Overview: Market Research for Highway Technologies

Mia ZmudNuStatsAustin, Texas

July 22, 2010

Objectives

• Determining the need and target population• Matching the method to the need• Using research findings• Guiding Principles

Determining the Research Need• Situation analysis

– Assesses the current situation/describe the problem– Defines research need and research objectives

• Tools– Program or product analyses – Primary data collected by others (traffic counts/VMT; NHTS;

National surveys)– Literature search (TRIS online, NTIS, agency library)

Driving Design by the Research Need• Who is the audience that

can provide the information you need?

• How can you reach them?• What data do you need?• How will the research

results be used?

Target Population

Research Method

ResearchQuestions

Analytics

ResearchObjective

Defining the Target Population

• Considerations:– Behavior (licensed drivers; highway usage

patterns; attitudes)– Demography (age; ethnicity; vehicle

ownership)– Geographic (regions; cities; suburban/rural)

What is the purpose of your research?

Who will provide the most useful input?

Which customers use these services?

Defining Customer Segments

Selecting a Research Method Qualitative Quantitative

Objective Gain directional understanding of underlying reasons/motivations

Quantify information and generalize the results from the sample to the pop of interest

Sample Small number of cases; 6-10 per focus group; at least two groups on a topic.

Large number of representative cases; Statistically valid sizes—industry standard is 400 provides a margin of error of +/-5%.

Question type Unstructured; Open-ended, open-response

Structured; Closed-ended, response options; scales and ratings

Interpretation of Data

Directional and reflective of only the persons interviewed; Exploratory

Can draw inferences to the population as a whole; Confirmative

Costs Incentives Required; $65-$125

Low-end $3,000; Mod-end $5,000; high end $10-12,000 (hard to reach)

Highly variable; example

Mn/DOT Telephone, N=400, $35,000-45,000

Selecting a Research Method• Qualitative—directional insights; exploratory

– Test ideas, designs/prototypes, branding– Understand target population opinions/attitudes about

programs/products– Pretest survey instruments– Explore survey findings

• Quantitative—confirmatory– Point-in-time measure of attitudes, behaviors, opinions– Establish baselines– Measure shifts over time (trending)

Focus Group—Trade offs• Strengths

– Produce deep insights and wide range of ideas

– Group setting is comfortable and participants are likely to be highly engaged

– Allows observation by viewers and sessions can be recorded

– Can be conducted quickly

• Limitations– Results are exploratory, not

conclusive– Cannot generalize to the

population as a whole– Susceptible to client/researcher

bias– Requires professional moderator– Unstructured nature of data

makes analysis time consuming

Source: NCHRP 08-36

Telephone—Trade offs• Strengths

– Reach majority of Households (cell phone)

– Fast turnaround– Higher response rates– Less question

nonresponse– Interviewers can ask for

clarification

• Limitations– Generally, higher cost– Respondents may

“screen”– Interrupts Respondents

free time– Not including cell phone

sample may cause sampling bias

Source: NCHRP 08-36

Mail—Trade offs

• Strengths– Relatively inexpensive– Reach households with

address-based sample

• Limitations– No probing/clarification– Lower response rates– Less control over

respondents– Slower turnaround– Length can affect

completion rates (lower)

Source: NCHRP 08-36

Online—Trade offs• Strengths

– Very low cost– Can be very fast– Flexibility to respondent – Provide more detail on

open-ended questions

• Limitations– May not reflect population as a

whole (not statistically valid if conducted as a population survey)

– Requires multiple reminder emails

– Unintended respondents may reply if passcodes not provided

– Lower completion rates on longer surveysSource: NCHRP 08-36

Putting Data to Use• Processing and weighting • Coding (qualitative and quantitative)• Basic analytics (frequencies, cross-tabulations,

tests of significance)• Higher level analytics (customer segmentation,

stated preference, conjoint analysis, and models)

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Have Clear Research Objectives

Partner with Research Experts

Find a Research Champion

Match Method to Need

Consider Segmentation

Apply Research

Source: NCHRP 20-07

Relevant Resources• NCHRP 20-07, Task 260, Putting Customer Research

Into Action (2009)• NCHRP 20-78, Communicating the Value of Research

(2009)• NCHRP 08-36, Task 74, Customer Research Practices &

Applications: A Guidebook for Practitioners (2007)• NCHRP Report 511, Guide for Customer Driven

Benchmarking of Maintenance Activities (2004)• NCHRP Report 487, Using Customer Needs to Drive

Transportation Decisions (2003)

Relevant Resources

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/inforeg_statpolicy/