As consumers and brands around the world keep adjusting to the next normal, we had to rewrite our strategies and pivot our operations as well. Our digital capabilities allow us to continue to conduct studies and surveys online and offline. Our quantitative studies were unphased for the most part in the last 13+ months, however, our qualitative methods face opportunities and challenges. Social distancing mandates are restricting our ability to collect data in forms of group studies, face-to-face, or mall intercept, but we believe consumer insights are never more valuable than in times of crisis. Being adaptable and embracing true agility during the crisis are vital for brands to survive the pandemic and beyond. According to a study by McKinsey 3 out of 4 consumers have experimented with new brands since the beginning of the pandemic. Covid-19 may have disrupted customer loyalty and brand loyalty; however, brands are able to gain the trust back by studying insights from their customers.
Market research in 2021 and beyond Covid-19 is dependent on agility and innovation. Now more than ever actionable insights will help us adjust to new trends and capitalize on opportunities to accelerate recovery. 2021 is the year of transitioning to the “new normal” and as leaders of the market research community, we need to work toward a sustainable response for building more resilient societies.
Jason Zweig
Vice President
As qualitative research typically relies on face-to-face interactions, some clients may have been concerned about the risks and accuracy of the data collected at this time. At Canadian Viewpoint, we have remained committed to helping our clients to collect accurate insights by transitioning their offline methods into digital, and have offered services such as eye-tracking and facial coding, heatmap, and IHUTs for in-market and pre-market products.
One of the most popular research methods among our clients and our consumer panel in the past year has been in-home usage testing (IHUT). We have observed high participation and rapid engagements from our consumer panel as well, since millions of people are stuck at home and are willing to engage. The demand for IHUT services has doubled in the past year, and many of our clients have switched to IHUT since the beginning of the pandemic. IHUT is a cost-effective way to test a product with real people before a product launch.
For more than 40 years, Canadian Viewpoint has worked in both quantitative and qualitative methodology. Canadian Viewpoint has extensive experience conducting in-home and in-facility usage, product, and package tests across Canada and the USA. Our clients use IHUTs to gain a better understanding of how people use products in their own homes in a natural environment. Hence, participants get a genuine sense of whether they like or dislike a product based on how they would actually use it in real life, and their feedback is gathered by phone interviews, online surveys, or video diaries. IHUTs offer users the opportunity to assess products at home in a natural environment where they get a genuine sense of whether they like or dislike a product. With the stay-at-home orders and social distancing mandates, the IHUT method has been very popular and effective. At Canadian Viewpoint for the safety of our employees, clients, and our community, we have made extensive improvements and additions to our safety and sanitation procedures throughout the entire IHUT process.
2021 and beyond
Market research in 2021 and beyond Covid-19 is dependent on agility and innovation. Now more than ever actionable insights will help us adjust to new trends and capitalize on opportunities to accelerate recovery. 2021 is the year of transitioning to the “new normal” and as a community, we need to work toward a sustainable response for building more resilient societies.
If you’d like to figure out how to transition your research methodology and generate high-quality IHUT or package test data, please get in touch with us.
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