Advertising best practice, evidence and insights

A comparison of scale attributes between interval-valued and semantic differential scales

Research Paper • Christos Themistocleous , Anastasios Pagiaslis, Andrew Smith and Christian Wagner, International Journal of Market Research, Vol. 61, No. 4, 2019, pp. 394-407

This article presents the results of an exploratory study comparing interval-valued scales (IVSs) and semantic differential scales (SDSs).

VIVO Cannabis: How do you research a market that doesn’t exist?

Article • Sam Peña-Taylor, Event Reports, MRS Impact, March 2019

VIVO Cannabis, formerly ABcann, needed to transition its marketing out of a medical-prescription market and into a legal over-the-counter, wellness, and recreational offer – it needed to understand the Canadian cannabis market and launch brands to compete in it before it became legal.

Viewpoint: Making market research work in Saudi Arabia

Article • Thomas Aichner and Abdel Monim Shaltoni, International Journal of Market Research, Vol. 61, No. 1, 2019, pp. 10-11

Market research in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is becoming increasingly important for mainly two reasons.

The secret financial lives of Americans – and the future of financial services

Article • Gunny Scarfo and Ben Zeidler, WARC Webinars, December 2018

Gunny Scarfo and Ben Zeidler, co-founders of Nonfiction Research, go behind the scenes of Nonfiction's unusual research approach, which included interviews with bank robbers, bank executives, Wall Street analysts, and shopping addicts.

Network Rail: A new approach to understanding suicide prevention on the Great Britain’s railways

Research Paper • MRS Awards, Winner, Virginia Valentine Award for Cultural Insights, 2018

Network Rail, the owner of most of the railway network in Great Britain, used anthropological and ethnographic research methods to explore railway suicide.

Reckitt Benckiser: Durex Global Sex Survey - Supporting Sexual Health & Wellbeing Across the World

Research Paper • MRS Awards, Finalist, MRS Award for International Research, 2018

Reckitt Benckiser, a British multinational consumer goods company, needed to launch the Global Sex Survey for its condom brand Durex by using research to make it sensitive and accessible to all genders, sexualities and regions.

Cancer ads enter the pharma mainstream

Article • Marylyn Donahue, Event Reports, DTC National conference, April 2018

Direct-to-consumer campaigns are being used to promote cancer treatment drugs.

Rethinking qual for Gen Z

News • 14 June 2018

GLOBAL: Marketers need to rethink how to research young people since traditional qualitative research methods no longer work for Gen Z, according to an industry figure.

How rethinking qualitative research can help brands understand Generation Z

Article • Emily Goldhill, WARC Best Practice, June 2018

Livity, a youth marketing agency, distils what it has learned from over 17 years’ experience about how to effectively research and understand young people.

Unilever Argentina: The Thermometer - Understanding people to inspire and provoke, transforming a crisis into an opportunity

Research Paper • Agustina Suner and Daniela Gail, ESOMAR, Latin America, 2018

Unilever Argentina, a consumer goods company, created The Thermometer to understand people and their consumption behaviours during turbulent times.

Brexit: Lived experience and the problems of polling

Article • Sam Peña-Taylor, Event Reports, MRS Impact, March 2018

The political and diplomatic storm that is the UK’s exit from the European Union has rocked an insight industry whose political arm failed to foresee the decision.

Breaking out of the Man Box with Axe and Topman

Article • Brian Carruthers, Event Reports, Advertising Week Europe, March 2018

The way brands speak to young men is changing to incorporate a more realistic, more sensitive idea of what it is to be a man, at a time when suicide among young men is at an all-time high.

The Home Office: Indecent images of children education and prevention campaign development

Research Paper • MRS Awards, Highly Commended, Applications of Research, 2017

The Home Office's Research, Information and Communications Unit (RICU) conducted research into the development and refinement of a successful behaviour change campaign in relation to Indecent Images of Children in the UK.

Nuffield Health: Helping change the face of mental health by 2025

Research Paper • MRS Awards, Winner, Healthcare Research, 2017

Nuffield Health, a non-for-profit healthcare provider, gained a deep insight into mental health using an online community of customers and prospects in the UK.

Cancer Research UK: Establishing the link between cancer and obesity

Research Paper • MRS Awards, Finalist, Healthcare Research, 2017

Cancer Research UK increased awareness of the correlation between cancer and obesity by using a multi stage qualitative research process.

Transport for London: Transforming travel for people with invisible disabilities

Research Paper • MRS Awards, Finalist, Public Policy/Social Research, 2017

Transport for London, a local government body, introduced the 'Please offer me a seat' scheme in the UK to help people with conditions or disabilities that aren't immediately obvious get priority seats on public transport.

The Home Office: Migrant research

Research Paper • MRS Awards, Highly Commended, Public Policy/Social Research, 2017

The RICU in the UK Home Office used a mix of qualitative research and open source analysis to uncover insights into criminal networks that endanger migrants.

Livon Hair Gain: How to use guided meditation to achieve research nirvana

Research Paper • Gauri Malhotra, Vivian Gonsalves, Sushma Panchawati and Devika Johar, ESOMAR, Global Qualitative, November 2017

Livon Hair Gain Tonic, a hair regrowth solution for men, examined how guided meditation can be used as an alternative approach for studying implicit associations in India.

Turning a corner on negative perceptions of refugees in Europe

Research Paper • Samantha Bond, Patricia Dominguez and Nijat Mammadbayli, ESOMAR, Corporate Young Professional Award, Congress, 2017

This paper investigates whether increasing public education of the European refugee crisis by tackling barriers to support with targeted communication can positively influence a change in public attitudes.

From prototype to patient life: connecting functional attributes with emotional benefits

Article • Mike Mabey and Ariel Herrlich, WARC Exclusive, SKIM, May 2017

This paper explores personal medical devices, such as insulin pens, inhalers and auto-injectors, and the obstacles they need to overcome in order to be successfully implemented.

Video Storytelling in Medical Ethnographic Research: Uncovering unspeakable dynamics shaping patients' everyday lives

Research Paper • Afra Chen and Zou Xiong, ESOMAR, Asia Pacific, May 2017

This paper discusses the role of video-based research methods through a medical research study in China, with particular focus on why this method is effective in helping address the needs of those with multiple chronic conditions.

Marketing is out of touch with reality. Can we fix it?

Opinion • Wiemer Snijders, December 2016

The marketing industry recently received some sobering news. A study commissioned by Thinkbox reported a significant disconnect between people working in the industry, and those with whom they are communicating.

Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH: Transforming the terminal cancer patient

Research Paper • MRS Awards, Finalist, Healthcare Research , 2016

This article describes how Boehringer Ingelheim (BI), the pharma company, wanted greater understanding of patients' sentiments when faced with life-threatening disease in the USA, UK, France, Italy and Japan.

Brent Council: Using research to create a dementia-friendly community in Brent

Research Paper • MRS Awards, Finalist, Public Policy/Social Research, 2016

This paper describes research conducted by Community Action on Dementia (CAD), a UK charity that wanted to develop services tailored to the needs of dementia sufferers, enabling them to live well despite their condition.

Head or Heart: The conflicts of political polling

Research Paper • Alexander Wheatley, ESOMAR, Corporate Young Professional Award, September 2016

This paper discusses some of the flaws and challenges of political polling methods in light of the UK referendum on membership of the European Union and advises on how researchers can make more accurate predictions.

Research management