Mobile ethnography is a type of research methodology that allows researchers to observe respondents in their natural environment. It’s discreet, it’s fast and it’s adaptable: using their mobile phones, participants complete tasks at home or out in the real world as and when they are happening, making it a great qualitative tool that allows access to unbeatable insights without any external influences. From video diaries to pre-tasks for accompanied shops or even snapping in-the-moment photos, it gives researchers the chance to peek into participants’ lives more clearly than ever before. And because it fits around people’s busy lives, digital ethnography is a methodology that truly ticks all the boxes. If you’re thinking about using mobile ethnography as part of your next qualitative market research project, why not try these top tips so you can achieve maximum engagement and unlock in-depth insights…

Teenagers and young people can have a bit of a bad reputation in the research world. Researchers often don’t know how to reach out and engage with them, and thanks to their notoriously short attention span it’s no wonder that researchers can find it tricky to to target younger generations and sometimes struggle with low response rates too. However, Millennials and Generation Z are the influencers of tomorrow, so it’s really important we find a way to reach out to them - and luckily the rise of social media over the last decade has allowed researchers to do just that! Read on to discover our top four tips to help you recruit young people via social media for your qualitative market research…

Mobile ethnography is transforming qualitative market research by turning participants into researchers and allowing them to document tasks at home or out in the real world as and when they happen. From video diaries to shopalongs and UX testing to photo libraries, mobile ethnography gives researchers the power to see into participants’ lives more clearly than ever before, delivering in-depth insights without any external influence. However, mobile ethnography isn’t without it’s challenges - so if you’re keen to use mobile ethnography for your next qual MR project, here are five important lessons you won’t want to miss…

Millennials and Generation Z are the leading actors of the digital age. They’re the influencers of tomorrow, and are expected to account for a staggering 2.56 billion of the global population by 2020, making them a really important demographic for qualitative market research. And as this new generation comes of age, their spending power will continue to rise - so it’s really important that researchers understand how to appeal to this younger audience and engage them in market research so brands can understand what makes them tick. One way to do this is by using video to unlock qualitative insights in a way that interests and excites them. Read on to find out how…

Social media has never been more popular. People are spending more time than ever before on various platforms, with the average person spending two hours a day across different sites. You might think that doesn’t sound too bad, but to put it another way - that’s five years of your life spent on social media. And younger generations clock up even more hours, with recent research suggesting they spend a staggering nine hours a day on social media platforms (yes, you read that right - they spend more time than the average working day on social platforms!).

So considering the statistics above, it makes sense that more and more researchers are using social media as part of their market research recruitment toolkit. After all, it’s a really powerful way to interact with your target audience, and thanks to promoted posts and Facebook ads, it’s also a great way to reach out to a large amount of people in a fast and cost-effective way. Not only that, but if you’re worried about seeing the same faces time and time again in your qualitative market research, it can also be a fantastic way to find fresh respondents as well. Read on to discover how…

As conducting qualitative market research with children and young people becomes more and more popular, it’s important that market researchers know how to engage with and empower children to generate the best possible results. Young people and children are still developing - and that means that the way they think, act and communicate is still developing too, which will bring about a completely different level of insights to market research with adults.

Most importantly, when recruiting children for qualitative market research, researchers need to make sure they follow the MRS Code of Conduct and ensure that the children’s health and wellbeing are put above everything else at all times. But that’s not all there is to think about. If you want to generate the best possible results when conducting qualitative market research with children, you need to engage with them and empower them so they feel comfortable and confident enough to open up. Here’s how… 

When kicking off a market research study, one of the first steps is always determining what kind of participants you want to recruit. Are you looking for a particular age group? Do they need to have specific interests or behaviours? For example, should they have purchased a certain product recently or shop at a specific store? And what about age group? By answering these types of questions you can decide on your recruitment criteria, which will ultimately have an impact on which recruitment technique you decide to use. And often when it comes to reaching niche audiences, social media is a great solution.

Ethnographic research essentially turns research inside out: instead of bringing the subject to the researcher, it involves researchers embedding themselves in the respondent's environment so they can observe their experiences first hand. It’s a great research methodology because it allows you to get right to the heart of customer behaviour and sometimes learn things about your consumers that they haven’t even consciously recognised about themselves.

Market research is changing. In today’s digital world, simple questions such as “do my customers like my product?” are no longer enough when it comes to qualitative market research. Clients today want more detailed insights than ever before - which means that market research needs to deliver informative insights so that they can make more educated decisions and stay ahead of the competition. In this digital world, it’s no longer just about perceptions, but also thought processes and stories that resonate with target audiences and drive change. But what exactly does all this mean for qualitative market research? 

If you want to get the most out of your market research project, one of the most important steps is briefing your qualitative fieldwork agency. From clearly communicating your goals and objectives to defining dates and key milestones, you need to make sure that you and your agency are on the same page right from the beginning. One thing you’ll need to decide on when initially briefing your agency is how and when you want updates and in what form. From email updates to catch up calls, a good fieldwork agency should always keep you in the loop with exactly what’s going on and when.

In this blog we take a look at what you should expect from your market research recruitment updates and why…