Why Black Friday is So Huge

   Black Friday is the retail industry's favorite day. It is the day people line up at the wee hours in the morning and buy products they wouldn't normally buy. Arie Kruglanski a psychology researcher believes that a major factor in the phenomenon that is Black Friday, is the theory of need for closure. Some people take a long time to make a decision then take an action based on the decision, while others are quick to make a decision and then quickly make an action. Someone's need for closure can certainly motivate them to act.
   In the case of Black Friday, it motivates people who don't think about a decision as much to take action quickly. They don't consider all the factors in that moment. They simply want the product and know they can "afford" (sometimes they have to give up things to afford the product) it, so they buy it. Retailers have noticed this is the main factor behind the success of Black Friday. Which is why they make deals that any quick decision maker would go for!
    Being a big fan of Black Friday I realize now that I am very much an impulsive buyer. Also, I can easily justify a purchase to myself. Knowing that I am a quick decision maker, maybe now I will try to take my time before making a decision on Black Friday. We will see how that goes..
    What about you?! Are you a quick buyer or do you think things out before making a decision? 

Not on Social Media? Reconsider NOW

For those companies who don't know whether or not to be active on social media sites here is the market research study to PROVE you need to be there interacting with your customers!


The Retail Consumer Report surveyed 4,512 social media users as well as monitored multiple social media sites and review sites. The following are the key statistics that every company should know!


1.) 68% of people who complained online (whether it was on FaceBook/Twitter or a review website) had a response from the company
2.) Of those, 18% turned into LOYAL customers of the company they had a complaint about and bought more items from that company


This shows how powerful it is for a company to see a complaint and respond to that complaint. It could change a "hater" into a lover of your product. This is also an element of surprise for the customer.


3.) 61% of customers would be shocked if a company replied to their complaints on the web.


Do we need any more proof on why companies should be online?! 

The Power of Asking the Right Questions

In a recent study done by the CMO council, revealed that many companies are not closing on close to 80% of their leads, or potential sales. There are a few reasons as to why this number is so high. The biggest being structural problems within the company. For example many respondents said they do not have the tools to generate and create new business opportunities. Another issue is that many people do not think sales and marketing departments are functioning as efficient as they could be. These different factors are severely affected sales in companies around the country. 


From one study that asked the right questions, they were able to identify these major problems within multiple companies. With this knowledge companies can now focus their efforts into creating stronger, more understandable structures. This study shows the power of asking the right questions and how it can lead to a greater understanding of a problem. While structure is always a challenge for companies, they probably didn't realize how much of an impact it was having on their sales and revenue. 


For the complete analysis of this study go to Marketing Today

GutCheck!

Here is another example of how powerful the internet is for any company to get valuable information for very little cost. GutCheck is one the latest tools companies are using to hold focus groups over the internet. It allows market researchers to interview people one on one via an instant messenger platform, or do an entire group on the instant messenger platform. One of the largest challenges with focus groups is that there are always one or two people who will dominate the conversation. This tool allows market researchers to talk to everyone individually and get the most out of all of their participants. 

Another huge factor is diversity in geographic locations. Unless marketers are willing to spend the money to do focus groups across the country, the group is not very representative of the country. This could potentially skew the results of the focus group. Lastly there is costs. As the video below mentions it costs on average $700 per participant, whereas GutCheck is $40 per participant.

The only downside to this website is, the participants are actively online and willing to participate. Which means there might be a demographic/ psychographic that may be missing from this area. However, every tool has their downsides, its up to the market researcher to fill in the missing pieces with other tools!

To learn more about GutCheck check out their website at gutcheckit.com

Using Social Media for Market Research

As we know or can probably guess, social media has opened the doors to a two way road between marketers and consumers. Marketers can no longer push a message on the consumers without hearing feedback as well as consumers have a much stronger voice in the online world which forces companies to be more proactive and communicate with their customers in this online Community. Below is a video I found that shows social media is an asset to another department of the marketing group: the market research folks-

  As David C Skul of Relativity an internet market firm says in the video- social media is a great way to converse with customers as well as get very detailed demographic information. A profile can tell the market researcher so much information that it helps them narrow down who to talk to, or who is talking about their products in the social media world. 
   A company might think they need to target 14-19 year old males who play video games, however through research on social media sites like FaceBook and Twitter, that company may realize their actual market is 17-24 year old males who are active members of a community. This understanding will allow companies to market to their actual audience and connect with that audience. 

Next in Line- The Mystery Shopper

The mystery shopper technique was developed in the 1940's by companies that wanted to know what the customer experience was in their stores. It was started by banks to ensure the tellers were being honest and ethical when dealing with any of the customers. Since then it has evolved to become a popular way of collecting data from consumers and help improve the quality of customer service. Now instead of just making sure employees are representing the company in a good light, they use mystery shoppers to share their experiences shopping in the store. For example, what caught their eye, how they felt about the set up, how the prices are displayed, how many employees were present at the store. As we know in the eye of the market researcher, the customer is an always changing topic. To answer difficult questions like this, the best way is to send a mystery shopper in with these questions in mind and to report back their feelings. The reason they are a mystery shoppers is because if the store knew they were coming in, it would skew the results and feelings of the shopper. When the employees don't know they will act like they normally do. This is a great way to keep control over the experiment. 
I really like this kind of technique because the mystery shopper is a consumer so they are giving genuine insights as to what their experiences are and how they think the company can improve. Like social media, this is market research's form of communicating with the consumers/public.