research studies.
QRR is a comprehensive do not call list
of those who have recently participated in qualitative
research studies, those who have asked not to be
contacted further, and those felt by recruiters and
moderators to be best served by not being contacted.
These respondents are marked as “do not call” in
accordance with established MRIA Standards.
All field and full-service companies are encouraged
to submit a list of their qualitative respondents for
entry into the QRR system each month, including
those who do not wish to be contacted.
Participating firms will receive monthly updates
of respondents to be screened from qualitative
recruitment samples. QRR works effectively to
increase the quality and integrity of the qualitative
research process, by serving as a control to ensure
respondents are not contacted more frequently than
is necessary.
However, the ability of the system to function
effectively is directly related to the co-operation
received from firms who provide recruitment services.
If you are a full service research firm or field supplier
that is currently participating in the Qualitative
Research Registry program – thank you very much
and keep up the good work!
If you are not currently participating, please get
involved! If you are interested in submitting to QRR,
please visit the MRIA website at http://mria-arim.ca/
about-mria/qualitative-research-division/qualitativeresearch-registry for further explanation and guidance
on how to submit qualitative research participants’
names, along with the required electronic forms.
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH REGISTRY
SUBMISSIONS SHOULD BE SENT TO:
[email protected]
Submission templates and payment forms
can be found at
http://mria-arim.ca/about-mria/qualitative-researchdivision/qualitative-research-registry-fees
THE FOLLOWING COMPANIES HAVE
SUBMITTED NAMES TO QUALITATIVE
RESEARCH REGISTRY FOR
MARCH 2013
ONTARIO
Ipsos Reid
Consumer Vision
CRC Research
Dawn Smith Field Management Services Inc.
Head Count
Barbara C. Campbell Recruiting
I & S Recruiting
Opinion Search
Quality Response
Research House Inc.
QUEBEC
MBA Recherche
Opinion Search
CRC Research
Research House Inc.
Ipsos Reid
WEST
Ipsos Reid
Trend Research
Opinion Search
CRC Research
Research House Inc.
ATLANTIC
Head Count
Opinion Search
Rules of Conduct and Good Practice for Members of the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association (2007),
Section C Rules Specific to the Conduct of Qualitative Research:
20. R
ecruiters should provide accurate data to the Qualitative
Research Registry, where such exists, on a consistent basis
and check all respondents against the Registry.
21. M
oderators buying recruiting services should give primary
consideration to recruiting agencies which submit to the Qualitative
Research Registry, where such a service exists, on a regular and
ongoing basis.
IN D USTRY N E W S
RRS
RESEARCH REGISTRATION SYSTEM
Since 1994, the RRS has allowed respondents to verify the legitimacy of a
research project; helped legislators and regulators differentiate between legitimate
survey researchers and unscrupulous telemarketers, phishers and scammers; and
protected the industry from unnecessary and unwanted regulation.
RRS
MRIA’s Research Registration System (RRS) has long
been a cornerstone self-regulatory mechanism for the
marketing, survey and public opinion research and
market intelligence industry in Canada.
Combined with other self-regulatory initiatives such
as our Code of Conduct and Good Practice and our
Charter of Respondent Rights, the RRS has paid
huge dividends in protecting the industry’s positive
reputation and good name with Canadians.
All Gold Seal and Basic Corporate Research Agency
members of the Association are obligated to register
all of their research projects with the RRS, and ClientSide Corporate members are encouraged to require
their agency suppliers to do so.
MRIA’s Research Agency Council provides strategic,
policy-level oversight of the Research Registration
System, and receives aggregate data-only on the
System’s performance.
Questions about the Research Registration System
should be addressed to Erica Klie, Member Services
& Events Coordinator, at 1-888-602-6742 or 905602-6854, ext. 8727 or [email protected] or, in her
absence, Interim Executive Director, John Ball, CMRP
at ext. 8724 or [email protected].
Rules of Conduct and Good Practice
For Members of the Marketing Research and Intelligence
Association (2007):
Section A (5)
Members must uphold the MRIA Charter of Respondent
Rights.
Charter of Respondent Rights, Article 2
You can verify that the research you have been invited to
participate in is legitimate in one of two ways. You can
either obtain a registration number and the MRIA’s toll-free
telephone number for any research registered in the MRIA’s
Research Registration System or you can obtain the contact
information of the research director who is conducting the
study.
THE FOLLOWING COMPANIES HAVE REGISTERED
RESEARCH PROJECTS WITH THE RESEARCH
REGISTRATION SYSTEM DURING MARCH 2013:
GOLD SEAL CORPORATE RESEARCH AGENCIES
Academica Group
Advanis Inc.
