December 2012 Archives

This popped up on my Facebook today. It seams as though Duracell is conducting a research poll into how recognizable its slogan is via Facebook. (I thought it was Energizer) I found this very surprising because I never look at the right side of my Facebook page. I only looked today because I was looking for something to blog about.

This does bring up a bigger question though, which is, how is Facebook going to make money off its 1 billion users in a way that doesn't interrupt their social media experience.

Here is a screenshot from one of my favorite blogs. The Blog is Uncrate.com and it features interesting gadgets, clothes, technology, and vehicles for men. This popular blog according to Sitetrail.com has over 67,000 followers and an estimated value of $258,835 USD. This is a popular blog.

In the mix of what is posted are some sponsored links, hence the screenshot above. I would really love to research how powerful this placement is. I would love to see the click through data and track what sales are generated from consumers seeing the promoted blog posts.

These are the stories of social media that I find amazing. There is a man sitting in Texas who writes about things he finds interesting and because so many other people agree he has created a blog valued at over a quarter million dollars.

Here is an example of a survey that offers compensation for participation. These food surveys offer up to $100 per survey to partake in a quick online surgery and then to go into the research center and taste the food they have prepared. The food is generally things that you would find a grocers's frozen isle. As far as surveys go this is not a bad way to make 100 bucks.

http://www.usamp.com

U Samp is leading the charge in the area of mobile phone surveys and sampling. By allowing users to directly make money and have it show up in their account when they finish the survey, U Samp has created a demand for mobile phone sampling. This all takes place within an app that is available in the Apple app store or on Google Play. They have a high response rate of 25% and an incredibly high completion rate of 85%. U Samp's newest piece of technology utilizes geolocation within the phone that allows surveys to be sent to people at a certain geo location. Such as just after a new billboard ad, or in front of a new store.

http://www.facegroup.com/

Face Group is a research group that has chosen to go about research in a new way. But utilizing crowd sourcing they have been able to create a space online that generates great ideas all in one place. Face Group is a highly respected firm that has worked with Nokia, Johnson & Johnson, Google, and Coca Cola.

http://www.sitetrail.com/xinureturns.com

Another very useful tool in the social media analytics realm is Site Trail. Site Trail aggregates all activity for a URL. For example when I enter www.lululemon.com. Site Trail shows me what countries access this sight by percentage. Here is the top six countries that access lululemon.com:

United States 72.8%
Canada 16.9%
Australia 1.9%
Mexico 1.5%
United Kingdom1.3 %
India 0.8%

Site Trail also gauges the site's social media following. lululemon.com has an estimated 393,124 followers across popular social networking sites like Facebook.

Currently there are over 359 discussions currently happening across the web about this URL.

Site Trail also estimates the current value of the site in USD: lululemon.com is estimated at $100,240.00 if it were for sale.

These statistics are only a portion of what Site Trail has to offer. It is a very useful tool that combines any information that you would need into one simple place.

https://bitly.com

Bit.ly is a very useful tool for social media analytics. As a free option, this link shortener can provide useful data on who is opening your posted link, where they are opening, at what time, and how they received that link. If someone retweets a link you tweeted bit.ly will track that link and provide you with data to how it is being used.

This tool is great for evaluating what platform of social media is engaging the largest number of consumers. In the rapidly evolving world of social media analytics Bit.ly has been a mainstay as the premier link shortener. They continue to innovate this platform to provide more and more useful data.

https://aytm.com/r99f713

This is a cross-sectional survey that a friend of mine put together for another class that was designed to capture feelings when comparing Coke and Pepsi. Their survey was also intended to measure the feelings of Coke before and after watching a Coke produced promotional video. I thought that this survey was put together fairly well. I know that it is not a true cross-sectional survey because it has been open for people to take for two weeks, but due to the lack of response it had to stay open. They are gathering useful data on people's preferences to the two brands though, in that way they are having success. Their use of internet delivery meets their time needs well. They do not much control as far as monitoring if someone is taking the survey multiple times which could affect the validity of their data. Over all, for their application, the survey is built well.

