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Interview with Dirk Wieseke (KERNWERT), Thomas Donath (NORDLIGHT) & Dr. Holger Liljeberg (INFO GmbH) "Market research is becoming increasingly creative in its range of methods and consulting services"
Interview with Dirk Wieseke (KERNWERT), Thomas Donath (NORDLIGHT) & Dr. Holger Liljeberg (INFO GmbH)
"Market research is becoming increasingly creative in its range of methods and consulting services"
Research Communities, River sampling and VR - topics that are currently occupying the market research industry, among others. What has happened in these areas, what is new? Dirk Wieseke from KERNWERT, Thomas Donath from NORDLIGHT and Dr. Holger Liljeberg from INFO GmbH will provide insights into their research fields and an outlook on their WdM events.
"Digital events are only a temporary hype" - what do you think of this statement?
Dr. Holger Liljeberg: Hopefully not. Digitisation contributes to the sustainable conservation of resources for both people and the environment. Yet it would be nice to meet and chat in person again more often in the future. As is so often the case: it’s all in the mix.
Thomas Donath: I think the statement is wrong. We are witnessing a renaissance of presentations and meetings thanks to web conferences. Those who have little time, desire and budget to travel can just drop by online. This will not completely replace personal contact, but it is a great alternative for many people.
Dirk Wieseke: To be honest, I don't think so. Events will also remain digital, as an additional format. Going forward there will be different types of events, analogue, digital and hybrid, each with a different focus. Of course, digital events lack the direct, personal exchange, but on the other hand, their reach is increased. We see this, for example, in formats in our industry, like the BVM regional meetings, which now reach a nationwide audience, or the WdM.
You are not only a sponsor of Week of Market Research, but you also contribute to the event programme yourself. What can the participants look forward to?
Dirk Wieseke: In the web seminar on Thursday, we will talk about how to conduct targeted and successful studies with Research Communities and what is important in this context.
We will share our long-term experience in this field. In the afternoon, we will present our software for digital qualitative research in more detail in a pitch.
Dr. Holger Liljeberg: In my presentation I will showcase two fascinating studies with their methodology, both of which could not have been carried out in any other way. I will highlight two very different topics: parents of disabled children and Ukrainian refugees.
Thomas Donath: We have two very different presentations. In "VR, AR, Metaverse: Is 2D and live better after all?" we will take a look at the revolution that has been a long time coming. The talk is certainly interesting for "techies", but also for those who want to keep an eye on new forms of communication and interaction. The other presentation, "Experimentation is about speculation: Experimental Variation in Concept Testing" explains in a simple and practical way how to use classical experimentation to create clarity through specific variation of test materials.
Why should your event at Week of Market Research not be missed?
Dirk Wieseke: While Research Communities are no longer a brand-new method, they remain incredibly versatile and at the same time very valuable as a direct channel to target groups for many companies. In fact, there are always new technologies and innovative approaches that can be used in communities, from eye tracking to exciting live formats. Much like newer developments, this tried and tested method still allows for new and exciting discoveries.
Thomas Donath: The webinars are of course special and can be missed if you are not interested in the topics. But if you want to be up to date on VR in Germany or if you are a market researcher who doesn't immediately shout "I know this" when you hear “experiment”, you should stop by.
Dr. Holger Liljeberg: I will point out two kinds of a method mix, that can be transferred to numerous other fields of application – especially when dealing with extremely narrow and/or sensitive target groups.
At last there is light at the end of the tunnel, the pandemic is tapering off. What has happened in your agency in the last two years? What does the "new normal" look like?
Thomas Donath: Very briefly: more remote work and MS teams.
Dirk Wieseke: Fortunately, we were well prepared structure-wise before the pandemic and already had all the necessary tools in place. Therefore, the switch to home office worked out very well for us. In the future, we will have regular presence days, but we will also maintain home office. This is the solution that our employees feel most comfortable with and we are actively trying to find the best balance.
Dr. Holger Liljeberg: We have now digitised almost all of our processes, including our communications, to such an extent that the office desk really only serves as a place of refuge for our employees when they need to get away from home – or when they have an in-house massage appointment. Nevertheless, we are all delighted when we meet up in person in a larger circle on the premises of our company from time to time.
What do you consider to be the top trend in market research at the moment?
Dr. Holger Liljeberg: That our customers with their information needs are increasingly back in the centre and that the tool-mentality is diminishing more and more. Market research also is becoming more creative in its spectrum of methods and in its range of consulting services, and is thus also being taken seriously. But this mustn’t tempt us to simply abandon the principles of scientific work – that would be sawing off the bough on which our industry is founded.
Dirk Wieseke: Automation and the use of AI-supported technologies. This applies not only to quantitative research, but also to qualitative research, which by its nature is not very standardized, but explores open questions. For us as a software provider for qualitative research, this means developing automated background processes to simplify the everyday work of our clients.
Thomas Donath: There is no short answer to this question. I think we are seeing a continued split between market research as a commodity, which has to deliver numbers as quickly and cheaply as possible, and market research as understanding research, which deals with questions in a deeper and iterative way.
SPECIFIC QUESTIONS FOR NORDLIGHT
Your web seminar on May 17th will be about the digital megatrend of reality augmentation. Why have virtual worlds known from science fiction films not yet arrived in our everyday lives when all the technical requirements have been met? Is this only the case in Germany or in other countries as well?
Thomas Donath: VR has not taken off globally as expected. Obviously, the added values of entertainment are still perceived too low to overcome the technical hurdles. Of course, the cybersickness or VR nausea doesn't help either.
How do you assess the vision that Facebook has created with the Metaverse?
