5 Ways to Integrate Live Webcam and Mobile Technology into Consumer Research Studies

Since we first launched the Aha! Strategic Online Qual Platform in 2013, we have lived by the motto “Innovation by Collaboration”. Simply put, that means working with our clients to improve upon our insights technology to better serve the needs of the marketplace. 

Aha! Live Conversations™, the first-ever integration of Zoom’s Unified Communication Platform, is just the latest example of how we continue to evolve our technology to take market research studies to the next level.  This unique integration of Zoom’s cloud-based platform for video, voice, content sharing, and chat technology, now gives market researchers and corporations the ability to conduct live webcam conversations with their customers to gain a deeper understanding of the emotions, attitudes, and behaviors that drive buying decisions and product usage. 

In this blog I will share 5 ways you can incorporate our live webcam and mobile technology to augment the use of Aha!’s full suite of asynchronous and live digital market research tools and activities for methodologies that include: Live IDIs, Customer Experience Studies, Mobile Missions, Concept Testing and Home Use Tests.

1. Add-on Live IDI:  Asynchronous online studies followed by Live Webcam IDI’s is a powerful hybrid combination of the two approaches. If the budget allows, it is highly beneficial to select your 6-10 best respondents from your asynchronous phase, then schedule (or do ad hoc) deep-dive webcam interviews for 30-60 minutes. This allows you to cherry pick the most insightful respondents and discuss anything that may have come up in the study, further explore insightful themes that may have emerged, or simply get more context around the findings that you are planning to make the focal point of your report.
2. Customer Experience Studies: Live webcam has become a highly effective tool for corporate researchers and marketers to get closer to the customers with whom they are creating a relationship.  While customers make quant and qual contributions along with journaling and diary entries to give you deep insights into their journey, there is nothing more connected than jumping on a live webcam video call and connecting with the people who actually buy and use your goods, products, and services — it’s the next-best thing to in-home ethnography. This face-to-face interaction actually builds real empathy towards customers and gives your insights team (and other employees) an opportunity to explore more freely through a legitimate friendship built over the course of time.
3. Mobile Missions:  Live, face-to-face conversations allow researchers the opportunity to ride shotgun with their customers as they navigate decision-making processes in real-time at places where they live, work, play, and spend. For example, you can send customers to the grocery to shop for cereal. When they get to the store, they simply initiate the video call and have a conversation describing what is in front of them and answer any guided and impromptu questions the researcher on the other end of the call may have.  This is a much more efficient way to do a shop-along exercise delivering in-the-moment insights at a fraction of the cost and time.
4. Concept Testing/Web-usability:  Live, recorded interactions with respondents as they look at ideas or websites enables researchers the opportunity to get a deeper level of understanding regarding their thoughts, feelings, and actions as they are exposed to new ideas. The beauty of this live approach is that respondents can narrate their thoughts and feelings out loud and give the researcher the opportunity to probe along the way, asking questions as the respondent navigates the concept or website.  While asynchronous approaches are great, this live, shared discussion gives greater freedom and creativity to the researcher yielding more robust interaction from the respondent.
5. Home-Use Tests:  HUT’s have come a long way since researchers actually had to visit a respondent and ask them to use a product in-person in a staged and somewhat artificial environment. Asynchronous home-use tests are very popular these days. By adding the live element of a shared video chat, you can get real-time usage feedback in an up-close and personal way, that will ultimately convey the good, the bad and the ugly. While asynchronous video is a staple, a live conversation can give you valuable insight into how your new product does or does not meet marketplace needs.

These examples are just the tip of the iceberg on how Live Webcam and Mobile Insights Technologies are revolutionizing market research. The possibilities are endless.

If you would like to understand more about how our online qual platform can help you and your team gain deeper insight on your next project, let’s talk.