Advitek Inc.
BBM Analytics
Blue Ocean Contact Centers
Campaign Research
Canadian Viewpoint Inc.
Cido Research
Consumer Vision Ltd.
Greenwich Associates
EKOS Research Associates Inc.
Elemental Data Collection Inc.
Market Pulse Inc.
GfK Canada
Harris/Decima Inc.
Head Count
Hotspex Inc.
Ipsos Reid
Maritz Research Canada
MBA Recherche
MD Analytics Inc.
MQO Research
Nanos Research
NRG Research Group
Opinion Search Inc.
R.A. Malatest & Associates Ltd.
Research House Inc.
Research Now
Tele-Surveys Plus / Télé-Sondages Plus
The Logit Group Inc.
BASIC CORPORATE RESEARCH AGENCIES
Barbara C. Campbell Recruiting Inc. (BCCR Inc.)
Goss Gilroy Inc.
Network Research Field Services Inc.
SmartPoint Research Inc.
http://mria-arim.ca/about-mria/research-registration/research-registration-overview
vue September 2013
27
I NDUSTRY N E WS
PEOPLE AND COMPANIES IN THE NEWS
•T
o read more news online, or to submit your “People and Companies in the News,” s imply fill out
our
online form at http://mria-arim.ca/news/people-and-company-news.
• The Vue editorial team reserves the right to select and edit your submission for appearance in Vue.
• MRIA is neither responsible for the accuracy of this information nor liable for any false information.
Ebiquity Buys Digital Analytics Firm Stratigent
U.K.-based media and marketing insights firm Ebiquity has
acquired U.S. multi-channel digital analytics consulting
company Stratigent for an initial consideration of around
$4 million, with up to $3 million more dependent on the
firm’s performance in the remainder of 2013. Chicagobased Stratigent, which employs around twenty people,
aims to transform the way its clients use data to make
business decisions, with an offer including fully customized
website analytics consulting. The majority of the firm has
been acquired from Julie Oberweis and Josh Manion, who
founded the company in 2002. www.ebiquity.com and
www.stratigent.com
Nielsen Veteran Sheryl Harkins Joins TiVo’s TRA
In Chicago, Nielsen veteran Sheryl Harkins has joined TiVo
Research and Analytics (TRA) – a subsidiary of digital video
recorder (DVR) firm TiVo – as Senior Vice President of CPG
Sales. TRA, which matches TV exposure from 1.5 million
homes with specific purchase transactions, was acquired by
TiVo last summer, with the stated aim of bringing Internetlevel measurement and accountability to the TV ad industry,
while ramping up TiVo’s own position in the billion dollar
TV analytics business. In April, the division surprised some
observers by striking a deal with rival Nielsen to make
some of the latter’s data available within its single-source
business intelligence solution, for those clients subscribing
to both firms’ services. www.traglobal.com
e-Rewards Owners ‘Seeking a Sale’
The private-equity backers of e-Rewards – owner of
Research Now and Peanut Labs – are said to be in
discussions to find a buyer, according to sources quoted
on Bloomberg, with a price tag of “at least $600m”
according to one contact. e-Rewards bought online panel
specialist Research Now in the autumn of 2009, and
adopted the ResearchNow brand worldwide around a year
later, also snapping up social media sampling firm Peanut
Labs in 2010. A year later it added social media specialist
Conversition Strategies, and in 2012 it acquired mobile
research specialist iPinion, which it has rebranded as
“Research Now Mobile”. www.e-rewardsinc.com
2012 ‘Better Than Expected’ for Top 25
Research Firms
The world’s 25 largest research firms reported a “better
than expected” 2012, thanks in large part to syndicated
services and global acquisitions, according to industry
authority Jack Honomichl. Eight firms – Nielsen, Arbitron,
IMS, IRI, NPD, comScore, JD Power and Video Research –
are built on syndicated services, and Honomichl says these
companies receive much of their revenue from clients
under long-term contracts. Therefore when the economy
sags, they tend to hold firm while custom, ad hoc survey
firms take the hit from reduced client spending. During the
year, these eight firms saw revenues grow by 3.5%, while
the other 17 firms’ revenue grew by 1.9%, just below the
inflation rate. Honomichl’s full Global Top 25 listings can be
found at: www.marketingpower.com
Kantar’s Center Partners Names New Top Team
Kantar’s U.S. call centre business Center Partners has
appointed Jim Dunn as Chief Executive Officer, and Tom
Maddux as President, while Chris Kneeland remains in
post as Chief Operating Officer. The team takes over from
Bob Meyers, who has been interim CEO since April. Dunn
reports to Kantar CEO Eric Salama, and Maddux reports
to Dunn. Separately, last month the firm confirmed that it
would be laying off up to 600 workers.
