The second is the growth of social media. Consumers are no longer passive. They are empowered; they socialise online; they get instant information about brands, often over their mobile. In this new social world the key question is who owns the brand? Brand owners are now part of a real time conversation where customers’ experiences and a brand’s performance are transparent for all to see. These new social media tools are moving us from access panels to increasingly socialised panels and to research based around communities, and they are one of the easiest ways for brands to converse with consumers.

Socialised panels are usually large scale. They are often built for our clients. You might think of them as proprietary access panels, but with a veneer of community that is added by using one or more online community tools such as forums, blogs, video and photo uploads, tag clouds, RSS feeds, wikis, profiles etc. But once we start to use these social media tools together we may create market research online communities (MROCs). What defines an MROC is a sense of a shared respondent presence and purpose. The big difference reflects the new world of social networks. In the traditional access panel model, only the panel owner knows that an individual is a member of the panel. In an MROC the identity of the respondents may be known to the other respondents due to the use of user names and through the building of reputations. This creates a shared presence in which relationships can be established between any of the participants, be they respondents, researchers, or clients, as they interact with each other.

One of the great benefits of creating an MROC is that we can allow the data to emerge. We are setting the research agenda but the respondents, clients and researchers are co-creating the flow of data, reacting to the unexpected from wherever it comes, and this can lead to unexpected and interesting insights emerging. For example we built a short term MROC for the UK Office of Fair Trading to explore the future. In the published report the OFT wrote “It is fair to say that the exercise has exceeded all our expectations … the consultation has been enormously valuable to us.” This was in no small part due to the creative interactions of our community members and the rich diversity of comments and suggestions that the community generated.

This is the power of research communities; they allow collaboration, co-creation, and most importantly conversation. At their heart is the reality of the brand holding open and creative conversations with its customers.

WANT TO READ MORE?

GfK Research Summit 2010: The Digital Connected Consumer

PHOTO COURTESY OF:

victoriapeckham

GfK has been investigating various ways that mobile technology can be leveraged for research purposes, and this is a brief introduction to a few of our recent initiatives.

Taking mobile-based surveys mainstream: a Nokia case study

Nokia challenged GfK to monitor their whole portfolio of digital channels, including both standard and mobile websites or online shops. This posed a number of challenges in developing an online survey that would work on both the mobile phone as well as the PC, across all possible brands and models of mobile phone, on the various different mobile operating systems, as well as in all the languages for the countries in which Nokia operates.

We achieved this by linking from a banner on the Nokia mobile sites to a mobile-web survey hosted by GfK, which adapted the content and layout depending on the country, language and phone model – information which was pulled from the Nokia server. While this survey needed to be focussed on key metrics only to manage interview length, we were able to develop a solution in-house that solved all of these challenges and we’ve now achieved over 100,000 completed interviews in less than a year.

A picture’s worth a thousand words: a GfK case study

With the proliferation of channels communicating brand messages to consumers in today’s world, there is a growing need to help businesses understand which are the most effective and how they interact. ‘Mobile Moments of Truth’ is a research tool being developed by GfK that uses the mobile phone to capture and collect the full range of brand experiences. Rather than waiting to ask consumers to recall all brand exposures during a given time frame, panellists are able to take an image using their mobile phone every time they see or experience a brand and give a short report on where, why and how they felt.

This is all achieved through a simple online survey tool which not only gives time sensitive, granular feedback, but also consumer-created images that give a real-life context for each experience.

If phone’s can be smart, why not research: a GFK and Revelation case study

As well as using the mobile phone for online quantitative research, GfK has been investigating its potential for qualitative approaches. In a recent project in conjunction with Revelation (a GfK partner for online qualitative research) a sample of iPhone and Google Android users in the US and UK were invited to take part in a five day online qualitative session about their phone and how they use it in their daily lives; using both their PC and their smartphone to participate in the study.

While most respondents would usually default to their PC when convenient or available, they were more than happy to complete tasks using their smartphone, and when doing so the length and quality of their responses were comparable across the two methods. And when you include the added benefits of response frequency and image.

Ian Ralph (GfK) and Steve August (Revelation) at GfK Client Summit 2010

WANT TO READ MORE?

