AFA Advisory Blog provides news, advice, tutorials, tools, tips, tricks, and trends in Marketing, Communication, Commerce, Management, Organization and IT.
By Ouabdelkader Mohamed
2015-11-07 |
Surveys, Polls and Marketing Research
Previously, to conduct a survey, the marketing research companies had only the choice between few basic methods to administer a questionnaire:
Thanks to the emergence of new technologies (telephony and computers etc.), other methods are born:
Over time, the internet has become available throughout the world and the web was widely popularized. This contributed to the proliferation of "web services" and "SaaS" application (software as a service) including polling websites. At that time, the administration of an online questionnaire is possible. This new method named CAWI (computer-assisted web interviewing) has grown in popularity.
Briefly, web surveys can significantly reduce costs, shorten the overall administrative duration, and guard against risks of errors. However, they also suffer from some limitations.
Cost is controlled through the elimination of some unnecessary expenses like:
This advantage makes online survey tool very suitable for conducting international marketing studies. It is even possible to target specific geographic areas by filtering with IP addresses (continent, country, city, or even neighborhood).
This large access contributes to reducing contact costs, and gives us the opportunity to reach people that are impossible to be physically contacted, or called by telephone or reached during regular business hours intervals.
Respondents may be invited to take part in the online survey in several ways:
A lot of time can be saved thanks to the elimination of some laborious tasks. Indeed, you will not need to recruit and train interviewers anymore. In addition, data entry and data processing are carried out automatically.
Online surveys have several interesting technical features:
Advanced filtering and skip logic to direct the flow of the internet form according to the provided responses throughout the survey.
Detection of suspected respondents through systematic or manual verification of the spent time to fill out the whole questionnaire, or some parts of it.
The provided responses are progressively controlled and error messages are reported if unsatisfactory data are typed in. For example, It's possible to require a response with at least 3 words or at least twenty characters for an open question, otherwise the next steps of the questionnaire won't be accessible.
Systematic and real-time control of quotas and the number of completed questionnaires. In addition, an automatic shutdown option of the internet survey can be activated if a condition is met.
It is possible to embed multimedia objects such as videos, audios, images, flash animations etc. to increase the richness and interactivity, and improve the user experience and his willingness to participate.
In addition, the wide range of questions that can be inserted is huge and diversified. This may allow us to get more valuable results and insights.
The e-questionnaire can be presented in multiple languages in order to involve respondents from different cultures.
Anonymity pushes respondents to provide spontaneous answers.
The absence of the interviewer and other agents (data entry operators etc.), means also the elimination of bias and errors that can be caused by these latter.
Some errors can be prevented thanks to the skip logic mechanisms.
The online form is available all the time during the deployment period of the Internet survey and it is accessible from anywhere. So, an interviewee may complete an online questionnaire at night in his bedroom if it is only available at that time. Furthermore, he will experience less pressure and avoid any lack of concentration that may be triggered by the environment.
The collected responses are stored directly in a database, which enhances confidentiality and improves archiving marketing studies.
Like the other administration methods, the online questionnaire has disadvantages as well as advantages. The optimal choice that can be made varies from one situation to another.
Online marketing studies suffer from the same limitations as all self-administered surveys. Indeed, the suppression of the interviewer results in less support and guidance. In this case, if a question is poorly worded, the online survey may be biased. In addition, answers to open-ended questions are generally less detailed and less exploitable, because of the absence of an interviewer who can ask follow-up questions several times in order to get a more qualitative response.
A specific population may be over-represented (the techie generation) and another one can be totally absent (households without computers and/or Internet connection, elderly people etc.).
Our market research company has opted for a hybrid solution that combines the benefits of an online poll and a face-to-face survey. In this sense, we deploy an online questionnaire that we administer by interviewers equipped with tablets or smartphones for data collection.
This approach allows us to maintain contact with the respondent and facilitate the questionnaire administration.
Are you planning to conduct market research on field or on an online survey site? Contact us to carry out your next marketing project. Our market research firm pursues a proven methodology and makes use of robust tools.
