A qualitative review of market research in social media susan bell research final

©2015 Susan Bell Research

Phone +61 2 9451 1234 Mobile: +61 409657317 Web www.sbresearch.com.au

What some market research clients are saying about market research in social media: a qualitative exploration

July 2015

©2015 Susan Bell Research 2

“Social Media Research has been around as a distinct and established tool for about ten years,

so it is probably a good time to take stock of what it is offering and what it could be offering. In

order to do that NewMR and GreenBook have created a collaborative project to investigate and

highlight the benefits of Social Media Research.

……..

“The project is based on data collection in May and reporting in June. The companies taking

part have been challenged to research the topic of “Market Research” using any Social Media

Research tools and approaches they wish. The reports will reflect the different approaches

adopted by the different companies. Drawing on the different reports and elements of the

project Lenny Murphy and Ray Poynter will produce an overarching summary in July –

highlighting the benefits, strengths, and opportunities of Social Media Research.”

NEWMR AND GREENBOOK SET A GLOBAL

RESEARCH CHALLENGE

http://www.greenbookblog.org/2015/04/24/what-are-the-

benefits-and-strengths-of-social-media-research/


SUSAN BELL RESEARCH JUMPED TO THE

CHALLENGE

1. We were interested in the clients’ perspective. Early exploratory research had shown

that clients represent only a small proportion of all the market research ‘voices’ in

social media. A sample of clients would therefore be too small to quantify, necessitating

a qualitative approach.

2. Qualitative research was also ideal because we wanted to understand not just what

clients said about market research but how they said it. To achieve this we needed to

study a small sample of people in depth, where that sample was precisely defined.

We wanted to hear what clients were saying about research in social media – and we

saw this an opportunity to explore how to use qualitative research techniques in social

media.


OUR RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

Specifically:

• To find opinions and comments expressed directly by clients in or shared via social media

about market(ing) research.

• To explore what clients commented about and how they expressed themselves.

Specifically:

• To identify the strengths of a qualitative research approach to understanding social media.

• To explore the limitations of qualitative research when used on social media data.

1. Our primary research objective was to understand the views expressed in social

media about market research or marketing research by research clients, in their own

voice.

2. Our secondary objective was to explore how to best use qualitative research

methods to understand opinions expressed in social media.


HOW WE WENT ABOUT IT


OUR RESEARCH APPROACH

We are using the term ‘client’ to mean anyone who

buys, commissions or subscribes to market or

marketing research. It includes people who conduct

their own research through, for example, Survey

Monkey or other data collection technology but

excludes people who sell research or research

services.

Our interest was clients ‘in their own voice’.

What we meant by ‘market(ing) research’

How we defined ‘clients’

How we defined ‘social media’

How we selected content

We are using the term ‘market research’ and ‘marketing

research’ interchangeably, and used both terms when

searching. ‘Market’ research also incorporates ‘social’

research when conducted by market research

agencies.

Our selection process had two stages:

1. Broadcast content

For both privacy and practical reasons we were

interested only in broadcast content, such as content

found on webpages and blogs. We were not interested

in content that was part of a conversation as for

example Twitter chat or in a LinkedIn forum.

2. Shared through social media

The content had to have a presence in social media,

in that it was original content posted on social media

or linked content shared on social media

Websites and applications that enable users to create

and share content or to participate in social networking.

Oxford Dictionary


• We selected content that was about market(ing)

research.

• If a tweet or post included a link to relevant content,

we included the material that had been linked, which

itself may not have been on a social media site.

Where we collected data from

What data we collected

Who we collected data from

When we collected data

• We first of all searched broadcast social media

platforms such as Twitter, BlogSpot, and the

company pages of LinkedIn for mentions of ‘market

research’ or ‘marketing research’, in English.

• We also searched market research sites such as

GreenBook which host blogs on market research,

where the opportunity for comments had been

enabled, making it ‘social’.

• We excluded research suppliers’ accounts of their

clients’ opinions and experiences as we wanted to

hear the clients’ voice directly.

• We collected data in May 2015.

• All content had been created between January 2014

and May 2015.

• We collected existing content from N=10 ‘clients’ as

defined earlier.

• We allowed no more than one comment/post per

person. Where we found more than one, we chose

the most recent.

• We included published interviews between clients

and journalists if they met all our other criteria.

• We have not identified the people whose comments

we used.

Collection, analysis and reporting meet AMSRS, Esomar and ISO20252

guidelines

OUR DATA COLLECTION APPROACH


OUR SAMPLE : N=10 PIECES OF CONTENT

Only 10 pieces of content met the criteria for the study. They came from:


HOW WE ANALYSED AND REPORTED

How we analysed the data

• The data were analysed manually, by reading the content repeatedly. Analysis was ‘from the

ground up’, i.e. there were no a priori codes or themes. The analysis process was iterative.

• Each piece was coded in terms of ‘what was said’, to identify the specific topics raised. These

were then categorised into larger ‘themes’. Each piece of content was then analysed in terms of

how it was expressed, specifically the kind of language used.

