Jack Ramsay of VisionsLive discusses the project with Ilka Kuhagen, Corette Haf, Julia Spink and Susan Abbott

Think Global Qualitative Associates self-funded this multi-country project.  We chose the role of dogs in the lives of their owners because we felt this topic presented a great canvas on which to explore global differences. A new online platform (VisionsLive) afforded us an additional opportunity to see how this mobile-enabled technology might, or might not, support a global team of independent qualitative researchers. Participating countries included: Canada, Czech Republic, France, Germany, India, Mexico, South Africa, UK, and USA. Think Global Qualitative associates (left to right) Susan Abbott, Jay Zaltzman, Ilka Kuhagen, Julia Spink, Rebecca Bryant and Veronique Gaboriau in Budapest, May 2014

 Our objectives

Objectives that guided the work in each country:

• Understanding the role of dogs in our respective cultures
• Testing a hybrid research methodology, including: Mobile lifestyle documentation, participant video, online discussion, online and mobile ideation (in selected markets)
• Identifying opportunities for category innovation

The target audience

• Primary caretakers of a companion dog
• With computer and smartphone
• Comfortable taking and uploading pictures & video

The logistics of a multi-country immersion for insight

The mobile phone has become, in many ways, an extension of the person. Data shows that mobile phones are usually within 3 meters of the owner. As a constant companion, the handheld device is ideally situated to take us into the lives of consumers.

• There’s an interesting example from our US study of a participant who, unbeknownst to the researchers, agreed to participate in the study during his honeymoon. Only when he “reappeared” after “disappearing” for a few days did we learn he had married during the study period! To him, he was going to have his phone with him – so, he was available!

Increasingly, the internet is accessed with a mobile device, especially in developing economies.(1) Today, that device might be a tablet, not a mobile telephone.This study required all participants to have a smart phone, which did mean a more affluent set of participants in India and South Africa.

We believe that incorporating new communications channels into qualitative insights projects offers our clients unprecedented access to people in their everyday lives. As researchers, we need to know the best ways to incorporate the technology.

We discovered that Google translate along with images helped researchers follow each other’s online discussion forums, even if it was in a language completely unfamiliar to the observing researcher. This enabled the whole project team to stay current with projects as they developed, regardless of the language of the project.

Traditional recruiting methods were used in some countries (Germany, Mexico, UK, Canada, India, Czech Republic). In USA, France, and South Africa, a mix of traditional recruiting, convenience samples and social media recruiting were used.

An inside look at the mobile diary

We started with a mobile diary, and here we see sample screen shots of what it looked like to participants.

The diaries were private. Researchers could read the entries, but participants could not see each other’s diaries. In their diaries, participants were asked to chronicle each day’s activities as it related to their dog.

Fieldwork was not simultaneous. This meant that at each stage of the project, the design could change slightly to accommodate learning. It also was important for each researcher to adjust the tone and approach of the research to their culture and environment.

In the US, a Question of the Day was added to the daily diary exercise to explore how this might encourage participants to go beyond chronicling day-to-day activities.This resulted in robust data in a shorter period of time. Questions of the Day focused on the following:

• Best aspects of having dog
• Dog’s favorite things
• Thoughts/attitudes toward training dog
• Hardest/most difficult part of having dog
• Products/service owner wants but cannot find

Dogs are a source of joy and unconditional positive regard

The dog is considered a member of the family, and typically described as such. A consistent theme is the joy and unconditional positive regard that the dog brings to the home and the owner.

I cannot imagine my life without a dog … She’s so sweet and loving … I love that when I … come home, she’s as excited as if I’d been gone for days.(Verbatim from US participant)

In Mexico, the concept of family extended beyond the dog’s human family to the dog’s canine family of origin, as the participant showed us in the photo marked “1” above.

Companionship is an important aspect of having a dog, and this theme emerged in many countries.

Companionship is the major aspect of having a dog … he is a part of our family. I would not trade that for anything. (Verbatim from US participant)

The dog is also a protector. The image marked “2” above shows a dog from India with a Rakhi tied to his foreleg. A Rakhi is a multi-colored thread that a sister ties on the wrist of her brother during an annual holiday. It symbolizes a sister’s love for her brother and the brother’s promise to protect the sister.

