Market Insights

Mobile Gaming Revenues Are Set To Increase By 130% Over The Next Year

Michael O'Grady — Mon, 21 May 2012 09:04:28 +0000

In two recently published forecasts -- the Forrester Research Mobile Media And Application Spending Forecast, 2012 To 2017 (EU7) and the Forrester Research Mobile Media And Application Spending Forecast, 2012 To 2017 (US) -- we looked at mobile and tablet content usage for games, music, video, and messaging across the US and seven countries in Western Europe.* As content availability becomes more synonymous with handset choice, the forecast helps understand the proportion of mobile commerce that can be attributed to those who use and pay for digital content.

More than 80% of worldwide app downloads in 2011 were for Apple and Android devices; these accounted for more than 16 billion downloads. Gaming apps dominate mobile app spending; this is driven by both an increase in the number of users playing games on their phones and the amount of in-game spend, which accounted for more than 60% of mobile gaming revenues. In the US, about 76 million mobile and tablet owners regularly play games on their devices; with only a third of these regularly downloading games, there's a great opportunity for growth in both mobile advertising and mobile gaming revenues.

Music remains the most widely used content category, with more than 30% of mobile phone users listening to music on their devices. The number of users watching pay-per-view video on mobile phones and tablets will almost triple between 2012 and2017, although the amount spent will remain modest compared with music and games due to the high penetration of video-on-demand services.

Understanding China: The Opportunities And Challenges

Reineke Reitsma — Mon, 14 May 2012 12:56:10 +0000

China represents a huge opportunity for most organizations -- the nation has a population of 1.35 billion people, consumer spend has gone up progressively in the past few years, and Forrester expects 268 million Chinese consumers to buy online by 2014. And, we are committed to providing our clients with the data and analysis required to be successful in the country. In fact, as part of our Technographics product, we have been investigating the impact of technology on consumer behavior in the Asia Pacific region since 2006.¹

Recently, I collaborated with my colleague Sam Yanling Jaddou on a report called "Understanding China: The Opportunities And Challenges" that will help marketing and strategy professionals understand the uniqueness of the Chinese market, as well as key consumer trends.

Some highlights from the report, which is based on a survey of more than 3,600 metropolitan Chinese consumers²:

The Data Digest: Media Cannibalization

Reineke Reitsma — Fri, 11 May 2012 08:39:18 +0000

At the end of 2010, we published a blog post about the results of our annual US "Understanding The Need Of The Changing Consumer" report, in which we reported that for the first time ever the average time US consumer reports spending online is the same as what they report spending watching offline TV. As the data is self-reported it's different from the metrics collected by Nielsen or comScore, but it tells a very important story that is coming directly from the mouths of consumers: In their minds, time spent with offline and online media is split equally.

However, this discussion came at a time when the iPad had only been launched for about six months and worldwide there were less than 15 million iPads sold. At the end of 2011, we conducted a quantitative Technographics^® study and ran a qualitative project in our Community Speaks community to better understand: the relationship among tablets, laptops, and TV; how consumers are currently using the Internet and TV; and how they'd like to do so in the future. Forrester's Technographics data shows that many consumers who own a laptop or tablet use that to go online while watching television:

Technology In Market Research: Highlights From The Market Research Technology Event

Gina Sverdlov — Mon, 07 May 2012 02:06:15 +0000

I just returned from the IIR Market Research Technology Event (TMRTE). These were three action-packed days of industry leaders delivering great insights on what's important for the market research industry, as well as the challenges and opportunities that technology presents. It was a pleasure to meet and connect with so many thought leaders in market research. Here are three main themes I gathered from the event and what I think market researchers need to pay attention to:

And Now For Something Completely Different . . .

Richard Evensen — Wed, 02 May 2012 13:37:55 +0000

Market insights professionals tend to work long hours, under a lot of pressure, with a need to produce ever more with ever less. Needless to say, this can make us a bit, well, stressed and serious. Sometimes too serious for our own good.

