“Reality Research – Capturing the Consumer’s Voice in Their Moment of Need”
Patrice Wooldridge, M.A., M.B.A., Shaili Bhatt, B.A., Patrick Wooldridge, FF/EMT-P(Ret.)
Background and Objective
More and more client companies are asking how they can utilize market research as a direct bridge to branding and marketing communications. The purpose of this paper is to concisely present to our colleagues a case study in which the client has directly and effectively used the results of a multi-phased multimodal qualitative research study in their marketing communications.
Vistakon®, manufacturer of Acuvue® brand contact lenses, turned to market research in order to help them demonstrate to optometrists the issues that wearers of competitive astigmatic contact lenses are likely to experience. The idea was to capture the exact moment when wearers of competitive (ballasted) astigmatic contact lenses were having problems with their vision. While it was known that ballasted lenses produced distortion during certain times and activities (e.g., when the wearer turns their head sideways), it seemed that optometrists didn’t fully understand how this affects their patients’ quality of life. The problems with vision due to these types of lenses are not likely to show up while being examined in the doctor’s chair. Vistakon hoped that by capturing wearers' actual “moments of unclear vision,” this would be a powerful way to demonstrate the advantage of the Acuvue brand. The client articulated the project in this way:
"Optometrists work in their offices and fit these lenses, but sometimes they don't understand real-life situations with patients who wear toric lenses. Many times eye doctors don't get to hear real people's stories. We want to make sure that the eye doctors 'get it.' We're creating a film that specifically contains real people's stories about wearing toric lenses. The goal is to educate eye doctors about real-life situations, so they understand that toric lenses are NOT performing."
Vistakon suggested that we recruit wearers of ballasted contact lenses who reported that they experienced times when their vision was “less crisp and clear than they would like” and follow each around (with a video crew) for a day hoping to capture the moments when they had these issues. While that method might have given the client some usable video, there were several concerns.
- While these respondents would have been screened to report that they experienced occasional moments when their vision was less than optimal, there would have been no way to be certain that these dissatisfactions were directly related to their ballasted lenses, rather than attributable to other causes.
- People with impaired vision (especially astigmatics) can not easily determine when they are not seeing clearly, so they tend to regard their vision as “normal” (i.e., “Isn’t this what everyone sees?”).
- The human mind can quickly compensate for visual distortions and transient distortions are often ignored and therefore the types of problems we were seeking to document were likely to fall below most patients’ normal threshold of awareness.
- There is no way to determine through a normal screening process how articulate and compelling a particular respondent will be when seen on video.
Considering these issues, it was clear that even shooting hundreds of hours of video might not provide the clips that our client needed (not to mention the enormous time commitment required to shoot and edit such a large volume of video).
We decided that there needed to be at least one additional step of interaction with these respondents (in addition to online screening, followed by phone screening) before going to their homes with the film crew in order to make the home-visits more fruitful. It seemed essential that we gave these respondents time to discover exactly when and where they were having problems and we wanted to see how well they expressed themselves via video.
To help them capture the issue in the moment, we considered a variety of methods such as having them fill out a short questionnaire in the moment or even giving them a cell phone number they could call and leave a short message about what they had just experienced. For both of these ideas, we were concerned that compliance would be a major issue. The decision was made to ask them to carry around hand counters so that all they had to do was click the counter each time they had a moment of less than crisp or clear vision. The hope was that this would be enough to anchor them in the moment and then they could later report on what happened and how they were feeling.
We then wanted to make sure they had time to share their experiences and to interact with others about times they had problems. Again, we wanted to do this over a period of days so that the greatest number of situations and locations might be covered. Online bulletin boards were clearly the way to provide these respondents with a forum to share over time but it seemed that the typical method of primarily going in and answering questions might not be as fruitful as asking them to tell stories – more in the format of a blog. In this way, respondents took more time to explore what was going on for them when they had moments of unclear vision and to reflect on how this affected their life.
