This Halloween at Insightrix, the office had some unusual visitors, including Jack Skellington, Steve Zissou, some of the Mad Men cast members, a coven of witches, Willie from Duck Dynasty, a painter, and a few cats. The staff voted for the best costume, and everyone enjoyed some Halloween treats.
Have a safe and happy Halloween!...
Lang McGilp, Senior Research Executive with Insightrix Research, spoke at the North Saskatoon Business Association Club Connect meeting on October 25th, 2013 about the accuracy of political polling. His presentation covered some of the challenges facing pollsters in Saskatchewan or Canada in general and methods of mitigating such challenges.
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Oscar had a chance to recently visit Winnipeg and chose to explore some of the neighbourhoods in the city.
Here are a few pics of Oscar enjoying the drive and visiting some neighbourhoods across the city....
Oscar made a stop at Noosa in Queensland Australia. He enjoyed sitting on the beach and taking in some sunshine. Here are a couple pictures from his recent trip.
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Quantifying the potential success of a name, product, creative material, and packaging has always been challenging. A new method called Predictive Markets has shown promising results as a way to achieve accurate insights into the future of a concept, at a fraction of the time it takes to examine through other research methods.
When New Yorker financial columnist James Surowiecki wrote the book The Wisdom of the Crowds, he shattered the conventional wisdom that a small group of experts is smarter than the masses. Using a variety of secondary sources, he argued that the aggregate wisdom of a crowd is more accurate than polling a trusted expert few.
Insightrix has utilized predictive markets to help clients predict the success of their concepts. The predictive market simulates a stock market as it allows respondents to buy and sell shares in different concepts. The study typically includes the following steps:
Insightrix designs an online predictive market tool where respondents can log in and participate in the market.
Participants are provided with virtual cash and are able to invest as much or as little as they want into the concepts they feel would be most liked by other participants.
Based on these investments, stock prices for the concepts dynamically adjust upward or downward. Price adjustments encourage participants to invest more, hold onto strong investments, reinvest based on changing prices, or sell the investment in less popular concepts.
At the conclusion of the market, the total value of participants’ portfolios determines a market winner.
Insightrix can provide a detailed report clearly outlining which concept would perform the best in the market. Each concept’s share price reveals how well-liked the concept is compared with the others. The demonstrated advantages of the predictive market include providing a clearly quantified differential between the different concepts as opposed to traditional ranking questions on surveys.
In many cases, Insightrix uses a predictive market to identify quickly those concepts with the most promise and then other methods (such as focus groups or in-depth interviews) to get a “deep dive” into what makes them great and how to improve them....
I was asked to write the first post, and of course had no idea where to begin. Should I talk about trends in market research? New initiatives in our company? New research techniques we are presently using or investigating? In the end, I decided to talk about what makes our company special. Oh sure, you can read our corporate information throughout our website and get a sense of why we are unique, but in this post I will give you the real goods: behind the scenes at Insightrix Research.
What makes our company special is easy: it’s the people. Sure we have staff who have come to work dressed like Lady Gaga, bring trays of fruit pizza, religiously feed the company fish, bring fruit for our interviewers, and perhaps share a samosa or two, but it is much more than this. It is about respect for each other and commitment to the company and our clients. I am sure all companies say this, but I know we have this in both our Canadian and Australian office.
On a recent trip to our Australian office, I was impressed with the staff, their sense of ownership, and the level of care they have for clients and our company. They take great pride in carrying out their work and feel responsible and accountable for the outcomes. They make sure client expectations are exceeded and they share an ownership in the company that is truly remarkable. The same can be said for our Canadian office. Our staff members routinely go above and beyond to ensure client expectations are met and assist fellow staff members in carrying out their work. This is what makes our company special.
Over the course of the next few months, we will be highlighting some of these great employees so you can get to know them better.
In addition to giving you some background about the people here at Insightrix, I would also like to introduce you to our newest member of the team: Oscar. Oscar travels with our staff to different locations including personal and business trips. At Insightrix, we are international not only in our company locations but also in terms of our staff. Oscar likes to hide in suitcases and catch a ride to various locations.
I encourage you to read about life at Insightrix to learn more about what we are doing as well as follow Oscar’s travels around the world!
~Corrin
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Some of you may recall participating in a survey a couple of weeks back regarding the public-private-partnership sewage treatment plant in Regina. This was an independent study Insightrix conducted on its own: no client paid for this research.
The results from the study showed that 55% of you were in favour of the Public-Private-Partnership (P3) approach and 45% of you were in favour of the traditional Design, Bid and Build (DBB) approach. This lines up very closely with the final results from the referendum: 57% voted for the P3 and 43% for the DBB.
Insightrix Research would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who participated in this specific survey and to also thank everyone for participating in our studies. This is an example of how your participation enables us to provide accurate, reliable information for our clients.
You can read more about the results of our survey on voter intention regarding the wastewater treatment plant in Regina.
