Quantitative Research Methods
The most common quantitative marketing research methods are surveys and experimental research. Each is explained below.
Survey Research
Survey research is a very popular method for collecting primary data. Surveys ask individual consumers to give responses to a questionnaire. Questions may cover a variety of topics, but the question topics, format, response options, and survey length must all be a good fit for the audience and contact method (telephone, online, mail, in-person; more on this shortly).
Survey questions and responses must always be clearly worded and unambiguous. This stands to reason: if survey respondents are confused about what a question is asking, the data collected for that question won’t be very valid. Surveys typically contain a combination of close-ended questions and open-ended questions. Closed-ended questions (also called structured questions) are easily tabulated, with a discrete set of answers such as yes/no, multiple choice, a scale rating, or “select all that apply.” Open-ended questions (also called unstructured questions) ask for a verbal or textual response, such as “Why did you choose X?” While it may be tempting to include lots of open-ended questions in surveys, in fact it is best to use this type of question sparingly. Survey respondents find closed-ended questions easier to answer and often skip open-ended questions or supply only minimal responses. Too many open-ended questions increases the likelihood that participants will abandon the survey before it’s complete.
When creating a survey, marketing researchers must strike the right balance between covering enough information to gain useful data and making the questionnaire short enough that people will finish it. The longer the questionnaire the less likely people are to take the time to answer all the questions. Most marketing researchers concur that if a questionnaire takes longer than 15 minutes to answer, odds are good that people won’t get through it.
Surveys can be conducted quickly and inexpensively. For example, a store owner can ask people visiting the store to answer a few questions verbally or with a pencil-and-paper survey. Alternatively, a company can distribute a customer satisfaction survey at little or no out-of-pocket cost using freely available online survey tools (such as Survey Monkey or Wufoo).
Some surveys may require more complex and expensive data collection. For instance, a candidate running for public office may want to poll likely voters to learn which way they are leaning and what factors might influence their vote. For the survey to be useful and accurate, a representative set of likely voters must take the survey. This requires a screening process to make sure that the survey reaches the right people: likely voters whose age, ethnicity, gender, and other characteristics are similar to the population in the voting district. In this case, marketing researchers might opt for a telephone survey rather than an online or in-person survey. A telephone survey allows an interviewer to efficiently screen respondents to make sure they fit the likely voter profile and other characteristics of the voting population.
Once data are collected, the results are tabulated and analyzed with statistical methods in order to help marketing researchers understand the views, preferences, and experiences of their target audiences. The statistical analysis confirms not only how people respond to the survey questions, but also how confident researchers can be about the results’ accuracy. A large number of completed surveys yields greater confidence that the results accurately represent the views of the general population. A smaller number of completed surveys means researchers can be less sure that the sample reflects the views of the general population.
The brokerage and banking firm Charles Schwab takes an interesting approach to survey research. The company frequently commissions quantitative surveys to better understand different various issues related to investing, such as attitudes about retirement savings among 401K plan participants, and the economic outlook of adults living in major metropolitan centers. The company uses these surveys for two purposes. First, they gain deeper insights into ways of winning new customers and better serving existing customers. They can adjust targeting, marketing messages, product features, pricing, and placement as a result. Second, the company publishes many of the research results through its Web channels, social media, and paid media in order to generate attention. The company views this type of content as “currency for engagement”—that is, it’s a way of starting conversations with new and current customers about ways that Charles Schwab might meet their needs.[4]
Experimental Research
Another quantitative research method is to conduct experiments in which some factor or set of factors is varied to yield comparative results. A typical example is A/B testing in marketing campaigns. In an A/B test, marketers develop two different versions of a marketing campaign artifact, such as a Web site landing page. Each version may use a slightly different call to action, image, or headline. The marketers send out each version to a set of target customers and then track the results to see which one is most effective. Marketers then use this information to further refine the campaign message and materials, hoping to boost results.
Experimental research may also be used to investigate how individuals with one set of factors or criteria compare to another. For instance, marketing researchers for a sales consulting services company might track the sales growth of companies using their services to companies that do not. Marketers might use the data from this research to demonstrate how using their company’s services is linked to improved financial performance.