Business research is more important than ever for business leaders, who must stay ahead of their competition and market trends. Today’s consumers are becoming more comfortable with technology and how they interact with brands. They expect businesses to use this technology to provide seamless experiences and relevant information at the touch of a button. Business research answers these questions:
- What are consumers saying about our company?
- What do they like, dislike, trust, and distrust about us?
- How can we differentiate ourselves from our competitors?
Answers to these questions will help you tap into the consumer psyche, understand your target audience and build trust. Businesses that can effectively interpret qualitative data in business market research will see results faster and spend less money on marketing products or services.
With qualitative data, you can understand consumers’ behavior and develop marketing and sales strategies based on those insights. Qualitative data is rooted in dialogue, which lends itself to uncertainty after an interview. This makes qualitative research far more difficult and expensive than quantitative research because there is no way to verify or falsify findings. Qualitative data can be either in-depth interviews or surveys, offering unique advantages for the business leader. In-depth interviews provide deeper insights into consumer psychology, whereas surveys are more cost-effective and deliver good results without relying on the human factor. If your company doesn’t have the time or resources to conduct qualitative market research, it’s important to know where to find it so you don’t waste money on poor results.
Qualitative market research analyzes qualitative data, which is a person’s opinions and feelings. Qualitative data can be from a survey, focus group, or personal interviews with consumers. Qualitative analysis focuses on understanding how people act and the accounts they give for these actions. This type of market research has been around for decades, but it is seeing a resurgence in popularity as businesses understand the benefits of this method.
Approaches to qualitative data analysis include content analysis and grounded theory. Content analysis, a quantitative method, allows business leaders to see how consumers interpret their brand. Grounded theory is a qualitative method that helps business leaders understand the experiences that drive consumer attitudes and behaviors. Both methods provide market-driven insights for increased profitability and customer satisfaction.
The reliability of qualitative research is often enhanced by using multiple examples. Multiple examples provide a better breadth of information while considering the different audiences targeted in the study. For example, when conducting qualitative business market research, it is important to target your audience and use questions specific to their needs and interests. When you build this trust with customers, they will be more likely to respond positively to your products or services. One way to ensure that you are targeting the right audience is by word choice–using terms like “we” instead of “you.” This gives the person reading your survey a sense of belonging and makes them feel like they’re an integral part of your company’s success. It also creates an open-ended question so they can add their thoughts or experiences related to the topic.
The reflexive voice is essential in qualitative accounts because it gives the reader a real feeling of what it is like in the situation. The writer becomes more involved and active. Using the reflexive voice in your research is also important to give the reader a more accurate understanding of your findings. You can use the objective voice if you report what you have found. The reflexive voice will give your readers a better sense of your experience and how much you have contributed to that experience.
Qualitative research requires more than just market data. It incorporates several different methods to explore and analyze the behavior of consumers and their thoughts and feelings about the product. This includes listening closely to what consumers say, interviewing them, observing their interactions with your brand, looking for trends in social media activities, etc. Qualitative research focuses on concepts of credibility, authenticity, honesty, and openness to get to know consumers better and build trust over time. Credibility is how you change someone’s expectations when interacting with you or your company (think of an example like Amazon Prime Day). Authenticity is true to who you are as a company or individual, while honesty is when people feel they can trust you. Open-mindedness allows consumers to see your company in a different light. These concepts are important because they help companies understand where they stand with their target audience so they can make changes accordingly.
Theory is extremely important in qualitative research as it provides much-needed context and understanding of respondents’ experiences and opinions. We can better understand why people have their attitudes and beliefs through theory. It also helps us understand how these attitudes and beliefs relate to other aspects of life, such as work, leisure, and other interests. By applying theory to our research, we can make more informed choices about how to approach our interviews, what questions to ask, and so on. This knowledge can help us to produce more reliable findings that are more likely to be accepted by our supervisors and clients.
Reference Material: Doing Research in the Business World First Edition by David E Gray, SAGE Publications Ltd; First edition (February 23, 2017)
Amazon Affiliate Link to 2nd edition: https://amzn.to/3e78c1r