How to Conduct Quality Quantitative Research 

They say numbers don’t lie, but they also only tell you what they’ve been asked. Not all statistics and quantitative data from market research were created equal, which is why you need the team at Ruby Cha Cha. By determining which questions your quantitative surveys should ask to perform truly revealing analyses with the insights you glean from your quantitative market research, we have the expertise to ensure that the numbers you rely on tell the whole story.

The experts in quantitative market research

What is quantitative market research? It is typically the use of numerical analysis that involves surveying customers to assess consumer needs and formulate more effective marketing strategies. But the world has changed enormously. From behavioural data to ongoing customer satisfaction pop-up surveys, the consumer has never been more researched, and clients have never had so much data.

The most important thing to consider is what you are trying to achieve with your quantitative research. Do you want to segment your customer base? Understand the size of your market or the threat of your competitor? Are you trying to understand your brand’s health or tracking your marketing efforts? There are many use cases for quantitative research. At Ruby Cha Cha, we’ll help you to address your key needs and most pressing questions by tailoring our quantitative market research methods to your individual case.

Types of quantitative market research methods

Simply put, quantitative data from market research is collected using various survey methods, giving you meaningful answers to carefully formulated questions that can shine a light on your customer’s buying behaviours, habits and attitudes. Whether you’ve just launched a new product or are pivoting in a new direction, a well-crafted quantitative research method will give you meaningful data that can shape your marketing strategy for the better.

1. Exit interviews face to face — Often conducted after a point of sale at shopping centres and other transactional services, exit interviews give you a chance to capture a snapshot of your customer base when their consumer behaviours are most fresh in their mind.
    
2. Email market research surveys — Through a series of short yet revealing questions, surveys via email allow you to reach consumers in their homes to portray your key demographics accurately.
   
   
3. Online and web-directed surveys — Whether via your website or through an online community, these surveys allow you to specifically target segments of consumers who have directly engaged with your brand, giving you hyper-specific and relevant insights. 

The quantitative research methods have changed enormously in recent times due to AI, blockchain and ongoing analytics and customer data collection, so the quantitative research methods you choose will depend variously on your needs, your own database of customers, and what you specifically want to capture and analyse.

With a passionate team of expert market researchers, Ruby Cha Cha can help you determine the right research methods and approach to suit your brand. No matter the size of your business, growth plan, or budget, we’ll bring an energetic and vibrant perspective to the challenges you face and help you get ahead of the competition.

Meaningful data backed by powerful analysis

You’ve got the raw data — now what? Analysis methods are a whole other ballgame. From significance testing to complex modelling such as conjoint and MaxDiff analysis, there are various approaches you can take to make your data tell a story. A good quantitative consultant can steer you through the right tool for your brief, using robust analysis to give you better insights into the most pressing issues in your business. At Ruby Cha Cha, we take a considered approach to our research and critique, so you’re not just presented with a range of impressive figures; you’re getting genuine insights into your customer base for long-term strategic direction.

A quality-led approach to designing quantitative research

Quantitative market research these days can be a complex and obstacle-ridden path to navigate. When dealing with large-scale numbers, minute decisions in preparation can significantly impact the end results. You will get subpar results back if you put in low-quality inputs and efforts.

With that in mind, we’ve put together some tips for conducting quality quantitative research that focuses on the front end of the research to ensure quality and consistent results at the back end.

Quantitative research best practice

Here is a list of great tips for conducting meaningful and useful survey data and numbers to assist your decision-making.

There is a time and place to keep things simple:

• Simple questions are often a pragmatic way to get the answer you are looking for.
• Complex modelling and analysis have their place and can be extremely useful, but try to take a step back and think: Can this question be answered more efficiently?
• Avoid ‘marketing-speak’ and keep things conversational. Use conversational terms and phrases your participants will understand and better engage with. 

Aim to get both emotional and rational responses from the respondents

• Consumers make both emotional and rational decisions, so it is important to measure both.
• Present your participants with some stimuli and ask open-ended questions: ‘how does this idea make you feel?’ or provide a list of emotions for the respondent to enumerate.
• You may not be able to cover the entire spectrum of emotions, but often sentiment is just as valuable.

