Online Market Research in China

Online Interviews in China

Online interviews are a type of research method that uses a web based platform as the venue for conducting interviews. It can be in a form of messaging, email, or video chat interview facilitated either through a group or one-on-one interview approach. Online interviews differ from online focus groups in the sense that the former directs to person to person exchanges while the latter is done through group interaction. Conduct of online interviews are facilitated in the form of sending individual solicitation, invitation through mailing lists, personal research web sites, or discussion groups. Sometimes, the interviewer will send the respondent a single question in a chat box and the respondent will answer through the same method. The cycle will continue until the final question is reached.

Video chat interviews can be used if the interviewee wants to have a verbal conversation with the interviewer. It could last between 20-60 minutes for a single respondent. For this approach, an average of 30 respondents can be interviewed in one day. With the convenience of this method, the interviewer spends less time traveling and can save on other costs associated with the conduct of research. Use of this research methodology provides the benefit of being able to access distant areas in China and even all over the world through the use of technology. For data collection to be more effective, questions must be easily understood and interviewers should allow ample time for the respondents to fully answer the questions.

The use of online surveys is the preferred type of quantitative research in China online. It is the interviewer who facilitates and monitors how respondents answer the survey questions. This is to ensure that the respondents are able to understand and that they fully fill in the questions given to them. It is beneficial to conduct online surveys in centralized locations particularly with personalized research websites and discussion group approaches to be able to easily facilitate the conduct of research. Data collected are then automatically stored making the data assimilation fast and convenient.

There are also issues faced using this method in China. One particularly important issue is the accuracy of the collection of data as the interviewers are not present to check the identity of the respondents.

Online Focus Groups in China

An online focus group method is administered to gather insights and opinions of the respondents about consumer products and B2B research. This method proves to be both economical and fast due to the use of online focus group software for data gathering and reporting. Due to the onset of a vastly improved internet speeds and technology, online focus groups have become popular and trained research professionals make use of a discussion guide in acting as moderator in group discussions. Researchers schedule online focus groups and create plans to efficiently manage the engagement. Online focus groups can be done through a chat-based focus group platform, a video-based platform, or a combination of chat, audio, and video functions using live streaming capability ushered by technological innovation.

This type of method is ideal for:

• Consumer and B2B research in gathering information regarding the conduct of tests and validation of business concepts
• evaluation of product performances
• feedback from consumers.

Recommendations for Online Focus Groups

Ideally, there are about 8-12 participants joining together for discussion through the online platform. They have access to a variety of tools and features like video and images as well as communication tools. Combination of audio, chat, and video properties in video based online focus groups are desirable to locations where there is good internet connectivity. Through this method, participants interact with the moderator while under the presence of an observer. Duration ideally lasts from one to an hour and a half to achieve maximum results. It is the duty of the moderator to run across structured questions, manage to initiate a discussion, and make the necessary recording. Additionally, respondents have the tendency of sharing openly with moderators than in face-to-face engagements. As a result, online focus groups in China effectively gather data from highly engaged and receptive participants.

To deal with the issue on communication, researchers plan that the online questions should be in the common language used by Chinese consumers to ensure that they are understood. Responses tend to be different especially when translation agencies are not able to manage well the decoding and encoding processes in translation. On the other hand, some issues like commitment of the respondents, respondent verification, high cost of online software, and government regulations on the conduct of a discussion platform will possibly hinder the desired aims of this method.

Online Bulletin Boards

Another way of using technology in conducting Market Research in China is through the use of a Bulletin Board System (BBS) or commonly known as online bulletin board. This type of qualitative research method belongs to the category of online focus group which involves the use of computer software. The conduct of research is initiated by the moderator who can posts questions through the computer for the respondents to answer. Discussions are made over a period of time. It can be made once or twice a day, or once a week or monthly depending on the depth of information needed for a research project.

• Respondents will have enough time in analyzing and answering questions.
• Allows respondents to be imaginative and encourages to explore other ideas that might be helpful in answering the questions through the introduction of visual images.
• Online bulletin board offers options of when to answer and share thoughts allowing respondents to participate even if they are busy. As a result, more respondents can participate.

Purchasing and maintaining BBS software proved to be costly. Its use cannot guarantee that the respondent is the one answering the questions. The BBS software should be supported with Mandarin Chinese characters in order of respondents to understand the questions. Moreover, translations have to be accurate to avoid the possibility of misinterpretation. In times when questions are in English, only those Chinese fluent in English can participate. As a result, the respondents will not reflect a true representation of whole of China.