If you want answers that are robust and relevant, it’s important that you use a researcher who really knows what they are doing and who makes sure that you really know what you are doing.

 Understanding Your Issues

Some clients have no information about the subject they want to research, while others have lots of data and statistics but they want to get behind the data to understand the consumers and the issues.

Ipso Facto provides bespoke research for clients according to their needs.

The client may know they need more information in order to understand why consumers are behaving the way they do.

They may want information in order to address a specific issue.

They may be uncertain as to what their next step should be.

 

What’s Involved In Consumer Research?

Consumer research is a specialist area because there are so many components that contribute to the outcome and you need to know how each of these are working at any time and for any question, project or product.

These include: which consumers you’re talking to, what you’re talking to them about (obviously!) and how you are talking to them. They also include the structure of the session, how the topics are ordered, the type of stimulus you show and when you show it. These all have an impact on the final result and you need to be able to untangle what’s going on at any point.

We’ve all seen Derren Brown expose the power of suggestion and group influence. In the same way, a moderator needs to be sufficiently skilled and experienced in order to know what the dynamics are that are operating and to manage them in the right way.

The Role Of The Moderator

The moderator of the sessions needs to be able to bond sufficiently well with the consumers so that the consumers feel that they can be honest – rather than saying what they think you want to hear from them. It’s interesting how, in what is a slightly artificial environment and when they’re being paid, consumers have a desire to please (or thwart!). It’s important for the moderator to be able to get past that and to find out what’s really going on.

Plus it’s vital to be able to manage the dynamic of the group. This might mean how to work with difficult people who are keen to be disruptive, or chatty people who don’t understand that you have an agenda and likewise the shy ones.  There really is a skill in being able to use the time efficiently and wisely.

The Importance Of An Appropriate Hypothesis 

The researcher needs to go into the project with an appropriate and useful hypothesis (based on all of the background knowledge on the specific project) plus enough business experience and insight from the industry at large to get it right.

It can be surprising to discover how efficiently people’s individuality and idiosyncrasies can be condensed down to specific typologies. To make this happen, to make typologies meaningful and useable you must know what you’re doing and you must know people.

The best qualitative researchers combine a brilliant understanding of both business and the human psyche. And that’s what we offer at Ipso Facto.