Gaining New Insights into Consumers
I’m a big believer in data, but I’m not sure what to believe about some of the data that is thrown around to measure the size of markets or count the number of eyeballs that will be exposed to an advertising campaign. This seems to be a problem for not only me, but for many customers who are trying to make intelligent decisions about where and how to market their products. Numbers that have been influenced by a vested interest only serve to undermine credibility. Let me offer two instances.
Magazine readership numbers are reported on the premise that for each issue in circulation, a multiple number of people read it. The x factor serves to improve audience value, thus increasing the value of ad space. This x factor is reported by the magazine, and then audited by a third party. Unfortunately, the auditors are not a consumer watchdog group. They are an organization funded by publishers, advertisers, and advertising agencies and exist for the sole purpose of lending credibility to magazine readership numbers. Bias is unavoidable. And while it’s reasonable to assume some percentage of magazines are passed-along to friends and family, the numbers often reported just don’t jibe with my experience. As an advertiser, I’m not supposed to question these numbers, but I can’t help it.
In another case I recently read two different social media impact reports. They both reported strong interest in social media marketing efforts by marketing professionals. The numbers were somewhat out of line with what I expected. A quick look at the audience who were surveyed showed that they were largely comprised of people who are already engaged in social media marketing. It makes perfect sense that they would have a high interest. If you pull your audience from those who visit social media websites, you’re going to get an abnormally large number of opinions that are favorable toward social media. Just like the magazine audit bureaus, there is a bias that is cognitively inseparable from the setting.
There are better ways to gather data. I favor data gathered through evaluating and measuring conversations within online communities. I believe unprompted discussions produce better insights. People share their opinions in a forum where they are comfortable, and therefore tend to be more honest and open. Unlike surveys, participants in these discussions are not influenced by the trajectory of questions. And because the data is publicly available, it can be independently verified, supported, or challenged.
Using conversation to gather data isn’t new. Carol Gilligan turned moral development theory on its ear by using open-ended dialog to develop an understanding of ethical relationships instead of the line of hypothetical questions used by Lawrence Kohlberg and others. By doing so, Gilligan was able to thwart a system of inquiry that generated a bias in the conclusions drawn by her predecessors. In the same way, new understandings about brands and product perceptions can be gained by looking at the conversations surrounding them. By following the threads of conversations, an overall impression of can be scored, the positive and negative traits identified, and trends over time can be measured and connected to events.
This process can be used to measure and track the public pulse of ethical questions such as how people feel about software piracy and what changes their attitudes, or to measure people’s like or dislike for consumer brands like Gibson musical instruments and Whirlpool appliances. It does requires skill and a great amount of time and effort to locate, analyze, and report on the data. Software tools certainly make the work easier, but ultimately it comes down to understanding natural language. Data points have to be hand selected and hand scored. And it is well worth the effort involved. We see consumers in a fresh perspective that isn’t readily apparent through other data. The results are often insightful, compelling, and sometimes assumption-shattering.
If you believe this is a service your brand can benefit from, please contact me through this blog, or at Keller Crescent Advertising.
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Tags: advertising > consumer insights > Gibson > Marketing > online forums > Whirlpool
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