the digital connected consumer by gfk

The Digital Connected ConsumerThe impact of the digital world on consumers and how research is changingINSIDE: From Access Panels to Communities Behavioural and Survey Data - A match made in insight heaven Online Qualitative – Five new reasons Mobilising the Research China - A Brave New Digital World SMS-Based Surveys Web Mining - Fool’s Gold? The Future of Shopping Social Impact - Mobility 1999-2010

Foreword

Norbert WirthGlobal Head of InnovationGfK Custom Research

The World of the Digitally Connected Consumer

Digital has changed consumers’ lives in a multitude of ways. The impact stretches from communications to shopping to social interactions. Critically, this digital evolution has also altered the way that organisations conduct their business.

At GfK Custom Research, we understand digital as a ‘two dimensional’ phenomenon, comprised of: Digital markets and lifestyles transforming consumers’ reality and affecting our clients’ • businesses. Digitally enabled research techniques to discover, analyse and report on this new reality. •

Digital is .dxAt GfK, our aim is to help our clients to capitalise on the benefi ts that digital will bring. We have integrated research techniques, such as digital qualitative methods, behavioural tracking and mobile research into our current portfolio. Together with digital versions of existing approaches these new methods are grouped under our “digital experience” umbrella - or more simply .dx.

.dx brands include SocioLog.dx, our new digital qual brand, as well as nurago enabled products like SiteObSurvey.dx and MarketObSurvey.dx.

Digital: a key theme for GfK in 2010Our Digital Future team organised and contributed their expertise to a number of global and local events. Expert seminars and workshops focused on developments in digital research and showcased how GfK Custom Research is helping our clients understand consumers in the digital world.

In response to the growing interest in digital research we have put together the comprehensive insights you will fi nd within the ‘The Digitally Connected Consumer’ series.

Digital: future focus for 2011 and beyondWith 2 billion people connected to the internet and around 940 million subscriptions to 3G services, the interest in digital research is set to continue well into the future.

GfK Custom Research will continue to use our unique in-house knowledge and expertise with emerging technologies to help our clients navigate and prosper in this highly dynamic global digital environment. We hope you continue on this journey with us...

Content

Social ImpactMobility 1999-2010

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The Futureof Shopping and Shopping Innovation

12

Web MiningFool’s Gold or Uncut Diamond?

11

SMS Based SurveysEngaging with the Mobile Consumer

10

ChinaA Brave New Digital World

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Mobilising The Research Industry

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Five New Reasons to consider Online Qualitative Research

5

Behavioural and Survey Data A match made in Insight heaven

4

The JourneyFrom Access Panels to Communities

The Digital Connected Consumer

4

The past decade has been marked by two revolutions in market research and both are associated with the internet. The fi rst is the move to online research, especially to access panels. Access panels are collections of people who have volunteered to take our surveys. Access panels have allowed us to provide speedy, cost effective research, using the compelling, visual medium of the internet.

The second is the growth of social media. Consumers are no longer passive. They are empowered; they socialise online; they get instant information about brands, often over their mobile. In this new social world the key question is who owns the brand? Brand owners are now part of a real time conversation where customers’ experiences and a brand’s performance are transparent for all to see. These new social media tools are moving

us from access panels to increasingly socialised panels and to research based around communities, and they are one of the easiest ways for brands to converse with consumers.

Socialised panels are usually large scale. They are often built for our clients. You might think of them as proprietary access panels, but with a veneer of community that is added by using one or more online community tools such as forums, blogs, video and photo uploads, tag clouds, RSS feeds, wikis, profi les, etc. But once we start to use these social media tools together we may create market research online communities (MROCs). What defi nes an MROC is a sense of a shared respondent presence and purpose. The big difference refl ects the new world of social networks. In the traditional access panel model, only the panel owner knows that an individual is a member of the panel. In an MROC the identity of the respondents may be known to the other respondents due to the use of user names and through the building of reputations. This creates a shared presence in which relationships can be established between any of the participants, be they respondents, researchers, or clients, as they interact with each other.

One of the great benefi ts of creating an MROC is that we can allow the data to emerge. We are setting the research agenda, but the respondents, clients and researchers are co-creating the fl ow of data, reacting to the unexpected from wherever

it comes, and this can lead to unexpected and interesting insights emerging.