So, every once in a while, it's good to connect with our inner child -- or connect with our real children (who may be wondering why mommy and daddy are working so much). Last week, Forresterites in Cambridge got to actually do both with our annual Bring Your Kid To Work Day. It brought a whole new meaning to multitasking!

Morning was spent balancing serious emails with serious games. The juxtaposition really helped me understand that we don't have to be so serious to do great work. In fact, being too serious might actually be an impediment to the creativity and out-of-the-box thinking that market insights professionals so need to bring to the position nowadays!

The height of the day for me was when I brought my nine-year old son to my "office." OK, it's a cubicle. Nothing to write home about, but he thought it was the coolest thing in the world! Being still somewhat in a frame of mind to play games, I started to see my office in a whole new light!

So what is the deep analytical insight of this blog? Well, nothing. And sometimes that's OK. It's good for market insights professionals to take some time off, do nothing, be like a kid (or with a kid), let your mind wander, and do silly things. This is also, by the way, how creative ideas are formed, how innovations are born, and how, perhaps paradoxically, market insights professionals might find a way to do more with less!

The Data Digest: Mobile Behaviors in Russia

Reineke Reitsma — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 08:49:30 +0000

I'm sure you've noticed from the latest data digests that I'm really in a mobile mood, but there's just so much going on with mobile globally! Last week, I was at a research conference on "Mobile Research in a Mobile World"; it presented many interesting case studies on how to use mobile for research purposes in both developed and developing markets.

One of the most intriguing presentations was by Mikhail Zarin from Mobiety and Artem Tinchurin from Tiburon Research. They shared the challenges they encounter with doing research in Russia and how adding mobile adds a layer of complexity with regards to questionnaire design, engagement, and sample management.

This reminded me about a report I recently worked on with a colleague called "The Introduction To The Russian Consumer." My colleague is from Russia, and she taught me that many consumers pay their bills or top up their phones at machines that take cash. And these machines also act as eCommerce platforms: You can use them to purchase airline tickets, for example. During their speech at the mobile research conference, Mikhail and Artem shared how they use these machines to ask people to participate in research. Although response rates are low, overall participation is quite good because there are so many ATMs.

What’s A Story Without The Illustration?

Lindsey Colella — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 20:06:48 +0000

The analogy I always use to talk about qualitative research is that it's the illustration to the quantitative story. What my own analogy assumes is that qualitative data on its own is an illustration. However, it's really up to the analyst to bring this data to life.

Creating a visual story to display your qualitative data is an equally important part of the research process as the analysis phase, and something that is often rushed and not executed well. In my last blog post, I highlighted the fact that qualitative research is not just "quotes on a page." You are doing yourself and your respondents a disservice if you rely solely on quotes and text to tell your story. Here are my tips to create an engaging report:

The Data Digest: Global Mobile Behaviors

Reineke Reitsma — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 12:33:04 +0000

Recently, I've been editing some reports on how consumers are using their mobile phones and how that has changed in the past couple of years. We only have to think back to the Nokia 6510 or Motorola flip phones that we were using a few years ago to see how the introduction of smartphones has changed our world. In many countries, people spend more time texting and doing other data-related activities on their phone than using it for actual voice calls.

And in many countries, the impact of mobile uptake and its evolution has been even bigger and more different than in the US and Europe. In the West, mobiles are often an addition to a PC or game console; in many developing countries, a mobile phone is the only device that most consumers own. This is reflected in the activities for which they use their mobile. For example, Forrester's Technographics^® studies -- involving 333,000 respondents in 18 countries -- shows that Indian, Chinese, and Mexican mobile phone owners use their phones more to listen to music and play games than their European and US counterparts. [Note: this graphic shows selected activities from a list of possible activities]

We Proudly Present “The Facebook Factor”: Forrester’s Facebook Impact Model Quantifies The Impact Of A Facebook Fan

Gina Sverdlov — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 13:27:27 +0000

We listened to marketers of the world's biggest brands when they asked, "What's the impact of Facebook on my brand?" and we decided to take a look for ourselves. We proudly present our latest research, "The Facebook Factor." In the report, we answer the pressing question, "How much more likely are Facebook fans to purchase, consider, and recommend brands, compared with non-fans?" We used logistic regression modeling to find out. The impact? We call it the "Facebook factor," and I urge you to read the report to find out how you can leverage our methodology to assess the Facebook factor for your brand.