How we interpreted the data

• Qualitative interpretation is necessarily subjective. It is based on the observation of patterns in the

data. Given the small sample, we have focussed only on themes observed in three or more

pieces of content. We have omitted referring to themes which may have been idiosyncratic.

How we reported the results

• We have de-identified quotes to minimise potential harm to individuals. There was no

satisfactory way to mask the quotes, so we have included some short quotes verbatim. We feel

this is an acceptable risk to take, as all quotes have already been broadcast, are non-

controversial, and are not of a personal or sensitive nature.


SUMMARY OF THE KEY THEMES

As this is exploratory research, the sample size is small. The findings are therefore indicative

only and should be used in conjunction with other data and validated through other means.


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1. Clients framed research as a tool to help organisations make decisions.

2. Clients were critical of the way that some research suppliers currently interact with them.

3. The relationship between client and supplier seems complex.

4. Better relationships will emerge if some suppliers become more professional, collaborative and

up-to-date.

5. Client organisations will make better decisions if suppliers knew how to connect research data

across the client’s organisation.

6. Client organisations will make better decisions if suppliers challenge them more.

The nature of the clients’ contribution to the debate in social media about market research can be

summarised as:

7. Agencies and media that support small business and not for profits gave a ‘can do’ message.


WE FOUND CONTENT FROM TWO TYPES OF

CLIENT

1

Corporate clients

This comprised a varied group

including insights managers, R&D

experts, marketers, advertising

agencies and usability experts, from

national or global organisations.

N=7

2

Agencies and media that support

small business and not for profits.

These were small local

organisations or digital magazines or

communities

N=3

There are several different client voices in social media. We segmented them into two for

convenience:


THE SIMILARITIES BETWEEN THESE TWO

TYPES OF CLIENT

Research is about gathering intelligence to

make informed decisions

To inform stakeholders to make better

decisions.

While corporate clients and small business/not-for-profit agencies generally had different

things to say about market research, there was one point of agreement: that research exists

to help clients make decisions to help them meet their organisational objectives.

Corporate client Agency supporting small business/not

for profits

Clients framed research as a tool to help organisations make decisions.


CORPORATE CLIENTS EXPRESSED SOME

DISSATISFACTION

MR has to continuously evolve…to stay

relevant

I am not satisfied with my experience

All the corporate clients described their relationship with research suppliers as in some way

imperfect. Some were dissatisfied with their experience. Others were satisfied but looking for

more:

Corporate client

Corporate clients were critical of the way that some research suppliers currently

interact with them.

Corporate client


Clients are in charge

In our analysis, we paid close attention

not just to what was said, but also to

how it was said. Corporate clients used

language to make it clear that they were

in a position of power in this relationship.

They expressed their message to

researchers as an imperative:

• “Be honest”

• “Play nice”.

In other words these are instructions,

which brook no discussion.

Yet they also seemed defensive

Interestingly, these instructions were

sometimes couched in more defensive,

apologetic language, suggesting that

power in the relationship is not clear cut:

• One client apologised to research

suppliers for the way the opinion was

expressed and worried that it may sound

“trite”.

• One apologised for seeming to talk in

“clichés”, while at the same time making

the point that it mattered.

• One asked not to have their views

“dismissed” by research suppliers.

CLIENT-SUPPLIER RELATIONSHIPS HAVE AN

INTERESTING DYNAMIC

The relationship between client and supplier seems complex.


Personal relationships are key

Corporate clients made the point that the

market research process hinges on strong

relationships between the people on the

supplier side and the people on the client

side:

“Clients prefer to work with people they

trust.”

Corporate clients told research suppliers to

relate better to clients. They asked

research suppliers to be professional,

likable, polite and “mentally available”.

According to these clients, some suppliers

have been unprofessional,

“condescending” know-it-alls who were

“rude”.

CORPORATE CLIENTS WANTED BETTER

RELATIONSHIPS

Better relationships will come if some suppliers become more professional,

collaborative and up-to-date.

Clients looking for help

Corporate clients talked about the

constraints they worked under - such as

financial constraints and the ‘data

mountain’ challenges they faced. They

asked research suppliers to help them.

They were looking for

• Research suppliers who could blend

traditional research with new

technology

• Research suppliers who will “work with

me”

• Researchers who “keep up” with

evolving techniques and emerging

ideas, or who innovate.


GETTING RESEARCH INFORMATION INTO

THE HEART OF THE ORGANISATION

‘Marry’ information across the

organisation

Corporate clients explained that it is the

organisation that uses research insights

not the individual client contact.

Therefore these clients advised suppliers

to be aware of and manage the

information needs of all stakeholders, all

of whom have “a different perspective”.

This means understanding the issues and

trends in departments across the

organisation.

That way the researcher can “marry”

different types of information to create

insight.

Take information to the ‘heart’ of the

organisation

Organisations were said to be “complex”

and difficult for research suppliers to

navigate by themselves.

According to the corporate clients the

“pivot” in the organisation, is the consumer

insights specialist who has access to,

connects with and understands decision-

makers across the organisation.

Consumer insights specialists can deliver

insights “into the heart” of the

organisation.