For example, we built a short term MROC for the UK Offi ce of Fair Trading to explore the future. In the published report the OFT wrote “It is fair to say that the exercise has exceeded all our expectations … the consultation has been enormously valuable to us.” This was in no small part due to the creative interactions of our community members and the rich diversity of comments and suggestions that the community generated.

This is the power of research communities; they allow collaboration, co-creation, and most importantly conversation. At their heart is the reality of the brand holding open and creative conversations with its customers.

The Journeyfrom Access Panels to Communities

Mike CookeGlobal Director Online Development,GfK NOP [email protected]


5

On July 21st, 2010, Facebook reached the signifi cant milestone of 500 million active users. If the social networking site was a country, it would be the third largest in the world by population after China and India and have nearly 200 million more ‘citizens’ than the United States. Less well-publicized was another impressive statistic: the revelation that more than 30 billion pieces of content, including web links, news stories, blog posts, notes and photo albums were shared among users each month.

This is a huge amount of content which, when put together with data fl ow from other sources, is presenting an exciting challenge and great opportunity for the market research industry.

The challenge comes from what futurist Alvin Toffl er called ‘information overload’, but which is perhaps more accurately described by academic and writer Clay Shirky, as the potential for ‘fi lter failure’. Using Facebook as an example, on average, users generate 90 pieces of information each month. Meanwhile, the amount of content generated by the 1.5 billion people online who aren’t on Facebook is unquantifi able. To put this into context, it would take an individual literally thousands of years to read

the amount of information generated online in just one day.

People’s digital behaviour can increasingly be measured in greater detail, with market research providing an insight into understanding that behaviour and what it actually means in terms of real business opportunities. The main test for the industry is: how to manage these data, how to use the data effectively and how to combine the data with other information to add value.

The opportunity for the market research industry comes with understanding one source of data through the use of another, thus creating a match made in insight heaven. For example, marrying behavioural and survey data can bring real value in explaining real usage patterns, advertising exposure, site visits, navigation paths, purchase journeys or consumer generated media creation. Contrast this with web analytics which is limited to providing a wealth of information about how many browsers have pointed themselves at specifi c websites and for how long.

Although research into digital online behaviour is a

relatively new area, the market research industry is well-versed in how to use data, whatever the source, in combination with their core business – surveys - to generate and deliver actionable business insights. Information can be segmented or de-constructed to give it qualitative depth – all of which result in even more data. We already have a way to transform this voluminous data through processing, categorisation, aggregation and expertise.

We also have the skills to design research survey solutions that explain behavioural data. These solutions cover behaviours of attitudinally similar groups, the reasons for specifi c (and observed) actions, target market purchase processes and patterns and even the opportunity to create unique and new segmentations.

As with any good match, behavioural and survey data analysis needs a lot of work, but the results can be highly rewarding.

Behavioural and Survey Data A match made in insight heaven

Arno HummerstonManaging Director Client Services [email protected]

Norbert WirthGlobal Head of InnovationGfK Custom [email protected]


6

2009 marked a turning point for online qualitative research with its re-birth as a dynamic and rich consumer engagement toolOnline developers, quick to seize upon the advantages of conducting qualitative research in an asynchronous way, have kick-started the evolution of a new generation of bulletin board platforms.

From the old days of online focus groups, today’s online qualitative research has been re-born as a methodology offering a real USP. Respondents now have the freedom to undertake research at their own convenience without the time constraints and pressures of traditional research methodologies.

The results translate into a strong, tangible benefi t for research stakeholders, in the form of richer granularity in the research output and, ultimately, greater depths of insight.

The reason for this is simple: the more time respondents are given to respond to questions, the better and more detailed answers we receive in return. Research budgets need to work harder and demonstrate increased ROI, so it is perhaps surprising that online qualitative research has struggled for recognition compared to traditional qualitative measures. I would like to encourage you to view online qualitative research in a new, and hopefully inspirational, light.

Here are fi ve fresh and compelling reasons why online qualitative research should fi gure in our future research portfolios.

Five new reasonsto consider Online Qualitative Research

It will engage mass market consumers

Online research has been viewed as a tool suitable only for early adopters and the tech savvy. Increasing numbers of consumers are “tweeting”, “poking”, “skyping” and “blogging”. Now, more than ever, the opinions and needs of the ‘mass market’ need to be understood and correctly interpreted.

