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Survey Sloth: How
Market Research Can Imperil Your Marketing
by Dov Gordon
One thing is for sure: a fat marketing budget doesn't make
you smart.
I got a call last week from a young man who asked me to participate in
a market research survey. I said "Sure."
"The survey is about cheese," the young man said. "Cream
cheese and cottage cheese."
"Ok," I said. "I'll do my best."
"Sir, which of these cheeses do you buy: Tnuva, Tara, Strauss or Ski?"
"Actually, I'm not sure. Should I get my wife? She
does the shopping and I just eat what's in the fridge."
"No. Don't worry. Just answer according to your
feelings," he said.
"Ok. I know we buy Tnuva. I'm not sure about Tara
and Strauss and I've never heard of Ski," I said.
"Next question: On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate the
texture of each company's cheeses?"
"Do you mean the cream cheese or the cottage cheese?" I asked.
"Both," he said.
"Well,
I like the texture of Tnuva's cottage cheese. I'd give it an
8. But I'm not so crazy about their cream cheese.
I'd give
that a 4. So how do I answer your question?
"Just give me one number that kind of averages how you feel about
Tnuva's cream and cottage cheeses," he said.
"Look, I don't know who is paying for this survey, but how in the world
could blending this information help anyone?"
"Sir,
I really don't know. That's a good question. My job
though
is to ask the questions and collect the information. So
please
just give me your general feeling about the texture of the cheeses."
"OK, Tnuva gets a six but that is really a meaningless number which
will mislead the survey sponsor."
"Thank you, sir. Now how would you rate the textures of Tara,
Strauss and Ski?"
"As
I've already told you, I don't know if I've ever eaten Tara and
Strauss. I think we sometimes get Strauss, but it may be
Tnuva
and Iā€™ve never even heard of Ski, so how can I rate the texture?"
The
young man was very patient with my lack of understanding.
"Sir,
please just tell me how you would rate them according to how you think
they would taste. You can base it on how the name sounds if
you
want."
So I made up numbers and gave them to him. At least I was
honest and he was happy.
"Thank you, sir. Next question. How would you rate
your feelings of nostalgia for each company's cheeses?"
"Feelings of NOSTALGIA?! That would be a zero. I
have no feelings of nostalgia for anyone's cheese."
"Sir, on a scale of 1 to 10 please. The lowest number is one."
"Well, if it can't be zero then my answer is one. For all of
them."
And
this is how the survey continued for nearly ten minutes. Some
of
the questions were sensible. The majority were not.
As I
hung up the phone I realized that somewhere in the posh offices of
Tnuva, Strauss, Tara or Ski, whoever they are, purportedly astute MBA'd
executives were going to make important strategic decisions based on
the information from this critically flawed survey.
But maybe I
was wrong. I decided to call my friend Michael Lieberman, an
internationally respected expert in the field of multivariate testing.
That
survey was seriously flawed, Michael said. "Why would I want to know
what someone thinks about my cheese if he never heard of it?"
That's what I thought.
How to Avoid Getting Cowed by
Your Survey Firm
Here are a few tips to help you make sure your survey firm brings home
solid information and not high-fat Swiss cheese.
1.
When conducting a survey, the first thing you must clarify is your
objective. What information and understanding do you hope to
glean? The best surveys are tight and focused with a single
clear
objective. For example: Our objective is to understand what
factors influence a consumer's choice of cottage cheese.
2.
Run your survey through the common sense test. Read the
questions
your survey firm plans to ask together with the choice of
answers. Look for the following:
a.
Does the survey accommodate more than one path? I.e., if I've
never heard of your cheese, I should not be allowed to sour the results
by opining about its texture or taste.
b.
Questions should be limited to those that will help you reach your
objective. Companies are often tempted to ask way too many
questions once they've got your attention. There are at least
two
problems with this. Firstly, many questions donā€™t
contribute to
your objective and serve only to flatter the ego of the survey designer
("What a creative question I dreamed up! Nostalgia about
cottage
cheese! Who would have thought of it?") and obfuscate the
results. Secondly, long surveys discourage participation in
part
or in full.
3. Not everything can
be learned via survey. The most effective market research
takes
advantage of a full range of tools including surveys, focus groups,
one-on-one interviews and shadowing or trailing consumers as they use
your products and services. Each has its strengths and
weaknesses
and it is a mistake to expect one to do all the work.
---
The Gordon Group
works with the owners of small
companies who are doing well, and want to be doing even
better. We hold a
flame under their seats, helping them to simplify, systematize and
monetize
their businesses. Together we identify and implement bold small steps to bigger profits.
Our
clients work with us 1 - 1 in a coaching relationship as well as on
specialized projects and via our Small
Company Growth Clubs. Everything
we do is guided by our beliefs that (1) We humans tend to complicate
what should
be simple - and things can almost always be made simpler and more
effective and
(2) Clear thinking is the most valuable work™. Clarity helps
us focus and
focused work gives us control.
Dov can be
reached via his website http://www.GordonGroupEC.com or via email
at dovgordon@gmail.com.
+++++++++++
Archives of The CEO Thought-Provoker™ are
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+++++++++
Dov
Gordon
helps senior
executives at small and mid-sized companies around the world to earn
the respect and admiration of their marketplace. Clients
benefit from clarifying their strategies, sharpening their focus,
better decision making, improved teamwork and growing into great
leaders.
Management and
Strategy Consulting.
Executive
Coaching.
+++++++++
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may republish and redistribute this article provided that you
include (1) the full article with the attribution at the end, (2) a
link to
www.GordonGroupEC.com
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Please
email me your
thoughts and feedback.
See our
recommended reading list at:
www.GordonGroupEC.com/books.html
Copyright 2009
© by Dov Gordon. All rights reserved.
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