It’s humbling for us market researchers to realize that our “modern, cutting-edge” art and science of market research actually dates back thousands of years – with ample evidence of detailed census data collected within the Roman Empire. However, data collection for the earliest public surveys looked very different than it does today. In addition to the obvious differences in communications technology, the common citizen of that era was not considered to be smart enough or trustworthy enough to respond on his own behalf. Instead, information was collected as rulers polled clergy and nobles about various aspects of their parishioners’ or serfs’ lives.

In the halcyon days of the market research industry – not quite when dinosaurs roamed the earth, but close – paper-and-pencil interviewing (PAPI) was virtually the sole mode of quantitative data collection: Referring to a hard copy questionnaire, the interviewer would ask questions verbatim (i.e., exactly as they were printed on the page, following the prescribed skip patterns), and write the respondent’s replies directly onto the page.

PAPI is a time-consuming and error-prone method of research data collection, relying heavily on the diligence with which the interviewer follows skip pattern directions and legibly records the respondent’s answers. With PAPI, data integrity can also be compromised if different regional accents mitigated how well the interviewer and interviewee understand one another.

In our last blog post, we discussed two of the four components that comprise promotional messaging:  the medium through which the messages are conveyed, and the overarching message theme.  In this post, we’ll focus on the remaining two components of messaging:  message content and target audience.  

Message Content:  Should positively affect behavior

Using market research to help build message content is, at once, a simple and a complex process. The task itself is, typically, a simple one: Respondents are asked to react to various statements that, together, comprise the total marketing message that will be disseminated. However, a degree of complexity is introduced when we try to determine not only the individual statements that are most effective, but to determine the specific combination of those statements – and, frequently, also the exact order in which those statements should be placed – that will yield what those within the target audience consider to be the most effective message.

Promotional messaging is a complex science that, ideally, synthesizes elements from divergent disciplines, including sociology, psychology, and complex statistical analysis. Essentially, however, “messaging” may be considered to have four basic components:

• The medium (or multiple media) through which the promotional message is conveyed;
• The theme of the message, or its main idea;
• The content of the message, or how the content is expressed; and
• The behavior and demographics of the target audience receiving the message.
• All four of these components should be considered when conducting “messaging research” for your clients; the omission of any of the four from your research can result in misleading or erroneous research findings that needlessly deplete your client’s marketing ROI and negatively impact bottom-line revenue.

Medium: “The Medium is the Message”

In Part 1 of this topic (Testing the Overall Product/Service Concept), we looked at the very first stage of testing a product or service concept quantitatively: Testing its most rudimentary parameters, and gauging interest in that basic product or service among its target audience.

So let’s assume that you’ve tested the various new cornflakes flavors your client has been considering, via an online survey administered to 1,000 male and female adult consumers across the United States who currently eat cereal at least twice a week. According to your research findings, there is a definite interest in peanut butter-flavored and – surprise! – bacon-flavored cornflakes among these consumers; however, they express very little interest in the chocolate cornflake cereal that was being considered by your client. You’ve presented these findings to the client, and they’ve subsequently stated their willingness to consider manufacturing and marketing both the peanut butter and bacon flavors, given the high interest in both.

Before a new drug is launched, a new variety of cereal is manufactured and stocked on grocery shelves, or a new television sitcom is produced, each of these new market entries will, ideally, go through multiple phases of concept or product testing with the target market, or markets, for the product. And just as some approaches to the conduct of Awareness, Trial, and Usage (ATU) research or Pricing Sensitivity research are more effective than others, there are also ways of constructing concept or product testing that will yield richer, more reliable findings.