When you are conducting and interpreting consumer research, there are a few things that you should avoid. Some of these mistakes can be costly, but others may not impact your company at all. This blog post will go over tips for avoiding common pitfalls when conducting and interpreting consumer research.
1) Do not make assumptions about your target audience
One of the biggest mistakes companies can make when conducting consumer research is making assumptions about their target audience. This can be done in several ways, such as assuming that certain demographics are more likely to purchase your product or service than others. It is important to remember that you should always collect data from a representative sample of your target audience. You should never assume anything about the people buying from you.
Another way to make assumptions is by assuming how certain groups or individuals will respond to your product or service based on previous experiences with similar products. For example, if a consumer research study was conducted for a new bank account, it would be incorrect to assume that all current bank account holders will switch to it. It is important to remember that each individual has unique needs and preferences, so you should not make any assumptions about how they will respond to your product or service.
2) Do not rely on intuition when interpreting data
When it comes to data interpretation, you should never rely on your intuition. Intuition can often be misleading and can lead you to make incorrect assumptions about how consumers feel or what they think about your product or service. Instead, you should always use statistical analysis to help you interpret the data correctly.
In addition, it is important to remember that correlation does not imply causation when looking at data. This means that just because two variables are related, it does not mean that one variable is causing the other. In order to determine causation, you would need to conduct a controlled experiment.
3) Do not forget to control for extraneous variables
When interpreting data, it is important to control for extraneous variables. These are factors that may influence the results of your study but are not related to your product or service. For example, if you are conducting a study on the effects of a new medication, you would need to control for the effects of the subject’s mood on their results. If you do not control for these variables, it will be difficult to determine whether your product influences certain reactions.
A common way that companies fail to control for extraneous variables during consumer research studies is by testing too many different products at once. For example, if a company conducts a study on the effects of three different new products, it will be difficult to determine which product is causing a certain reaction. This is because there are so many variables that could be influencing the results. It is important to test one variable at a time to accurately determine its effect.
4) Do not use small sample sizes
Another mistake that companies often make when conducting consumer research is using a small sample size. This can lead to inaccurate results, making it difficult to draw any conclusions from the data. In order to ensure that your data is accurate, you should always use a large sample size.
When selecting a sample size for your study, it is important to remember that you should be able to achieve a 95% confidence level. This means that if the sample size of your study was 100 individuals, at least 95 of them would respond in the same way as your entire target audience.
