Case Study – Pringles

Methodology: Hall Tests

Since 2005 Warwick Equest has been helping P&G extend and develop their famous Pringles snack ranges through extensive consumer testing of new flavours, production methods and ingredients.

New Pringles variants are exposed to the consumer in a series of hall tests where they are evaluated for over 30 different variables such as taste, colour, shape, texture, saltiness, crunchiness, aftertaste and greasiness.

By comparative testing of the different variants P&G are able to identify and refine the most appealing new products prior to production and launch.

Typically the recruitment criteria for Pringles hall tests are very wide – generally males or females aged between 18 -55 who are regular consumers of chips, crisps and snacks. As such it is common for each day’s hall testing to capture the opinions of over 100 respondents at a time.
 

Case Study – Thule

Methodology: Online Survey

When Boston Consulting Group were asked by their client Thule to develop brand stretch options we helped them assess the consumer reaction to their new concepts.

Online research with over 1,700 car owners was conducted in the UK, France, Germany and US. The fieldwork was completed within 14 days and the research not only helped BCG underpin their proposals, but provided valuable knowledge about the consumers’ awareness of Thule and competitor brands.

Case Study – RoDO

Methodology: Postal Survey

RoDO, a leading manufacturer of equipment, supplies and sundries for the professional decorator wanted to understand their customers’ attitudes to different brands, equipment design, product usage and the influence of price on their choice of equipment.

Because of the specialised nature of the market we first identified and built a database of professional decorators and tradesmen from specialist directory listings and trade associations. From this we were able to mail out a 2,000 strong postal survey, using a prize draw as an incentive to participation.

From the research results RoDO were able to identify design, packaging and branding issues that influence purchase decisions, gain an understanding of the positioning of their brands against those of competitors, and establish a trade research panel for future projects.

When should I use quantitative research?

Quantitative research is useful when you need to forecast customer attitudes, behaviour and performance, measure brand or product awareness, establish customer profiles or determine market size.

What is quantitative research used for?

Typically quantitative research can be used to answer such questions as:

• What percent of the market would use our product?
• How effective is our advertising campaign?
• What does our typical customer look like?
• How strong is our brand (in terms of awareness and/or preference)?

Quantitative methods are especially well-suited for:

• Satisfaction studies
• Attitude surveys
• Public opinion polling
• Market segmentation
• Brand image and positioning studies
• Advertising and brand awareness studies
• Usage and preference studies

What is qualitative research?

Qualitative research is generally used to provide general indications and an in-depth understanding of how consumers think:  the range, nature, motivations and needs behind attitudes and behaviour.

Qualitative research is usually informal and semi-structured, and allows people to contribute and share their views and feelings in a conversational format, without the constraints of a structured questionnaire.

Qualitative research methods are typically undertaken when the research goal is to obtain more detailed knowledge or explore ideas rather than to obtain findings that can be scaled up and projected onto a larger population. Given the depth and involvement of these methods, data is generally collected from a much smaller number of participants than would be used in quantitative research. The two main qualitative research methods are in-depth interviews and focus group discussions.

What are focus groups?

Focus group discussions are one of the most commonly used qualitative research techniques. They allow a small group of people to come together and share their views, under the guidance and prompting of the researcher. The sharing acts as a ‘brainstorming’ session, generating a wide range of views and reactions, and they represent an opportunity to express ideas, or concerns, in an open forum.