By Ouabdelkader Mohamed
2015-10-26 |
Surveys, Polls and Marketing Research
The types of marketing studies are different and complementary. This diversity is due to the problems that arise which are also varied. For this reason, our market research company had acquired these methodologies and surveys, and especially how to use them optimally and adapt them to each specific situation.
Unlike an ad hoc research which is conducted to bring an answer to a specific problem which occurred at a time T, an ad hoc survey uses what already exists to get quickly an idea about the market at reasonable cost, in other words it is a good candidate for exploratory research.
Our market research firm may conduct in some cases such investigations to be well prepared for a major project, or to provide a customer with quick answers to the usual questions about the industry development, the competitors, the size of a market etc.
Field poll is conducted by surveying a representative sample. Data collection is done with a questionnaire and the objective consists in measuring and identifying the behaviors, opinions, attitudes, appreciations etc. of consumers.
The results can be generalized to the parent population and thus be able to validate/reject the hypotheses generally defined during a preliminary qualitative research.
Unlike the quantitative studies, we don't attempt to count, but to explore in depth the behaviors, attitudes, motivations, barriers to purchase etc. of consumers by calling on psychology.
A qualitative survey is ideal when it comes to clearly define a subject and specify what to measure.
It can be performed with:
Some consumers/customers (typically 6 to 10 people) are invited to take part in a collective meeting and answer the questions of the interviewer/moderator.
This method has a major advantage: The exchanges and interactions between participants results in the emergence of new ideas and may trigger a chain reaction.
Unlike focus groups, face-to-face is addressing sensitive and/or confidential subjects.
To avoid biased results in the case of themes which may embarrass the participants, it is possible to call on a projective method (role-playing game, sentences or stories to be completed, associations of words/images, TAT, Chinese portrait etc.).
The observation is to monitor clients/consumers behaving spontaneously in natural places (shopping centers, for example). This spontaneity makes the observation an effective marketing research tool and provides enough reliable information.
It's a custom-made and timely field survey intended to respond to a specific client problem.
Field survey conducted at regular intervals to monitor some very specific variables, such as: brand awareness, brand image, brand equity etc.
The same questionnaire and sample are maintained from one study to the next.
Do not hesitate to contact us for any request! The AFA market research company will choose from a multitude of solutions, the most effective methodology to meet your needs.
By Ouabdelkader Mohamed
2015-10-08 |
Surveys, Polls and Marketing Research
Conducting a market research requires good preparation, rigorous deployment and continuous monitoring in order to generate reliable data which may provide effective responses to the marketing research objectives.
In this logic, we ensure that any qualitative research or survey goes through an elaborate process, which involves the following steps:
We start marketing research by a scoping meeting to understand the problem and the client environment:
We work together to build strong and healthy foundation before realizing the project. Then we submit to you a proposal detailing the methodology to be implemented, the planned schedule and the required budget.
Before carrying out a market research, we perform a series of recurring preparatory tasks to frame the process and to get equipped with tools:
In some situations, our market research firm may conduct a desktop research to fully grasp the customer's business and working environment.
We specify the target to investigate (gender, age, CSP etc.). Then, to make a compromise between budget and representativeness, we generally choose a sample with the quotas method, and of course we ensure the representativeness of the sample compared to the base population.
The data collection can be realized by a questionnaire in case of polls or by an interview guide in case of qualitative research (individual interviews and focus group).
In case of quantitative research (survey or poll), we choose a mode of questionnaire administration that is effective and appropriate from the following available options: face to face, telephone, online survey, email, mail etc.
We focus on the objectives of the marketing research when writing and structuring the questionnaire in order to solve your issue without being distracted.
After putting the final touches on the reflection part before launching the operational side, we organize another meeting to validate the questionnaire, otherwise we run a second iteration.
Even after the launch of the marketing research, we continuously keep you informed of the work progress, and we respond and take into account your comments and remarks.
This part is particularly important. We strive to collect reliable data by recruiting adequate profiles and providing them with a solid training session on the market research subject and how to interview people.
We also sensitize interviewers to the obligation to preserve confidentiality and we ask them to sign a confidentiality agreement.
Each interviewer is selected according to his technical and personal skills, and in addition, he is subject to rigorous support to prepare him more to the project. We choose specialized profiles in case of technical marketing studies.