The challenge is to engage customers to imagine use cases for technological solutions they may not yet believe in or fully understand. Online qualitative research enables us to take respondents on a journey with us; by spreading the research over several days, or even a few weeks, we can build online diaries of their lives, document their use cases of existing technology, and gradually introduce them to new concepts and ideas to explore and review. This benefi t is something that respondents spontaneously acknowledge and appreciate:

1

It will achieve client stakeholder immersion

In the current climate of volcanic eruptions and frozen travel budgets, immersing client stakeholders in research projects has become incredibly challenging. Online qualitative research has always provided the ability for stakeholder observation of discussion sessions, but all too often this is hampered by time constraints and poor user experience (UX). At GfK, we have worked hard to understand how best to increase stakeholder immersion and achieve this through the production of in-fi eld newsletter updates and a constant search for innovative software partners.

Revelation, GfK’s online qualitative software partner, provides a highly intuitive and engaging interface, which enables stakeholders to download transcripts fi ltered on keyword, segment, activity or participant at the click of a button.

2

I like how the research was done by peeling the topic

layer by layer, so that in-depth feedback on each detail can be discussed.

Smartphone intender, UK


7

Rose TomlinsDirector GfK NOP [email protected]

It is still driven by highly skilled, qualitative researchers

Many research companies place the software at the forefront of their offering. However, online qualitative research has two essential components; the software platform and the online qualitative researcher. Both must work together to make the methodology successful.

After several years experience with different techniques and questionnaire approaches, GfK can truly offer a tried and trusted approach to designing research for online platforms. Our discussion guides contain a range of activities and tasks specifi cally designed to elicit both emotional and functional responses to a wide range of topic areas.

By making tasks fun to complete you really can achieve online group interaction. The same goes for analysis; we are all trained in techniques to help us manage and digest the large amount of output from online discussions, enabling our clients to focus on the most critical insights and not get swamped by the research output.

3 It is much more than just bulletin boards

Online qualitative research spans the full scope of web 2.0, from online blogs and diaries through to online communities. The versatile Revelation platform that GfK currently uses allows us to tailor our approach to fi t the specifi c needs of each project. This ranges from an online diary platform for generating use cases for new mobile services, a community area for product triallists and even as a creative pre-task tool prior to face to face groups.

The versatility of online qualitative research is its strength....it’s much, much more than just bulletin boards...

5

First of all thank you very much for the

opportunity provided to me by making me a part of such a wonderful community. I really enjoyed each of the questions and the comments from all the participants. Smartphone user, India

It encourages creativity through harnessing the multimedia capability of the web

One of the most engaging qualities of online qualitative research is that it is visually stimulating. By enabling the easy uploading of user generated multimedia content we paint vivid pictures of customers’ lives, needs and expectations. Mobile phone platforms that enable users to take part in online discussions and instantly upload multimedia content on-the-go will be one of the most important benefi ts of online qualitative research in the next few years.

Just take a look at some of the output from a recent study we conducted into the benefi ts of location based applications. Consumers took pictures on their iPhones of a location they had found that day using a location based application. Possible extensions to these capabilities are huge – online mood boards and video blogs are just some of the new possibilities GfK will be testing out this year.

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8

Considering the mobile phone as a research tool

Technology cycles tend to last about ten years, from the personal computing era of the ‘80s, through the desktop computing era of the ‘90s to the mobile computing era of the early 21st century. Each has brought more computing power, better user experiences, lower prices and expanded services to more people. And with every new technology comes new opportunities for the research industry. None more so than the saturation of mobile phone ownership and the increasing power and capabilities of the modern smartphones.

GfK has been investigating various ways that mobile technology can be leveraged for research purposes, and this is a brief introduction to a few of our recent initiatives.

Taking mobile-based surveys mainstream: a Nokia case study

Nokia challenged GfK to monitor their whole portfolio of digital channels, including both standard and mobile websites or online shops. This posed a number of challenges in developing an online survey that would work on both the mobile phone as well as the PC, across all possible brands and models of mobile phone, on the various different mobile operating systems, as well as in all the languages for the countries in which Nokia operates.

We achieved this by linking from a banner on the Nokia mobile sites to a mobile-web survey hosted by GfK, which adapted the content and layout depending on the country, language and phone model - information which was pulled from the Nokia server. While this survey needed to be focussed on key metrics only to manage interview length, we were able to develop a solution in-house that solved all of these challenges and we’ve now achieved over 100,000 completed interviews in less than a year.

