Should We Wait To Do Research “Until this is Over?”

We have been fielding these questions since March. We can now say definitively that yes, now is not only a good time, but a great time.

Back when this all started we did not know (nobody knew) how the coronavirus economy and lockdown would impact qualitative research. Will people fixate on the short-term? Will their mindset impede insights?

Back then, we were advising our clients to push the PAUSE button until things changed, stabilized or we got a better read. 

But here’s what we have found, and why we have so much confidence in the quality of online qual research being done right now:

5 Reasons Why Now is a Great Time to
Do Online Market Research

➤People are bored with the same-old quarantine-based conversations. They are very eager to participate in research right now, if for no other reason than to communicate with a different human being than their quarantine buddies. (It is not an over statement to say that many respondents are down right thrilled to have a chat!)

➤People are living thru a most unusual (arduous? painful? frightening?) time. Their emotions are raw, and their walls are down. This vulnerability means they are opening up much quicker than usual during online focus groups.

➤People have had a lot of downtime to dissect their angst. This new level of self-awareness is leading to super candid conversations in our online IDI’s.

➤People have had to forfeit so many of their simple pleasures: dining out, retail therapy, family events. This deprivation has given them a fresh take on what your products and services really mean to them. 

➤The silver lining to this slow-moving tsunami we are living through: people have never been more connected with the world around them. That leads to great insights.

Have a research project you’ve been thinking about doing? Now might be the right time!

Reach out and we can talk it through.

Have you noticed consistent trends in each month’s SVP report? You’ll want to read this month’s findings—there’s been a shift. 

Trump’s support among these swing voters has fallen

• • • The country is in chaos, and he’s not bringing order, he’s bringing more conflict.
    • They’re still not crazy about Biden. But they’re more willing to give him a chance.
    • How are they feeling in general? No surprise here—anxious, depressed, frustrated, fearful.

• • • They’re horrified about George Floyd’s death, and they’re supportive of the initial protests; but they think the protests have made their point. And protest violence is causing more division. They want it to stop.
    • They oppose defunding the police, and if Biden supports those efforts, he’ll lose many of their votes.
    • They want a national conversation about race, but they don’t want politicians to lead it.

“Our entire year has been taken away from us,” they said, with the prohibitions on weddings, funerals, and other public gatherings. Meanwhile, thousands are allowed to crowd together for protests. They want consistent pandemic gathering rules.

➜ Like we said, you’re going to want to read the whole thing

Have you noticed consistent trends in each month’s SVP report? You’ll want to read this month’s findings—there’s been a shift. 

Trump’s support among these swing voters has fallen

• • • The country is in chaos, and he’s not bringing order, he’s bringing more conflict.
    • They’re still not crazy about Biden. But they’re more willing to give him a chance.
    • How are they feeling in general? No surprise here—anxious, depressed, frustrated, fearful.

• • • They’re horrified about George Floyd’s death, and they’re supportive of the initial protests; but they think the protests have made their point. And protest violence is causing more division. They want it to stop.
    • They oppose defunding the police, and if Biden supports those efforts, he’ll lose many of their votes.
    • They want a national conversation about race, but they don’t want politicians to lead it.

“Our entire year has been taken away from us,” they said, with the prohibitions on weddings, funerals, and other public gatherings. Meanwhile, thousands are allowed to crowd together for protests. They want consistent pandemic gathering rules.

➜ Like we said, you’re going to want to read the whole thing

This high-security platform for web conferencing is used by fewer than 1% of all accounts. ZoomGov was specifically designed to serve sensitive areas of the US Government. We use this same technology for all our online qual research: online focus groups, virtual IDIs and online dial groups.

Why we use it – Using the same encryption as the Pentagon gives peace-of-mind to our clients. In addition, the video and audio quality is far superior.

How is this different from the standard, commercial web conferencing – ZoomGov is built on a different technology platform, GovCloud, which is used by US intelligence agencies, the Department of Defense, the CDC, and many more. ZoomGov is also compliant with FedRAMP, HIPAA, & Dept of Defense security guidelines. 

Why it’s good for our clients – Through us, our clients can confidently and securely conduct any form of online research—including for projects which require a high level of security or confidentiality.

