The key goal of market research is to gain the most insightful and actionable data possible to help make more informed business decisions. However, even the most proven and effective market research methods run into challenges such as confirmation bias, outsize influence from particularly strong-minded participants, response bias, social desirability bias, and more.
How can develop an effective market research program that reduces bias, improves engagement and participation, and validates your data?
The answer is Immersive Experiences.
The key value of interactivity versus standard methods of market research is greater and deeper participation. In fact, Mediafly’s 2022 State of Interactive Content Research Report showed that interactive experiences generated 52.6% more engagement.While the benefits of interactive content are vast, market researchers will find that one of the most significant benefits is the immersive experiences for the participants. When participants are actively engaged in the research process, they are much more likely to not only retain information, but provide more detailed and accurate responses that provide deeper insights.
In addition to boosting your participant’s engagement, interactive content can provide more actionable and reliable data for researchers, capturing a wider range of data points, including response times, click-through rates, confidence levels on responses, and completion rates. By analyzing this data, market researchers can identify patterns and trends that may not have been obscured with the biases and pressures often found in traditional research methods like focus groups and in-depth interviews.
Enhance your existing market research programs with interactions.
Interactive content can add value to focus groups by providing a more engaging environment and facilitate honest discussions between participants. By using interactive content to introduce a product or topic, it allows participants to actively click through and explore the features/benefits of the product. Additionally, when facilitating discussions, interactive content shines in gathering feedback to help ensure that all participants have an opportunity to make sure their opinions are not only heard, but valued.
In-depth interviews, or one-on-one interviews can either go extremely well, collecting a lot of useful data, or a straight up brick wall. Chances are, if you’re dealing with the latter, those conversations are usually a waste of both your own time and the participant’s time. The traditional method of these interviews can be effective, but it can also limit the ability of the participant to effectively articulate their thoughts and feelings.
Interactive content can help ensure that the researcher has a better understanding of the participant’s perspective to provide more insightful feedback by using tools that allow them to create visual representations of their thoughts and feelings about a particular topic. An interactive survey could be used to gather information about the participant’s interests and preferences, giving the researcher data points and insights to not only tailor the interview to the participant’s needs, but determine if there is any bias towards certain areas of discussion.
Using interactive content is nothing new in this day and age, but incorporating new methods into traditional approaches can improve the overall experience for both parties and provide more reliable outcomes with deeper insights. By incorporating interactive content into your market research efforts, you’ll not only get more actionable data, but a clearer understanding of participants’ base knowledge, as well as motivations and intent. Better data may be just one interaction away.