In the report, we use four major brands as case studies to assess the Facebook factor for Coca-Cola, Walmart, Best Buy, and BlackBerry(Research In Motion [RIM]). Guess what? Facebook fans are much more likely to purchase, consider, and recommend the brands that they engage with on Facebook than non-fans. As the graphic below shows, Facebook fans of Best Buy are about twice as likely to purchase from and recommend Best Buy as non-fans.

And we didn't just examine the impact of Facebook fans in a silo. We compared the impact of engaging with these brands on Facebook with the impact of other driving factors of brand engagement on these metrics. For example, being a Facebook fan has almost double the impact on purchasing from Walmart as having a Walmart near a consumer's home.

Do You Know The Value Of Qualitative Research?

Lindsey Colella — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 13:46:28 +0000

I have to share something with you -- I'm upset. Why? Because many clients have no idea of the value of good, solid qualitative research, nor the investments needed. Recently, I was discussing a prospective qualitative research project; upon revealing the cost of such a project, one of the group members replied, "That is the same price as for a quantitative project; how can you justify that price?"

The conversation reminded me of my favorite quote from the movie You've Got Mail: Tom Hanks inquires about a book with hand-tipped illustrations and asks, "That's why it costs so much?" and Steve Zahn retorts, "No, that's why it's worth so much."

So, why is qualitative research worth so much?

Because there is a lot of skill involved in uncovering insights from qualitative research. Qualitative research is not about putting a couple of quotes on a page. It requires time, thought, and creativity to produce successful insights. What and who you put into your qualitative research process will determine what you get out of it. And it requires special skills. Unfortunately for us qualitative researchers, there aren't many tools to help us with data analysis. Usually, it's a manual process combined with a natural ability to read between the lines to pull out those impactful findings -- combined with a creative mind to transform these into a compelling story.

In a recent blog post entitled "How to know you're asking the wrong questions," Tom Webster highlights how Lexus successfully broke into the luxury vehicle market by asking consumers about their lives rather than playing "the features game." In this case, asking the right questions made all the difference.

But why are qualitative insights so valuable?

The Data Digest: How Consumers Use Their Mobile For Healthcare Related Tasks

Reineke Reitsma — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 09:50:06 +0000

On April 2nd I'm attending the TEDx event in Maastricht, the Netherlands, which is dedicated to healthcare. Given my market insights background, this may sound a bit out of my league. But you're mistaken. Of course, the healthcare element is sometimes a bit alien to me, but healthcare is not just about curing disease -- it's also about culture, technology, and consumer behavior. And those elements are very familiar to me as market researcher.

Last year the event got me very energized. It's great to see how technology can help people in very difficult situations. I listened to e-patient Dave, a cancer patient who talked about how he used patient support communities like epatients.net to better understand his illness; he has since become a noted activist for healthcare transformation through participatory medicine and personal health data rights. And Lucien Engelen advocated crowdsourcing to create a map of defibrillators (AED devices) globally. (Note: you can download the app here.)

We know that consumers are ready for healthcare-related activities on their mobile phones. Forrester's Technographics® data shows that a third of smartphone owners use their phone for healthcare-related activities, ranging from tracking what they eat to medication text alerts.

Just Do It!

Richard Evensen — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 14:50:07 +0000

Whew, just back from four content-packed days at the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) re:Think 2012conference. It was great to meet up with many of you there and connect through Twitter. If you missed my Twitter stream, click herefor a summary or check out the re:Think feed here.

