Why insights research is more than just asking a question and getting an answer.
You can get an answer to a business need by asking a question.
But unless the question gives you a background context to the people answering, to their emotional contexts, to their self-perceptions, and to their actual behaviours, then the answer may not give you the insight you need to make a better business decision.
To illustrate, the Australian Bureau of Statistics just released their May 2020 Household Impacts of COVID-19 survey findings, drawn from a national sample of 2,612 people aged 18 years or older.
The first question reported was whether the participants were concerned about their personal health due to spread of COVID-19. To that one question,
>> 24% of Australians said that
>> No, they were not concerned about their personal health, because of COVID-19.
This answer suggests an immediate need for a new Australian Government Grim Reaper-style advertising campaign!
Australians, particularly Queenslanders and South Australians, must be told and scared into caring.
And advertising agencies must start spruiking that need to Government immediately, and for it to commission them to do that!
But that single question does not show a business opportunity because 99% of Australians had changed their behaviour.
And if 99% had changed their behaviour, that 24% were not concerned for their personal health because of COVID-19 is clearly not a Grim Reaper-style campaign need.
The 24% finding may indicate new skin care sales opportunities or skin-friendly brand extensions for hand sanitisers, but does not indicate other insights, because we don’t know why the 24% are unconcerned. As data collection, the survey is very useful as it tells us a lot about the 24%. It tells their age, gender, work status, education, health, insurance cover and use of Government payments. From this, we could infer, but do not know why, the 24% are not concerned.
Is it because they:
>> Have acted and so feel safe?
>> Or had action forced on them by Government requirements?
>> Are genuinely unconcerned anyway (perhaps because of some self-perception)?
As we don’t know, we can’t generate insights to help strengthen business decisions.
Which brings us back to the initial point.
Getting you the right answers and why insights research is more than just asking a question and getting an answer.
In getting the insights you can use, we need more. More questions, more reflection, more testing and more thought. Then, the questions we ask for you will reveal the business-building insights you need.
If you’d like our assistance to understand more about your customers and prospects and gain business-usable insights than “interesting and so what answers”, ring (0414 543 765) or email Philip Derham (derhamp@derhamresearch.com.au ) now.