www.centerpartners.com
People and Companies in the News sponsored by:
IN D USTRY N E W S
IMS Buys Diversinet Assets
IMS Health is to acquire the assets of Toronto-based
Diversinet, including intellectual property, software and
customer contracts, for around $US 3.5 million. The health
research giant says it will also offer jobs to some of
Diversinet’s employees on completion of the deal, on which
shareholders will vote in mid-September. Diversinet as a
business will be wound up. IMS is online at www.imshealth.
com
Decipher Included on the 2013 Inc. 500|5000 List
of America’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies
Inc. magazine today announced that Decipher, a marketing
research services firm, was included on its seventh annual
Inc. 500/5000, an exclusive ranking of the nation’s fastestgrowing private companies. The list represents the most
comprehensive look at the most important segment of the
economy – America’s independent entrepreneurs. This is the
third year in a row that Decipher has been included on the
national listing. Complete results can be found at
www.inc.com/5000
Buoyant Second Quarter for GfK
GfK has announced organic revenue growth of 1.7% in the
first half of 2013, with sales totalling EUR 728.6 million,
and a “particularly profitable” Q2, with adjusted operating
income up 15.7%. Reported revenue growth was 1.2%, with
acquisitions adding one point but currency effects dragging
the figure down by one and one-half. GfK says it continues
to pursue vigorously its new Own the Future corporate
strategy, focused on globalization and digitization, with the
continuing set-up of global centres to increase efficiency,
and the ongoing consolidation of its diverse systems.
www.gfk.com
Obituary: Bill Weylock
Research veteran Bill Weylock – the long-time QRCA
President said to have conducted the first online focus
group in 1994 – has died after a battle with pulmonary
fibrosis. Len Murphy of industry publication GreenBook
described Weylock as “the best moderator I ever saw,”
adding: “He could get a group to engage, be comfortable,
and share honestly like nobody’s business. The quality of
the insights he could generate from qualitative research
was second to none.” A graduate of Vanderbilt University,
Weylock lived in Los Angeles and is survived by his three
brothers, and Walter, his wheaten terrier.
Harris Adds Front-End Savvy to Google Survey Tool
Harris Interactive has launched QuickQuery instant (QQi),
which combines expert survey design guidance with the
DIY tools of Google Consumer Surveys. Harris says QQi
is optimized for short quantitative surveys among either
general population or high-incidence targeted populations,
and can often deliver final results in less than a day. Uses
include concept and ad testing, attitude and awareness
surveys, usage testing and tracking.
www.harrisinteractive.com
Apple Bars Behavioural Targeting in Children’s Apps
Apple has introduced a new set of rules to ensure that
developers no longer use behavioural ad targeting
techniques aimed at those aged under 13. Developers must
also ensure that children’s apps include a privacy policy
and a system for seeking parental permission for in-app
purchases. The majority (91%) of parents with a tablet say
their children use it or have one of their own, and two in
five (41%) report daily tablet use by their children. TV-type
viewing on tablets by children tends to take place in the
same room as the main TV or in their bedroom.
www.apple.com
Bob Fawson Named One of ‘20 Researchers You
Need to Know in 2013’
Bob Fawson, Chief Access and Engagement officer at SSI,
the leading provider of sample and data collection solutions
for researchers, was named by Market Research Bulletin as
one of “20 Researchers You Need to Know in 2013.” Fawson
was identified in the July issue of MRB’s Survey Magazine.
As Chief Access Officer, Fawson is responsible for expanding
the company’s portfolio of online sampling methods and
improving methods for managing online panel inventories.
He is well-known throughout the industry for his expertise
across many topics – from panel recruiting and sample
routing to address-based sampling. www.surveysampling.com
Delays and Concerns for Nielsen and Arbitron
Nielsen is “running into rising regulatory static” over its
proposed $1.26 billion acquisition of radio ratings giant
Arbitron, according to reports in the New York Post. Arbitron
also has a potential headache as a critical media owner takes
his argument with its methods to the U.S. authorities. The Post
said it had learned that the FTC, rather than wrapping up its
investigation, had sent out a new round of questionnaires to
TV station owners likely to be affected by the merger.
www.arbitron.com , www.nielsen.com and www.ftc.gov
Brazilian Buy for Millward Brown
WPP-owned brand and media specialist Millward Brown
has bought a “majority stake” in Brazilian consultancy
BrandAnalytics. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Founded in 2006 by Eduardo Tomiya and André Galiano,
BrandAnalytics provides branding valuation through
research, metrics and scorecard design services. The firm
employs twelve staff at its São Paulo base, and for the
year ended December 31, 2012 had unaudited revenues of
approximately R$4 million ($1.75 million).