So, what are the key takeaways for Market Insights Professionals from the conference? Simply, we need to:

Understanding The People Of Walmart — And Getting The Most Out Of Your Surveys

Gina Sverdlov — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 09:21:54 +0000

Last week, I ran into an infographic on Ad Age about The People of Walmart. It compares the demographics of Walmart, Kmart, Kohl's, and Target shoppers: for example, age, sex, income, and region of the customers. It shows that more women than men shop at Walmart, and that their audience is quite equally spread across age as well as income. Recently, Forrester conducted a survey where we gained insights on customers of retailers like Walmart. We found that while it's great to examine the demographics of shoppers, it's much more powerful (and actionable) to look at other insights about these retailers' customer base, like marketing preferences, spend levels, and brand consideration.

Below you'll find some of the results from this Forrester study. You'll see that the average US online adult who shops at Walmart spent about $848 on average in the past year, but that only about half are likely to recommend the retail giant to a friend or family member. When these results are compared to other retailers, and by demographic, you create real insights.

I'd love to hear from you: How do you target your customers? Are there any behavioral and attitudinal variables that have been very helpful in defining your target segments?

Of Mad Men And Market Insights Professionals

Richard Evensen — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 18:29:44 +0000

So, I'm off to the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) re:Think 2012conference next week. This started me "rethinking" how advertising has changed over the decades, and what that means for market insights professionals.

Back when I was born, advertising was a no-brainer. TV. If you could afford it. Only 3 channels to choose from so the "marketing mix model" was not really complicated. Did you need a lot of research to optimize your advertising? Hmmm, with all eyeballs tuned to you, research-optimized content probably was not as important as it is today (for a trip down memory lane, click here).

Fast-forward a few decades and customer choices have exploded. Has TV been killed by the Facebook star? Should you invest more in Google Adworks than traditional media column inches? If you do venture into social media, in which of the 1,000s of sites do you find your customers? And are they your best customers, i.e. the ones you really want to attract? It's like playing Find Waldo, except that Waldo is a fickle consumer who keeps moving around.

Mobile Internet Use In The US Is Two Years Ahead Of Western Europe

Michael O'Grady — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 15:58:01 +0000

In two recently published forecasts -- Forrester Research Mobile Adoption Forecast, 2011 To 2016 (Western Europe) and Forrester Research Mobile Adoption And Sales Forecast, 2012 To 2017 (US) -- we looked at mobile Internet usage across the US and 17 countries in Western Europe.* Tracking the evolution of mobile Internet usage allows us to understand changes in consumer behavior and to better understand such things as the rise of mobile commerce. We found that in 2011, less than one-third of mobile phone owners in Western Europe connected to the mobile Internet at least monthly; this equates to 100 million individuals. In the US, monthly mobile Internet penetration reached 114 million people, approaching half of handset owners. Even the UK, which is one of the leading proponents of mobile Internet usage in Europe, lagged the US, with less than 40% of mobile phone users connecting to the mobile Internet at least monthly.

European economic woes have almost certainly had an impact, but factors like higher smartphone penetration, competitive data plans, higher post-pay subscriber penetration, and the faster rollout of 4G networks and handsets in the US than in Western Europe help explain this difference. In 2011, more than 17 million US mobile phone users already had 4G compatible handsets compared with only 1.6 million in Western Europe.

Market Insights

Mobile Gaming Revenues Are Set To Increase By 130% Over The Next Year

Categories:

Understanding China: The Opportunities And Challenges

Categories:

The Data Digest: Media Cannibalization

Categories:

Technology In Market Research: Highlights From The Market Research Technology Event

Categories:

And Now For Something Completely Different . . .

Categories:

The Data Digest: Mobile Behaviors in Russia

Categories:

What’s A Story Without The Illustration?

Categories:

The Data Digest: Global Mobile Behaviors

Categories:

We Proudly Present “The Facebook Factor”: Forrester’s Facebook Impact Model Quantifies The Impact Of A Facebook Fan

Categories:

Do You Know The Value Of Qualitative Research?

Categories:

The Data Digest: How Consumers Use Their Mobile For Healthcare Related Tasks

Categories:

Just Do It!

Categories:

Understanding The People Of Walmart — And Getting The Most Out Of Your Surveys

Categories:

Of Mad Men And Market Insights Professionals

Categories:

Mobile Internet Use In The US Is Two Years Ahead Of Western Europe

Categories: