David Rothstein - RTi Research Archives - GRBN.ORG

Do Market Researchers Want to be Trusted?

GRBN_News — Thu, 25 Jun 2020 10:08:36 +0000

John is the head of Customer Experience (CX) for a large hotel chain. Jennifer is the CMO. John shares his latest report with Jennifer that shows 40% of their customers thought their stay was enjoyable. Is Jennifer pleased with that report, or is she appalled? Probably the latter. But for some reason, we in market research (MR) seem to be satisfied with this same low level of positive CX among the many millions of respondents we engage each year.

According to the latest GRBN Global Trust Survey, just 40% say they find the research they participate in to be enjoyable. Wait, what??

There’s more. Right now, as highlighted in the same global research, almost half the people say they aren’t sure if they trust MR (45%). Another 16% flat-out don’t trust MR. As an industry meant to distill what people say, do, and think into meaningful and accurate insights, should we be concerned that only a third of the people trust us?

Let’s assume we do want to engender a higher level of trust. How does CX fit into this equation? The answer is that CX drives trust. And trust drives participation – especially participation for the right reasons. And broad participation from people that want to contribute improves data quality – which improves trust. See where this is going?

Tackling trust as an issue is hard. Where does one even begin? You got it – by improving our CX. GRBN’s research shows a direct relationship between CX and trust. If we can improve the CX we provide to our respondents and participants, a broader level of trust is sure to follow.

	Trust MR	Not Sure	Don’t Trust MR
Positive CX	59%	36%	25%
Negative CX	11%	22%	32%

Let me recommend a great resource on how to get started on improving CX – GRBN’s participant engagement Handbook, ENGAGE 2.0 – a guide with 30 expert tips for improving the research participant user experience.

Customer experience can be defined as the customer’s perceptions, opinions, and feelings developed through the cumulative effect of their interactions with a brand or supplier.

So it will take time to change opinions that have perhaps been formed over a long period of time during which people have become accustomed to a certain level of engagement (or lack thereof). It will take effort. But there’s no doubt that as an industry, we have ways and means to accomplish the goal. The question is whether we have the will. I hope so.

Dave Rothstein

RTi Research

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The Fear and Hope of Measuring the ROI of Insights

GRBN_News — Mon, 02 Jul 2018 13:27:21 +0000

Why CI Must Begin to Measure and Report ROI There is a hard truth for insights departments not measuring the ROI of the insights they produce: fewer and fewer C-suite executives are willing to continue investing in a function whose return on that investment is not being measured and communicated. And, at the same time, competition for budget within organizations is increasing; specifically versus departments such as digital marketing and CX – many of whom present strong ROI-based business cases for investment in their functions and are often pulling from the same funding pool as CI. Most Insights departments want to be seen as a “strategic consultant” to the business, yet too often the department is considered reactive and functional rather than strategic by its internal clients. That’s not necessarily because they are; it’s due at least in part to so few departments being bold enough to market the value they provide in terms of ROI to their organizations. So it’s not surprising that a joint GRBN/BCG study conducted in 2017 showed that consumer Insights departments that ARE measuring and reporting the ROI of insights are achieving the highest levels of strategic competitive advantage. Insights has the opportunity to become the rocket fuel that drives the increasingly consumer-centric decision making environment. We just need to get better at measuring and communicating the ROI of what we do. What ROI of Insights Is and Is NOT ROI of Insights is not just about better, faster, cheaper. Saving 10% on the cost of a project might be beneficial, but it is not the kind of meaningful return on investment we are talking about here. Real ROI is about the impact your insights have on the business and, thus, what your company gets back from the investment it makes in you, your team and your research. And because measurement requires action, it follows that insights are not really insights if not acted upon. Incremental revenue and profitability, or reduced costs based upon the actions driven or stopped by the insight you generate, is the return companies are seeking. Consider All the Different Shades of ROI The ROI of Insights is not just one number; it’s a story of the impact of insights on the business that takes many forms and can be told using a variety of metrics. ROI can be measured and communicated using financial metrics (such as profit or revenue growth), non-financial metrics that are meaningful in your organization (such as an increase in brand preference, improved NPS scores, or a decrease in customer churn), or even qualitative feedback on the impact of insights on the business from an important stakeholder on the initiative. Start at the Bottom; Report at the Top Determine the inputs to ROI at the project level, then aggregate those project-level measurements so you are reporting at the “business decision” level; ideally, tying those business decisions into a high strategic business priority. For example, don’t report on the ROI of Focus Groups conducted to get consumer input on an innovation strategy; instead roll those Focus Groups up with all insights initiatives that feed into the broader innovation initiative. Your ROI reporting will be much more meaningful and you won’t get stuck in a situation where a project just doesn’t have a measurable ROI (yes, that does happen!). Find a Champion The more strategic the research function within the organization, the more likely they have a champion in the C-suite. Most often this champion is the CMO, however if you can align with the CFO you’ll really have a powerful partner. Teamwork is your friend. Engage Your External Business Partners in the Process External agencies with whom you work can be strong partners in helping you measure ROI. To the degree that you can, include your trusted agency partners in the broader discussions around important initiatives so they, too, understand what success looks like. The more people invested in your success, the more likely you will be successful. Measuring the ROI of Insights is closer to possible than you thought and so important to our future, why not get started today! For more information and help, check out the GRBN’s Invest in Insights Handbook. Dave Rothstein RTi Research