A picture’s worth a thousand words: a GfK case study

With the proliferation of channels communicating brand messages to consumers in today’s world, there is a growing need to help businesses understand which are the most effective and how they interact. ‘Mobile Moments of Truth’ is a research tool being developed by GfK that uses the mobile phone to capture and collect the full range of brand experiences. Rather than waiting to ask consumers to recall all brand exposures during a given time frame, panellists are able to take an image using their mobile phone every

time they see or experience a brand and give a short report on where, why and how

they felt.

This is all achieved through a simple online survey tool which not only gives time sensitive, granular feedback, but also consumer-created images that give a real-life context for each experience.

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Where do we go from here?

One of the key questions we need to ask ourselves is whether there will be - or even - should there be - a distinction between mobile and online research in the near future? As mobile devices and methods of connectivity converge there may simply be different screens through which the consumer will choose to interact with the research community... if we can make the experience engaging enough to entice them to do so.

If phones can be smart, why not research: a GfK & Revelation case study

As well as using the mobile phone for online quantitative research, GfK has been investigating its potential for qualitative approaches. In a recent project in conjunction with Revelation (a GfK partner for online qualitative research) a sample of iPhone and Google Android users in the US and UK were invited to take part in a fi ve day online qualitative session about their phone and how they use it in their daily lives; using both their PC and their smartphone to participate in the study.

While most respondents would usually default to their PC when convenient or available, they were more than happy to complete tasks using their smartphone, and when doing so the length and quality of their responses were comparable across the two methods. And when you include the added benefi ts of response frequency and image uploads of where they are and what they are doing from their phone, the smartphone offers a whole new dimension to the research. Most importantly however, users of these devices genuinely enjoyed using their phones to take part in the research; fi tting the exercises into their lives when and how they wanted, from wherever they were.

That said there are some limitations to the smartphone. Not least the size of screen and keyboard limiting the length of time one could expect somebody to spend on an individual task. Ultimately, we feel that the smartphone should be used in conjunction with the PC within an online qualitative or ethnographic study where there are short, repetitive, time or location-critical exercises where consumer-generate images would give valuable social context.

While part of this exercise used the phones’ internet browser, the ideal way forward is to use an app-based approach where the respondent downloads the application to the home screen of their device, accessing a customised research platform with a single click. The Revelation iPhone app is now available and proved to be the ideal way to conduct research within this pilot among iPhone users.

Ian RalphDirector, GfK NOP [email protected]


10

ChinaA Brave New Digital World

By the end of 2010, China will have more mobile internet users than the 310 million population of the United States. According to research conducted in July 2010 by CINIC, the China Internet Network Center, 277 million of its citizens were mobile web users, an increase of 43 million in just six months. The world’s most populous nation with 1.3 billion inhabitants, also has 420 million internet users and 364 million broadband users.

China has a highly regulated market, with state-run telecommunication, media and internet sectors. However, recent years have seen a rapidly developing commercial sector, with the explosive growth nationally of services like instant messaging provider QQ.com, infotainment web portal Sina.com and search engine Baidu.com, which have also received international recognition. The launch of 3G in China in 2009 has also recorded impressive growth.

As China develops as a marketplace for new technologies, spurred on by increased consumer interest, GfK Custom Research China has identifi ed three key trends as potential growth areas for future market research.

Convergence

As in many Western markets, the convergence of the internet, cable television and mobile phones is a hot industry talking point in China. However, unlike in the West, convergence in China means that the three state-controlled telecommunication, media and

internet operators are facing the challenge of how to infl uence each others’ sector, while also competing for business with private media, telephony and internet companies and satisfying consumers’ increasing demand for entertainment.

Convergence will present both challenges and opportunities for all suppliers. Thus, an early mover advantage will be necessary in order to be prepared for a changing and competitive landscape.

Smartphones

As smartphones in China are quite affordable, sales volume are remarkably high. More than 26 million devices have sold in 2010 at the time of writing this. GfK Custom Research China research shows that besides cost, the possibility of using more applications will create a clear preference among consumers towards smartphones in the future. Consequently, it is expected that the development of smartphones and market share will be highly infl uenced by the type of operating system.

Despite Nokia being the leading handset manufacturer brand in China, there is less of an

appetite among Chinese consumers for their Symbian OS mobile operating system. In a GfK survey of 500 Chinese smartphone users, data show Nokia’s Symbian is still the most used OS in China. But when asked about their preference for their next smartphone, Apple iOS, Google Android and Windows Mobile received higher shares. According to the same study, more than 50% of current smartphone users will view the operating system as a signifi cant factor in choosing a new smartphone.

