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.

Webinar is on April 2nd  @  2PM Eastern | 11AM Pacific

REGISTER HERE

Perhaps it has never been more important to understand your customer than it is right now.

Our partner company Dialsmith will be holding a webinar to demonstrate the online market research options including dial testing and hybrid solutions that are available right now.  

Webinar is on April 2nd  @  2PM Eastern | 11 am Pacific

REGISTER HERE

We can keep the insights flowing, if we share the tools! See you there.