• • • • • Sensitive advocacy and political message testing
        • High-profile litigation and jury research
        • Patient healthcare research interviews
        • Pre-release media research (movies, TV pilots, CEO speeches)
        • Testing of sensitive or copyrighted materials

This robust level of security and encryption is your safeguard. It ensures clients and stakeholders that the important content you are testing will remain under your control.

Do you use the commercial version of Zoom? We have some best practices for you to ensure you are leveraging their security features. Check it out here➤

About FedRAMP

FedRamp is the security standard required across the US government for sensitive information.

It is required by the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security, the CDC, intelligence agencies and the Justice Department.

Learn more about FedRAMP security and encryption compliance.

About Amazon GovCloud

AWS GovCloud  https://aws.amazon.com/govcloud-us/?whats-new-ess.sort-by=item.additionalFields.postDateTime&whats-new-ess.sort-order=desc

Learn More:

➠FedRAMP compliance for online research https://blog.zoom.us/wordpress/2019/05/07/zoom-achieves-fedramp-moderate-authorization/

➠HIPAA compliance for online research tools https://zoom.us/docs/doc/Zoom-hipaa.pdf

➠DoD SRG (Security Requirements Guide) https://aws.amazon.com/compliance/dod/

➠Zoom security whitepaper https://zoom.us/docs/doc/Zoom-Security-White-Paper.pdf

Last week, we conducted a virtual focus group made up of 10 swing voters all of whom live in the Canton, Ohio area, and voted for President Obama in 2012 and President Trump in 2016.

Key Takeaways from the Canton, Ohio swing voter group:

• Some advice for the president:  Take some cues from Governor DeWine. They’re happy with how the Ohio governor is handling the crisis, giving him high marks for taking the problem seriously early on, and being decisive, and apolitical. They’d like the president to follow suit.
• Some of the shine has faded but he’s still their pick: they think the president’s initial response to the coronavirus crisis has made it harder to contain the virus, but overall, they still approve of how he has handle the crisis, and plan to stick with him.
• Has their confidence in Trump taken a hit? The short answer is yes. Half of our group has lower confidence in the president as a leader now then they did three months ago.
• What do they worry about the most right now? It was even split between their financial health and their physical health.
• No rush to normalcy: At least half of the group said they’d be willing to wait until August or September to return to more normal activities, with some indicating that they’d need to have several conditions in place before they’d go back.
• WWBD (What would Biden do?) Most of the group were not familiar with the Democratic challenger’s comments on the coronavirus crisis or what he would do different than what Trump is doing.
• Pro or against protesting? Generally against those protesting the stay-at-home restrictions and business closures.
• And what about suspending immigration? Unanimously in support of the president suspending immigration into the US due to the coronavirus crisis.

Next month, we will NOT be heading to Davenport, Iowa, but we will virtually meet with a new set of swing voters who live there. Stay safe and well.

Dial testing is a key part of Engagious’ research approach. And right now many people are asking “Can we do qual research online?”  Yes. We are in the midst of #coronavirus and yet we all still have research to execute and clients who need insights ASAP. Online research options are your friend. And we’ve got you covered. 

Specific questions? Get in touch and we’ll talk it through: hi@engagious.com

Our Dialsmith group has been in the dial testing game for a long time. As the developer of the Perception Analyzer dial testing tools and services for focus groups and surveys, we support global clients with in-person and online research every day. 

Specific questions? Get in touch and we’ll talk it through: hi@engagious.com

So, without further ado, you might be wondering…

What is Dial Testing?

Here’s the deal; if you’re trying to find out what people are really thinking, memory stinks. Asking someone what they thought, or how they felt, about something is bound to give you all kinds of less-than-reliable results. We’ve studied this and with the help of industry and academic experts have tons of resources for you.

So, how can dial testing help? Dial testing is how you overcome the negative impact of flawed memory and recall bias by capturing what people think in-the-moment. This is done two ways; with hand-held dials in focus groups and with an on-screen slider in surveys.

As participants watch your content (online or in person), such as ads, TV shows, presentations, etc., they use in-person dials or an online slider to give continuous, second-by-second feedback. This gives you real-time, gut reactions that you can then use to probe deeper and refine your content.

The second-by-second results are overlaid on top of the content being tested. Colored lines represent different audience segments. 