Tablet PCs

A visit to a busy urban centre in any of China’s major cities will bear witness to one of the most sought-after items of the year, the iPad. Apple’s iconic device is mainly used for gaming, chat, online search or even for street navigation. Slightly less popular are e-book readers, which, despite having fewer functions than the iPad, are increasingly being seen as a cheap way to access literature and an entertaining way to pass the time whilst commuting. Consequently, electronics suppliers are now looking for devices to offer the most convenient reading experience for Chinese customers.

The ‘digital journey’ in China has just started. Keeping an overview on current topics and anticipating new trends in the technology sector in this huge market is a signifi cant task. Thus, GfK Custom Research China decided to continue in tracking the most important market facts with Connected Life 2010.

Frank Landeck General ManagerGfK Custom Research [email protected]


11

Few people would know the name of Neil Papworth, an engineer who sent the world’s first SMS (Short Message Service) from a computer to a mobile phone in December 1992. The text message was ‘Happy Christmas’ to Richard Jarvis via the Vodafone network.

Fast forward to today and latest research indicates that ‘texting’ has become the most popular mobile data application in the world, with approximately 6.1 trillion messages sent in 2010 – just under 200,000 a second - according to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), part of the United Nations.

The ITU predicts that among the 5.3 billion mobile phone subscribers at the end of 2010, the largest proportion (3.8 billion) will be from the developing world.

These trends are providing both opportunities and challenges for clients and accordingly, market research companies should seriously consider reinventing themselves to better serve clients’ needs in a more complex and demanding world by using modern methods with 21st century solutions.

One such method is using SMS as a research tool. SMS-based surveys can have major advantages over traditional research methods and can be an innovative tool for research institutes to use in a competitive market.

Global broadband and telecommunications provider Telefonica commissioned GfK Custom Research Brasil to conduct a study into how SMS could potentially work in an after-sales customer satisfaction survey. The research was designed to assist Telefonica’s mobile phone business unit to manage the customer experience at their stores in Brazil.

The survey covered a sample of customers receiving services at its 271 stores. People received an SMS message asking them to rate the service they had just received from a particular store. To encourage a response, all replies were free of charge.

As with any other data collection methodology, SMS-based surveys have limitations, especially when it comes to the target market. Like web-based surveys, SMS-based research has a greater chance of reaching people who are familiar with the technology and use it on a daily basis. Consumers who fi nd using text messages easy, regularly use text messages to chat with friends and colleagues and are unlikely to think

that receiving an SMS is inconvenient. This group is also more likely to respond to SMS-based surveys.

This difference in attitudes compared with non-mobile phone enthusiasts is also refl ected in the difference in the average respondents’ profi le. Customers answering SMS-based surveys tend to be younger, have a higher level of education (graduate and post-graduate qualifi cations), have their mobile phone on a contract (rather than pre-paid), be wealthier than the average person and be single.

Although SMS-based surveys have a notable quantitative weakness in terms of reaching all relevant consumers, this method of data capture has huge potential to reach young and high-end consumers. When placed within the wider context of market research, SMS-based surveys can be used by market research executives as a powerful tool to provide tactical information to their clients which is as reliable as any other collected by traditional methods, but at a signifi cantly lower cost and much more speedily.

SMS-Based SurveysEngaging with the Mobile Consumer

(for more information) Cynthia Vieira Head of Business and Technology Latam GfK Custom Research [email protected]


12

Web MiningFool’s Gold or Uncut Diamond?

In the early ‘90s, so just twenty years ago, Tim Berners-Lee was running the fi rst web server at CERN in Switzerland. Since then, the internet has grown into a data repository of enormous dimensions, and keeps on growing every second.

With the emergence of Web 2.0 and all manner of user-generated content – ranging from blogs via social networking websites to product ratings and discussion forums – the idea of harvesting all this information in some reliable and scalable form becomes very appealing. Consumers will talk about product experience on the web but they also use the web as an information source when planning a purchase. When it comes to trusted information about products, other consumers’ recommendations tend to clearly beat the manufacturers’ web sites. So web mining - the exploration and analysis of relevant user-generated web content - is of great interest to marketers and market researchers.