www.millwardbrown.com and www.brandanalytics.com.br
vue September 2013
29
IN DUSTRY N E WS
Greenlight Poll Shows Facebook Users Would Be
Willing to Pay $10+ to See No Ads at All
In the lead up to this, Twitter’s Biz Stone has suggested
Facebook could earn at least $12 billion per year by offering
users the option of signing up for an ads-free experience
at a cost of $10 per month, i.e. Facebook could potentially
earn three times more revenues from such a service than
it reaped from advertising last year ($4.3 billion). The data
from Greenlight’s “Search & Social Survey (2012-2013)”,
showed 15% of users would be prepared to pay Facebook.
http://greenlightdigital.com
Former SapientNitro Exec Finds Fresh Challenge
Toronto, Canada-based marketing strategist Fresh Squeezed
Ideas has announced the hiring of Deanna Lambert as
Director, Marketing & Digital Strategy. Fresh Squeezed Ideas
was co-founded by John McGarr and Karen McCauley and
uses social science techniques to help clients develop their
strategic marketing. www.freshsqueezedideas.com
comScore Tracking Email Ad Provider
comScore has added measurement of real-time email
display ad service LiveIntent to its range of tracking
options – the first time it has covered an email-exclusive ad
network. LiveIntent, backed by a number of venture capital
firms, was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in NYC
and on the Web at www.liveintent.com
the myopia inherent in many brand trackers, offering instead
“a holistic understanding of today’s commercial environment.”
Group home page: www.ipsos.com
Oracle Adds Language Options to Social Media Tool
Software giant Oracle has enhanced its Social Relationship
Management tool (SRM) with the addition of listening
capabilities for Simplified Chinese, Portuguese and Spanish,
in the SE&M module. The firm describes SRM, which
consists of SE&M and a Social Marketing (SM) product, as
“the industry’s only unified, integrated and complete social
solution for listening, moderation, engagement, content and
apps, publishing and measurement.” www.oracle.com
Double-Digit Growth for Gartner Research Arm
Technology specialist Gartner has reported a 12% rise in
second quarter revenue for its Research division, which
brought in $311.2 million. The division, which accounts
for 69% of Gartner’s overall revenue, saw contract value
increase 13% to $1.29 billion during the quarter, while client
and wallet retention were 82% and 97% compared with
83% and 99% for the prior year period. In the company’s
two other business lines, Consulting reported a 12% rise
in Q2 revenue to $85.9 million, and Events saw revenue
increase 15% to $48.9 million. www.gartner.com
dunnhumby Plans Relocation to London W6
Ipsos Healthcare Builds Equity Offer
Ipsos Healthcare has announced the global launch of
a new research framework, EquityVision, which builds
on its BrandVision product to “link the major sources of
commercial equity in the multi-channel healthcare marketing
environment.” BrandVision monitors brand performance using
a combination of “Attitudinal Equity” (AE) and barrier effects
to estimate market share. The EquityVision approach avoids
In the U.K., retail data specialist dunnhumby is planning to
relocate 1,000 staff from its two Ealing offices to a newly
refurbished, 115,000 sq. ft. building in Hammersmith, in
2016. The firm, founded in 1989 by husband and wife team
Edwina Dunn and Clive Humby, is best known for creating
the Tesco Clubcard. Through its operations in Europe, Asia
and the Americas, it now analyzes data from more than 400
million customers globally. www.dunnhumby.com
EVENTS
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
MRIA
Chapter Events - September
12: Ottawa Chapter
18: Edmonton
19: Calgary
November
7: CSRC Social Connect – Toronto
27: QRD Day – Toronto
December
Polling Conference – TBD – Ottawa / Toronto
2014
January 30: Net Gain 8.0 – Toronto
Partners Events
CASRO Conference: Oct 7-10 – Los Angeles
ESOMAR Congress: Sept 22-25 – Istanbul
ESOMAR Best of Canada: Oct 30 – Vancouver
MRA CRC Conference: Oct 16 -18 – Dallas
QRCA Congress: Oct 16-18 – San Diego
TTRA Conference: Oct 16-18 – Ottawa
COLUMNISTS
INNOVATION AND CREATIVITY
How Creative Is Your Job Title?
Margaret Imai-Compton, CMRP
Principal, Imai-Compton Consulting Inc.