So, Dial Testing is Just for Media Testing, Right?

Oh, contraire, my friend. Dial testing is used for a heck of a lot more than that! Yes, what makes dial testing most unique is its ability to to capture moment-to-moment reactions through a dial or slider. But, those same devices can be used to ask all kinds of other questions.

For example, in a focus group, participants can use their dials to answer closed-ended questions. Some may be as simple as a gender question to help segment the moment-to-moment ratings, while others may be Likert scale or attitudinal scale questions to gauge feelings and opinions. Most any closed-ended question can be asked with the dials in a focus group.

 Dial testing results for Attitudinal Scale and Discrete Choice questions

This has the added bonus of eliminating groupthink by allowing each participant to answer privately and individually before opening things up to group discussion. You’re paying every respondent, so why not hear from each of them for every question?

How Do Respondents Answer Questions with the Dials?

Good question! The dials use a 0 – 100 numeric range, but can also use any range in-between. So, for instance, for a gender question, respondents would dial 1 for Female and 2 for Male. For a 5-point Likert scale, respondents would dial between 1-5 for the range of Strongly Disagree-Strongly Agree. For a 5-, or 7-, or 10-point attitudinal scale, respondents would dial to the appropriate number based on the scale labels.

For every question, the moderator, as well as colleagues and clients in the viewing room, can see the results charted in real-time to help drive group discussion. Any of those questions can also be used to segment the results of moment-to-moment ratings so you can see how different subgroups reacted to the content.

How Does Dial Testing Work Online?

Online dial testing is very similar to in-person dial testing except respondents use an on-screen slider instead of an in-person Perception Analyzer dial. Video or audio content gets embedded into a survey and respondents adjust the slider continuously as they watch. There is also an optional hotkey that respondents can click to indicate they would take a particular action.

For example, during a TV show they may click a “tune-out” button if at some point during the show they would stop watching if they could. That moment is recorded and the respondent continues rating the show to the end.

Overview of our online dial testing tools and moment-to-moment reporting. 

Want to Learn More About Dial Testing?

Here’s a short video from our in-house Dialsmith group:

And here’s some additional recommended reading:

Dial Testing Group vs Focus Group: How Are They Different?

10 Ways Dial Testing Will Improve Your Research

Moment-to-Moment Research Playbook

Hope that helps. If you have follow-up questions or want to discuss how dial testing can help with your research, please feel free to hit us up.

In Edina we met with 11 swing voters: four who voted for Mitt Romney in 2012, and Hillary Clinton in 2016; and seven who voted for Barack Obama in 2012, and Donald Trump in 2016.

If you’ve been following this project you already know that we’re traveling to swing voters each month, leading up to the 2020 election. What are these voters thinking about? How are they feeling about things political? What moves them?

We’re uncovering fascinating findings, one of which is that “Midwest swing voter” is a different flavor in each of the states we’ve visited so far: Wisconsin, Ohio, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Minnesota. (It’s news for coastal Americans, that is. If you live in the Midwest, you know that already.)

They’d like to be able to vote for a Democrat in the center. They don’t want radical proposals or pipe dreams.

How does President Trump make them feel?
confident
embarrassed
happy
disgusted

What’s top of mind for our Edina swing voters?
health care—it’s not affordable, and too many people can’t get it
immigration/wall—they’re glad someone is doing something about it
global warming
lower taxes
student loans

Assault weapons ban?
Respondents were mixed on conceal-carry, but unanimously in favor of an assault weapons ban (no discussion of how broadly or narrowly the term would be defined).

Is climate change a thing?
You betcha.

There’s more. Go here for clips and the full report.

Next month the team heads back to Wisconsin.

If you want to see the trends report from the last 6 months- you can download it here.

In Appleton we met with an all-female panel of 9 swing voters: two who voted for Mitt Romney in 2012, and Hillary Clinton in 2016; and seven who voted for Barack Obama in 2012, and Donald Trump in 2016.

One of the most important findings is that these individuals- persuadable voters- do not get their news where you might imagine. With very few exceptions, they get their news from local sources (TV, radio) or on their device (Apple News, Yahoo News…)

Here are some high-level takeaways from this group:

How does President Trump make them feel?
frustrated
annoyed
irritated
disgusted
confident
competent

What’s top-of-mind for our Appleton swing voters?
National Security topped the list for this first time (we typically hear about the economy and affordable healthcare). Most respondents have a genuine fear of being pulled into a war.

