By: Mtra. Paola Solórzano y Mtra. Alejandra Vargas

COVID-19 has brought new challenges for all sectors, which imply in organizations the imperative need to adapt to changes in order not only to survive, but to remain. In the Market Research industry we face several challenges in the different methodologies for gathering information.

For quantitative research based on surveys, it was usually possible to carry out studies by telephone, online, on site or at home, however, currently in the case of face-to-face survey, there are several challenges, from the prohibition itself by the government to conduct surveys in the street or public places, as well as curfews, the risk that pollsters expose themselves to the contagion of COVID-19 or put others at risk, the insecurity that has increased, since criminals take advantage of being partially empty to commit acts such as robbery or assault and the refusal of people to answer a survey for fear of contagion.

Speaking of qualitative research, there have been challenges such as the impossibility of bringing together 10 or more people to carry out a group session, the difficulty of conducting in-depth interviews in person to avoid the risk of contagion, as well as the impossibility of contacting Remotely to certain profiles that lack internet or facilities to use digital platforms.

In the case of research with Applied Neuroscience-Neuromarketing, the challenges are even greater because the contact with the study subject is greater than in the other methodologies since direct connections are made to detect their neuronal, cardiac and galvanic response (from the skin).

Faced with this panorama, the union around the world has had to innovate in order to carry out market research without losing the quality of the information. At the national level, the AMAI (National Association of Market Research and Public Opinion Agencies) has generated protocols to carry out research projects with different methodologies, guaranteeing the biosecurity of all those involved.

At ACSI Research, we have adapted with innovation and carried out virtual studies with research projects that have allowed us to continue providing information so that clients can make decisions in a timely manner at these times when information and strategy is essential to continue on the market.

International Case

At ACSI Research we conducted an international qualitative study during the month of July 2020, which required the non-food product test. The product was a device that aims to make life easier for the elderly. The cities in which the research project was carried out were Santiago de Chile (Chile), Bogotá (Colombia) and Panama City (Panama).

The device to be tested was sent from Mexico to each of the cities mentioned. The first challenge consisted in the time it took for the product to arrive, since logistics services have increased their response time due to the large number of filters that any material that crosses borders must be subjected to.

In addition to this, in the three countries the restrictions on mobility in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic were extremely strict. This situation caused that once the product was had to be tested in each city, the delivery logistics were meticulously coordinated with the ACSI Research office in each locality since, for example, in Panama there were strict days and hours in which they could the inhabitants go out into the street and these are segmented by gender, age and schedule according to their identification number. Likewise, since it is a product that, although it is not a medicine, is considered within this branch, it had to be delivered by a certified doctor. For this reason, it was necessary to locate a doctor who was willing to go and deliver the devices to the participants and who, by his position, adhered to the health standards required by the country’s institutions and complied with by ASCI Research.

Once the product was received, it had to be thoroughly sanitized so that it could then be taken to the home of each participant and they could evaluate it.

It should be noted that the profile of the interviewees were men and women over 60 years of age, which made recruiting for interviews and product testing even more complex, given that there were participants who were not willing to take the risk of receiving a person in his house.

The logistics of the study consisted of taking the material to the home of each interviewee. The ACSI Research staff wore the appropriate clothing to carry out the visit (mask, face mask, protective suit, gloves, sanitized product and in airtight bag, etc.). Once he went to the participant’s home, and the participant manipulated the product in order to evaluate it, the interviewer had to sanitize the product, change clothes, and go to the next home to conduct the next interview.

Thanks to the efforts of all those involved, a successful survey was achieved with total customer satisfaction.

Learnings

As a conclusion to the foregoing, it is important to note that any international study by itself represents a great challenge in logistics, however, in the face of complications from the COVID-19 pandemic, for the team involved it must have involved an additional effort to achieve the results that any client deserves, with excellent quality and actionable information.

For ACSI Research it represented a great challenge that was successfully carried out and with great learnings along the way, from overcoming customs, government, medical, biosecurity, fear and uncertainty vicissitudes as well as carrying out coordinated work from the Home Office.

It is a fact that facing adversity with flexibility, solid structure and strategy, leads to making possible what for some seemed impossible.