As a seller or a business operator, you probably have customers. These customers exhibit different behaviors and have got valid reasons as to why they are strongly motivated – or maybe less so – about buying your products or services. That is where qualitative research comes in.
• Before you jump into situations where the use of qualitative research is suitable, it is important to have a look at exactly how it can help. Here are some ways in which it can do so:.
• Generate fresh ideas for enhancing a product, brand, service or simply a line
• Create hypotheses for auxiliary testing and for quantitative questionnaire creation
• Help identify the needs of customers through effective surveys
• Better understand the feelings, perceptions, and values that bring about and influence the behavior of customers
• Understand the language and imagery clients use to describe and link up to, for example, a brand, service or product
• Reveal strategic directions that have the potential for branding or creating communication programs.
• Help in developing parameters for quantitative research such as relevant queries and anticipated responses
• Help in understanding how a customer views a marketing message
However, you can reasonably expect this form of study to do these for you:
• Estimate the best pricing point
• Measure or even provide statistical validation
• Be a substitute for quantitative study simply because of time and budget issues - even where quantitative research is clearly very important
Situations where qualitative study can be used:
• Qualitative research can be used to figure out consumer language, especially as an initial phase in developing a quantitative study.
• It can also be used in helping to understand the perceptions of a particular company, category, product or brand.
• It can be handy when it comes to studying emotions and general attitudes on public affairs and society at large.
• It is useful for exploring market segments such as customer categories and customer demographics.
• It can also be effective in the study of reactions to advertising, PR programs, marketing communications, branding, package designs, and so forth.
• Qualitative research should reveal general strengths and weaknesses in a brand or product.
• It is handy when you want to look into the dynamics of product purchases.
• Also, if you are about to develop a new product, you can engage in qualitative research for ideas and on how to improve the product.
• Qualitative research is also an important tool for looking into current strategies on marketing, brand, product, or service positioning, and also for learning if there are potential strategies on these.
The Bottom Line
You have seen various ways in which qualitative research can help in improving your business. Also, you have examined multiple situations where you can adopt a qualitative study. This is the most important thing to understand, because it comprises some of the greatest reasons why you need this research for your business. Finally, remember to choose the most appropriate research methods in order to get the most accurate outcomes.