A key output of web mining activities is the share of voice (SOV) a brand or product gains in relation to its competitors. SOV is usually based on counting how often a certain query appears across the observed parts of the social web in a specifi c time interval. The descriptive SOV is often enhanced by adding the element of positive, negative or neutral sentiment to the analysis. Even further signifi cance can be added by assessing the infl uence of the user posting comments on a specifi c brand. Modern web mining systems also often allow researchers to engage with selected bloggers or users. This gives brand managers the opportunity to move from passive monitoring towards active participation. Advanced analytical approaches go further than basic sentiment analysis and try to identify the themes of postings and conversations. The overall

trend in web mining is moving towards ‘understanding’ what is being said.

The attempt to answer the ultimate question - whether web mining is just fool’s gold or should be considered an uncut diamond - requires a closer look at the underlying technical procedures. The process of a web mining project is highly iterative and has fi ve constituent steps: the discovery of relevant sources, the extraction of data from these sources, followed by extensive data cleaning, analysis and fi nally the generation of insightful reports.

The discovery stage is handled in various ways, but the two most popular approaches can be characterised as wide – covering as many sources as possible – or focussed. A key element of the discovery stage is the defi nition of appropriate queries. The latter can go terribly wrong if the brands or products of interest have many semantic neighbours or twins. For example, the ‘Mars’ chocolate bar; Mars is a planet, a Greek god and a chocolate bar. Which one a consumer refers to can be very hard to identify, even if sophisticated Boolean logic is applied.

The challenge of query defi nition is to reduce the false hits, whilst at the same time capturing all the buzz about the product of interest. Assuming the discovery phase goes well and all data has made its way to the researcher’s lab, it’s still a

challenge to remove irrelevant information. The blog posts and web conversations still have to be separated from all the noise that comes with them.

The analysis phase is then all about understanding the sentiment in which a brand is mentioned: positive, neutral or even negative. Getting this right is not an easy task either, since slang, abbreviations (like LOL), irony, sarcasm, complex sentences and other diffi culties can lead to misclassifi cations. A major challenge to analysis is the fact that the vast majority of mentions may all turn out to have the same sentiment – be it neutral, positive or negative. Factoring all these challenges in, there is still good reason for optimism. However, web mining as a valuable tool for marketers comes at a price. First of all, quality control is the key! It is very risky to draw conclusions from fully automated systems that come without various quality controls – preferably in the form of experts checking the results of each process step, refi ning queries, optimising the valence analysis, etc.

Depending on the objectives of a project, a decision has to be made as to whether broad “listening” to the social web or targeted “monitoring” of specifi c sources (e.g. recommendation sites) is the right approach to take. Last, but not least, whilst web mining can provide a very useful supplementary analysis, it should never be confused with research data derived from representative samples. Although it may sounds odd, given the size of the social web, for some categories for which there’s still just not enough data out there to provide robust insights. If expectations are realistic and objectives are clear, a thorough process makes web mining the uncut diamond but it can easily turn into fool’s gold, if not managed properly.

Norbert WirthGlobal Head of InnovationGfK Custom [email protected]


13Perhaps the most insightful fi ndings come down to two expressed behaviors:

The explosion of options

Interestingly, the internet usage throughout the shopping process (which in itself has been transformed) is greater now than what most realize. We now have near perfect information (comparative features, benefi ts, prices and other decision information readily available online) and an absolute explosion of options (channels, products, brands, and value-adds). With this, the consumer is in control of a personalized process of sourcing, selecting and ultimately choosing where they will purchase.

New pathways to purchase have enabled shoppers to individualize their shopping process by category and shopping occasion. They have become adept at utilizing both mega channels, in-store and online. The extent to which they synergize between instore and digital venues is growing.

The Futureof Shopping and Shopping Innovation

The onset of digital innovation has changed our lives forever. The change in our way of life has been profound. Core human activities such as playing, working, and communicating now come in entirely different forms. And the change seems to have happened suddenly, catching many of us by surprise.

We have been catapulted into the digital future by three forces

1. Technology 2. Information 3. Communications

These three incredible forces are reshaping not only the way we live but the way we think. Our expectations, our outlook, and our dreams are now partly digital in nature. Just as these three forces have changed our lives, they have also changed shopping.

At GfK we have been uncovering, documenting and monitoring the impact of these three forces. The result is GfK Future Buy, a multi-faceted research and insights exposition.

Revealing this new era of shopping and the new generation of passionate, value-driven consumers, allows GfK to understand today’s increasingly complex retail marketplace and the shoppers who navigate it best.