In addition to wanting to make sure that respondents were clearly aware of when they had vision issues and how they felt about this, we also wanted to make sure they were verbally articulate and photogenic since the end result was to use the film from the in-home interviews to create a sales tool that would be shown to optometrists. We knew we could ask respondents to post a picture of themselves on the online board, but this still wouldn’t ensure that they would be verbally articulate on film. Knowing that the US has a high incidence of high-speed internet connectivity, and that we were already asking respondents to participate in an online bulletin board, it seemed very likely we could have them use a webcam in order to allow us to see them “on camera.” We discussed conducting webcam focus groups but didn’t believe that would help us as much as having concentrated time on-camera with each respondent. We decided to ask each to upload five video-diary entries in order to more easily assess which respondents might be best telling their story on film. This actually was quite a challenge, since there was no software already developed to make the process simple in terms of the set-up! (Note: Since conducting this study, there are now suppliers who offer video diary software and support.) Working with a supplier of webcam focus groups, we developed a simple way for the respondents to upload their videos and for the client to view these videos.
By skillfully employing a broad range of qualitative methodologies including hand tally counters, bulletin board studies, video weblogs and quasi-ethnographic interviews, we were able to quickly, efficiently and effectively provide the client with exactly the materials needed to compellingly demonstrate to doctors the real-world problems faced by their patients and the direct benefits of the client’s product.
Phase 1 Method
(The following three methods were applied simultaneously,)
All respondents were provided with hand tally counters (“clickers”) and were asked to keep these with them throughout the week of this phase of the research.
They were to “click” the counter every time they experienced their vision as “less crisp and clear then they would like.”
During this week-long process, all logged on to a secure online bulletin board site that was set up to be more like a blog (a.k.a. web log) than a more traditional online bulletin board study. Each city participated in their own panel discussion in order to make it more likely that they could all easily relate to locations, conditions and experiences that were shared during the week.
The online discussion comprised logging in once a day for at least 5 of 7 days, answering a few questions, then viewing and commenting on others’ responses to these questions.
The site was developed to be driven by what respondents discovered about their vision (vs. a more traditional approach of coming into the board simply to answer questions). The intention was to help these respondents to become more of a shared community, uncovering a new awareness about their vision.
Each respondent also made 5 video logs (vlogs) during the week that they were involved in the blogging process.
All were told to pick 5 different experiences (that happened on 5 different days) and after writing about their experience on the bulletin board, to then tell that “story” to the camera.
For most, this was akin to participating in Reality TV (as all were familiar with TV programs that sit the characters down in front of a camera and have them express their feelings).
All were given suggestions as to how to optimize the lighting and make themselves “camera ready” for their vlogs.
Phase 1 Screening
In screening for Phase 1 of this study, thirty respondents (ten men and twenty women with ten respondents in each of three US cities - Minneapolis, Atlanta and San Francisco) were recruited. All were screened first via an online, primarily closed-ended survey (to insure they fit the screening criteria and were reasonably-computer literate) and then over the phone to further check their qualifications. These qualifications included:
All had been diagnosed with astigmatism and wore competitive (ballasted) contact lenses at least part of each day to correct this problem.
All reported that they had, at times, encountered some blurring or discomfort related to wearing contact lenses and that this had happened in at least two different situations (e.g., not just when sitting in front of a computer screen). Situations included:
Momentary blurred vision while wearing contact lenses
Poor vision driving at night while wearing contact lenses
Not consistently clear vision throughout the day while wearing contact lenses
Having moments of unclear vision when doing physical activities such as exercise, sports, dancing, etc. while wearing contact lenses.
Blurred vision when laying down or on their side while watching TV or reading a book.
All agreed from the beginning of the project to give us full consent to use any written, audio and video from their participation. This was key since we wanted to make sure any information we collected could be used for marketing and by the sales force.
All respondents recruited were available on the days we would be doing the home visit “Walk and Talk” interviews in their city and understood that they might, or might not, be picked to participate in that part of the study.
As an incentive, all were offered a webcam shipped to their home or office, the technical support to make sure they could install it and have it work properly, and $100 if they completed the assignments that were to be completed over a week-long period of time.
