Consult service
Qualitative research
During 2013 we've been working with Hollie Latham and colleagues at The Hepworth Wakefield supporting their quantitative and qualitative research needs. See what Hollie said below.
"We find the data and profiling provided by &Co collected through our visitor surveys and focus group work an invaluable resource for market planning, and as a tool to advocate to stakeholders."
Hollie Latham, Head of Communications, The Hepworth Wakefield
Overview
Qualitative research tells you about things you can't count or measure. It answers questions such as 'why?'
It's about listening to people and learning from them.
Our qualitative research methods generate a rich understanding of the experiences and beliefs that shape the behaviour of audiences - we can use it to help you get to really know your audiences and understand their needs better or to identify how you could attract new audiences.
By spending time with people in focus groups or individual interviews, as well as observing them in real situations, we can understand their opinions, attitudes and behaviour. We can find out what motivates audiences or what might be putting people off.
Qualitative research can also be used to test new ideas, get feedback on marketing campaigns, explore brand perceptions or evaluate projects. &Co’s portfolio of qualitative research methodologies is designed to meet a wide range of research needs and can be tailored to fit the research objectives you set. We can deliver:
Group discussions or focus groups
Designed for specific target audiences who may be your existing audiences or your potential audiences, focus groups bring small groups of people together to discuss their perceptions, opinions, beliefs and attitudes towards a specific organisation, event or activity, or in relation to a new idea, brand or design concept. Focus groups are essential in testing out new ideas, services or products but need to be planned well in advance of the implementation of any new development in order to shape future plans in a meaningful and effective way.
Mystery shopping
Used to test a particular product or customer service experience, mystery shopping research provides you with an objective view of how your audiences experience what you deliver whether it’s a family friendly activity or what your catering facilities provide. Mystery shopping is particularly useful in identifying where both individual and organisational strengths and weaknesses exist and can therefore lead to new training to improve audience or visitor satisfaction and retention levels.
Service safaris
This is an effective and easy way to place people in the shoes of their customers. Participants are tasked to go out ‘into the wild’ to explore examples of what they think are good and bad customer service experiences, resulting in opportunities for service innovation designed from your customer’s perspective.
Customer satisfaction surveys
These can be conducted in-house by asking questions face to face or via a self-completed survey, or by using survey questionnaire direct or e-mailed to your audience members or contacting them by phone. The critical factor is to make sure that your customer’s experience is still fresh in their minds when you ask them for their feedback. Surveys can be conducted on a rolling basis but it is important to continually review your audience feedback and to take positive action as a result.
Customer journey mapping
This provides a vivid but structured visualisation of how a particular service is experienced by your visitor or audience member. The different interactions between your audience members and the specified service are mapped to be able to identify the factors influencing the audience experience and where problem areas or opportunities for innovation arise.
&Co has lots of experience in devising suitable methodologies, writing discussion guides, moderating focus groups, interviewing a range of people and drawing out vital insight to inform decision making. We are also skilled in recruiting people to take part in research and you can rest assured that everything we do is governed by strict Market Research Society guidelines.
For further information about qualitative research, please contact Alison Edbury at alison@andco.uk.com
We find the data and profiling provided by &Co collected through our visitor surveys and focus group work an invaluable resource for market planning, and as a tool to advocate to stakeholders