Even for categories like personal care, use of the web has soared. As many as 30% of personal care shoppers say they “always or often” use social media and local community sites as touch points in their shopping process. Traditional touch points such as store circulars and product packaging are at about 50% on this same measurement scale.

Capturing the new digital shopper

In keeping with the grand tradition of consumer marketing, there are scores of new and innovative programs in place designed to capture the new digital shopper. Consider the following word cloud that describes current shopper marketing strategies among brands, e-tailers, and retailers.

Yes, marketers still must sort all this out, but they’re making progress and are now well into the fi rst stage of their strategy. The environment has never been more complex, however, as big brands are going direct online and retailers are bolstering their online e-Commerce platforms. Many specifi c examples of new shopper marketing digital programs are featured in GfK Future Buy presentations, available through GfK Custom Research North America.

Michael KassabSVP of InnovationGfK Custom Research North [email protected]

The internet has become a highly

useful shopping resource for me.

I’m using new information

sources and new ways to shop to fi nd the things I need.


14

The mobile phone has come a long way since Dr Martin Cooper of Motorola demonstrated the world’s fi rst cellular portable phone in 1973. Since then, it has made a signifi cant impact on every day life with research from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) - the leading United Nations agency for information and communication technology issues - indicating that access to mobile networks is now available to more than 90% of the global population, an estimated 5.3 billion people.

ITU fi gures reveal that mobile phone penetration in developing countries is around 68%. However, this number is more than doubled in Austria which has a mobile telephony penetration rate of

approximately 140%. More than 90% of the population aged 15+ use a mobile phone. The number of mobile broadband users is also high. Austria’s traditionally low pricing level has contributed to the signifi cant take up of mobile phones and has impacted on fi xed

line telephones. Just 50% of Austrian households have fi xed line access.

Austria´s leading mobile communication provider A1 commissioned GfK to conduct a Social Impact survey to help it gain a better insight into the impact of these changes and to help it adapt to the new realities of how Austrians were using smartphones.

The Social Impact study revealed some interesting fi ndings, most notably on the perception and usage of mobile phones. The survey, which stretches back eleven years, highlighted earlier results that people saw the mobile phone as a status symbol, rather than a functional, Swiss army knife-style device, able to perform many tasks.

In the latest study, perceptions were found to have changed with people once again viewing the mobile phone as a status symbol. This could be linked to the rise in the number of sophisticated smartphones in the market. Austria has a smartphone penetration of 32%, which is relatively high, but, given the level of interest among young men for the devices, there is still big potential for growth.

For many Austrians, the mobile phone is seen as a basic necessity and something that more than half of users could not do without. Surveys reveal that after money, the mobile phone is the most important thing

that people take with them when leaving the house. Around 85% of the population say mobile phones help them to organize their family and social life.

The importance of mobile telephony has matched that of face-to-face communication, while the mobile phone handset itself is something that is constantly watched by one third of the population virtually all of the time (e.g. people typically place their phones on the table in restaurants or cafés.)Since 1999, the number of SMS users in Austria has risen from 55% to 88%. In the 15-29 age group, on average, 38 text messages are sent per week, mainly for gossip.

Aside from being a tool for social interaction, safety is a key consideration for many young people and the elderly, many of whom see it as an investment, as it allows them to call for help when needed. With the rise of smartphones like the BlackBerry, Android and iPhone, mobile software applications (more popularly known as ‘apps’) have become a hot topic. Mainstream mobile phone usage in Austria is primarily about e-mailing, mobile internet and social networks, rather than high-end business applications.

From its humble beginnings nearly forty years ago, nowadays, the mobile phone is not just a phone, but a sleeker, more powerful, multifunctional tool that has life-changing implications for personal as well as business life, not only for Austrians, but around the world.

Social ImpactMobility 1999-2010

Mag. Roland Strilka Head of Technology Research, GfK [email protected]

‘The Digital Connected Consumer’ - The impact of the digital world on consumers and how research is changing. A series of articles from GfK Custom Research.

GfK Custom Research is a leading global fact-based marketing

research consultancy covering more than 100 countries. We provide

insights into traditional and new digital markets and lifestyles utilising state-of-the-art research techniques.

www.gfk.comThe GfK Group offers the fundamental knowledge that industry, retailers, services companies and the media need to make market decisions. It delivers a comprehensive range of information and consultancy services in the three business sectors Custom Research, Retail and Technology and Media. The No. 4 market research organization worldwide operates in more than 100 countries and employs over 10,000 staff.

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