GfK Research Summit 2010: The Digital Connected Consumer

PHOTO COURTESY OF:

Xjs-Khaos

Such rapid changes in technology force the online space to adapt and change to suit how the user wants to access content, one area that has maintained a steady evolution is online video technology.

Despite confusion around how internet protocol television (IPTV) would evolve, issues around IPTV advertising and how it might be funded, the BBC i-Player ploughed its own furrow. Channels and websites soon began to follow, and this evolved quickly as pocket technology demanded faster download and streaming capabilities.
This not only led to dramatic improvements in how video is served up, but also the compression of video files and file sizes had to decrease in order to be utilised across these platforms, especially as affordable cameras began to introduce HDD technology.

Up until recently this technology did not match, so if you shot on a prosumer Hard Disc camera, then your only option would have been to roughly edit on the camera and burn the files to DVD for playback. It has recently become easier to convert these files (.vod or .mts) or drag them directly into an edit suite.
During these times of change it became evident that market and business intelligence can be delivered quicker and in a more impactful way. It’s been fascinating to see how quickly video has been adopted as an important medium to communicate data, research and insight across global businesses. In the work we do at GfK NOP video is now used at more stages of a research project than you could imagine 3-4 years ago.

At its most basic, video offers a personal touch, and validates data and research findings by offering feedback direct from a business’s customers. Examples of these are vox pops and extracts from focus groups embedded in a final report or presentation. Today’s technology means that vox pops can be cleverly incorporated into reports to produce powerful ‘voice of the consumer’ insights and the standard of video and clarity of audio have vastly improved.

However we are delivering far more of our knowledge and insight via video – from short films starring market experts at pitches, through to five minute report summaries encompassing animated text, graphical representations of reports with voice-over and an engaging sound track that holds the attention of the viewer.

The popularity of video in the business world is increasing over time as clients begin demanding more efficient ways of communicating and digesting information. A great example of this is the development of client video portals, a sort of a corporate YouTube platform, to combat the problem of large video files and improve the sharing of information by circulating hyperlinks.
The illustration below shows at how widely GfK NOP is using video across the lifecycle of a research study:

Looking to the future we see the use of video having far more impact than merely what you see in front of the lens as software technology improves; screen capture, Voice Over IP and bandwidth improvements all open up new video-in-research opportunities, adding multiple dimensions to usability testing, remote interviewing and focus groups, more personal online qual research and much more.

In April 2010, the actions of the world’s most used social networking site struck several chords of concern in our digital society. In changing default privacy settings for users, Facebook placed privacy as central to the internet paradigm. Discussion, debate and protest from social networkers, internet users, reporters, commentators and the 1,400 people based at the corporation’s HQ in California were focussed on notions of privacy.

The fiasco placed Mark Zuckerberg’s leadership of Facebook under scrutiny and led us all to question what it is exactly he believes in. In an interview published in Wired UK Magazine (August 2010), the founder speaks openly about his hopes for “one identity” developed through greater openness online. But events in April revealed that very few of us are willing to expose every part of us to the rest of the online world.

The privacy debate to date has focussed on the actions of two internet giants; Facebook and Google. One tracks, indexes and sells information about us online, the other encourages, nudges and opens the door to self-exposure to the digital world. However, the debate has yet to focus on the beliefs and ideologies that underpin the actions around privacy of Facebook and Google. One thing we do know is that Zuckerberg’s actions around privacy on Facebook reveal his beliefs around “one identity” where each of us behaves and projects the same personality wherever we are on the internet. Therefore, our Facebook profile will look exactly the same as out LinkedIn profile and we will expose the same person wherever we go in digital society.

I imagine that Zuckerberg dropped out of his psychology and computer science degree at Harvard just before class dipped into the work of Anthony Giddens; most students do as a right of passage. Giddens’ work offers some insight around the complexities of self-identity which has significant implications on actions around privacy in digital society.

Giddens claims that self-identity is a narrative each of us makes rather than inherits. It is not something static but is a ‘reflexive project’ i.e. something each of us continuously works and reflects on. “A person’s identity is not to be found in behaviour, nor – important though this is – in the reactions of others, but in the capacity to keep a particular narrative going” (Giddens 1991: 54).