He is protective of me like a brother. (Quote from Indian participant)

And, of course dogs are included in holidays.The dog shown with a Christmas wreath and red reindeer antlers was only one example of many we saw of dogs dressed in costumes for the holidays, or just for having family fun.

In additional to emotional insights, we also got unexpected insights.

Mobile lets us watch events as they unfold

The series of pictures above are from videos shot over the course of a weekend. It provided the researchers with stage-by-stage documentation of a family introducing new kittens into the home.

It shows the dogs going from suspicious and scared, with the owners being fearful the dogs might hurt the kittens, through the introduction process, to acceptance. At the end we see a still shot of the whole group on the couch: owner and kittens stretched out on the couch with one of the dogs lying on the back of the sofa. The other dog is just off screen lieing beside the couch.

Online discussion forum for multi-stage idea building

After the diary, participants started a group discussion forum. Here you can see screenshots of what this looked like to the participants.  Researchers used the group discussion to:

• Quickly build rapport among participants, and
• As a platform where participants shared and compared their experiences with other dog owners. This included exploring products and services specific to the dog ownership experience

In the US study, we identified 4 potential product/service areas for further exploration. The Four C’s of innovation opportunities for mobile technology that we identified from the diary phase of the project follow.

Communication – participants want better 2-way communication between human and canine
Containment – participants want better ways to contain or track the dog. One example discussed was using GPS on a mobile device for this purpose
Caretaking – the ability to track the dog’s health history / health status / grooming / exercising with technology
Companionship Plus – the ability to interact remotely and/or use a smartphone to create a game for the dog and the human to play together

Owners want to take their dogs everywhere

Dogs are a part of most every aspect of their owner’s lives, and go everywhere with them. The photos above show a dog in a bike basket in Czech Republic, on a motorcycle in Germany, in cars in many countries, and in a variety of other outdoor settings. Importantly, each dog is with the family.

In 1953, BF Skinner noted: “dogs excel at interpreting human cues.” This statement has been validated by considerable research since Skinner’s time. Based on this study, it is our contention that those in the pet product and service industries would be well served to watch trends in human products and services as these likely serve as a strong indicator of direction for future products and services for dogs.

Want more information?

A full report was prepared for each country. This brief article provides just a few of the highlights of the research. Please contact any of the associates for more information about the project or the methodologies discussed, or to arrange for a presentation.

(1) Accenture, 2012

As Online Communities or MROCs have become more established, many researchers have said they can only succeed with large numbers. Large groups of over a hundred respondents (or more) are used to gain qualitative insights. This research shows that a small group, selected carefully and facilitated with the toolbox of a qualitative researcher can provide deep insights for strategic marketing decisions.

This case study of research for an experience-based product allowed IKM to test mobile data collection in combination with an online discussion on multiple touch points of communication over a period of seven months with a group of 15 participants.

The client for this work was a a start-up: Mixtable. Mixtable is an online service for young professionals to meet offline to have fun and meet new people. It is not a dating platform.

Situation: Great ideas – Small budget!

A mini-community, with 15 active respondents was created. Participants used multiple ways of communication: input via a mobile app to collect data (photos, videos, emotions) and an online discussion forum for longer and more detailed responses and to build on the contributions of others. The start-up company was able to quickly feed burning questions into the community and get immediate feedback.

The research started with the first idea of the start-up: testing the concept. Later, and  on an ongoing basis, the mini-community provided insights that shaped the product, website and marketing tools. The research was done in six phases:

1. Two-day group discussion (over the weekend) to bond and build trust – and also to get familiar with the technology of the platform
2. Diary to capture an evening out via the mobile app
3. Follow up online discussion for one week about the expectations for a successful evening out, description of the status quo and to gain feedback on the concept of the service
4. Based on the feedback and the uncovered unmet needs the website for the online service was redesigned and an online usability test with group discussion provided insights on appeal, understanding of the concept, as well as the registration process
5. To gain a better understanding on the acceptance of the service provided, participants were sent to actually test a Mixtable and provide feedback with a diary via the mobile app and follow up group discussion
6. Based on these learnings the website and logo were finalized and with an online discussion finally disaster checked!