Thomas Donath: It's a bit of old wine in new bottles. I was still a student in the 90s, when people were already dreaming about this. But let's see if the enormous reach of Facebook can make a difference. The platform effects in successful sales and the establishment of new technologies should never be underestimated.
What concerns about virtual reality are responsible for its low level of establishment in our everyday lives? What would be the levers for VR to catch on in Germany?
Thomas Donath: For high-end VR with movement in space and controllers, the prices would actually have to come down even further for the mainstream. It would also help if there were easy ways to try it out in every electronics store. A still very tender plant is cultural events, VR-streamed, which would also open up groups beyond gamers. At the moment, the potential seems to us to be limited to only a part of the gamer group, i.e., console and PC gamers, who sometimes spend high three- to low four-digit amounts on their hobby. However, we will keep an eye on the development!
SPECIFIC QUESTIONS FOR KERNWERT
What makes research communities so attractive as a research method? And what has happened in the field during the last two years? Any fundamental changes/achievements?
Dirk Wieseke: Hardly any research method is as flexible and offers such a variety of survey tools as Research Communities - whether short-term for a single topic, as an agile project-accompanying instrument or long-term for a permanent customer dialogue. In the last two years, many companies have discovered this method for themselves.
Just like in the professional world, video-based formats have also become established in communities. Before the pandemic, this was a rather marginal phenomenon. In connection with this, there have of course also been technological advances, e.g. the automatic transcription of web meetings as well as video and audio contributions.
Aren't research communities in strong competition with social media communities like Facebook and Twitter when it comes to the attention and willingness to participate in the subjects? What do research communities have to do in order to prevail against the competition?
Dirk Wieseke: I think these are very different approaches. In Research Communities, people are not looking for entertainment, they see it more as a commitment and less as a passtime. This means that a Research Community does not have to be permanently active, there can be breaks. What is more important are relevant and exciting research projects in which customers can get involved. The key is to really take the participants seriously. If consumers feel that they are being listened to, that they can get involved and help shape things, this can be very motivating. Seeing your own ideas being implemented, and being able to make a difference are experiences that are quite rare, despite all the customer centricity. This is a convincing argument for many consumers to get involved in a community.
What is the role of the market researcher in research communities?
Dirk Wieseke: A very diverse role with a wide range of tasks, in practice often shared by several people: they design the tasks, keep an eye on the research questions, are contact persons for the members, moderate, and in the end also ensure that answers become insights and that these are carried into the company.
Which project with a research community do you remember particularly fondly and why?
Dirk Wieseke: We support both short-term and long-term communities on very different topics and with very different target groups. Of course, it's always nice to have projects on new or unusual topics, or projects in which customers try new things. A community with farmers comes to mind here, in which the aim was to better understand the use of software in this area. It really surprised me how innovative agriculture has become. As an outsider, you don't really realize that.
SPECIFIC QUESTIONS FOR INFO GMBH
Obtaining representative data through river sampling is known to be almost impossible. Is that why you rely on mixed-mode designs? Is river sampling "only" useful as a supplement?
Dr. Holger Liljeberg: By definition, river sampling per se cannot deliver any representative results because there is no real selection procedure and the interviewees are not actively approached. Nevertheless, river sampling can be used to reach interested people from almost all target groups very well, quickly and inexpensively, who can also provide important insights beyond representativeness. In order to classify these results, however, representative approaches are imperative.
With which other method did you last combine river sampling - perhaps in current studies? Why is this topic so important to you?
Dr. Holger Liljeberg: Recently, it was an online survey from multiple panels and an on-site CAPI survey. However, the panel potentials are very quickly exhausted at incidences below 1 percent, and some target groups cannot even be reached there, personal interviews are quite expensive and take a very long time on top of that. So basically, we are talking about the ability to map very specific target groups that are difficult or impossible to survey in other ways. However, this method is NOT suitable - as you have already mentioned - as a partially offered alternative to conventional selection procedures to generate supposedly representative data in real time.
How did you get the idea to deal with river sampling? The method has somewhat disappeared into oblivion.
Dr. Holger Liljeberg: Yes, that’s true. But even though this method has recently been partially rehashed by some providers and declared as a scientific breakthrough, the method itself is quite old. Some may remember various TED polls on teletext sites. There are also some parallels to the so-called snowball method – which is by all means recognized for its capability to generate samples from very narrow target groups. We ourselves have used this method on and off over the past 30 years for recruiting subjects for qualitative projects. The increasing networking of a wide variety of target groups offline and online is now opening up completely new opportunities – be it via special interest websites, social media channels or platforms for specific target groups.
ABOUT
Dr. Holger Liljeberg is founder and managing partner of INFO GmbH, IFM Berlin GmbH and LILJEBERG Research International. He served for nine years on the BVM Federal Board (most recently as Chairman of the Board), and for many years and again currently on the BVM Expert Advisory Board. He graduated in law, criminology and psychology. His research interests include political research, media research, traffic research, telecommunications, and urban and regional research.
Dirk Wieseke is co-founder and managing director of KERNWERT and has been developing software and services for digital research with a qualitative focus in cooperation with his team for over 15 years. He advises institutes, agencies and companies on the conception and implementation of digital research approaches, with Research Communities forming one focus of his work.
Thomas Donath (graduate psychologist) is one of the managing partners of the market research agency NORDLIGHT research, which he founded in 2007 together with two colleagues. Previously, he worked at a Cologne-based market research agency and at Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf. His work focuses on customer experience research. In addition to two flagship studies on the topic of "energy" - one of them with an extensive conjoint section - he and his colleagues publish Trendmonitor Deutschland, which takes a close look at current trends in products and services from a consumer perspective.
Interview was originally published in German on marktforschung.de
