Chapter Seven

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The systematic process of recording patterns of occurrences or behaviors without normally communicating with the people involved.

• The needed information must be either observable or inferable.

• The behavior should be repetitive, frequent, or in some manner predictable.

• The behavior must be relatively short in duration.

What is Observation Research?

7-2Key Terms & Definitions

Approaches to Observation Research

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Natural vs. Contrived:• Is the setting made up by the researcher or are you

observing a naturally occurring event?

Open vs. Disguised:• Does the subject know the purpose of the research?

Human vs. Machine:• Can a machine better capture data or not?

Structured vs. Unstructured:• Is the researcher taking detailed notes or is the researcher making

more general observations?

Direct vs. Indirect:• Observing current behavior or analyzing past behaviors

The Nature of Observation Research

7-4Key Terms & Definitions

• You see what people actually do rather than what they say they do.

• Firsthand information is less prone to bias.

• The observational data can be executed quickly and relatively accurately.

• Electronic collection such as scanners is more efficient than manual counts.

• Clients can also observe their customers along with the researcher.

Advantages of Observation Research

7-5Key Terms & Definitions

• Only physical or behavior can be measured.

• Can’t measure attitudes, beliefs, intentions, or feelings.

• Not always a good representation of the general population.

• Interpretation is somewhat subjective depending on observation type.

• Data analysis is generally more qualitative than quantitative.

• It can be expensive and time-consuming if subjects not readily available.

• Data can be time-sensitive, making predictive analysis tricky.

Disadvantages of Observation Research

7-6Key Terms & Definitions

The study of human behavior in its natural context, involving observation of behavior and physical setting.

Ethnographic Observation Research

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Advantages:

Key Terms & Definitions

• It is reality-based; it can show exactly how consumers live with a product, not just what they say about it or how they remember using it.

• It can reveal unexpressed needs and wants; it can discover unexploited consumer benefits.

• It can reveal product problems.• It can show how, when, where, and why people shop for brands.• It can show who in the family actually uses a product.• It can take advantage of consumers’ experience with the category and their hands-

on creativity. • It can test new products in a real context.• It can reveal advertising execution ideas that derive directly

from consumer experience. • It can form a better relationship with your consumers based

on an intimate knowledge of their lifestyles.

People who pose as customers and shop at a company’s own stores or those of its competitors to collect data about customer-employee interactions and to gather observational data. They might also compare prices, displays, and the like.

Mystery Shopping

7-8Key Terms & Definitions

The mystery shopper calls the business with a script with questions and notes the experience.

The mystery shopper visits the business and makes a quick purchase with little or no customer-employee interaction.

Mystery Shopping Levels

7-9Key Terms & Definitions

The mystery shopper visits the business for a more involved experience to include a scripted scenario to gauge the customer-employee interaction. Level III usually does not involve a purchase - although detailed discussion about the product or services will likely occur.

The mystery shopper visits the business with great knowledge about the products. This knowledge can be used to test the employees. A purchase (and/or issues related to the purchases) might likely be involved.

Mystery Shopping Levels

7-10Key Terms & Definitions

• Enabling an organization to monitor compliance with product/service delivery standards, and specifications

• Enabling marketers to examine the gap between promises made through advertising/sales promotion and actual service delivery

• Helping monitor the impact of training and performance improvement initiatives on compliance with or conformance to product/service delivery specifications

• Identifying differences in the customer experience across different times of day, locations, product/service types, and other potential sources of variation in product/service quality

Why Conduct Mystery Shopping?

7-11Key Terms & Definitions

• One-Way Mirror Observation:• Practice of watching behaviors and

activities from behind a one-way mirror • Audits:

• Examination and verification of the sales of a product

How to Conduct Mystery Shopping

7-12Key Terms & Definitions

• Traffic Counters• Physiological Measurement Devices

• Electroencephalograph• Galvanic Skin Responses• Eye Tracking• Facial Action Coding Service (FACS)

• Television Audience Measurement• Portable People Meter• Symphony IRI Consumer Network

Machine Observation

7-13Key Terms & Definitions

Observations made by machines rather than people

Techniques Include:

Machines used to measure vehicular flow over a particular stretch of highway. Useful to:

• Target physical location for new retail stores• Number of exposures per day for a billboard

Traffic Counters

7-14Key Terms & Definitions

Observations made by machines rather than people

Eye Tracking

7-15Key Terms & Definitions

Observations made by machines rather than people

• Physiological Measurement Devices• Electroencephalograph• Galvanic Skin Responses• Eye Tracking• Facial Action Coding Service (FACS)

Eye tracking yields valuable information about which features are most eye-catching. Online advertising can use this to pin point best ad placement on a web page.

Television Audience Measurement

7-16Key Terms & Definitions

Observations made by machines rather than people

• What is America watching? When are they watching it?

Television audience measurement began with families taking notes about their viewing habits and sending in notebooks. Electronic monitoring via devices through Nielsen Media Research as well as tracking information obtained by satellite and cable companies gives a wider snapshot of viewing habits.

Portable People Meter

7-17Key Terms & Definitions

Observations made by machines rather than people

Since the 1940s, radio and networks wanted to know what Americans found entertaining.

The portable device can be clipped to a belt and records all viewing whether television, movies, radio, MP3, smart phone apps and more throughout the person’s day. Each evening the information is uploaded and sent to a computer center for collation. Information discovered includes such facts as younger viewers multi-task, switching back and forth between multiple forms of entertainment.

Can You Spot a Fake?

7-18Key Terms & Definitions

Which One Is Fake?• Is it even clear if consumers like what you’re selling? Some might tell you they like your

product even if they don’t. Who’s really interested and who’s just being polite?

• A true smile will involve the eyes as well as the mouth. Also, a true smile will curve the lips while a fake smile won’t. In a fake smile, the corners of the mouth will move outward, not upward.

Internet Tracking:

• Modeling surfing patterns along with demographic and psychographic data to predict consumer behavior.

• Website should mirror the customers’ buying process

• Click sequence/patterns should enhance predictive capability.

• comScore—tracks the Internet with a panel of over 2 million users

• Scraping the Web--Used to develop a cohesive message from thousands of conversation threads in newsgroups, chatrooms, listservs, message boards, etc.

Observation Research on the Internet

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Advantages:1. Duplicates the distracting clutter of an actual market

2. Can set up and alter the tests quickly

3. Production costs are low after setup

4. Very flexible

Read in the text how Kimberly-Clark uses virtual shopping.

Virtual Shopping

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An ethnographic study discovered that over the years, the family dining room is being less used for dining and more likely as a satellite office or a place for families to work and do homework while engaging in other activities.

Real Life Research

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Researchers coined the acronym HIVE for high interactive + virtual environment. The home office has technology to connect online, but families that want to connect with each other while maintaining a virtual presence have needs that corporations can meet.

HIVE

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If the previous research took place in 20 states or fewer, how might this bias the survey findings?

Challenge

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Key Terms & Definitions

• Observation Research• Open Observation• Disguised Observation• Ethnographic Research• Mystery Shoppers• One-way Mirror Observation• Audit• Traffic Counters

Links and button are active when in “Slide Show Mode”Key Terms & Definitions

• Electroencephalograph• Galvanic Skin Response (GSR)• Pupilometer• Voice Pitch Analysis• People Reader• Portable People Meter• BehaviorScan• InfoScan Custom Store Tracking• Predictive Customer Intelligence• Virtual Shopping