This process took place over a period of seven months.

Conclusions

IKM’s experience with the Mixtable project shows the potential for an ongoing community with small numbers. An ongoing community does not need to be massive in scale to be effective. A small community also does not require a special research platform, but can be effectively executed with current off-the-shelf mobile and online research tools to get excellent results. As always, we believe there is no substitute for a skilled moderator to plan and manage this type of project.

This is the image of the Inspiration Zone Poster presented by Ilka Kuhagen to the Worldwide Conference on Qualitative Research in Budapest in May 2014. A larger version is available here. (Click on the image and use Control + to zoom in on a larger version of the poster as it was presented.)

 

By Lázaro Martínez and Astrid Velásquez

Since the 1980s, formal “man and woman” relationships have been changing in Mexico. It was during this decade of economic crisis that many paradigms shifted. The economic crisis contributed to accelerating changes in the male and female traditional roles, mostly due to increasing female participation in the workforce.

This change triggered the empowerment of women, not only in the economic or labor context, but by creating a type of “gender balance.” Some of the most relevant changes are:

• Increased presence of women as chief of the household, meaning women earning more money than men. (Just like that old saying: Who pays the piper, calls.) Currently there is one female directed household vs. four directed by men.
• More men participating in household chores, like cleaning, taking care of kids, grocery shopping, etc.
• Women being explicitly more sensual and sexually proactive: the “approach” is no longer only in the hands of males.

During this decade and the ‘90s we saw an increase in the number of women smoking and drinking alcoholic beverages. For example, tequila consumption exploded during the ‘90s when women started drinking it because it was totally a “manly” beverage. Tequila also became one of the few products that provided a sense of Mexican identity. (The economic crisis turned into a moral crisis, where no government or institution in the country was believable or trustworthy, and where traditional roles were broken. Tequila brought back a little of the pride of being Mexican … which by the way, was a brilliant marketing approach.)

On the other hand, economic troubles in the household and work environment contributed to increased stress levels that ended up in arguments and discussions among couples (66{a75d112c1ea8efd8d548fa031ca8ffd35154d8dad1867f6f7c53f2160deae159} of people saying they had felt stressed in the past month or more). Empowered women were no longer willing to maintain their traditional role of submissiveness. And men felt lost in terms of knowing how to communicate with their female partners.

The level of divorce increased almost 50{a75d112c1ea8efd8d548fa031ca8ffd35154d8dad1867f6f7c53f2160deae159} during the ‘90s. And during the past 15 years, we’ve seen a dramatic drop in the number of “regular” couples or families living together, with an increase in other types of households:

• Traditional families (mom, pop and kids)  dropped 8.2{a75d112c1ea8efd8d548fa031ca8ffd35154d8dad1867f6f7c53f2160deae159}
• Gay families increased 22.7{a75d112c1ea8efd8d548fa031ca8ffd35154d8dad1867f6f7c53f2160deae159}
• Single mothers increased 20.7{a75d112c1ea8efd8d548fa031ca8ffd35154d8dad1867f6f7c53f2160deae159}
• Single male households increased 15.7{a75d112c1ea8efd8d548fa031ca8ffd35154d8dad1867f6f7c53f2160deae159}
• One person households increased 28.1{a75d112c1ea8efd8d548fa031ca8ffd35154d8dad1867f6f7c53f2160deae159}

Couples seem to be avoiding commitment, not only because of the uncertainty of the implications of living together as a couple, but also because of the uncertainly of living in Mexico.

There also is a tendency for “utilitarianism” to prevail; people keep only those roles and behaviors that are useful. (This is also reflected in their consumption patterns).

So, we know that Mexico is changing: the female and male roles are being modified and consumption behaviors are shifting.

We need to keep an eye on how Mexicans are feeling in order to understand their consumption preferences and predict their future needs.

Lázaro Martínez and Astrid Velásquez are partners at NODO Market Research in Mexico. NODO is a full service research company with local offices in Mexico and Colombia and covering all of Latin America.

During the past 12 years, NODO has been studying the “social mood” of consumers and shifts in how they feel. It uses this information as a key aspect to understand purchasing behavior, advertising preferences and new trends in the market.