This longitudinal study examines the use of social media in the Public Relation Field from 2006-2012. In the study they found that over the past six years the use of social media use has continualy increased. Facebook continues to be considered the most important platform for Public Relations work in the social media realm, followed by Twitter, search engine marketing, and sites like Youtube.

What I found interesting is that only 35% of firms spend 25% of their time on social media. I though for sure in todays times with the rapid expansion and direct connection to consumers that social media provides, that number would be higher. This real life example of using a longitudinal survey format to gauge social media is very interesting. It makes what we discussed in class feel more tangible. We are all going to enter this field soon and having information like this where we can monitor trends in the field will only aid us in finding jobs by making us more qualified. Let be honest and realize that acquiring a job after graduation is going to depend largely on how connected we are to trends in the the field we are entering.

Link
http://www.prsa.org/Intelligence/PRJournal/Documents/2012WrightHinson.pdf

This research study was designed to gauge perception of url domains ending in .xxx and how it is related to pornography. I found this study interesting because I had never considered the perception of the .xxx domain or any custom domain names. These custom domain endings will soon become much more relevant as new websites launch using custom domains that were made available by the recent communications policy change. This will open a new wide range of website names and also create new perceptions of brands.

I found this article interesting because it expanded on a subject we never really touched on in class. It spoke of how the regulations and ethical standards came about in the communication research world.

The revaluation started when congress acquired an internal document written but Arthur Nielsen that listed, "Vital weaknesses" in Nielsen procedures. When this document was made public clients were outraged at the fact that their information had in affect been made up.

This uproar in the communication research field forced policy changes that created self regulation of the industry. This revaluation of procedures started the shift to the current standards used today.

Link
http://adage.com/article/guest-columnists/faith-numbers-lessons-media-measurement/238558/

This is an interesting article about a call for research. Daniel Tarullo, a top Federal Reserve official is calling for a research study into the economic efficiencies of the large banks and whether their size is working.

I find this interesting in the way it connects to our class and the unit of forming research questions. I don't believe it is very often that the research question is put out to the public for researchers to come in and conduct the study.

Link
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2012/12/04/feds-tarullo-more-research-needs-to-be-done-on-big-bank-size/

Looking at data in the shift in how we buy groceries brings up an interesting perspective on how we shop for food. As our country progressive shifts from Baby Boomers to Millennials we are noticing a shift in what consumers value. The shift is taking people away from loyalty to brands and more willingness to shop for deals. Technology is also fueling this change as people turn to computer and touch devices to shop. In this shift, businesses are turning to social media to build brand loyalty by engaging with their consumers.

Using survey methods would be a good way to gauge this consumer shift. Using a trend survey over time would give insight into how this shift happens. A scenario where this survey is given yearly to grocery consumers across the country would be a way to create quantitative data to document the shift from Baby Boomers to Millennials.

Link
http://www.greenbook.org/marketing-research.cfm/changes-in-grocery-shopping-patterns-driven-by-demos-and-technology-11906

This article exemplified the importance in gaining consumer feedback through qualitative research when creating new packaging or conducting a redesign for a current package. This is a great article that extends our qualitative unit of class into a real world application. Personally I thought how the use of focus groups really does not work in this application and either in depth interviews or ethnography were the most beneficial research tactics.

Link:
http://www.greenbook.org/marketing-research.cfm/qualitative-package-design-research-02585

In a study to look into the how inflatable bounce devices are hurting children, research found that on average a child is injured by an inflatable bounce device every 46 minutes here in the United States. The Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children's Hospital conducted the study by analyzing records from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System database that pertained to emergency room admittances of children 17 and under.

Their findings were very interesting and the data was pooled from a trustworthy source but they did only use a single source. Their quantitative data is leading a push for regulation and recommendations from the medical community.

The title of this article caught my attention. I have never thought of a bounce house as dangerous but indeed they are. This survey is one that will call people's attention and possible draw a policy change, something that I find interesting. Relating back to class, I would be interested in how they came about this research question. I would never consider researching bounce house accident rates, so I wonder what spurred that on.

Original Link
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-204_162-57554184/bounce-houses-injure-a-u.s-child-every-46-minutes-study-finds/