There is a tremendous amount of quantitative survey work being done around the world – some through quick and dirty research and others through much more involved strategic studies like Segmentation and Brand Architecture studies. All of this research produces a LOT of data and offers many, many learnings about your brand.

While the learnings are very useful and worthwhile, we at Insights in Marketing have found that the true value of quantitative marketing research can be exponentially multiplied by digging deeper into the data by looking at the whys, motivations, and drivers to move beyond the seemingly simple answers to survey questions.

Some tips to get the most out of your quantitative market analysis include:

1. Focus survey design to uncover the “why” behind the what—While getting “the answer” or “the score” is sometimes an important goal of doing a study, understanding the motivators will help you understand where to go from here (especially if the results are not as positive as expected…) and put you that much further ahead of the game. Open-ended and/or closed-ended diagnostic questions are key in being able to get at the whys.

2. Try getting at your key questions indirectly—Some research questions can be understood by asking a consumer directly, while others – especially when looking to understand drivers & motivators – are best approached by circling the issue and understanding the full picture and context of the decision making. This full picture can usually provide more depth than simply asking a direct question and moving onto the next topic.

3. Combine quantitative measurement with qualitative insights—Whether through a combined single study that offers both quantitative and qualitative components within the same research (such as our Same Day Quant/Qual) or through data driven market research that then feeds into a qual study (or vice versa), the combination of measurement and depth focused on the same business question will greatly enrich your insights and increase your odds of success.

4. Dig beyond what respondents say to uncover behavior drivers—We’ve all been in situations where consumers seem to act contrary to what they say. What they say is useful, but there are often richer, deeper insights to be gained by digging into the data through special analytics to get to what drives their behavior. Tools such as a drivers analysis, or stated/derived importance analytics can be very enlightening to understand the true drivers of behavior.

5. Let the data lead you– The best moments in quantitative market analysis are when we find a surprise—a completely new connection, finding, or insight that changes the way we think about the business question. It is important when that happens in analysis, that you and/or your research partner follow those leads and dig in deeper, which can often lead to richer, unexpected insights.

6. Try out new tools—Whether its new online qualitative tools, new combined quant/qual tools, or mobile research being incorporated into your research plan, explore the benefits that these new methods bring! You’ll often be surprised that you can get to a new layer of insights leveraging the latest research tools that would not have been possible just a short time ago.

7. Work with a research partner (like Insights in Marketing) who knows global scale for scaling your research—Conducting global data driven market research requires a fair amount of nuance & cultural sensitivity to be executed well. Whether knowing how to execute in-person interviewing in countries where it is still the “norm,” or making slight adjustments to the design for other countries, these nuances can make or break a global project. And, with different cultures using scales differently, interpreting global data also requires experienced skill to draw appropriate insights.

Getting the most out of your quantitative marketing research starts with a study design that addresses your key business challenge. With over 20 years of experience designing, analyzing, and using quantitative market research, we at Insights in Marketing continue to look for ways to get as much insight from the quantitative research that we do.

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