Small Business Labs

Big Companies Using Psychics?

Newsweek has an article on a corporate psychic who has a thriving practice advising large corporations.  The psychic's name is Laura Day and according to the article she charges $10,000 per month for "unlimited 24 hour access."  My favorite quote is about her 16 year old son:

""I don't want to see what he did with that girl until 2 a.m.," she says. "But I can.""

My personal experience with both my mom and watching my kids try to hide things from my wife is keeping things from a mom is pretty tough even if she's not psychic.  Imagine how hard it must be when she is.

As someone who does forecast and planning work, I often tell people that no one can predict the future.  I think I am right about this.  But based on this article, I may need a new line of work. 

Pew Time Series Data on Internet Usage

Pew Internet recently released a study on the role the internet plays in how people conduct product and service purchase research.  Like all Pew Internet work, the report is well worth reading. 

While digging through the study questionnaire I noticed it contained time series data on Internet usage.  So in a single PDF there is extensive data showing how U.S. Internet usage has changed since 2000.  If you are interested in Internet usage data, take a look. 

The Increasing Power of Online Reviews

The Society for New Communications Research recently released a study showing that online consumers are increasingly using online social media to share their personal customer service experiences and learn about others’ care experiences during their purchase decision process.  According to the study:

• Almost 60% of the study respondents used social media to vent about poor customer care
• Over 70% research companies’ customer care online prior to purchasing products
• 74% choose companies/brands based on others’ customer care experiences shared online

Echoing the results of the Society study is an article from Entrepreneur titled Marketing in the Recommendation Age.  Key quote on the use of online reviews and recommendations:

"Studies .... are finding that 80 percent of readers' purchasing decisions are influenced by customer reviews. And 70 percent of them say they share business reviews with friends and family online."

We've posted in the past on the increasing importance of online user reviews in the customer purchase decision process.  These studies show that the power of online user reviews continues to grow. 

Online Reviews and Offline Purchases

The Kelsey Group and comScore Networks released a study on in the impact of online user reviews on offline purchases of services.  They looked specifically at the impact of online consumer generated reviews on offline purchases related to restaurants, hotels, travel, legal, medical, automotive and home services. 

The research shows that for these categories online reviews are very infuential in off line purchases.  Key data points from the study press release (these are direct quotes):

• Nearly one out of every four Internet users (24 percent) reported using online reviews prior to paying for a service delivered offline.
• More than three-quarters of review users in nearly every category reported that the review had a significant influence on their purchase, with hotels ranking the highest (87 percent).
• Ninety-seven percent of those surveyed who said they made a purchase based on an online review said they found the review to have been accurate.
• Review users also noted that reviews generated by fellow consumers had a greater influence than those generated by professionals.

We've posted in the past on the growing importance of online user reviews on small business.  This study shows this trend is becoming even more pronounced and important. 

BIGresearch on Consumer Trust

BIGresearch is a syndicated survey research firm whose misson, according to their website,  is to provide the "premier knowledge base of consumer insights, past, present and future to executives in the retail and package goods industry."  I haven't worked with them at all, but I enjoy their work.  They tend to ask fun and interesting questions, and they release a fair amount of their data to the public.   

They recently did some survey work on consumer trust of politicians and media (registration is required to see the detailed survey results).  Not surprisingly they found that consumers simply don't trust either with roughly 70% of adult Americans saying they did not trust politicians or the media. 

A wide range of research shows that consumers are losing/have lost trust in traditional institutions over the last several decades, including businesses of all sizes.  This creates opportunities for firms that can created trusted relationships with their customers.

Excellent Advice on Research From Tim Berry

I recently posted on a survey sponsored by postage metering company Pitney Bowes and conducted by the market research firm ICR. The survey shows that a large majority of consumers prefer to receive product promotions via regular mail instead of email.

Tim Berry, a well known expert on business planning, points out in his blog that Pitney Bowes has a vested interest in regular mail being preferred over email, and this study is a good example of why you should be skeptical of market research.  He covers this in more detail in his earlier blog post, "Mistrust Research".  Key quote:

"So here's another planning paradox: research is good because it educates the educated guessing, gives you a fresh look, and adds discipline to assumptions. It keeps us honest.' But research is also bad because it clouds our vision, hides its own flaws, and discourages innovative thinking."

Excellent advice.