The GRIT (Greenbook Research Industry Trends) report is undoubtedly one of the leading and most comprehensive surveys of the market research industry, showing where the industry is now, where it’s going in the future and how you can adapt to these changes. Published annually since 2011, this latest version looks at Q3-4 of 2017 and gives a meaningful and reliable snapshot of the global market research industry that you can use as a strategic planning tool for the year ahead. Here we look at some of this year’s biggest industry trends for qualitative market research according to the latest report.

In-home interviews do exactly what you’d expect them to: they consist of asking your participants questions from the comfort of their own homes. They remain a firm favourite in the world of qualitative market research because they’re a fantastic way of asking specific questions whilst at the same time being able to monitor non-verbal cues - but due to their very nature, they can take a fair bit of time to organise. That’s why it’s so important to make sure your in-home interviews are worth the effort.

Below are our top tips for making the most out of this methodology and ensuring your next interview isn’t just good - it’s great.

We’re starting to see more and more qualitative research being carried out with children and young people across the market research industry. It’s easy to see why – not only do young people bring a fresh and honest perspective to the table, but as this generation continue to become a key research demographic, children and young people's opinions are becoming more important than ever before. That being said, conducting qualitative market research with children remains to be a sensitive area and as such any research must be carried out in accordance with the Market Research Society guidelines to ensure that children aren’t exploited, disturbed or harmed by the experience.

Online qualitative market research interviews – whether conducted in individual or group settings - are a great all-round research method that has become increasingly popular in recent years. They’re fast, cost effective and because respondents can take part remotely, they don’t have the geographical limitations of traditional research.

In recent years there’s been a shift in the market research world with more and more qualitative market research being carried out with children and young people. We’re now starting to move away from more traditional opinions that children and young people are solely objects of enquiry, towards the view that they have their own unique thoughts and insights that are important in their own right. And quite rightly so – after all, children and young people tend to bring a more fresh and honest perspective than adults, meaning that they don’t just have a right to be involved; they need to be involved in order to improve the quality of research, especially as millennials are becoming an increasingly important demographic in market research and as a result brands are becoming increasingly keen to reach out to them.

A social grade is a demographic, socio-economic classification that assigns every household to a certain grade based on the employment status of the chief income earner. Or, to put it more simply, it’s a way of classifying people based on income. Created by the ONS (UK Office for National Statistics), it’s used throughout the marketing, advertising and market research industries to organise audiences into six categories – A, B, C1, C2, D and E – ranging from higher professional occupations through to unskilled manual occupations.

There are a number of important decisions to make when you undertake a market research project. What is your target audience? How big is your sample size? What are your chosen methodologies? And what type of agency will you use? After all, not all of the agencies out there specialise in the same thing. In order to select the right type of agency for your qualitative market research project you need to carefully evaluate potential agencies according to what they can do for you and how they can fulfill your objectives and goals before you select your market research partner. Do you need a partner to help with finding respondents? Or one that can help with analysis, results and reporting? The type of agency you are looking for will depend on your needs and generally speaking there are two options: full service market research agencies and fieldwork agencies. Read on to find out more about what these types of agency can offer for you and your qualitative market research project.

UX testing, also known as usability testing, involves evaluating a product or service by testing it with representative users in order to improve its usability. It’s a great way to get an insight into what does and doesn’t work on your website as well as answering important questions from the perspective of your users – for example, why do they stay on some pages and leave others? Why do they buy some products but at other times abandon their shopping basket. And, most importantly, why do they buy from your competitors and not you?

So, you’ve thoroughly researched your market research subject, identified your target audience, and started putting tentative plans in place for your chosen methodology. You’re all set and ready to go, right? Wrong. There’s a really important step between sourcing your participants and conducting the interviews with respondents: qualification. Thoroughly checking your participants to ensure they meet your qualifying criteria is a vital part of your market research recruitment process that can save you a lot of time and money in the long run. Your participants might seem perfect on paper, but by taking the time to dig a little deeper, you can be completely confident that they meet your criteria and are engaged and enthusiastic about participating. After all, a successful market research study is only as good as the people taking part…

Assisted shops – or shopalongs as they’re also known – have become increasingly popular in qualitative market research in recent years to gain shopper insights.

Whilst group discussions and face-to-face interviews are a great way to understand your customers’ thoughts and opinions, joining them on a retail shopalong can help you to glean additional insight which you otherwise may not be able to achieve from a focus group setting .

Assisted shops enable you to get underneath your customers’ skin and observe how they behave, where they go, what they buy and why – which means you can generate deep shopper insights in order to make truly informed decisions.

Read on to find out more…