The Rise of Quick Qual

Recently the research industry, like many others, has been abuzz with the idea of agile.  In an age of instant gratification, businesses want – and need – answers quicker than ever before. While quant research has largely managed to keep pace, qual often gets pushed to one side as decision makers cannot afford to wait three to four weeks for consumer insight, instead they often rely on anecdote or instinct to move forward.

But is full service necessary for quick qual? Simply put, yes. Of course DIY quant solutions such as Google Surveys, Survey Monkey and Toluna QuickSurveys have meant that it is possible to get quick answers to simple questions. However, we have seen that, for various reasons, such data may be misleading at best or just plain wrong at worst.

Hence the need for expertise. There are lots of subtleties that surround qual and it’s our job as researchers to ensure that an increase in speed doesn’t equate to a loss of quality. And while technology may be able to get close to this, it’s no replacement.

At Tonic Insight we’ve watched some of our clients make decisions based just on data, and that can be a problem. Data is seldom a source of consumer insight – it is typically just a record of consumer behaviour. Data needs to be combined with a qual understanding of the people behind. You may know that a new brand’s product users tend not to buy twice, but this is no use unless you understand what’s stopping them.

Communities

Communities are a great way of doing quick qual. With a group of people already primed, recruited and happy to chat, they can give almost instant feedback. They often become so central to brands that they are used to guide many more decisions than would typically benefit from consumer insight, allowing the research teams who manage a community to become much more central to the businesses they belong to. 

The best communities are entirely flexible; planned, designed and run around unique client needs. They are fun and interesting places for respondents to be – and the more engaged they are, the quicker and better responses we get.

But, of course, a community is not suitable for every brand, and they only become an agile resource once they’ve been set up, which takes time and money.

This is why we developed Tonic Express, to give our clients qualitative insight in as little as 48 hours, for under £4k. While we’ve automated the ‘boring bits’ (screeners, recruitment, incentives), we’ve kept the important bits in the hands of experts. Research design, moderation and analysis is human, and always will be. 

While developing Tonic Express we have learned some things that may be useful for others looking to be more agile:

1. Automate sampling as much as possible. We’ve created a direct link to an online panel so respondents can react to questions or stimuli within minutes or hours of a project starting.
2. Template research design where you can. We still have experienced moderators ready to probe on key issues but our pre-designed activities elicit considered, high-quality responses from the majority of respondents.
3. Simplify feedback. Getting analysis and reporting done quickly is a big challenge but it is possible. Start by scheduling in analysis discussions immediately after fieldwork. Here a few people can debate what has been said and develop themes and ideas quickly. Then use report templates to avoid reinventing the wheel with each project.

Businesses want consumer insight and if we adopt agile approaches to qual research then we can empower our clients to make better decisions and improve business outcomes.

Stephen Phillips is CEO of Tonic.