Market research glossary

A subset of the target population selected to take part in a market research study.

Eliminate a potential participant during screening for a market research study. Also referred to as Disqualifying or Terminating (because the screening process is terminated on the basis of the person’s responses).

A short questionnaire used to determine if a person meets the criteria to take part in a particular market research exercise. Someone who meets the criteria is said to screen in, while someone who does not is said to screen out. To minimise the risk of frustration amongst their panellists, many quantitative panel companies insist that screeners take less than two minutes to complete. Even if there is no firm time limit, it is good practice to think what questions you would ask in a screener to find out whether a person is suitable or not in two minutes.

Also known as Desk Research. The collation and analysis of publicly available information such as previous research, the press, the internet, academic reports and statistics already in the public domain. Secondary research may be conducted as a precursor to primary market research (which involves talking directly to a sample of the target population), or to augment it.

Semiotics refers to the analysis of signs and symbols in culture. The use of semiotics in advertising, product design, and branding can convey meaning to consumers, so tracking shifts in cultural trends and identifying relevant symbols a particular business could make use of is an important talking point within market research.

A technique that applies natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning to assess the emotional tone of customer feedback, reviews, or social media posts. It helps brands to understand public perceptions.

Testing in which participants are shown several products or concepts one after the other and asked to comment on each one individually (as opposed to comparing them to each other). In sequential monadic testing the order of presentation is typically randomised to avoid  ‘order bias’.

Research conducted with participants who have just had an experience with a given brand, for example they are leaving a particular shop (in which case the interview is a form of Exit Interview).

A form of interpreting where the interpreter listens to what is being said on headset and speaks a translation at the same time (usually while sitting in a separate booth or room), usually for the benefit of observers, who may also wear headsets. Simultaneous interpreting is what you see taking place in big international meetings, such as those at the United Nations and the European Commission. It is also used for larger focus groups where Consecutive Interpreting would affect the flow of the discussion.

Social media can be an excellent resource for researchers looking to recruit real participants for a study. It can also be used to collect and analyse real-time, organic data on consumer behaviour or brand perception. A quick method of gaining perception on a particular topic could be to run a poll via a social media platform.

A method of classifying households or consumers from those households that is frequently used in market research as a proxy for social class or spending power. Most socio economic classifications are country specific. The standard classification in the UK is the National Readership Survey (NRS) social grades (A, B, C1, C2, D and E), which are based on the occupation of the head of the household. In other countries socio economic classifications may be based on type of home and ownership of consumer durables.

If the difference between two statistical measures is large enough to be unlikely to have occurred as a result of chance or sampling error, then the difference is considered to be statistically significant. A significance level of 5% is often chosen, i.e. if the probability of the result occurring due to chance or sampling error is less than 5%, the the result is considered to be statistically significant. See also Hypothesis Testing.

In the context of market research, stimuli are auditory, visual, or physical components of a research session that are used to evoke a reaction out of participants. The benefits of including a stimulus include making a session engaging, for example providing a tangible mock-up of a new packaging design mirrors the real-life situation of viewing the packing in a physical store.

A street survey is a term for face-to-face market research conducted in public spaces. An interviewer will engage a member of the public in a questionnaire to understand their in-the-moment opinions or perceptions on a specific topic. Some forms of street surveys include intercepts or vox pops.

In market research, a structured question provides a participant with a limited set of answers in which to choose from. It is most often used within quantitative research to gather easily digestible, standard responses. A common example of a structured question is multiple-choice.

A syndicated study involves a research agency commissioning research that is beneficial for the wider research community. Not sponsored by a client, syndicated data is useful for benchmarking against industry standards and uncovering key growth opportunities.

Artificially generated data that mimics real-world data but is created using algorithms. It is used in market research to test models and scenarios while maintaining privacy and avoiding data sensitivity issues.

AI-generated virtual participants used in surveys and qualitative research. These respondents help supplement traditional research when human participants are unavailable, or privacy concerns arise.