Buy-ology:Truth and Lies About Why We Buy, by Martin Lindstrom talks about Neuromarketing using examples that are wonderful and very illustrative. Marketers need to understand that brain science is changing our understanding of marketing messages. Anti-smoking messages, for example, actually stimulate the craving centres of the brain in smokers, rather than suppressing urges.

One of the most consistent findings of behavioral science: people all think their decision-making is completely rational, yet in reality, emotions play a major role in their final decisions.  In research situations, when asked a question about decision-making, participants tend to look for the rational answer.  How do we get beyond that thinking, to access […]

What do Pokémon Go and the Women’s March have in common? And what do these have to do with qualitative market research? The phenomenon Pokémon Go as well as the Women’s March in January 2017 are two examples of topics and events that spread across the globe, demonstrating today’s world connectivity. Within a few days […]

Towards the end of 2015, two of my QRCA colleagues—Susan Abbott from Canada and Ilka Kuhagen from Germany—presented a creativity workshop to qualitative researchers in South Africa. At the Johannesburg session, one of the attendees mentioned that some of the techniques covered may not work well among lower economic segments of our population due to […]

Forming a deep understanding of the end-to-end customer experience is a powerful tool for developing a stronger competitive position. We live in an experience economy. Competitive advantage is difficult to come by. The low-hanging-fruit of innovation has been exploited already. Journey Mapping can help you dive deep and find new territory for innovation. Journey Mapping […]

When you launch in the marketplace, how will your competitors react? A facilitated war game is a way to (ethically) get inside the minds of your competitors and determine their most likely actions. It will energize your middle managers, it will improve your launch strategy, and you can do it in a one-day session with […]

Just as seasonings enhance the flavours of food, hybrid research designs can enhance the value and richness of insights. Hybrid research approaches also build validation of the insights, and reduce the risk of not hearing the consumer correctly. There are as many ways of building a hybrid design as there are ways of seasoning food! […]

There’s no cure-all method to remedy company crises, but there are things we can do as market researchers to help clients uncover and manage their key brand assets and protect themselves against damage done during a PR brand crisis. Every organization is vulnerable to crises. The days of playing ostrich are gone. If you don’t […]

Customer experience or CX is not just a buzzword, it’s an approach that can win new customers, slash churn and turn customers into evangelists. Companies that don’t utilize the customer experience perspective may be putting themselves at a competitive disadvantage. In a nutshell, companies that adopt the customer experience perspective look closely at the different […]

A conference panel can either be the highlight of the day, or a yawn-fest with a room full of people checking their handhelds. What a shame that so often these bright and accomplished individuals are not showcased better. From my point of view, it’s all about the moderation. I’ve had some success moderating panels, and […]