Client organisations will make better decisions if suppliers knew how to connect

research data across the client’s organisation.


Challenge me

According to some corporate clients,

research clients can become too

“comfortable” or “narrow” in their thinking,

so they asked to be “challenged” or

“provoked” by their research suppliers.

Researchers who were timid or “insipid” in

their approach were doing their clients no

favours.

Challenge my thinking

Small business agencies, media etc.

promoted market research also talked

about using research to challenge

thinking, to overcome the assumptions

and biases of the business decision-

maker.

It helps keep these users “on the right

track” because “you are not your

customer”.

RESEARCH SHOULD CHALLENGE

Client organisations will make better decisions if suppliers challenge them more.


THE MESSAGE FOR NOT FOR PROFITS AND

SMALL BUSINESS WAS ‘CAN DO ’

Agencies and media that support small business and not for profits gave a ‘can do’

message

The focus of the agencies/media which support small businesses and not-for profits was on

how these organisations should do their own market research.

They talked in an encouraging tone: implying that market research was easy to do. Whatever

“pitfalls” there were, they were described as easy to overcome.

The view seemed to be that market research findings were easy to implement.


WHAT WE LEARNED

Corporate clients

• Corporate clients positioned research as

a decision-making tool which needed to

be integrated with other information held

by the organisation.

• It needed to be understood and accepted

by stakeholders throughout the

organisation.

• Lack of professionalism by research

suppliers and poor relationship building

have been barriers to having research

data accepted.

• Within the context of a strong

relationship, clients wanted research

suppliers to challenge their thinking.

Agencies and media that support small

business and not for profits.

• Agencies and media supporting small

businesses and not for profits seem

occasionally to promote the use of DIY

market research (though of course

they may use research technology to

achieve that).

• They argue that research should be

done and can be done.

This project has demonstrated that qualitative social media analysis can reveal insights from

social media blogs and posts which are unlikely to emerge from quantitative analysis especially

when the research is among a niche segment of the market.

While interesting in its own right, it is probably most useful as a comparison to data collected from

research suppliers, and/or as a preparatory stage in a larger study which incorporated more

traditional primary data collection.


ISSUES AND LIMITATIONS 1

We faced several challenges conducting this research:

Defining our terms

The field currently lacks clear definitions. We used sources that had been linked to in social media –

others researchers may make different decisions about what to include. We ignored conversational

social media as private, but may have missed insights by doing so. There is no way of knowing,

without other information to check against, whether the researcher has missed key information

sources.

Developing a search strategy

We needed to develop a search strategy ‘on the fly’. We read the material as we discovered it, in

order to select material which fit our criteria. This has to be both a scrupulous process and an

educated one. That is, on the one hand the temptation was to use the information we had read

about to modify the search, but this could have biased the research outcome. On the other hand,

we had to do that to some degree, as it was pointless pursuing dead ends.

How to interpret the findings

The key issue here becomes how to interpret the findings from ten quite disparate sources. Even

though seven were ‘corporate clients’, each blog/interview which contained their comments had

actually been created for other purposes. That meant that each of these potential sources was

unique in its own way. In some ways, analysing blog data is similar to analysing in-depth interviews

from several different projects.


ISSUES AND LIMITATIONS 2

How to present the findings

The anonymity required of social media research means that the researcher cannot simply

describe what he/she found, supporting the story with extensive verbatim comments as is common

practice for other forms of qualitative research, since verbatims can be linked back to individuals

who did not ever agree to take part in the research. Therefore, a qualitative social media report

has to be interpretive, without access to the usual supporting evidence. It needs to be convincing

in other ways, and in our view that comes from finding a coherent story in the data that ‘makes

sense’.

The price of finding that coherent story is the loss of understanding of individuals as people, in this

case at least. Finding common patterns and themes among a heterogeneous sample potentially

also reduces the richness of the findings that can emerge.


ABOUT SUSAN BELL RESEARCH

• Susan Bell Research is an established boutique research agency. We conduct qualitative and

quantitative market and social research.

• We love to explore new ways to use qualitative research: including sensory qualitative, semiotics,

discourse analysis, text analysis, and social media analysis.

• We are based in Sydney.

• The lead researcher, Susan Bell, is a Fellow of the Australian Market and Social Research

Society (AMSRS). Other researchers who work with us have attained the Qualifying Practicing

Market Researcher (QPMR) accreditation. Sue is an Esomar and QRCA member.

• Members of the AMSRS are bound by a Code of Professional Conduct. Compliance with this

Code includes guaranteeing the confidentiality of all information provided to us by our clients and

the information we have gained on their behalf.

• Susan Bell Research is also a member of the Australian Market and Social Research

Organisations (AMSRO).

• We are committed to quality and have achieved ISO20252 certification.

©2015 Susan Bell Research

Phone +61 2 9451 1234 Mobile: +61 409657317 Web www.sbresearch.com.au

Thank you Please contact Susan Bell on [email protected] if you

have any questions about this research

mailto:[email protected]

A qualitative review of market research in social media susan bell research final

Marketing

marketing research

research objectives

research services

market research clients

social media research

qualitative research

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