Pepsi, Dove, ASOS... What do all these companies have in common? Well, they’ve all made some pretty big and most definitely avoidable mistakes when it comes to diversity and inclusion. Such culturally insensitive mistakes usually end up with a huge backlash from customers, and the subsequent PR clean-up campaign is always a nightmare. The saying might well be that all press is good press, but let’s face it - no one really wants to be known for a lack of diversity and cultural awareness. So what’s the solution? Well, by ensuring your campaigns are inclusive, you can actually end up avoiding costly mistakes in the first place - and it all starts with diversity in research.

The last few years have seen some pretty big changes in the market research industry. The advancement of technology and the likes of smartphones, artificial intelligence and automation are shaking up the way we conduct research - and the fact of the matter is, new technologies are taking over. Surveys pop up on our phones at all hours, robots are constantly providing companies with information about all your likes and dislikes, and all the while respondents have a shorter attention span than ever before.

Carrie Bradshaw and Bridget Jones: if you were asked to think of a single woman in her thirties, these are the two characters that would most likely spring to mind. Carrie was single, childless and carefree (with one of the best shoe collections we’ve ever seen) - but when you think about it, she doesn’t actually represent the life of most single women without children at all. Neither does Bridget Jones, with her big pants and Chardonnay-fuelled rendition of “All By Myself”. Today, childless women are much more wise-to-the-world. They’re savvy, they’re successful - and they’re a segment that is growing in importance in market research. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the ‘Otherhood’...

Move over Millennials, there’s a new generation in town! Generation Z refers to those born between 1995 and 2015. They are the generation coming of age now - in fact, by next year, Gen Z will account for 2.56 billion of the global population. Barely out from under their parent's roofs, there isn’t a lot of research surrounding this generation yet - but that’s all changing, and fast. As their spending power continues to rise, it’s vital to conduct Generation Z market research in order to understand their habits, behaviours, and what makes them tick. But how do we engage with them? Read on to find out…

AI is something of a buzzword right now - especially when it comes to how it can transform the customer experience. It’s thought that 85% of customer relationships will take place without human interaction by next year, and Servion has even predicted that AI will power 95% of all customer interactions by 2025. Not only that, but artificial intelligence such as chatbots are set to be responsible for cost savings of over $8 billion per year by 2022, up from $20 million in 2017. It’s easy to see why AI is such a hot topic in the retail sector!

 These days, the world is smaller and more interconnected than ever before. However, when it comes to conducting international research, there are still a lot of differences between countries. In fact, as the world continues to change, these differences can actually become magnified - which has a big impact on cross-cultural market research. From laws and privacy regulations to cultural differences, language barriers, respondent engagement and even time zones, there’s an awful lot to think about.

So you've conducted your feasibility assessment, briefed your agency, and started recruiting participants for your research study. You’re good and ready to go, right? Well, there’s actually one more important step that unfortunately gets missed out all too often. Before you go any further, you need to qualify your participants to make sure they truly are the right people for your research.

The secret to successful qualitative market research is all in the people. Basically, without the right people you won’t get the insights you need - and finding the right respondents all starts with recruitment. Thanks to your thorough feasibility assessment, you’ll have a clear idea of the type of participants you want and need to recruit - and once you’ve finalised this criteria, you can start choosing which recruitment techniques are right for your research. Here’s how to make sure your respondent recruitment is right every time:

Once you’ve established the feasibility of your project and decided on a sample size, it’s time to start finding market research participants. Have you ever asked a market research agency to help you with a project but been disappointed with the quality of the participants they found? Perhaps they weren’t quite what you asked for, or maybe they didn’t fill the necessary criteria? Don’t worry, it’s really easy to make sure it doesn't happen again. In fact, it’s all down to communicating and collaborating with your agency right from the beginning to ensure you are on the same page throughout the entire recruitment process.

In an age where cost effectiveness is so important, it’s vital that you know how to justify your market research spend to your boss so they approve your market research budget. In order to do that, you need to know exactly where your budget is going and what the fieldwork costs are being spent on, as well as how to get the most for your money. And that’s exactly why we’ve put together this blog: so you can understand what is included in your fieldwork costs and make sure you get the most bang for your buck. Read on to find out where your money really goes, so you can be sure that you make the most of your market research budget, every time.