Executives, namely field supervisors, research managers and facilitators of group meetings are also assigned depending of their skills, abilities and appropriateness.
Training and briefing sessions are systematically provided at each survey or market research. They are intended to train interviewers on how to ask the participants, how to administer a questionnaire by following its instructions, how to ask follow-up questions and practice active listening ...
Our marketing research firm strives to retain some interviewers and provide them with continuous training, which may be even too specific. These advanced and loyal profiles will be prepared to recurring marketing studies that are pertaining to more technical topics.
After recruiting and briefing the field team (supervisors, interviewers etc.). We actually launch the marketing research in two stages:
Before launching the large-scale poll, we carry out a pilot survey of a small sample of the population in question, to test and validate the methods of data collection, the effectiveness of the questionnaire and the average time of its administration.
Now everything is ready and validated. We advance in the project by:
Control and quality
To increase the quality of the field survey, we implement a series of measures and perform some routine actions at all stages of the poll realization to ensure the collection of reliable data:
Several tasks are performed to exploit the collected data and to draw constructive conclusions:
Note that you can carry out an online survey with our polling platform. The data entry in the database is systematically done when conducting interviews. In addition, tables, graphics and a research report (portable CSV file) can be generated online immediately after filling out the first questionnaire. This results in lower costs, time savings and a low error rate.
To complete the analysis and further exploit the results, we use other more sophisticated processing software:
We are well equipped and we do rigorous work of analysis using all the available methods of processing, modeling and interpretation.
Indeed, the reporting and the dissemination of the first results are provided from the very beginning through our platform that allows us to carry out an online survey. At the end of the project we write a comprehensive and detailed report that summarizes all the market research and presents the results in order to facilitate the decision making process.
Our role is not to write a report with complicated charts in order to amaze the customer, but rather to respond to the initial problem and provide objective, reliable and operational recommendations that may help him to make informed commercial or marketing decisions.
Did you like our methodology? Are you planning to conduct a market study? Contact us to offer you customized solutions with solutions suitable to your problems and a continuous and personalized support.
By Ouabdelkader Mohamed
2015-10-04 |
Surveys, Polls and Marketing Research
AFA is also a polling company and an opinion research corporation. We work generally with clients in Morocco, and we carry out their marketing studies in our office based in Casablanca.
Our marketing research firm relies heavily on web technologies to automate most of the search workflow. This is part of our mission, which aims to carry out an efficient and effective market research in order to help our customers at reasonable cost, to gauge the economic environment, analyze opinions and attitudes, understand behaviors and to identify needs and expectations of the targeted market, examine the decision process and choice criteria of consumers.
Today the market is characterized by great turbulence and complexity. Lifestyles and buying behaviors are constantly changing. For this reason, the market in which the company operates becomes unpredictable, and in order to implement a marketing and sales strategy with full background knowledge, one must study several endogenous and exogenous variables that impact the company.
Unlike the former practice, it is now imperative to anticipate changes in the market, as stated in these two famous quotes:
"Only the past is certain, but we only work with the future." - Auguste Detœuf
"To be beaten is excusable, being surprised is unforgivable." - Napoleon Bonaparte
Marketing studies should not be considered as waste, but instead, they are essential to secure your investments and optimize your sales and marketing plan.
Our market research company is led by a team of experts, who are passionate about opinion polls and extraction of "insights" from the data.
We cover the entire field of marketing research with robust approaches and proven data collecting and analysis tools:
In addition to our multidisciplinary approach, we have also multi-sectoral experience and we work with all the different target categories (B2B, B2C, urban / rural, decision makers, opinion leaders, influencers, public organizations, producers, distributors etc.).
Whatever your concern, surely we have a market study which will provide responses:
We have developed rich expertise to address all these possible marketing issues:
Our proven experience in terms of new information and communications technology (ICT) has opened up the possibility of deploying an online survey and thus computerizing the data collection and analysis steps. These two phases are prone to errors and result in more costs and more wasted time.
We create your internet survey with our platform, after designing the online questionnaire, we administer it on field with tablets. Data is entered directly into the database and reporting can be accessed in real time from your administration panel.