Don’t lead the conversation toward the answers you want to hear

• It is natural to want your research to confirm theories you already have; however, it is vital to keep your personal opinions distant from the research methodology — we want to capture the genuine opinions which exist out there!
• Keeping personal opinions distant leads to more reliable results and can greatly affect the success of any decisions founded on research. 

Try to test in black and white; avoid the grey areas

• When testing multiple items next to each other, it is advisable not to get too bogged down in the details.
• It is often the case that marketers will want to test concepts or statements with only very slight changes in wording that will have no real significant impact on audience response. For example, if you’d like to test a handful of positioning statements, keep the format consistent but ideas, concepts, or themes vastly different. 

Decide on the signposts for success

• It is crucial that you and your team all agree on what results are going to define success.
• Before you give the go-ahead to launch fieldwork, take a moment to sit down in front of your questionnaire and think about what the results will look like. What result for each question would be considered a success? Should it meet or exceed benchmark or control scores? If so, what are the benchmarks or control scores?

Try to get both the why and the what

• While any researcher will recommend keeping text-based open-ended questions (verbatim) to a minimum, for key questions, you should be asking respondents why they answered the way they did.
• If you do so, try to be creative in how you ask the question. Simply asking “why?” doesn’t always spur inspiring or articulate responses. For example, you could ask, “can you give me an example of when that was a problem for you?”

Be aware of the opportunity for replication

• Be sure to construct your research methodology so that you can easily replicate it in future for easy comparison across each point in time.
• Do your best to future-proof the questions and create clear and concise documents that detail the research, so someone else in your company can come in at any point and pick up where you left off.
• Try to consider ways you can easily replicate the results so that time isn’t wasted re-charting the figures as each new wave of research comes in.

Understand the importance of timing

• Think ahead to the next 12 months and try to identify the best time to conduct some quantitative research.
• Consider external factors like seasonal or holiday periods and key internal dates like EOFY, campaign launches, or reporting deadlines. Doing this will ensure you aren’t scrambling at the last minute, which often results in poorly executed research.

How quantitative market research can help your brand get ahead

Quantitative market research can be replicated to show changing behaviours and attitudes over time. When deployed at specific periods to coincide with new product and service launches, campaigns and brand activations, you can benefit from black and white answers that point to a clear signpost for the future direction. Because of this, it’s a great way to easily test the effectiveness of your current strategy, gain deeper insights into particular customer segments, and even test out potential ways forward.

The bottom line

Quantitative research is all about giving you and your business the confidence to make decisions. Whether you’re trying to seize the opportunity or forecast the need, good quantitative research takes time and is an excellent investment. To ensure you can benefit from a lucrative investment, you need a quantitative market research agency that understands how to take the issues at the top of your mind and transform them into a well-curated survey that connects your business with the market and consumer in detail.

Put the quantitative data from market research to good use

In an increasingly crowded and competitive market, you need penetrating and timely insights to stay relevant and meet your customer base’s evolving needs. Through carefully curated questions and strategically deployed surveys, Ruby Cha Cha has helped dozens of clients find their point of difference and strategy for success, whether established within their industry, looking to make a change or new to the market seeking a fresh angle.

Ready to talk to the quantitative data market research experts? 

At Ruby Cha Cha, we live to transform challenges into opportunities, spark new solutions to old problems, and help you devise a business strategy that will position you as a genuine leader in your category or industry. We’re a bit like our name: bright, bold, and memorable. If you’re ready to give your brand the edge it needs to succeed, we’d love to start a conversation. Contact us today, and find out what impact quantitative market research can have on your brand’s future.

Takeaway 

Quantitative research is all about giving you and your business confidence to make decisions.  Whether you are trying to size the opportunity or forecast the need, good quantitative research takes time and is an excellent investment, however there are traps and it is often not as simply as transferring the questions you have top of mind on to paper and into the world of the customer. It is critical to get expert advice and invest in the right product for your needs.