Consumer Surveys by Google for effective Market Research

Google has launched a tool for fast, affordable and accurate consumer Surveys and it will act as an alternative revenue model for publishers. ‘Google Consumer Surveys’ is quite cheep one to the respective company and gives more realistic insights and reports about consumer perceptions.

According to Google Consumer Surveys product manager, Paul McDonald, “the tool has been introduced to make research affordable to small- and mid-size businesses that typically can’t afford to hire a market research firm. The tool allows users to create anonymous surveys via a self-service online interface which also analyses and presents the data in real time, simple reports.

Company

Companies can create online surveys to gain consumer insight. And much more with the survey like - Which version of my new logo will people like better? How much are dog owners willing to pay for an organic cotton leash? Is my brand awareness growing over time? We all have nagging questions about our own products, companies, and industries. Now it’s easy get answers and make major decisions with your consumers’ behavior and preferences in mind.

company gets nicely aggregated and analyzed data. Google automatically aggregates and analyzes responses, providing the data back through a simple online interface. Results appear as they come in, not days or weeks later.

There are sample templets, where one can customize and make a result oriented questioner/survey. With this surveys we can target entire internet users or selected (Gender wise, age group, preferences, etc.)

Results & insights: In addition to raw data, charts summarize responses and insights highlight interesting differences. Using the DoubleClick cookie and the respondent’s IP address, Google Consumer Surveys infers demographic and geographic information for each response so one can easily segment by age, gender, location and more. See which results are statistically significant or order additional responses if your initial sample wasn’t sufficient.

Methodology & accuracy: Unlike other online survey platforms which send questionnaires to predetermined “panels,” Google Consumer Surveys takes a new approach to survey sampling, data collection and post-stratification weighting. This produces a close approximation to a random sample of the US Internet population and results that are as accurate as probability based panels.

Pricing: The service works as a DIY research tool, charging users 10 cents per response to questions of the their choice. Buyers of the research have the option to pay an extra 40 cents per response to target sub-populations based on gender, age and location and can target more specific audiences, such as dog owners, with a screening and follow-up question option that costs an additional 50 cents per response.

People

People complete questions in order to access premium content. People browsing the web come across the questions when they try to access premium content like news articles or videos. Opinions are valuable, so answering the question gives them near instant access to the page they want for free. They don’t have to pull out a wallet or sign in and you gain insight into what people think.

Publishers

Publishers get paid as their visitors answer. Questions run across sites in our diverse publisher network in order to get the necessary respondents. Publishers—online news sites, video creators, and app developers—make money as site visitors provide answers. Everyone wins.

Google Consumer Surveys provides both a new way to perform Internet surveys and a new method for publishers to monetize their content. Since Consumer Surveys run directly within publisher sites, the respondents may be more representative than respondents of more traditional internet surveys. Response rates for Google Consumer Surveys are higher than telephone surveys and standard Internet panels, and are much higher compared to many Internet intercept surveys. This higher response rate is due, in part, to the short survey length of Consumer Surveys and the inferred demographic data.

For more info - http://www.google.com/insights/consumersurveys/home

Gartner Says ‘Personal Cloud’ to Replace PC by 2014

There’s no doubting the cloud invasion. But the research firm Gartner believes the personal cloud will replace the PC as the center of our digital lives sooner than we might think: 2014.

The era of the personal computer is giving way to the new personal cloud age. This will enable new levels of flexibility and functionality for users, but will challenge enterprises to rethink how they deliver services to users.

“Major trends in client computing have shifted the market away from a focus on personal computers to a broader device perspective that includes smartphones, tablets and other consumer devices,” Steve Kleynhans, research vice president at Gartner, said in a statement

The analyst has predicted the rise of the personal cloud as part of its five ‘mega trends’ for the IT industry:

Mega trend No. 1: Consumerization — You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet

Gartner has discussed the consumerization of IT for the better part of a decade, and has seen the impact of it across various aspects of the corporate IT world. However, much of this has simply been a precursor to the major wave that is starting to take hold across all aspects of information technology as several key factors come together:

• Users are more technologically savvy and have very different expectations of
  technology.
• The Internet and social media have empowered and emboldened users.
• The rise of powerful, affordable mobile devices changes the equation for users.
• Users have become innovators.
• Through the democratization of technology, users of all types and status within
  organizations can now have similar technology available to them.

Mega trend No. 2: Virtualization — Changing How the Game Is Played

Virtualization has improved flexibility and increased the options for how IT organizations can implement client environments. Virtualization has, to some extent, freed applications from the peculiarities of individual devices, operating systems or even processor architectures. Virtualization provides a way to move the legacy of applications and processes developed in the PC era forward into the new emerging world. This provides low-power devices access to much-greater processing power, thus expanding their utility and increasing the reach of processor-intensive applications.

Mega trend No. 3: "App-ification" — From Applications to Apps

When the way that applications are designed, delivered and consumed by users changes, it has a dramatic impact on all other aspects of the market. These changes will have a profound impact on how applications are written and managed in corporate environments. They also raise the prospect of greater cross-platform portability as small user experience (UX) apps are used to adjust a server- or cloud-resident application to the unique characteristics of a specific device or scenario. One application can now be exposed in multiple ways and used in varying situations by the user.

Mega trend No. 4: The Ever-Available Self-Service Cloud

The advent of the cloud for servicing individual users opens a whole new level of opportunity. Every user can now have a scalable and nearly infinite set of resources available for whatever they need to do. The impacts for IT infrastructures are stunning, but when this is applied to the individual, there are some specific benefits that emerge. Users' digital activities are far more self-directed than ever before. Users demand to make their own choices about applications, services and content, selecting from a nearly limitless collection on the Internet. This encourages a culture of self-service that users expect in all aspects of their digital experience. Users can now store their virtual workspace or digital personality online.

Mega trend No. 5: The Mobility Shift — Wherever and Whenever You Want

Today, mobile devices combined with the cloud can fulfil most computing tasks, and any trade-offs are outweighed in the minds of the user by the convenience and flexibility provided by the mobile devices. The emergence of more-natural user interface experiences is making mobility practical. Touch- and gesture-based user experiences, coupled with speech and contextual awareness, are enabling rich interaction with devices and a much greater level of freedom. At any point in time, and depending on the scenario, any given device will take on the role of the user's primary device — the one at the centre of the user's constellation of devices.

"In this new world, the specifics of devices will become less important for the organization to worry about. Users will use a collection of devices, with the PC remaining one of many options, but no one device will be the primary hub. Rather, the personal cloud will take on that role. Access to the cloud and the content stored or shared in the cloud will be managed and secured, rather than solely focusing on the device itself."

Source: http://www.gartner.com/DisplayDocument?ref=clientFriendlyUrl&id=1890215; http://www.businesscloudnews.com/enterprise-20/754-personal-cloud-to-replace-personal-computer-by-2014.html; http://www.wired.com/cloudline/2012/03/personal-cloud-2014/

“Six Principles for Effective Cloud Computing” by ISACA (Information Systems Audit and Control Association)

Only through proper governance and management can cloud computing achieve its potential for organizations, according to representatives of ISACA--the global provider of advocacy and education on information systems (IS) assurance and security, enterprise governance and management of IT, and IT-related risk and compliance--in a statement to the press issued Tuesday (February 28, 2012).

“To help enterprises manage the potential pressure points that begin to surface when cloud computing strategies diverge from internally provided IT services or traditional outsourced arrangements, global nonprofit IT association ISACA has issued Guiding Principles for Cloud Computing Adoption and Use, a complimentary guide featuring six key cloud computing principles”. They include:

1. The Enablement Principle: Plan for cloud computing as a strategic enabler, rather than as an outsourcing arrangement or technical platform.

2. The Cost/Benefit Principle: Evaluate the benefits of cloud acquisition based on a full understanding of the costs of cloud compared with the costs of other technology platform business solutions.

3. The Enterprise Risk Principle: Take an enterprise risk management (ERM) perspective to manage the adoption and use of cloud.

4. The Capability Principle: Integrate the full extent of capabilities that cloud providers offer with internal resources to provide a comprehensive technical support and delivery solution.

5. The Accountability Principle: Manage accountabilities by clearly defining internal and provider responsibilities.

6. The Trust Principle: Make trust an essential part of cloud solutions, building trust into all business processes that depend on cloud computing.

“Cloud computing presents a unique opportunity for enterprises - and is particularly a game-changer for small and medium enterprises because its availability means that technology infrastructure is not the market differentiator it has been in the past,” said Ramsés Gallego, CISM, CGEIT, member of ISACA’s Guidance and Practices Committee and security strategist and evangelist for Quest Software.

Source:http://www.isaca.org/Knowledge-Center/Research/Documents/VS-Guiding-Principles-Cloud-WP-10Feb2012.pdf?id=14cea1f6-1354-4c9f-b86b-94c74039022f, http://www.businesscloudnews.com/security/739-isaca-issues-six-principles-for-effective-cloud-computing.html, http://www.cio.in/news/isacas-6-principles-effective-cloud-computing-232662012

Online Market Research!!!

