AboutChris Hawkes Expertise I can help people to understand whether or not market research might help them address the
business decisions that they are facing. I can also help them consider the different types of
research that might be appropriate in their situation, and can help them estimate the costs of
the different methdologies, and the pros and cons of each approach.
Experience I've worked in a Fortune 500 company, as a market researcher for the last 8 years. I've managed dozens of qualitative and quantitative market research. I've conducted extensive market research in the US, and in over 20 other countries around the world as well.
Organizations American Marketing Association
Publications MarketResearch101.com and EzineArticles.
Education/Credentials I have a degree in Finance, which I realy haven't ever used, except to try to understand how my mortgage payments were calculated.
Expert: Chris Hawkes Date: 11/6/2007 Subject: When market research fail over and over again
Question Under what circumstances should one question the results of market research, especially when such research generates consistent results across different markets?
Market research conducted in several countries are unanimous "We don't want this product". However it has proven to be a success time after time.
Answer Hello Kjell,
That's a very interesting question. I think that you're saying that you have a product that has actually sold well in the market, but when you conduct research on it, the respondents have rejected it (even in the country where it is a success?).
I should first say that there have been cases where market research has indicated that a product would be a failure, and when a headstrong manager went ahead and launched it anyway, it sold reasonably well in the actual market. So this is not unheard of.
I have several questions that may help to understand how this has taken place:
Have you ever conducted market research to profile the customer base (the people who have actually purchased your products)?
Is it possible that this product is something that requires a personal recommendation from a trusted friend in order to give it serious consideration? (maybe the benefit is a challenge to envision it's usefulness?)
Is it possible that the people who actually purchase your product use it differently than what you consider to be it's primary customer benefit? (and probably the way you presented it to the respondents?)
How confident are you that the screening criteria that you used to find respondents?
Many forms of market research require a respondent to make a decision on it immediately - but some products require some thought in order to fully understand the uses and benefits?
Where is your product actually sold? Could it be that the channels that you use provide a context for the purchase that makes more sense (than the web survey or focus group that you probably used?)
Could it be that your product is an "impulse buy" and not one that people would actually think about and decide to purchase, but given the right conditions, and a convenience factor that they actually purchase?
Could your product be something that a person might not want to admit to purchasing for some reason (embarrassment, guilt...).
These are some of the things that come to mind, without knowing what product, market research methodology or screening criteria it's very difficult to give you a good answer. I have a market research web site and do some consulting on the side. If you would like to share some of the details with me, I would be happy to give this some more thought and try to help you understand what could be going on here.
Thanks for sending me a very interesting question. I would love to know what the cause of this situation could be.
