Online surveys, telephone surveys, personal interviews (in the street, in points of sales, etc.), mystery shopping, expert surveys, surveys of market participants, in-depth interviews, focus groups, point-of-sale audits, and price monitoring.
Field Research is a method of collecting and evaluating primary information about the object of research collected directly from the field.
This is first-hand information about the state of the market and all its elements. Methods for collecting such information include a survey or questionnaire (via email, fax, online survey form, sms survey, etc.), direct contact in the form of a face-to-face interview, telephone conversation or survey, and focus groups.
Description of individual methods:
Online CAWI Surveys
The most modern, quick and cost-effective way to collect quantitative information is through surveys of online panel members who receive a reward for participation in marketing research (or CAWI – Computer Assisted Web Interviewing).
Given the fact that the Internet community is expanding and becoming a social environment where people spend a lot of time, it is safe to say that the Internet is playing an ever increasing role in people’s life. Accordingly, some marketing research can be successfully transferred to the Internet.
Advantages of CAWI:
- In most cases, this method is the most cost-effective in terms of time and materials;
- It provides extensive opportunities for displaying video and audio materials, as well as images;
- Research into online audience behaviors (preferences, opinions) is only possible through this method;
- The main results can be accessed by the client in real time via a web interface;
- It allows interviewing an audience that is difficult to reach using other methods (for example, young people, users of complex computer devices, etc.);
- It imposes virtually no restrictions on research geography.
Telephone Survey or Interview
A telephone interview is an individual interview conducted by phone. The telephone survey method allows collecting information both about individuals (city residents, consumers of a certain product, etc.) and legal entities (heads/managers of organizations, etc.)
Telephone surveys use a phone number database (for legal entities) or a list of random phone numbers generated by special software (for individuals).
Mystery Shopping
Mystery shopping is a marketing research technique aimed at evaluating customer service with the use of specially trained people (mystery shoppers) who perform checks on behalf of potential/real customers and report in detail on the results of their checks.
Mystery shopping surveys can be carried out not only by visiting the facilities being checked but also through phone calls, emails, etc.