INSIGHT on INSIGHT: Applying Qualitative Research
Qualitative research can provide a wide range of valuable insight. However, the application of results can be further complicated by the fact that the insight is directional, not factual, in nature.
Unlike applying quantitative insight, there is typically significant room for interpreting the meaning and appropriate actions that should be taken based only on qualitative insight.
While any qualitative research was hopefully guided by clear objectives, results can still languish as little more than educational curiosity, never getting translated to specific actions that deliver tangible results.
Delivery of qualitative results can range from text-heavy written summaries, to audio or video productions. Consider applying qualitative insight in some of the following ways to make sure it delivers enough ROI to justify the money and time invested in it:
Use qualitative insight to tell stories in the shopper’s voice: Nothing can duplicate the first-person experience of meeting and conversing with shoppers. However, there are practical limitations to how many people can personally participate in projects. Crafting well-told stories about both the experience and the shopper’s point of view can force a change of perspective and a new respect for the people companies are trying to connect with. It can revolutionize their perspective on how shoppers need to be approached to motivate changes to behavior. These stories are often best disseminated through conversation, but engaging media can also be produced to increase the shelf life of the insight.
Use qualitative insight to attach meaning and emotion to data: Knowing some percentage of shoppers have a dissatisfying shopping experience is very different than understanding examples of those specific events along with the associated emotions experienced during the event, and the consequences coming from the event. There is a similar difference between testing purchase intent at different price points and hearing how shoppers perceive or evaluate value through the cues of those price points. This is typically best done by creating new presentations or reports that merge the qualitative insight with existing quantitative content.
Use qualitative insight to paint a more complete picture of the shopper’s life: One of the benefits of qualitative insight is the ability to stray off-topic and go down unexpected tangents that appear promising. Because few categories are consumed in isolation, gaining broader perspective and revealing new connections can determine some of the most valuable actions to take. Creating vignettes or profiles with personification help put all the information about a shopper group into a memorable yet digestible format.
Use qualitative insight to guide or complement future quantitative insight: Results from qualitative insight typically produce new perspective or surprising observations that demand further investigation or validation. This directional insight can, and often should, be the basis for future rounds of primary quantitative insight. Have those involved in the research separate results into “insights we can act on” and “insights we need to further explore” to determine what, if any, future investment in quantitative insight is justified.
The application of qualitative insight can be extremely powerful and effective. However, it is also easy to let that power quickly dilute beyond those that personally participated in the research. This can result in little action and more content added to the “interesting, but not useful” file.