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Thoughts From The Client Side On The Importance Of Engaging Participants

GRBN_News — Mon, 16 Oct 2017 06:47:59 +0000

Neil Marcus, AVP and research leader at MetLife, was instrumental in the GRBN’s Participant Engagement Initiative. His support as a corporate partner for the research on which some of these best practices are based was invaluable. Dave Rothstein, CEO at RTi Research, a Gold Sponsor on the Participant Engagement Initiative, talked with Neil about the initiative and its impact. DR: You and MetLife have been tremendous supporters of the Participant Engagement Initiative. Why is the initiative so important to you and your organization? NM: The initiative is important in so many ways and to so many constituents. First, from an industry perspective, we are concerned about sustainability, specifically in the face of declining survey response rates, and thus risks to sample integrity. Next, we are concerned about the quality of the responses we receive when surveys are lengthy or focused on topics that are less engaging and of interest to people (e.g., insurance). And finally, from a brand perspective, for identified surveys, we recognize that a survey is yet another touchpoint which reflects on our image/reputation. In these cases, we need to make sure the survey experience leaves participants with a positive impression of MetLife. DR: Obviously, there are a lot of great engagement tips included in the handbook and you got to see them first-hand through your participation in the research on research. Which do you feel particularly excited about using in your research and why? NM: I believe there is an opportunity for us to implement all of the recommendations. In general, using more plain speak, conversational language is one best practice that especially resonates with me. On identified surveys, I’m also particularly excited about improving participant engagement by using video (or other means) to provide our participants with more detail on the purpose of the study and how the findings will be used. DR: What obstacles do you see in putting these tips into practice for improved participant engagement? How might they be overcome? NM: I expect some of our business partners may be somewhat uncomfortable with departing from the traditional survey practices. I’m glad we have this “research on research” through our partnership with GRBN to help assuage those concerns and really prove the criticality of employing techniques to improve participant engagement. Overall, given our focus on insight-driven strategies and optimizing the customer experience, I am confident most will embrace these new approaches – especially given the relationship between survey experience and brand perception on identified surveys. Neil Marcus Metlife Dave Rothstein RTi Research

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Improving Participant Engagement – Why We Should All Care

GRBN_News — Mon, 18 Sep 2017 07:11:19 +0000

According to a recent GRBN study, conducted as part of their “Building Public Trust Charter,” only 10% of recent online survey takers have high trust in the Market Research industry. Equally concerning is that 70% say they’ve had a bad survey experience lately, with one-third of these people saying it made them feel more negatively about the company(s) mentioned in the survey.

clients concerned by the negative impact of a poor experience on brands

At our recent annual Client Symposium, a diverse gathering of corporate research professionals, nearly all in attendance were surprised and concerned by this finding. Poor survey design leading to poor respondent experiences has a real and negative impact on brand. Certainly, Consumer Insight’s work should not negatively impact the very brands it supports! Just the opposite is true, and all attendees agreed: if companies are spending millions on consumer engagement in other areas, shouldn’t we be working to create goodwill among those whose survey answers feed into insights so integral to moving the organization forward? In the U.S., only a small minority of survey respondents feel there is any social value to market research. That’s not good for anyone in Consumer Insights. By contrast, the market research industry in Germany is working to build trust and further consumer engagement, and as part of this initiative, advertise the value of research to consumers – “this product was created with the input of consumers like you”).

increasing transparency and engagement

So we asked symposium attendees, “Is anyone currently working to identify a branded way to let respondents know what was done with their responses?” No one in the room currently does this, but several indicated they were willing to consider the notion, perhaps re-contacting respondents to let them know what decision was made using their feedback or sharing some small tidbit of information about how their answers were ultimately used within the organization. All agreed that this makes sense and it’s natural for people to want to know that the time they spend on something is valuable and valued. However, it was also conveyed that regularly providing this kind of information to research participants is easier said than done. The conversation then moved on to some more familiar territory, starting with consumers’ concerns about their privacy in relation to participation in marketing research. One attendee pondered that given people are already sharing all kinds of personal and personally identifiable information (PII) on social media platforms, why the concern when it comes to research? The simple answer is the cost-benefit balance to the consumer. While people do express concern about sharing PII on social media, many have ultimately decided that the privacy trade-off is worth the benefit they get from their social interactions. Since most people don’t see the social value of research, they don’t see the benefit they receive from participating as worth the trade-off of their private information.

