Harris Interactive

About the company
Harris Interactive is a global market research firm that combines the science of innovative statistical thinking with the power of leading technologies and the art of strategic consulting, always with an eye on understanding how to meet and exceed our clients’ expectations. Our goal is to provide timely, research-driven insights that lead to measurable and enduring improvements in our clients’ business performance.

Typically, our clients request services that lie in several broad areas, including:

• market sizing, segmentation and profiling
• new concept and product development
• marketing communications
• brand
• employee
• customer satisfaction, loyalty and retention
• public opinion
• corporate reputation and leadership

Record of accomplishment
Time and again, we’ve subjected our methodological approaches to the ‘acid test’ of research; namely, pre-election polling in full public view to predict the outcome of national elections. Our many successes are well documented, no matter whether we’ve conducted interviews in person, on the telephone or via the internet.

The importance of the internet
In 1997, we began to develop the infrastructure and methodological expertise to harness the incredible power that the internet offered to our clients. In the intervening ten years, we have conducted nearly 1,000 research-on-research studies to identify and learn to correct for any biases associated with online research. We’ve also completed more than 70 million interviews for hundreds of clients worldwide, and this is merely the tip of the iceberg. Clearly, online research is here to stay, although it is not always the best data collection approach to employ. We pride ourselves on knowing when to recommend (and not recommend) online research.

Distinctive features

Propensity Score Weighting
In the past 20 years, statisticians have refined methods that eliminate or greatly reduce the biases associated with survey respondents (and the responses they provide) recruited by means other than probability sampling; particularly internet users that decide of their own accord to join research panels. Propensity score weighting, a technique that Harris Interactive introduced in 1999, is designed not only to approximate the randomness of probability sampling but also to produce information through online research that is often more trustworthy than that produced through other modes. We know of no other technique that can match propensity scoring in this regard.

Multi-Mode Studies
Designing good multi-mode studies is complicated, and market researchers’ understanding of this type of research is thin. Understanding whether the same person would have responded to the same question in the same way independent of mode (e.g. telephone or internet) is the threshold question that an organisation must address before it can design a good multi-mode study, or transition, say, a telephone tracking study to the internet without throwing away trend data. Conducting multi-mode studies is one of our core strengths.

Online Qualitative
Harris Interactive has traditionally been known for its global coverage and its use of innovative methodologies. This heritage means we are at the cutting edge of developing and implementing new qualitative techniques, both online and offline. A clear example of this is the successful launch of our Advanced Strategy Lab (ASL), a method that combines high-level moderation skills and high technology. The ASL offers advanced brainstorming and prioritisation techniques, allowing each individual an equal and anonymous voice in the research process. This allows us to work effectively and efficiently with ideas. Within client organisations the ASL methodology is particularly valuable in its ability to create buy-in to research, building consensus and action planning – ensuring that research is used in the way it is intended.

Our experience and understanding of a wide range of qualitative approaches means we also know exactly how and when to blend traditional and online qualitative methods to meet our clients’ business priorities.

The Harris Poll – Global Omnibus
This European, US and Asian omnibus produces interviews with either 1,000 or 2,000 adults on a weekly basis. Data can be projected to national populations and costs can run from as little as £150 per question, with a capacity for up to 20 questions from any one client.

Coverage
The company has built what it believes to be the world’s largest panel of survey respondents, the Harris Poll Online.

Type of contact

• Consumers of all types
• Automobile decision makers
• Individuals with chronic illnesses
• IT decision makers
• Shipping decision makers
• Technology decision makers
• The affluent
• Tweens, teens and young adults
• Client-supplied email addresses

Further information
Membership: ESOMAR, Market Research Society (MRS), IQCS, MRQSA, BPC, CASRO