In the realm of market research, professionals often find themselves navigating through emails and messages filled with complex strings of industry acronyms and specific terminology. Understanding these market research acronyms is crucial for effective communication within the industry. Here we will decode the most common market research acronyms and shed light on the jargon used frequently across the industry. Whether you’re a seasoned market researcher or just beginning your journey in the field, this article will serve as a quick refresher of these common abbreviations.
FG – Focus Group
- A Focus Group is a small group discussion led by a moderator amongst demographically or psychographically similar people. These discussions are used for a variety of reasons such as discussing common issues, testing solutions, or generating ideas. Above all else, the goal of a Focus Group is to gain better perspective.
IDI – In-Depth Interview
- An In-Depth interview is a 1 on 1 interview between moderator (interviewer) and respondent (interviewee). Held with the same purposes as Focus Groups, In-Depth Interviews provide extra time and attention for interviewers to dive into the specific things they hope to learn.
IR – Incidence Rate
- Incidence Rate refers to the percentage of respondents from a “sample” (the amount of contacts) that would qualify to take part in the research based off the screening criteria. The lower the rate, the more difficult it is to find qualified participants. A project that would have a high incidence rate may be looking for adults with full-time jobs, while a project with a low incidence rate may be looking for Cardiologists who have practiced for over 10-years.
CLT – Central Location Test
- A Central Location Test is the methodology frequently used for Taste Tests. Simply put, a Central Location Test refers to any research where respondents arrive, try a product, and give a quick review. Central Location Tests are often much shorter than other methods but have much larger sample sizes.
VoC/VoE – Voice of Customer/Voice of Employee
- The Voice of the Customer/Employee is the essence of what insights professionals are trying to find. It is the understanding the experiences with and expectations of a product, service, or organization. When research is done by an organization, they aren’t always hoping to learn about a new product. Organizations will run internal research to deeper understand things such as workplace satisfaction.
OLBB – Online Bulletin Board
- An Online Bulletin Board is an online forum that respondents use to share their responses. Online Bulletin Boards are used when researchers would like to have slightly more in-depth methodology than a quick, 1-time survey. Respondents for Online Bulletin Boards are often asked to post or interact with the study over the span of time ranging anywhere from a few days to a few months!
LOI – Length of Interview
- While LOI stands for length of interview, it is often used to describe the length of any research session.
IHUT – In-Home Usability Test
- For in-Home Usability Tests, respondents pick up a product from the research facility or researchers bring the product to a respondent’s home for them to use in their most natural environment: their home! This method helps marketers understand the full scope of how their product will be used.
CPI– Cost Per Interview
- Cost Per Interview consists of several factors such as the Cost Per Recruit (the dollar amount it takes to find each participant) and the amount of compensation each respondent will get. The more difficult a segment is to reach, the higher the CPI.
UX – User Experience
- User Experience research focuses on better understanding of how the end user of a website, system, product or service feels during their own experience. UX design takes a user-centric approach to provide ease throughout the user’s experience.
HOH – Head of Household
- The Head of the Household refers to whoever takes the lead in decisions made in a certain area for the household, for example Healthcare, Finances, Grocery Shopping, etc.
CATI – Computer Assisted Telephone Interview
- Computer Assisted telephone interviews have largely replaced traditional telephone interviewing. In this method, the interviewer follows a scripted questionnaire and records the respondent’s responses as the respondent being interviewed.