Are They Aware of #EPA Environmental Rollbacks?
We read a partial list of 17 environmental rollbacks that have been proposed under the Trump administration. Virtually all of the respondents were unaware of these, one commenting “I’m kind of floored at the stuff they did…It’s uncalled for.”

Is Vaping a Serious Problem for Teens?
You bet it is. Our group was unanimous in their support of eliminating all advertising for these products.

There’s more. Go here for clips and the full report.

Next month the team heads back to Ohio.

Here are my Top 10 recommendations for How to Hire a Messaging Agency.

Do Your Homework: Keep a running list of agencies and campaigns that impress you.
At least you will have a starting place.

Be Honest with Yourself: How much bandwidth can you commit to managing an outside team?
Know this going into it.

Get Specific: Every agency has a specialty.
Know what you need (advocacy messaging? advertising messaging?) and find the right match.

Find the Right Size: Make sure the agency’s size matches your expectations. You don’t want to be the smallest client, making it easy to relegate your projects to the B-Team.

Go With Experience: If you are looking for a real partner, find a team that has related experience in your field. If you need messaging for B2B, find a team that has done B2B.

Secure Top Talent: Know who will be managing your account. That individual is your lifeline– and can sink a project if they are not strong or experienced enough.

Know Your Status: Know who their big clients are and what % of their bandwidth they occupy. You don’t want to be playing second fiddle to them for the duration.

Be Smart With Money: It’s a major factor and often an agency will cut a deal on the first job. But know that going in so you can prepare
for future projects.

Trust Your Gut: At the end of the day you are choosing a group of humans that you need to work with. Are they switched on? Do they have that sparkle in their eye?

Pull The Trigger: Your final decision will likely involve a leap of faith. If you’ve been diligent, odds are good you will end up with a partner you can work with.

In the end, your success depends a lot on your own preparation. I have faith in you; You can do this! We’re with you all the way.

If you need help with brand messaging or customer insights, we’ve got those chops. So put a check mark in our “been there, done that” column and give us a shout. Happy to talk through whatever you need.

See more of my blog posts here.

In Warren we met July 8 with twelve swing voters—nine who voted for Obama in 2012, and Trump in 2016; and three who voted for Romney in 2012, and Clinton in 2016.

We talked about the weather, and their families (we’re polite, after all). We asked them what they’re looking for in a leader; what issues are important to them; what they thought of President Trump and the Democrats in the hunt for his job. We showed them clips of the recent Democratic debates and asked them to rate with dials how much they liked what was said.

They’re concerned about immigration, health care prices, and retirement. They think the economy is growing, but they wouldn’t describe it as booming. We heard, again, that issues that are important to the 24-hour news stations (like impeachment) aren’t really important to them.

It’s all interesting—read the whole report here—and we’re grateful, as always, to the respondents for letting us take a look under the hood.

Some highlights:

On immigration: They want to take care of struggling Americans first. “I don’t want to be a jerk,” said one female Obama-Trump voter. “I feel terrible for those people, but there are people here in this country that are struggling to survive.”

On Trump: They said they don’t like it. But they like that he speaks his mind, and that he’s getting things done, or trying to. So they’re sticking with him. All nine Trump voters, and one Clinton voter, said they would vote for Trump over Clinton if there were a presidential election between them tomorrow.

On Democratic presidential hopefuls: The current crop doesn’t excite them. They couldn’t identify pictures of most of them; nor could they say much about them. They’d like for Oprah to run.

On the Democratic debate: They didn’t watch much of it. Of the parts we showed them they said the candidates’ positions are too liberal, and would make these voters more likely to vote for Trump.

On large corporations: They don’t believe large corporations care about America’s best interests. As one respondent said, “I’ve been in a lot of meetings where we decide where we put the plants—Korea, China, places like that—and America’s best interest was [never considered].”

On tariffs: They support them, especially on cars and car parts made in other countries. They want to protect American jobs and American wealth.

On climate change: It’s not a top five issue for a little more than half of them (“many other issues matter more to me”), but it wouldn’t cause them to vote against (or for) someone who is vocal about addressing it.