How qualitative research differs from quantitative research?

As a business leader, you always think of ways to make your business reach out to the target audience more effectively. Once you reach your intended audience and they start using your services and products on a regular basis, you create a loyal base of audience for your brand. However, with changing market dynamics and intense competition, it is difficult to retain customer loyalty. In such case, think one-step beyond, use quantitative and qualitative market research to understand your target audience’s persona and retain their loyalty for life!

In this article, we will have a look at how both these research terms vary from one another and how you can use them for to improve your business processes and establish a firm foothold in the market.

Qualitative Market Research

Qualitative market research is a type of market research that is conducted using observation or unstructured questioning. This is done to a gain a better and deeper insight into consumers’ pending habits, understand the motivations behind this habit, what they perceive about your brand, etc.

Methods of Conducting Qualitative Research

A qualitative research can be conducted in various ways, some of which are listed below:

Individual Interviews:

Individual interviews are conducted with a person via a telephone, Internet, or face-to-face. In this type, you have to first create a set of questions that you are going to ask your target audience about what motivates them to use a product of a particular brand or switch brands.

Focus Groups Interviews:

In case of focus group interviews, you ask questions to a group of individuals on a one-on-one basis. It is the best way to obtain information about the target audience’s buying persona. You can conduct this type of interview in an environment where customers could feel comfortable and express their feelings clearly about a product/service without hesitation. Communicating with online focus groups via various video meeting channels is another cost-effective way to reach out to your target audience.

Observations

In this type of qualitative research, you understand the target customer’s behavior by studying the way they look or handle a product. Observation study can take place in a retail store or a shopping mall.

To get the best possible result out of your qualitative research, it would always be worthwhile to combine the above methods. It will help you gain a real sense of how the target audience perceives your products.

How to analyze the Qualitative Research Data

Since the data you obtained through methods is an unstructured, you can draw a general conclusion from such data. In order to get concrete results, you need to summarize the key points highlighted by customers. For instance, check how many people said they felt the fragrance of the deodorant lasted for a day. Another way is to code the responses such as - how often do they wear sunscreen? Do they wear it daily? Then how many times, etc.

Quantitative Research

Quantitative research focusses on numerical data rather than the textual data, wherein you ask quantifiable questions to your customers/clients, employees, vendors, etc. You can use their responses to increase consumer satisfaction rate, improve your offerings and business revenue.

Methods

1. Surveys:

Surveys can be conducted online or offline and you get quick responses that are measurable and objective.

2. Tracking:

You can deploy tracking methods to track and observe the behavior of their target audience online. It’s a method to let the server know your customers’ surfing habits (based on the websites they visit frequently).

3. Structured interviews:

This involves a set of pre-planned questions, wherein the participant has to answer the questions descriptively. The data gathered from this method can be converted into responses like percentages or a numeric value.

Analyzing Quantitative Research

After collecting quantitative research from various sources, you need to assemble the scattered information and turn it into the data to understand how different sections have responded.

A business that is desirous of improving their products/services, enhancing market reach and gain loyal customers can greatly benefit from a market research company. If you are looking for a professional analyst company that can help you with qualitative and quantitative market research, reach out to us at TheAnalystAgency. With years of experience in catering solutions to various firs worldwide, we are your perfect partner that can help you to kick-start your marketing goals.