Custom Market Research Applications

Project Overview

This application was developed as an entirely new and innovative form of market research. It was used to collect valuable research data through compelling interactive multimedia and computer generated 3D presentations. This new method of market research allowed market analysts to:

This resulted in both faster and better qualitative and quantitative results compared to traditional means of market research.

A Custom Market Research Application could have up to six components (although not all components were necessarily required by a given client):

What follows is a brief break down of the components listed above. Please note that each of these components were highly customizable allowing the client to tailor the market research application to their specific specifications.

The survey respondent would be asked general demographic questions such as age, sex, household income, etc.

Click on image above for a larger view

The survey respondent would be asked general purchasing behavior questions pertaining to the particular product grouping. For example, if a client were testing one or more brands of toothpaste products, the survey respondent would be asked general questions about their toothpaste buying habits. An example of these questions would be something like: How often do you buy toothpaste? From where? Which brands? Do you prefer to buy your toothpaste on sale? This is just an example of some of the questions that would be asked here.

Click on image above for a larger view

At this point the respondent would be taken on one or more virtual shopping trips. If we continue following the toothpaste example above, the respondent would enter into either a virtual 3D grocery, pharmacy or convenience store and taken up to the toothpaste shelf set.

Click on image above for a larger view

From there the respondent is free to explore as many toothpaste products from the shelf set as they would like.

Click on image above for a larger view

During this exercise all sorts of data would be tracked. An example of some of the data collected here would be: How long did the respondent interact with the product? Did they view the front, back, top, bottom or sides of the package? How long did they view the various faces/sides of the package? Did they view the ingredients/technical specifications of the product? In what order did they select the products? From where on the shelf set did they select the products? Which products did they purchase? At what price points were the products purchased at?

The shelf sets and price points could be randomized completely, or randomized under a controlled set of parameters, or even scripted to a specific pattern specified by the clients needs.

The IA (or Information Accelerator) is a component where the survey respondent simulates how s/he would gather information about a given product or product type in an accelerated fashion, hence the name Information Accelerator. The survey respondent would be taken into a virtual home environment (which the respondent would assume was their own) and from there collect information about specific products. For example the respondent might have available to them in the simulated home environment, a computer, a TV, a radio, magazines, newspaper inserts, and any other mediums from where we typically gather information about a product.

Click on image above for a larger view

The respondent is free to explore any of the mediums with each one having unique information about a product or products. Following the toothpaste example above, if the respondent were to interact with the TV, they would perhaps see a series of TV advertisements about a variety of toothpaste products. The same would hold true for the radio and the magazines. The newspaper inserts may have some coupons for a variety of toothpaste products, while the computer would allow the respondent to visit some toothpaste brand's website and gather information from there.

As the respondent is interacting with these various mediums all interaction is being tracked including how long the respondent is interacting with a particular medium and in what order.

The survey respondent is taken on a second round of virtual shopping trips. The purpose for this is to determine how the IA influenced the respondents shopping habits the second time around.

This section of the survey asks specific questions based on the respondents shopping habits AS WELL AS how they interacted during the IA. These questions tend to be much more specific then the questions asked during the "Questions [Pre-Virtual Shopping, Pre-IA]" section and are designed to qualify the respondents shopping and IA behavior.

Click on image above for a larger view

Project Distribution

Depending on the client's requirements, these market research applications were either distributed directly to the survey respondents home via CD-ROM or Web delivery (via Shockwave), or distributed as a standalone desktop application for fielded surveys.

Clients

Clients who have used this technology to test market existing product as well as new designs concepts are:

Project Role

Below is a list of my involvement in this project:

Technologies/Software utilized in developing this project

I actively used all the technologies listed below with the exception of 3D Studio Max and Adobe Premiere. Although I have some proficiency in using these tools I was fortunate to have staff whom were exceptionally adept in those packages.

Screenshots

Due to the nature of the market research done with this innovative software package, I can not show you screenshots of actual client surveys as they are considered trade secrets for the client. I can however show you a mock up of what a project would look like utilizing a fictitious market research study.

Click here to see screenshots of a fictitious market research study for a lottery corporation.