We wanted them to give them a full week in which to observe what happened with their vision in order to have the greatest number of possible occasions and situations.
All were informed at the start of the study that one-third of the Phase 1 participants would be picked to have a video crew and interviewer come to their home (a step they all had to agree to) and, if chosen for that step (Phase 2), they would receive an additional $250.
In addition, all stated that they had available to them a computer hook-up with a high speed- internet connection which had an open USB port in order to set up a webcam to participate in the video portion of this project.
Since about 80% of US households have high-speed internet available (either at home and/or at work [Source: Nielsen/Netratings 2007]), most who fit the other screening criteria qualified in this regard.
Phase 1 Results
By employing a variety of research methods over an extended period of time, respondents had the opportunity to naturally become aware of an experience they had basically learned to ignore.
The hand counters that tallied up the number of times per day they had a problem with their vision served to ground respondents in the moment and made it much easier for them to remember when they had an issue that day.
For almost all, the hand counters were clearly an eye-opener as to how frequently they experienced the problem.
In fact, it is unlikely that they would have noticed all the situations they experienced had they not had something physical that they needed to do to note, and ground them into, that moment.
In addition, it is likely that giving them a very simple task helped with compliance.
The blogs had several specific results:
This type of sharing created a forum where all felt that they were members of a group that had a shared experience.
Most enjoyed this discovery process and all reported that by the end of the week they had a much greater degree of awareness of their vision. (In fact, some were very sarcastic when they typed, “Thanks a whole lot for helping me see how bad my vision really is – it was fine before I started this!”)
The blogging information helped to discern which of the respondents were truly having problems due to toric contact lenses and which were probably having more general problems associated with wearing contacts.
The blogs also gave us useful information regarding which activities were most likely to cause problems for astigmatic contact lens wearers.
This was important in order to know what activities to ask them to engage in when visiting them at home.
The vlogs were extremely useful in gaining a sense of how well each respondent told their story and how videogenic they were.
This was an important step, as some were better storytellers than they were writers.
In addition, all these vlogs were immediately made available for use by the sales force in order to illustrate specific instances of a situation and problem.
All the information from the first phase was summarized into one page for each respondent in order to give the client and agency an easy way to assess who might be best to visit in-home (an example of this summary is presented in the Appendix).
Phase 2 Method and Screening
After summarizing and evaluating all the data from Phase 1, we chose a total of 10 respondents from the 3 cities in the US (4 in Minneapolis, 3 in Atlanta and 3 in San Francisco) who were particularly articulate and telegenic to participate in a home-visit by an interviewer and video crew who spent 4 hours with them during an “average” day.
The screening which evolved from Phase 1 was key because it meant that not only was it clear that these particular respondents had the issues that needed to be observed, but they were also the most likely to be able to show this on video.
We positioned this step as “Light ethnographies” as, although the interviews occurred in respondents homes and other places that were within their normal activities, all were directed to participate in those activities and situations that had been identified in their blogs and vlogs as times when their ballasted contact lenses had failed to provide optimal vision (such as while they were driving, playing golf, at the basketball court, etc.).
All those chosen were made fully aware that they needed to set aside 4 hours of time for the home visit and that a minimum of 4 – 5 people would be coming, including a video and lighting crew. This was in order to make sure they were aware of, and prepared for the process of being professionally videotaped.
Phase 2 Results
The first hour of the home-visit interview helped to relax the respondent and have them recall how they felt as they observed their vision over a week period of time.
Most were extremely surprised that they had discovered so many different issues with their vision.
This information was used to develop a list of questions that optometrists might want to ask when they are examining patients who use astigmatic contact lenses in order to help assess their vision.
During the second hour, we followed respondents around their home and were able to gain a much fuller awareness of how problems with their vision were a significant part of their lives.
Through this process, the film crew was able to capture some of these problems as they happened.
Finally, all were asked to leave the home and engage in the activities they had mentioned during Phase 1 (i.e., driving, playing golf, etc.) so that we could capture on video how these vision issues affected their quality of life.