Market research glossary

Research designed to help a company gain the insight needed to enter a new geographic market or launch a new brand, product or service by, for example, understanding the ways in which the new target customers are similar to the company’s existing companies and the ways in which they are different. Market entry research may use a combination of desk research, qualitative primary research and quantitative primary research.

A market research company (or market research agency) is a company that specialises in conducting market research. Market research companies are often hired by clients to outline and manage a research project on their behalf. The benefits to hiring a company that specialises in market research include access to a large pool of potential research participants, complete project oversight aligned with current guidelines and regulations, and up-to-date knowledge of the trends and tools that can help to get the best insight out of participants.

A market research interview is the process in which primary data is gathered from an individual. Held between an interviewer and a participant, a questionnaire or discussion guide is followed and data on a specific topic is collected. An interview can be pre-arranged with a pre-recruited individual that meets a specific criteria, or held spontaneously with a member of the general population.

A market research interviewer is an individual that conducts interviews with participants on various topics and records their responses. They also guide and keep the participant engaged in the research, while probing for more detailed responses.

A group of research participants, typically users (or potential users) of the client’s products and services that is set up to take part in ad hoc or longitudinal market research. An MROC can be thought of as a longer term version of an online bulletin board. Whereas an online bulletin board is usually set up with a specific purpose in mind and lasts a few days, an MROC may be set up to serve multiple purposes and the community may remain active for weeks, months or even years.

Also known as an Access Panel or an Online panel. A panel made up of people who have either applied or been invited to become panel members. Panel members are then invited to take part in research projects that are aligned to their profile and registered interests. Respondents are often incentivised with a monetary gift. Panels can be consumer or business-oriented. If you would like to join FieldworkHub’s panel, please visit: https://myfieldworkhub.com/

A market research strategy is a structured plan developed by a business or organisation to collect and analyse data on its target customers, competitors and industry trends. High-quality data sources can then be used to guide improvements in the products or services that the business or organisation offers, or the way in which they are marketed.

The process of market segmentation involves dividing a larger, broad target group into smaller, distinct groups who share similar demographics or behaviours. This allows for researchers to target a more niche audience.

A type of survey question designed to rank the preferences of individual respondents to a set of attributes or features. In its simplest form (which would more correctly be called Best/Worst Scaling) respondents are simply shown a list of attributes and asked to pick their favourite and their least favourite. This provides quite a lot of information about their ranking preferences but their preference for each possible pair of attributes. However, by repeating the question several times with different selections of attributes displayed each time, it is possible to build up a complete view of pairwise preferences.

The mean is an average calculated by adding up all the values in a set of numbers and dividing that total by the number of values in the set. The mean represents the centre of a numerical set of data. It is a good measure of the average in data sets that do not have any extreme outliers (e.g. it is good for household size but less good for income level).

The median is the middle value in a number set, after arranging the data from smallest to largest. If there is an odd number of numerical values, the median is the single middle number. If there is an even number of numerical values, the median is the mean of the two middle numbers. The median tends to be a better estimate of the average than the Mean in data sets which contain extreme outliers (e.g. income distribution or property values).

There are intent-driven moments when consumers turn to their smartphones, or other devices, for quick answers or immediate decision-making (e.g. should I walk, or order a ride-sharing service?). Understanding these moments helps brands deliver timely and relevant content.

A qualitative research method in which participants use their smartphones to capture their real-world experiences through videos, photos, and voice notes. Mobile Ethnographies help provide an in-depth understanding of everyday behaviours.

Market research where the respondent participates via a handheld device such as a mobile or tablet. Often this involves completing some form of mobile diary or tasks on an Online bulletin board which has been optimised for mobile use.

Also known as the modal value. The most frequently occurring value in a number set. An example of the way in which the mode is used in market research is in a Spontaneous recall question. The modal value is the one mentioned by the most people.

The person who leads a focus group or conducts a depth interview. The role of the moderator is to create the right environment for the focus group or interview, guide the discussion to ensure that all relevant topics are covered in the right amount of depth, probe the respondents’ initial answers to validate them and obtain deeper insights, and act as a time-keeper.

Research in which each participant is shown a single product or concept, as opposed to a Comparison test where each participant is shown two or more products or concepts at the same time and asked to compare them. Sequential monadic testing is a variation of the basic monadic test in which participants are shown several products or concepts one after the other and asked to comment on each one individually.

The Market Research Society. A professional body for market research based in London. MRS members must adhere to the MRS Code of Conduct.

Within a market research questionnaire, multi-code refers to the ability for a participant to choose multiple responses for a single question. The benefits of allowing multiple responses include gaining a deeper understanding of multiple contributing factors to a question. An example of this could be a question such as, “What is your favourite flavour of ice cream? Please select your top 3.” This allows the researcher to capture more comprehensive insights, which ultimately improves data quality.

Usually refers to market research that uses a combination of different methodologies (e.g. a mix of face-to-face and telephone interviews). May also refer to research that asks participants to use several different senses to comment on a product, e.g. the appearance, aroma and taste of a food product, or which uses a combination of verbal and non-verbal responses to the stimulus material.

Within a market research questionnaire, multiple-choice questions provide participants with a structured, pre-selected list of responses to choose from. Most often used within a screener or a quantitative research survey, the benefits of using multiple-choice questions include being easy and fast for participants to answer, leading to higher completion rates. Multiple-choice questions are also useful for providing structured data for quantitative research studies that is simple to analyse.

Covert testing of a store in which a shopper conducts a ‘real’ visit and undertakes pre-defined shopping to assess the nature of the customer experience being provided. Now also used to refer to covert testing of services (e.g. at a bank branch or airport check-in).