Have you noticed the growing trend to creative, quirky
and unconventional job titles? It seems that so many jobs
are being “re-titled” with a creative or cool slant. Instead of
“receptionist” we now have Director of First Impressions;
“party planners” are now Directors of Spark. My personal
favourite is “Princess Paysalot” (you guessed it, Accounts
Payable); not to mention the Baristas at Starbucks who
would have been called “servers” a decade ago.
Back in the 1980s and 1990s, Apple was a leader in
designing offbeat job titles. So Apple business cards featured
jobs like “Macintosh Evangelist” and “Software Wizard”
instead of conventional titles like Product Design or
Software Engineer. And for the most part, cool job titles like
“Ninja” and “Ambassador of Buzz” remained in the realm of
dot-com tech and gaming companies for another decade.
Fast forward to 2013: Today, cool and creative job titles
are rapidly becoming mainstream. Maybe it’s the growth
of social media and the growing trend towards “personal
branding,” or the desire to appear unique that’s led to an
increase in quirky job titles. Some might argue that offbeat
job titles are silly and unprofessional; however, the shift to
hip, fun and quirky titles reflects an element of creativity for
both employees and their organizations.
It has been suggested that the entry of the Millennial
Generation into the workforce has primarily fuelled this
shift. According to Susan Heathfield, an HR expert at
www.ask.com, “There is a need among the younger
generation for self-expression. A desire for uniqueness, a
desire to seem more important than the job might actually
be.”
Decide for yourself if creative job titles are cool or silly,
but my bet is that they’re here to stay. If you could creatively
transform your job title, what would it be?
vue September 2013
31
COLUM N ISTS
QUALITAS
So What?
Ken LeClair
Ipsos Reid UU
I was speaking to an academic friend recently who was
bemoaning the plethora of mediocre term papers he receives.
He wasn’t complaining about bad papers; rather, he was
talking about B- to C papers that did a pretty good job, but
only pretty good. On further reflection he identified the real
problem: the papers tend to be purely descriptive with little
analysis or argument around a hypothesis.
The discussion resonated with me because I was one of
those students who found it hard to find “anything new” to say
in my papers and often got lost in describing evidence without
bringing it to the next level. Some of the most useful feedback
I got in university was from a professor who gave me an A on
a paper with the brief (but good-humoured) comment “So
what?”. She was quite right in raising the question. There was
nothing in the paper to explain why the reader should care;
it was too focused on presenting a comparative review of the
literature (which was done very well, I might say – thus the A)
and failed to address why it was important.
As qualitative researchers, it is critical that we continually
focus on the “So what?” question. It is very easy to get caught
up in the data – to become preoccupied with the richness
of quotes and the nuance of respondent reactions. And
sometimes less experienced or less skilled researchers get carried
away in trying to reflect that depth. But unless we can clearly
communicate how the data are relevant to a client’s research
question, while our data may be nuanced and rich, we are not
really doing our jobs very well.
We might produce interesting reports and presentations but
unless we can answer “So what?” they ultimately won’t be very
useful.
CSRC
Welcome to the NEW CSRC
Joseph Chen
CSRC Chair
The CSRC Board wants to provide and offer value to CSRC
members. There are a few exciting initiatives that we are working on to potentially offer more value and insights for members. As CSRC Chair, I will be using this column to update
you on upcoming events. We want to be transparent and get
your participation in what we do.
I saw and met many CSRC members at the 2013 National
MRIA Conference in Niagara Falls. It was a great opportunity
for me to listen to your feedback.
There have been new developments on the board that I
would like to share. Kamal Sharma is now the Vice Chair
of CSRC. We also have a few new board members: Vicki
Muscat, from the Atlantic Lottery Corporation, will represent
the Atlantic region. Nicola Forsyth who works at Coca-Cola
is now leading a new initiative at CSRC called CSRC Focus
Groups. The objective is to listen to members’ ideas and
feedback to help us plan as well as refine CSRC activities.
Alannah Virtanen is from General Mills and she is new to a
research buyer role. She will bring a new perspective to the
board.
The most exciting event coming up is the CSRC Social
Connect, which is a half-day event for Client-Side Researchers
only in downtown Toronto. Kamal Sharma is leading this
initiative. We want to stay closely linked with you so we will be
revamping the CSRC web section of the new MRIA website.
There will be more to come on this from Katie Law. We are
also going into social media so we will keep you posted on
how CSRC members can stay connected through LinkedIn,
Facebook and Twitter.
If you have any feedback or comments relating to CSRC,
please do not hesitate to contact me at joseph.chen@unilever.
com

the entire SEPTEMBER 2013 issue of VUE

Transcription

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