002 The Invisible Touch – The Unreliable Subject
Research And Its Limits
Researchers often have a way of finding the results they want.
Harry Beckwith gives two major examples in this section of the book:
1. His family was a Neilsen family – you know, one of those families we have never ever met which works with the A.C. Neilsen company to track what you and I watch on TV. But what happened in Mr. Beckwith's family might just as easily happen in ANY family: because they wanted to seem thorough in filling out the form whenever they watched TV, they often watched MORE TV than normal, and not just the shows they usually saw.
So this skewed the results, listing MORE viewers for shows they normally never saw.
2. In 1999, Starbucks, the ubiquitous coffee pervaders, wanted to find out what its customers thought, so they put researchers into their stores who questioned people right after they purchased.
How would YOU react if someone stepped up to you after you received your vente cafe mocha from the barista you saw every morning? Would you dare say that he wasn't friendly, that she didn't give service with a smile, that the coffee wasn't delicious?
OK… so some people might, but most would again skew the data.
Here's one that large marketers often use: the Focus Group.
You're taken into a room KNOWING people are watching you, you eat a bite of chocolate, see how clean some clothing is, watch a movie trailer and then give your opinion.
Will you react the same way here as you would at a grocery store, at home, at a movie theater?
How Do These Facts Skew Our Marketing?
Here's a way that you WON'T skew the results of your marketing: use pay per click advertising.
Create three small Google AdWords ads, have them rotate evenly (so each appears 33.33% of the time), and see how many people (in the real world) actually click on each one. Those results are not biased. It would be hard for me to force those results since all I'm doing is putting out what is essentially a small classified ad and seeing who will click on it.
People can use this to find a title for their new book or market a product or service – put it out there and let people vote with a click of the mouse.
Clearly not everything fits into this neat way of testing… but we can search to find better ways than most people use.
Reticular Cortex At Work
We see what we are looking for.
Ever buy a car, drive it off the lot, and then see the same style care ALL over the road?
Were they NOT there before you purchased OR, since you are now THINKING about that style of car, are you just NOTICING them now.
Clearly the latter is the case.
The same is often true for research… as people LOOK for certain results, they find them. It isn't magic, it's science.
So… be careful about research – it can blind us and give us results we really don't want. Work for understanding (of what people want) and you'll be closer to your marketing goals.
Best,
Charlie Seymour Jr
Blogging, Podcasting, Consulting
The Invisible Touch – A Marketing Blog Series By Charles Seymour Jr
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Charlie Seymour Jr is an entrepreneurial evangelist and marketing-success coach helping individuals and companies (up to $100MM) explode their success through online and direct-response marketing. He specializes in blogging, podcasting, photography, video, and Facebook applications. Visit his blog at http://bit.ly/24eYTO to learn more about his successes.
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002 The Invisible Touch – The Unreliable Subject
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