Simply put, the theory means that our identities are built as we learn more about ourselves and ways in which to tell our story in a biographical form. Self-identity therefore demands full control over what to tell and where – something Zuckerberg and his team seem unwilling to grant. Self-identity in digital society is given agency through our different profiles. We can maintain and revisit our ‘social’ self on Facebook, our ‘professional’ self on LinkedIn and our ‘creative’ self on Flickr, and do so at our control. Zuckerberg’s ‘one identity’ however, means we share equal amounts of information continuously and wherever we go without the opportunity to hide or reveal what we learn about ourselves over time.

Recent data from a GfK NOP study on attitudes to privacy finds that social networkers are active in exposing different parts of themselves to different people and want full control in doing so. A large majority of people (78%) believe privacy settings on social network sites should default to sharing nothing.  On Facebook, most users (44%) prefer to share selected information with friends only. Only 7% are doing what Facebook hopes with regard to openness; sharing everything with anyone. On LinkedIn, people are a little more comfortable sharing everything with anyone (13%) perhaps explained by the theme of self-promotion on the site. Still, the preference on Linked In is for control where 35% share selected information with friends only.

The reality of the actions in April means that Facebook now has a more concerned and control-hungry user base. 67% of social networkers say privacy has become more important to them, and, interestingly, 68% say they would place more trust in those social networks who pro-actively help them manage their privacy settings. For Zuckerberg, that means maybe it is time to dip into some Giddens and understand that in digital society, individuals need to build their identities through a carefully managed process of editing and revising. Users want the control to build and shape what they learn and encounter with the passage of time.

RESEARCH NOTES

GfK NOP Technology conducted a survey among 996 UK adults in June 2010. The interviews were conducted online and are representative on UK adults who have access to the internet.

WANT TO READ MORE?

Giddens, A. (1991) Modernity and Self-Identify: Self and Society in the Late Modern Age, Polity Press, Cambridge: http://amzn.to/aM1h4M

Facebook’s privacy policy http://bit.ly/96GSdl

Mike Arrington (Tech Crunch) interrogates Mark Zuckerberg http://bit.ly/7cOFO2

From previous posts on TechTalk we’ve shown how the use of mobile apps shows no sign of abating and that the tight integration services on the iPhone drives Apple’s smartphone success. This thirst for apps and services is the reason why smartphone owners are placing greater importance on their mobile data allowance. Smartphone owners now rely on the services their phone provides and taking these away is not an option.

With many UK operators having recently capped their data allowances smartphone owners will think carefully about their next mobile tariff. GfK NOP estimates that 24 per cent of contract customers using smartphones would actually switch operators if they could get a better mobile data allowance elsewhere.

The decision to cap mobile data usage is a sensible one as the major UK network operators have millions of customers who depend on a reliable mobile network. However, in doing so, network operators need to consider the mindset of the consumer. The average mobile phone user including many smartphone users simply don’t know how much data they use. Those who require a data allowance will always prefer an ‘unlimited’ package for peace of mind. Now that ‘unlimited’ data is coming to an end, consumers will look for the safest option; in other words the operator offering the most generous package.

It is easy to see why smartphone owners react this way when you look at the level of importance they place on using services on their mobile phone. Table 1 (below), shows the level of importance consumers place on mobile services in their day-to-day routine:

Table 1: Importance of mobile service usage

There is clearly a stark contrast between the UK average mobile consumer and smartphone users. Given this huge difference in attitudes it is little wonder the extra emphasis smartphone users are placing on mobile data tariffs. The biggest challenge for network operators over the next few years is how they cope with the increasing demand for smartphones and the increase in data usage this will inevitably bring.

This research was conducted in association with Reuters who have published a thorough market analysis here

If you have any questions or comments regarding the research please click here to email us or leave your opinion in the comments section below

RESEARCH NOTES

• Research was conducted by GfK NOP in association with Reuters between 16 – 19 July 2010
• 978 interviews were conducted online among UK adults aged 16 and over. The sample is representative of UK adults with internet access.

3D stereo anaglyph picture, use red blue glasses to view anaglyphic photo

There has certainly been a lot of market activity (e.g. Sharp’s unveiling of a 3D mobile phone display) in anticipation of consumer demand, but will public enthusiasm migrate to mobile phone devices?

