I’ve been working in marketing for 3 years now and have completed higher education degrees in marketing. With that being said, I’ve learned through these experiences the importance and value of marketing research as a whole. This blog post will focus on the second step of the market research process- designing a research study. I’m currently employed by Anthropologie, and based on my experience so far in my role as a sales associate, I will be showing you an example of how to design a research study for a retail company like theirs.
How do you start the process of designing a research study?
Marketing research expert, Jaclyn Tanenbaum, tells us there’s three things we need to do first:
- Decide which type of study is best suited to addressing the research question
- Define who our research audience is
- Create a study instrument
Additionally, there are some specific factors to acknowledge in order to see success with the study. They are as follows:
- Define an appropriate research question
- Create a research objective that will solve the answer to the research question Be sure to involve those in the company relevant to the topic of the research study
Next, let’s apply these concepts to creating a potential research study for Anthropologie.
Research Question, Associated Research Study, & Study Instrument
Anthropologie has been working over the years to rebrand and keep up with industry trends in order to avoid going stale. If they wanted to create a research study based on this goal, they might ask the research question, “How can Anthropologie Improve alignment with evolving customer preferences of product offerings, marketing strategies, and shopping experiences?”
From here, I would then determine the best suited type of study is a combination of qualitative and quantitative. For qualitative research, I believe social media listening is the best tool. For quantitative research, I would add to the already existing customer surveys that already get sent out to customers after making a purchase in-store or online. Using a combination allows for a greater breadth of useful customer data.
In order to collect data from social media listening and surveys, the next step would be to determine the proper study instruments. In this case, I would choose a platform like HootSuite or SproutSocial to track social media insights across multiple platforms. Additionally, I would select my preferred survey platform to reach customers post-purchase. I would likely pick Qualtrics, as It’s easy for both marketers and customers to use on both ends of the survey.
Research Audience & Objective
The main audience of this research study includes current customers of Anthropologie. The main objective of the study is to gain a better understanding of changing customer needs and what we can do to meet and exceed their expectations.
Overall, this is a brief example of how you can design a research study in the world of fashion marketing.
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