While starting an online research activity, market researchers generally directionless. To make him self sound in uttering better results, one should get trained and he must go through relevant articles. Here is the one, which I feel useful for “Conducting Online Market Research” from inc.com titled  - Conducting Online Market Research: Tips and Tolls.   

Your may already be conducting or going to conduct online market research for your business—but you may not know it. Some of the easiest to use and most common tools are located right at your fingertips. Web searches, online questionnaires, customer feedback forms—they all help you gather information about your market, your customers, and your future business prospects.

The advent of the Internet has presented small businesses with a wealth of additional resources to use in conducting free or low-cost market research. The following list will describe the different types of tools to conduct online market research, go over the general categories of market research, and advise you how to create the best online questionnaires.

Online Market Research Tools

The following techniques can be used to gather market information with the help of a few mouse clicks and keystrokes:

• Keyword Search. We all know how to do a simple Web search using search engines such as Google, bing and Yahoo. Take that a step farther by searching for "keywords" that people would use to find your type of products or services on the Internet. See how much interest there is in these keywords -- and how many competitors you have in this market. Keyword searches can also help remind you of product niches that you might not have considered. There are other reasons to conduct keyword searches. 'First, you're going to be reminded of product niches that you might not of thought of.' says Jennifer Laycock, editor-in-chief of Search Engine Guide, an online guide to search engines, portals and directories. 'Second, these services will also give you a guesstimate of how many existing sites already use that phrase,' Laycock continues. 'How many existing sites already offer that product.' WordTracker and Trellian's Keyword Discovery are popular keyword search engines.
• Competitor Links. A traditional search engine can also help us in checking out our competitors, their prices, and their offerings. Try typing 'link:www.[competitor's name].com' into Google to find out how many other sites link to your competitor's website. 'It is a great way to see a competitor's link development and PR campaigns,' says Shari Thurow, Web expert and author of the upcoming book Search Engine Visibility. 'Is the competitor promoting a product or service similar to your own? Maybe you can get publicity because you have a new or better product.'
• Blogs. Blogs are updated much more regularly than traditional websites and, therefore, they can be another gauge of public opinion. Search blogs by using blog-specific search engines, such as Technorati or Nielsen BuzzMetrics'Blogpulse. 'Blogs tend to move at a faster pace and be more informal in tone, so you're more likely to pick up conversation about a new product type or need on a blog than on a standard web site,' Laycock says.
• Conducting Online Surveys. Another way to gauge public opinion is through online surveys. While not as scientific as in-person or phone surveys that use a random sampling of the population, online surveys are a low-cost way to do market research about whether an idea or a product will be appealing to consumers. Now many companies offer to conduct online research for you or give your company the tools to carry out your own surveying. Some online survey companies include EZquestionnaire, KeySurvey, and WebSurveyor.

Research Tools and Techniques

There are a variety of types of market research tools -- both offline and online -- that are used by many large businesses and can be available to small and mid-sized businesses. When these techniques involve people, researchers use questionnaires administered in written form or person-to-person, either by personal or telephone interview, or increasingly online. Questionnaires may be closed-end or open-ended. The first type provides users choices to a question ("excellent," "good," "fair") whereas open-ended surveys solicit spontaneous reactions and capture these as given. Focus groups are a kind of opinion-solicitation but without a questionnaire; people interact with products, messages, or images and discuss them. Observers evaluate what they hear.

Major categories are as follows:

1. Audience Research. Audience research is aimed at discovering who is listening, watching, or reading radio, TV, and print media respectively. Such studies in part profile the audience and in part determine the popularity of the medium or portions of it.
2. Product Research. Product tests, of course, directly relate to use of the product. Good examples are tasting tests used to pick the most popular flavors—and consumer tests of vehicle or device prototypes to uncover problematical features or designs.
3. Brand Analysis. Brand research has similar profiling features ("Who uses this brand?") and also aims at identifying the reasons for brand loyalty or fickleness.
4. Psychological Profiling. Psychological profiling aims at construction profiles of customers by temperament, lifestyle, income, and other factors and tying such types to consumption patterns and media patronage.
5. Scanner Research. Scanner research uses checkout counter scans of transactions to develop patterns for all manner of end uses, including stocking, of course. From a marketing point of view, scans can also help users track the success of coupons and to establish linkages between products.
6. Database Research. Also known as database "mining," this form of research attempts to exploit all kinds of data on hand on customers—which frequently have other revealing aspects. Purchase records, for example, can reveal the buying habits of different income groups—the income classification of accounts taking place by census tract matching. Data on average income by census tract can be obtained from the Bureau of the Census.
7. Post-sale or Consumer Satisfaction Research. Post-consumer surveys are familiar to many consumers from telephone calls that follow having a car serviced or calling help-lines for computer- or Internet-related problems. In part such surveys are intended to determine if the customer was satisfied. In part this additional attention is intended also to build good will and word-of-mouth advertising for the service provider.