how ci functions can use brand impact as a driver of change

Finally, survey length and other “abusive” survey techniques are deterrents to those who actually have a desire to take consumer surveys. Not surprisingly, the ever present struggle for corporate researchers is that their internal clients want MORE answers for their money – not less! Interestingly, there were some in the room who work for organizations with a corporate mandate to keep all surveys to 10 minutes or less. Great conversation ensued amongst the corporate researchers in the room, with one attendee asking, “How did you start the conversation with your internal partners to convince them that keeping surveys short is a good thing?” The answer is that Insights Leadership in these companies realized the way they were engaging people was outdated and potentially harmful to their brand, so they formed a team to create survey standards, found opportunities to test and learn, then used this information as proof of concept. One attendee summed up perfectly why we should ALL care about respondent engagement: given all of the aforementioned concerns that survey respondents have, think about who is staying on panels and who is leaving. Are those who are staying truly representative of our market targets? We can only ensure business partners of the value of consumer insights if sample quality is maintained. As an entire industry, we need to take responsibility now for the engagement and experience of our research participants. Dave Rothstein CEO, RTi Research

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What’s the ROI of Consumer Insights? How about 400%!

GRBN_News — Mon, 31 Jul 2017 17:13:55 +0000

There’s been much talk in recent years about the call for Consumer Insights (CI) departments to provide more value to the organization (with less in the way of human and capital resources). Moving forward, Insights Leaders will want to consider how they might begin to measure Return on Investment (ROI) in consumer research and use the information to “sell” the value of the CI function to the organization. This quote from the recent Yale/BCG/Cambiar paper, “Building a Better Customer Insight Capability,” encapsulates perfectly the importance of thinking about and figuring out how to measure ROI: “In the low growth environment that has prevailed in consumer industries since the global recession of 2008 and 2009, many senior executives are unwilling to continue investing in a function whose return on investment is not measured… Elevating CI to a strategic position is not necessarily about spending more; it’s about spending smarter.” That said, not one person at our recent Client Symposium – a diverse gathering of corporate researchers, reported that their CI team is currently measuring ROI. One participant recounted how they once tried to measure ROI based on Nielsen data – unsuccessfully. This is not uncommon, as very few CI departments in the industry have traveled down this path. But, some are. And among CI departments measuring their ROI, there is a reported 400% return (source: Cambiar). While this number may be somewhat inflated (it is self-reported, after all), it certainly suggests that there is significant positive return on Consumer Insights investments! And, interesting (and maybe surprising too), ROI on consumer insights, when measured, is a magnitude higher than generally acceptable ROI from other investments in tangible (10%) or intangible goods (30%). We just have to start measuring!

Tips for measuring the ROI from Insights

Here are some tips for starting on the path to measure ROI suggested by Andrew Cannon, Executive Director of the Global Research Business Network and facilitator of our client symposium:

Remember that you are unlikely to get a full, scientific measure, and that is OK. Something is better than nothing. Don’t head for perfection, just START.
Engage the CFO or other financial professional within your company – they might not have the perfect answer, but likely will be glad to help and glad you’re making the attempt.
Build a system, track core projects, and have a “3-year view”; be structured about it, but remain flexible.
Engage your internal clients or finance department to help define the value of CI to an overall effort.
Survey – or at least speak with your internal clients immediately after a project is completed, and again down the road, to understand the short- and long-term impact of each initiative.
While ROI might be measured at the project level, it should be synthesized across projects and used to build a story of CI driving the business.
Don’t fall into the trap of focusing only on tactical research (with clear action standards) just because ROI is “easiest” to measure on these types of projects.
Create a brand action document that asks the brand team to indicate what will be done with the consumer insights gathered – and get the answer in both marketing and financial terms.
Remember that ROI includes both upside value AND risk mitigation. What’s the value of stopping the company from making a bad or sub-optimal decision?

If you are not currently being asked to prove the return on Consumer Insights investments, why should you “go there”? There are, no doubt, risks and barriers for those who undertake this endeavor. It requires you to stick your neck out – taking both accountability and credit. The effort will likely be time consuming and may require some additional resources (which, one symposium attendee pointed out, are already stretched to the limit). However, when the C-suite does come around to ask for ROI on the Consumer Insights spend (and they will), it will be worth all your efforts to have a ready answer! David Rothstein, RTi Research

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