Following the success of recent surveys and report (presenting, quant techniques, and conferences) I am proposing to conduct a study into the impact of social media on market research.
As befits a 2.0 subject I am looking for creative suggestions about the survey questions.
The key points I am trying to balance are:
1) keep it short
2) make sense in 40+ countries
3) produce useful findings
The key research issue to be able to provide market researchers with advice on which approaches should they be concentrating on for 2010.
At the moment the draft I have for the survey is set out below
Questionnaire
Introduction
This project looks at the trends in Social Media and Market Research. The results will be published live on the Internet and a report will be published and if you can request a copy at the end of the survey.
The project is being conducted by The Future Place, and nobody other than The Future Place will have access to your individual data, and your information will not be used for marketing purposes.
Because this survey cannot hope to be representative of the whole research industry it adopts a ‘wisdom of crowds’ approach, as outlined in James Surowiecki’s book of that title.
Social Media
Q1
I am define social media as:
Blogging
Social networks
Co-creation
Posting pictures and videos
Writing comments.
What would you add to this definition? [Open text]
Q2
Which of the following aspects of social media do you expect to be important to market researchers next year?
- Social Networks (e.g. Facebook, CyWorld, Mixi)
- Micro-blogging (e.g. Twitter)
- Business networks (e.g. LinkedIn, Plaxo)
- Wikis
- E-thnography (respondents posting pictures and movies
- Blogging
- Communities (e.g. online research communities)
- Online auction sites (e.g. eBay)
- Virtual Worlds (e.g. World of Warcraft, Second Life)
- Other [type in]
Q3
And which of these do you expect to be the MOST important to market researchers?
Same list as Q2
Q4
Why do you say that? [Open text]
Q5
If you were looking to invest $100 in research techniques, and you wanted to maximise your return by 2012, how much would you invest in each of the following?
Please ensure the total comes to exactly $100
- Online access panels
- Customer panels
- Online research communities
- Blog mining and buzz measuring
- CATI
- Face-2-face interviewing
- Ethnography
- Face-to-Face focus groups/depths
- Online focus groups/depths
- Mobile research (e.g. using cellphones)
- Other [Open Text]
Regional Guidance
In this section I’d like you to give us a bit of a picture of what is happening in your part of the world,
In your country
Q6
What are the main things, in your location, that young people are doing with social media, and what sites are they using? [Open Text]
Q7
What are older people doing with social media, and what are they using? [Open Text]
Q8
What are businesspeople doing with social media, and what are they using? [Open Text]
Firmographics
Q9
Size of company
Q10
Country
Q11
Type of organisation (e.g. research provider, buyer, academic, consultant, software provider etc).
Q12
What other thoughts about social media and market research would you like to make? [Open Text]
Q13
Would you like a copy of the report?
What are your thoughts or suggestions? Note the text above is not finished text, indeed it is the starting point for developing the questionnaire.