Source:http://www.inc.com/guides/biz_online/online-market-research.html

Right Data --> Right Target --> Better Business Growth!!

Building database is quite costly these days. But then we have better ways to fetch required data for free, provided, your a good googler. It is hard to define the range for database for a specified task. The important step in building a database is understanding the need and future result.

• For what we need data?
• What range of data is fine to fine tune the desired task?
• What are the attributes to consider while building and maintaining data/database, etc,.

Internet made world as a global village, and possible we can get the things we need right at our eye sight. Sources may differ, but not the result.

Mostly the activity start from scratch, And it should not expects a fruit after immediate plantation. The process stats with finding the suitable sites to fetch the suitable information. It would require expertise, business understanding, and ambitiousness in building effective database. For instance, if your a electrical manufacturer, you would require a data of good established dealers/resellers. For deal conversion, you would require the basic contact details. Based on the need, you would increase the attributes, in order to fine tune your process. Since it is open source, the chances of wrong/duplicate data is quite high. It would require a professional verification.

By having a keen idea on data utilization (fetched data from sources in relevance with business), one can opt better results in terms of business growth and better profitability.

Market Research Analyst's in Cloud Computing!!

As Cloud Market researchers, one must think about the cloud as a holistic platform for creating new services, new experiences, and new methods to pursue research. Cloud computing is becoming the most important platform for research. Researchers today need vast computing resources to collect, share, manipulate, and explore massive data sets as well as to build and deploy new services for research.

Wiki defined “Cloud computing is the delivery of computing as a service rather than a product, whereby shared resources, software, and information are provided to computers and other devices as a metered service over a network (typically the Internet).” 

Cloud researchers mainly concentrate on cloud transition rate, Mainly on-premises to cloud, and the factors influences the transition. 

As many analysts said, the transition majorly depends on areas like 

(1) Cost

(2) Complexity (Not being able to Manage the Systems/Applications in-house)

(3) Compliance/Security (Information Security)

The functionality of cloud computing company aided analyst touch the ares like- identifying the technical capabilities of product/service, evaluating the feasibility for cloud transition (SaaS/web based), defining the market scope, predicting the emerging areas, where particular products helps companies for easy transition, understanding the cost effectiveness, and the data security assurance. 

How to Conduct Qualitative Market Research!!

Qualitative Research, Understanding the minds of society towards a products or service. As many researchers stated different methods to understand the consumer/market plus, there is no standalone format for best results.. 

In this process, much considerations needs to be notified – Like, Perceptions of individuals, Social learning and changes, Role of influences (Emotional, Motivational, etc,.), Functional aspects, etc,.

Check some interesting aspects about conducting a "Qualitative Research".

Qualitative Market Research: Understand What Methodology will be Used 

Conducting qualitative research is about asking the right people the right questions in the right format, says Hannah Baker Hitzhusen, vice president of qualitative research at CMI, a market research firm in Atlanta. What qual researchers do is very much on the front end, it is discovery or exploratory work. "For a qual study, we generally do a discussion guide to make sure we cover certain topics or issues," says Hitzhusen. Qual is generally used for small sample groups, because, "you want to spend a lot of time with the participants, maybe 90 to 120 minutes. Quant usually uses a larger sample size of people and a smaller amount of time, 15 to 30 minutes (for someone to fill out a questionnaire)," she explains.

Typically Qualitative researchers don't use experimental methods such as field trials or test markets, Stake maintains. "Not many use really highly-developed psychometric (e.g., personality or psychological tests) or econometric (e.g., economic statistics) indicators." Qualitative researchers generally rely on methodologies rooted in ethnography (e.g. field or participant observation) and phenomenology (e.g., understanding life experiences using written or recorded narratives). Market researchers partner with professional recruiters to identify and screen qualifying customers or consumers who in turn receive an honorarium for their participation in the study.

Qualitative research is usually contrasted against Quantitative research. Quantitative asks closed-ended questions that can be answered finitely by either "yes" or "no," true or false or multiple choice with an option for "other." It is used to collect numerical data, employing such techniques as surveys. Whereas, Qualitative asks open-ended questions that are phrased in such a way that invite people to tell their stories in their own words. Methods used to collect data include field observations, personal interviews and group discussions.

The job of a Qualitative researcher is to design and deliver data that drives best results.

Source: Inc.com, zpryme