A recent GfK Technology survey, found that 12% of mobile phone users were interested in 3D photos and 8% were interested in 3D gaming. It is likely that the latter and any apps that embrace Augmented Reality or which offer the opportunity to enhance user generated content are going to drive most interest.

However, right now it’s a difficult call as to whether 3D on mobile will really drive the market. It’s up to the handset manufacturers to ensure the execution of the technology lives up to the hype.

To read a fuller article on this topic by Colin Strong, managing director of GfK Business & Technology, click here.

RESEARCH NOTES:

GfK NOP Technology conducted a survey among 996 UK adults in June 2010. The interviews were conducted online and are representative on UK adults who have access to the internet.

PHOTO COURTESY OF:
3dstereopics
http://www.flickr.com/photos/48057488@N06/4746599698/

You could be forgiven for a sense of déjà vu. After all, rising mobile phone use amongst children is not a new phenomenon. As long ago as 2004 the Guardian was reporting growth in ownership amongst under-10s, [1] and media coverage concerning potential health concerns can be traced back even further. However, our ever-increasing reliance on, and immersion in, mobile phones and the digital services we use them to access, justify revisiting the topic. 

Recent data from GfK reinforces just how prevalent mobile ownership amongst under-16s has become (2.5 million 12-15 year olds, almost 9 in 10, now have one). Furthermore, this is the age group cementing the shift in behaviour from passive entertainment, such as television, to more active digital and online activities. [2] As such, it should come as no surprise that the value placed on their mobiles increases accordingly. 

It would be easy to assume these younger consumers are neophytes, new to the category with few preconceptions. Not the case. While 12-15s may be the first to acknowledge the importance of the technology, many of them are the same children the Guardian was reporting on five or more years ago. Instead, as many as 85% of those acquiring a phone are already on (at least) their second handset, and already hold the assortment of brand perceptions that follow this prolonged involvement in the category.[3] 

As established users, with a penchant for advanced features and functions (camera, music, and games usage are all high, alongside social networking, IM, and email), it comes as no surprise that entry-level handsets have limited appeal. While the majority (70%) of phones in this age group are being gifted, three-quarters (74%) of users were involved in the selection process, with medium and high-end handsets flourishing and above average spending. [3] Unsurprisingly therefore, style and functionality will be key to handset manufacturers, for whom it will be necessary to attract the end-user as much as the purchaser. 

The scenario facing operators is less clear. Selection of network and tariff, nominally a decision of less outward importance to younger consumers, remain primarily the domain of the purchaser (in contrast to handset, just 49% and 45% of 12-15 year olds influenced the choice of network/tariff respectively). How then, do operators approach these consumers? Given their focus on handset, clearly an appropriate and desirable range is a prerequisite. Beyond this however, high levels of gifting and relatively low interest in network/tariff imply it’s the gifter, as much as the end-user, who needs to be won over. 

Mary Robinson at GfK Telecoms Research Panels highlights the importance of the under-16 market for network operators: 

“Recent GfK findings for contract phones show that 83% of adults replacing their mobile chose to remain on the same network as before. With such high levels of loyalty in the adult market, the product propositions and brand experiences of the under-16s become massively important. Ignore them at your peril.” 

Ultimately, when this generation hits adulthood and consumption becomes self-sustained, they will already be sophisticated mobile users consuming a range of services and content. Harnessing their demand will be a key revenue stream in the future mobile marketplace, and the brand preferences already developing will play a significant role.

For handset manufacturers, operators and service providers, the prize is a significant one.

 For more information on the under 16 telecoms market please click here

[1] http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2004/apr/28/mobilephones.uknews

[2] http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=2199

[3] GfK Research Panels: Kids Mobile Phone Market Report Q110

PHOTO COURTESY OF:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/uberculture

To highlight the impact that Google Chrome is making we have compared Jan-Jun 2009 data against the same rolling months of 2010.

