A personal note by Andera Gadeib

The concept Web 2.0 is currently experiencing a renaissance in the world of market research. Having said that it is also apparent that this „new“ concept is not always used with prudence.

Recently, at a conference in London, ”Web 2.0-market research“ was described as a simple paraphrase for „online market research“, more or less market research for the next generation. Of course we are delighted that online is seen as being so important to the future of market research; however Web 2.0 has been presented as something completely different from the practical application of the technology. Web 2.0 was also featured as a topic of discussion in a podium address at the Research & Results exhibition as well as appearing in the last edition.
 
However, as far as I am concerned there is still not a clear separation between the internet as a research object – parts of which are nowadays simply referred to as Web 2.0 - and the internet as a research medium where applicable with Web 2.0 technologies. We discussed the two perspectives of online market research openly at the first GOR (German Online Research) back in 1997; namely whether the internet was a research target or a research tool. I believe it was Rolf Pfleiderer from TNS, who raised this question back then. Recently, I have been thinking that we should perhaps bring up this issue again so that both these concepts are not confused.  

It is very exciting that the internet, as a research target, is being used with the so-called UGC (User Generated Content) for new secondary analysis. This provides an interesting overview of what topics are being discussed online and what kind of content the active internet users typically look into. Above all we are concerned with discovering how many internet users are actually active in the UGC field and are available for analysis. Therefore, we have repeated our Web 2.0 target group studies from last year and will provide you with an update soon.

On the other hand, the internet is a research tool which Dialego has completely committed itself to and which arises our enthusiasm. Web 2.0 technologies such as Ajax are used, which may not all be completely new but which, for the internet user, constitute a considerable change of the internet. I like to describe these new features as “Ease of screen”. Small windows are opened without long loading times of new pages, the screen views are simply more attractive and it is fun to participate in these surveys.   

For this reason, 3 years ago we converted these new Web 2.0 technologies into a research instrument and created the Dialego MindVoyager. This enables conversations between the customer and consumers (usually 150 participants). It was very quickly nominated by ESOMAR as the instrument with the best methodology. In fact we have received the same feedback from our participants and customers as they perceive this survey method to be very new and taking part is exciting. Many diverse studies with this tool have confirmed this. MindVoyager has been a great success, particularly in the field of Insight Generation during new product development or re-launches.

We have been even more bowled over by the success of our second Web 2.0 instrument, namely the VCM (VisualConceptMapping), which we developed 2 years ago and which was pilot-tested with Mars.  The VCM allows the subjects to submit pixel exact commentaries on concepts, packaging, adverts or even texts. The subjects had so much fun and experienced the Co-Creation process in action that many wanted to return to similar surveys.  Respondents are able to tell the manufacturer exactly what they do or do not like and the benefit for customers is that they receive precise feedback with a lead into possible communications strategy before implementation. The VCM has a firm place in the standard repertoire in every idea or ConceptScreener and advert test.  It now has many enthusiastic supporters amongst our customers, with many permanently saving the online report as a Bookmark.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our customers who have already placed trust in our methods. Without them we would not be able to realise our new ideas on market research methods.  You can be sure that we will continue to develop these methods so that market research on both sides of the questionnaire is enjoyable for both customers and consumers. Co-Creation is still in the early phase and we have a great deal planned, for you and our consumers.

Andera Gadeib will be happy to answer your questions: andera.gadeib@dialego.de, Tel. +49 241 97828-100.