Quantitative Market Research Services from Spark Consulting: To conduct a market research study, our initial focus is to understand the client's need and the objective of conducting the study. Understanding the exact research need of our clients and their expectations on research outcome enables us to design an efficient research plan using effective methodologies and research tools to collect and analyze data. Defining the Problem: More often than not, business problems are too complex to ask simple questions. In the vast majority of cases, the answer to each problem has multiple aspects to it right from supply chain management, visual merchandising, pricing and competition to even packaging. We pride ourselves in being able to define the problem accurately in synchronization with our clients so that you can focus on your business while we take care of what you want to know.
Preparing the Research Plan and Design: Research design is a blueprint framework to conduct a market research study comprising of objective formulation, hypotheses, pragmatic considerations, sample plan and distribution, research questions, description on identification and selection criteria of target consumers or target audience, data collection and field work method and tools required for analyzing the data. Our research design is flexible and customizable to ensure the most comprehensive results. Face to Face or In-person Interviews - Pen and Paper Interviewing (PAPI) method: Spark Consulting has empanelled fully trained and qualified interviewers and investigators who are highly capable of acquiring all kinds of primary research data by conducting in-person / face to face interviews using traditional pen and paper interviewing (PAPI) method with expert respondents and key opinion leaders from all the sectors. Face to Face or In-person Interviews - Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI): Spark Consulting provides an alternate option called Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) using Laptops, Tablets and Smart mobile phone devices to replace traditional pen and paper interviewing method for Clients who are looking for quick analysis. Our CAPI program helps the Clients to visualize the data even up to the latest level of acquisition. CAPI can be approached both online and offline models and also an effective option to approach difficult to administrate questionnaires even in complex research studies. This is especially useful in surveys of a large and complex structure and to bring in a sense of the ultimate results early on typically like the exit poll results. Secondary Research or Online Research: The world is going digital. Almost every information that we seek is available at just the click of a button if only one knows where to look! Researchers at Spark Consulting have extensive experience in data mining from various industry sectors and channels using online sources to say web portals, websites and research reports available in public domain, syndicated reports and from all other secondary sources. Telephonic Interviews and Computer Assisted Telephonic Interviewing (CATI) : Telephonic interviews is one of the cheaper options available vis-a-vis in-person interviews or field research studies. At Spark Consulting, we also use Computer Assisted Telephonic Interviewing (CATI) to reach difficult to reach respondents for example:- suite executives and top management professionals.
E-mail Surveys and Computer Assisted Web Interviewing (CAWI): E-mail survey is one of the cost- effective options while collecting data from a large sample size of respondents. The survey campaign will be designed to increase the response rate and can be spread over quickly over a period of time. Spark Consulting uses advanced email campaign methods and data collection tools to capture data more precise data from the target group or target audience. Similarly, Computer Assisted Web Interviewing (CAWI) is an internet surveying tool in which the respondent has to follow the script provided by Spark Consulting. The Survey Questionnaire programmed to create web interviews. CAWI tool allows us to convey stimulus like concepts, photos, videos and other links to different web pages to the target consumers. Information analysis & Reporting: Spark Consulting has several proprietary analytical tools to analyze the data collected through various methods. The collected data will be cleaned and performed with statistical analyses to say ANOVA, Regression analysis, Cross tabulation etc. This helps us to provide findings into various relationships upon the collected data. We strongly believe, it is foolhardy for a business to operate on gut instinct , it would be far conducive to flip a coin, statistically speaking! Our insights and recommendations are just the missing link from your invincible armor. Qualitative Market Research Services from Spark Consulting: Unlike quantitative research which focuses on metrics, qualitative research often involves broad and in- depth discussions on a particular topic. The discussion between the qualitative market researcher / interviewer and the respondent is determined by the respondents' own thoughts and feelings. Qualitative marketing research methods find application in answering broad and often fuzzy questions like: Will my customer be satisfied with my product or service? How powerful is my company's brand in the market? What would the impact be if I increase the price of my product? How can I find potential customers in a market for a new product or service? Spark Consulting has significant expertise in creating potent qualitative market research assignments that enable our clients to understand their customers better. Web Based Surveys: Online surveys are a cheaper alternative to a field survey, but have equal effectiveness in gathering data. We design survey questionnaires that are based on the nature of the business project and attuned to your market conditions. The data is captured through channels such as emails and survey websites. Online Focus Groups: Online focus groups are an innovative concept that involves a discussion of participants in a web-based virtual chat room at the comfort of their homes. Participants need to only have a PC and an internet connection along with special software to enable communication among various participants of the focus group. The entire session can be recorded and transcribed for you to later review it. You could also have a moderator who monitors the discussions. Online focus groups can also have audio / video using webcams and Instant Messaging tools. One-On-One In-Depth Interviews: One-on-one interviews are designed to go in-depth into the buying behavior of a customer. Participants can be chosen based on the various customer or market segments. They can be interviewed online or through interactive surveys. When used in conjunction with focus groups they can give you the personal habits of customers that you can later incorporate into your marketing strategy. Customer Shadow Shopping: This method involves observing a respondent in their natural environment. This can be used by software product companies who wish to understand usage patterns of a customer; this can help in knowing the fallacies / advantages of a product. It can also include ethnography and photo-ethnography where customers or prospects record actual behaviors through notes and also participate in follow-up interviews. Qualitative research can be a powerful tool to reveal hidden buying and usage habits of customers. This can not only show how they perceive your product or service but also gives you an opportunity to customize your offering to match their emotional needs. Spark Consulting can provide with a low cost way of conducting a successful qualitative market research campaign without compromising on quality.