Compared to this time last year Internet Explorer has lost 12% market share while the Chrome and Firefox browsers have gained some ground. The bad publicity around Internet Explorer and its security flaws combined with the EU enforced browser ballot cannot have done Internet Explorer any favours. Google Chrome is taking full advantage and eating its way into Internet Explorer at a rapid rate and there is no doubt that they want to do the same to Firefox

Similar to our findings in the last browser update it is the younger age groups that continue to push Google Chrome. GfK data for June 2010 shows that 37% of Chrome users are aged 16-24. When considering that 70% of people in this age group spend 20 or more hours on the internet per week – there are a lot of hours being spent on the internet via Google Chrome.

Feel free to take a look at the latest GfK browser statistics here.

The GfK figures align closely with the figures reported by StatsCounter and Net Applications. Although GfK data is only based on UK browser market share it has an added advantage of also containing important demographic information which is unavailable elsewhere (age, gender, UK region, marital status, time spent on the internet). From our data we know that only 25% of people in full time education are using Internet Explorer. If you are interesting in getting some more of this data then please feel free to contact GfK NOP Technology.

How we collect the data

Each month GfK NOP conduct a UK based online survey among UK adults aged 16 and over. The sample is representative of UK adults who use the internet ten hours or more per month. It is important to note that we do not ask a question about which browser the respondent uses, instead, our servers determine the respondent’s browser used to complete the survey. This data is therefore more robust than stated survey data as it is based on actual usage.

Monthly sample size; June 2010 (n=1224)

Jan-Jun 2009 (n=5763)

Jan-Jun 2010 (n=7360)

To read the full GfK NOP Technology report click here

The FIFA World Cup is finally upon us and while football fans, vuvuzelas aside, have been enjoying the first week of games, employers have a difficult decision to make when it comes to England’s game against Slovenia on Wednesday 23 June at 3pm UK time. Passionate debates about football are all too common, but there is one debate that takes place every four years – namely whether employers should give their staff time off to watch their national team play in the World Cup.

GfK data shows that 5% of employees are going to be allowed time off or be granted flexible working hours to fit around England’s match against Slovenia (this includes GfK NOP). Although this seems fairly small it still shows that employers are willing to let their staff take time off because of a football fixture. Most companies will doubtless have already made their decision regarding their position on this matter, but for the few remaining who are yet to make an official announcement, we would urge that they give the go ahead to watch the match.

Employers allowing their staff to watch the game or arrange flexible working around it will not only have made the correct decision for their football loving employees, but more importantly they have made the correct decision for their business. GfK data shows that 78% of staff allowed to watch the game away from their desk will feel more positive towards their employer, with 68% of the same group also saying that they feel more motivated to work during a World Cup.

Employers may lose their headcount for what will effectively amount to a full afternoon, but the benefits from doing so will help to keep their workforce engaged during June and July this year: employers allowing their staff to watch the game will be rewarded with a motivated and productive workforce whilst positively enhancing their image as an employer.

Conversely, our survey data shows that not allowing time off may have a negative impact on a business – 20% of employees not being given time off to watch the game say they now feel more negatively towards their employer, and  17% of respondents state they will feel less motivated as a result of the decision. Furthermore, the majority of those not allowed are likely to be watching the game anyway – the growth in streaming live content through the internet means that watching the match at work is really only a few clicks away. For the 7% of employees who are not allowed time off work  this could be an option that has previously been impossible.

A lot has been made about employees streaming the action from South Africa through their PC or mobile device and crippling the networks within their office walls. So much in fact that FIFA has installed 75 supercomputers in the town of Slough to cope with increased data usage*. The precautions taken by FIFA may not be fully justified as GfK data shows that 23% of those not granted time off work will be listening to live radio commentary while streaming via PC and mobile will only account for 9% and 3% respectively.

With companies already having taken a stance on the issue of the World Cup it is clear to see that those employers officially allowing their staff to watch the game will reap the benefits for the business in the long term and boost company loyalty.  It’s really a no-brainer – although whether people actually want to watch the match following England’s terrible performance against Algeria is less of a certainty…

* Sources for used figures & quotations:

http://www.techradar.com/news/internet/fifa-houses-75-supercomputers-in-uk-for-world-cup-693600

RESEARCH NOTES:

GfK NOP Technology conducted a survey among 996 UK adults in June 2010. The interviews were conducted online and are representative on UK adults who have access to the internet.

Image From:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/shine2010/4615577330/