Visit our SaskWatch Panel here....
In a focus group, a moderator interviews several people at the same time. A typical focus group comprises six to 12 people (participants), but smaller groups can also be held.
The reason that focus groups are held is to create and observe group dynamics. Group discussions stimulate dynamic conversations, which lead to discovery, exploration, direction, and insights regarding specific topics. Focus group sessions typically last between one and two hours: the length of a group will depend on the specific goals and the number of topics.
Usually, a focus group research project consists of two to ten groups, although there can be more. The number of focus groups varies and depends on
research goals
number of topics
segments
schedule
budget
It is recommended that at least two groups be conducted.
There are three ways to conduct a focus group: face-to-face, online, or by telephone. In each of these, moderators direct a free-flowing discussion about topics of interest such as products, services, brands, and advertisements.
Focus groups usually occur in specially designed facilities where the rooms have one-way mirrors allowing managers and executives to listen to and observe the participants. The rooms also typically include audio and video recording equipment.
A moderator asks questions, follows up with more questions, and keeps the conversation on track. A good focus group moderator makes focus group moderating look simple, yet it requires moderating skill and practice to do well....
A new independent online poll conducted by Insightrix Research suggests that residents are divided on whether or not the new Regina Sewage Treatment plant should follow a traditional Design, Bid and Build (DBB) approach or a Public-Private-Partnership (P3) approach.
Awareness of and Following the Debate
Awareness of the debate regarding the development of a new sewage treatment plant is widespread. Nearly all Regina residents surveyed (96%) report they are aware of the debate taking place regarding whether or not the City of Regina should use a DBB or P3 approach to building the new sewage treatment plant. Further, 94% are aware that a referendum is being held on September 25th where Regina residents can vote on the issue.
Additionally, eight in ten (81%) residents aware of the issue say they are actively following the discussion (22% very closely, 59% somewhat closely) while the remainder (19%) are either not following the issue at all (8%) or are only listening to what their friends or family tell them as the debate unfolds (11%).
Support for P3 vs. DBB
Respondents were presented with the following brief description of the two approaches:
The City of Regina Council unanimously approved using a public-private-partnership (P3) for the sewage treatment plant because it believes this to be the best option for the city. They report that a P3 costs less than other options, is less risky and is much more likely to be built on time and on budget.
However, there are some who do not support the idea of a P3 approach because they feel it does not provide accountability to citizens, it will cost more than the traditional Design, Bid and Build (DBB) approach, privatization is risky, and Regina’s entire water system should be kept public.
After hearing this description, respondents were asked to state which approach they personally support. Four in ten (40%) Regina residents say they support a P3 approach while three in ten (30%) support a traditional DBB approach. More than one quarter (27%) are unsure and another 3% are indifferent on the issue. A P3 approach is more strongly supported by males (46% vs. 35% among females) and support for this approach tends to rise with household income.
Among those who plan to vote in the upcoming referendum (66% of respondents), 45% are in favour of a P3 approach while 37% prefer a DBB method. Nearly two in ten of those who plan to vote (18%) are unsure as to which approach they support.
Research Details
A total of 400 randomly selected SaskWatch Research™ panel members who live in Regina participated in the online research study from September 11th to 15th, 2013. Quotas were set by age, gender and region to match the general population of the city. As the research is conducted online, it is considered to be a non-probability proportion sample and therefore, margins of error are not applicable.
About SaskWatch Research™
Insightrix started developing the SaskWatch Research™ online market research panel in October 2007, using high-quality techniques including telephone recruitment and referrals from existing panel members. Presently, there are over 14,000 active panel members representing all regions of the province, and distributions of the general population. The panel membership closely matches the 2011 Census based on age, gender, household composition, household income and education. For more information, please visit: http://saskwatch.ca.
About Insightrix
Founded in 2001, Insightrix Research Inc. is a full-service market research firm that helps clients develop, administer and manage data collection and information strategies. From its office in Saskatoon, Insightrix offers a comprehensive range of research services.
For further information contact
Lang McGilp, Senior Research Executive
Insightrix Research Inc.
Tel: 306.657.5640 Ext. 229
Cell: 306.290.9599
Fax: 306.384.5655
Email: lang.mcgilp@insightrix.dev1.commandbase.ca
Web: insightrix.dev1.commandbase.ca...
Market research helps decision makers shift from intuitive information gathering to systematic and objective investigating. Some decisions, where there is a low cost for error, can be made quickly and based on instinct or other informal methods (such as feedback from salespeople or industry experts). Other decisions, where the cost of error is greater, require market research.
Typical market research studies that are frequently conducted include the following:
market segmentation studies
advertising research and tracking
customer satisfaction or experience surveys
attitude and usage studies
brand equity studies
concept testing
employee satisfaction research
competitive intelligence
market share studies
mystery shopping
price elasticity testing
citizen consultation
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When performed correctly, market research will reduce the chances that an organization will fail by providing the evidence needed to make the proper decision....