We approach transversely your problems by combining our tools and expertise, to support you beyond the restitution of statistics and graphics by bringing you directly exploitable and operational recommendations thanks to our outside and neutral view.
By Ouabdelkader Mohamed
2015-09-28 |
Expertise
AFA Advisory adopts a comprehensive and complementary approach to solve recurring problems that marketing, management and IT decision makers face all the time.
All our expertise is geared towards improving the overall performance and added value creation.
We assist companies regardless of their sizes and industries by leveraging our broad range of skills and expertise./p>
Our consulting firm is organized into several clusters or areas of expertise and can be presented with the following entities:
We continue constantly our policy of continuous improvement to perfect our expertise and integrate other skills. Indeed, we train tirelessly our "TEAM MEMBERS" and we are always looking for new talents to enrich our team of consultants in Marketing, Communication, Commerce, Management, Organization and Information Technology (IT).
Together, let’s place your business issues at the heart of our thinking!
By Ouabdelkader Mohamed
2015-09-25 |
AFA Advisory
In accordance with Article 6 of Law N° 2004-575 of 21 June 2004 to support confidence in the digital economy, users of the website www.afa-advisory.com are hereby informed about the identity of the various actors within the scope of its implementation and follow up:
Publisher: AFA Advisory
No. 16, Street Moussa Ibn Noussair, Gautier, 2nd floor
Casablanca - Morocco - 20380
Web hosting-provider.: OVH Hosting
No. 10, Avenue 2 Mars
Casablanca - Morocco - 20000
Responsible for publication: the editorial staff of AFA Advisory Firm
Webmaster: webmaster@afa-advisory.com
In accordance with article 27 of law N° 78-17 1978 concerning information technology and freedom of the individual in 06/01/1978, you have a right to access, modify or delete your personal data.
You can always exercise this right by logging in to your space member which available to registrants.
To completely delete your account, please send us a request via the contact form.
The information collected by this website will never be shared with other agencies. In other words, we are the only recipient of such data.
For added security, the passwords are encrypted at registration and are never stored as plain text.
The email addresses are used for accounts creation, initialization of forgotten passwords and possibly for sending newsletters, and of course after getting your opt-in (agreement).
Your email address is not made visible on the website and will never be shared with anyone else.
No newsletter is sent to e-mails that are stored in our database without an explicit request which can be made via the newsletter subscription form.
Cancellation of subscription is very simple and may be done at any time via the form of opt-out that you can find in our site, or by clicking the unsubscribe link present at the bottom of each newsletter sent.
To improve the user experience and better understand how our site is used, we place cookies in your browser.
Cookies are simple text files that contain your preferences and other relevant information such as the data that keep your session open if you check the checkbox "remember me" when logging in.
You can configure your browser to refuse cookies for all sites or for some of them.
To use the site www.afa-advisory.com you have to accept our terms and conditions listed below. Note that these latter are not definitive, indeed they can be amended or supplemented if needed.
All the shared content on the site including, without limitation, images, articles, videos etc. is the exclusive property of AFA Advisory except for some resources published in our website but which are the property of other organizations such as logos or other multimedia assets.
The reproduction of this document, in whole or in part, in any form, is prohibited without prior authorization.
Our site contains links to external sites. We cannot be responsible for the content published in such resources that does not belong to us.
For this reason, please read the external pages with discernment and critical thinking.
The site's primary mission is to present AFA Advisory agency and its services, but it also contains informative articles on marketing, management, computer/IT and similar disciplines.
We do our best to publish reliable content, complete and good, however, we cannot be held responsible for omissions, inaccuracies, incompleteness, or lack of constant updates.
The site is dynamic, there are sections where users can post content (eg comments). To prevent abuses, our moderators reserve the right not to validate or to delete:
On the other hand, the content published by the site visitors may be subject to changes in rare cases such as spelling and grammatical corrections.
AFA Advisory is a consultancy firm whose mission is to provide its clients with Marketing, Communication, Commerce, Management, Organization and IT consultants to help them improve their overall performance.
Let's pave your path to AFA
French