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Market Research Definitions

Packaging Tests:
A form of research that measures reactions to differing packing approaches.

Paired Comparison:
An evaluation of two products that are given values based on set criteria as means of comparing the two items.

Paired Depths:
Depth interviews that are conducted with two respondents simultaneously. This technique is often employed with a child that is interviewed with a friend to lessen the apprehension of the interview situation.

Panel:
A group of respondents that participate in multiple surveys over an extensive period of time. Respondents willing participate with the market research project in return for some compensation. Specialty panels can be created for specific samples (eg doctors, IT professionals, youth), or for specialist research and product testing. Traditionally, panels are used for a wider range of projects, including general and consumer research. There are massive panels and databases of people available for research.

Pantry Check:
This is an audit conducted by the respondent. The respondent is requested to create an inventory of the products and brands found in their kitchen pantry or refrigerator. This prevents research corruption from a respondent’s poor recollection.

Paper and Pencil Interviewing (PAPI):
A traditional method used for surveying that involves respondents filling out a physical paper questionnaire that had been administered by an interviewer.

Paradata:
Information collected about the research process. Often includes time and date of interviews as well as duration, number of questions answered, number of errors, length of text used in open-ended questions, etcetera Used to make the research process more efficient.

Parameter:
Determines the numerical summary associated with a population distribution.

Parent (underlying) Distribution:
Measurements of the original population distribution.

Part Worths:
An amount determined by respondents regarding value or utility that is associated with product/service attributes at different levels.

Participant:
A person that has agreed to be involved in a survey, focus group, or study. Can also be referred to as a subject, unit, experimental unit, unit of analysis, or respondent.

Past Participation:
Some researchers may exclude respondents that have participated in research studies of the same topic or that have participated in research studies during a particular time frame. Thsi process can remove potential bias.

Pearson's Correlation Coefficient:
Most commonly used method to determine the strength associated with a set of variables.

Penetration Analysis:
An analysis performed to determine the market share held by a particular company or product in a market segment determined by demographics or various classification universes.

People Meter:
A way of measuring demographic information related to national television audiences overnight through a microwave computerized rating system.

People Reader:
The ability to document a participant’s reading material as well as their eye reaction at the same time by using a machine.

Per Capita Income:
Value of the average income for an entire population. This is computed by dividing a country’s total income by its total population.

Percentile:
A percentage scale from 0 to 100 that is associated with an item to show which percentage of the distribution is above and below the item.

Perceptual MAPPing:
Mathematical Analysis of Perception and Preference (MAPP). A technique used to chart a consumer’s perceptions and preferences regarding a particular product with a visual aid, like a graph or map.

Permission Based Research:
In marketing research, this is the process of only contacting people who have previously agreed to be contacted. This group could include people who have not disagreed to be contacted.

Personal Income:
An individual’s income that includes both dollar amounts and some non-cash related benefits.

PGS:
Primary grocery shopper.

Phone-Mail-Phone:
The respondent is contacted by phone initially and then sent a lengthy questionnaire through the mail. When the respondent completes the questionnaire they are contacted by phone and the responses are collected.

Photo Sort:
A study used where respondents are given pictures of several types of people and are then asked to associate people with the products or services that they might use.

Physical Control:
Maintaining the consistency of extraneous variables throughout a study so as to prevent these variables from affecting the outcome.

Piggyback:
This is also known as Omnibus. Clients share costs conducting joint research studies.

Pilot:
Preliminary research is conducted before the actual study to assess project logistics (i.e. the sample, methodology). The objective is to refine the actual research for improve accuracy and efficiency.

Placement Interview:
A study where a participant is given a product to use and test in a PMSA (primary metropolitan statistical area).

Plus One Dialing:
This process add one to a randomly selected phone number from a directory. This includes unlisted numbers in the sample.

Point Estimator:
Computed numerical value that serves as an estimate of the true parameter before data is collected.

Poll:
A poll is a survey gathering opinions from the respondents. Polls are often used during political elections to gauge voter sentiment about one candidate over the other.

Pop-Up:
When using the Internet, a pop-up is a new window that opens to gain attention by blocking the previously displayed window. Often times pop-ups display ads or invitations to participate in market research surveys.

Population:
The entire set of subjects that an experiment is attempting to identify. Usually samples of the population are used to represent a population because it would be nearly impossible to collect information from each unit or subject in a population.

Population Centroid:
The peak of a population distribution that contains equal amounts distributed both above and below it.

Population Distribution:
A distribution displaying population by frequency elements.

Population Pyramid:
A pyramid-shaped chart showing the ages and sex that make up a population. This chart is generally represented with two bar graphs (males on the left and females on the right) divided into age groups on the y-axis and frequency on the x-axis.

Population Specification Error:
An error that is associated with a lack of specification for the population of a particular study of which a sample is to be taken from.

Population Standard Deviation:
Standard deviation for a variable in relevance to its population distribution.

Portal:
A web interface for users to login and access information pertaining to their accounts. Services offered in portals often include news, links, email, and entertainment possibilities.

Positioning:
The way that a product is introduced to its market audience. This includes pricing, packaging, prestige, store placement and how consumers view it as opposed to the product’s competitors.

Post Hoc Segmentation:
Using empirical data to be able to identify segments within markets.

Poverty:
An income level defined by the Census Bureau that determines a family’s poverty status. This level is adjusted yearly as changes occur in the national economy’s Consumer Price Index and costs of living.

Pre-Coding:
This occur before the interviewing process. Computer codes are created and added to the questionnaire in order to accelerate the data processing of the respondent’s answers.

Pre-Experimental Design:
A research design that is set and does not have control over extraneous factors.

Pre-Recruited Central-Location Test:
An interview located at a convenient location in which participants that have been contacted and qualified prior to the interview go.

Pre-Test:
An evaluation of a questionnaire prior to its distribution. The survey can be sent to a small sample to ensure that questions are comprehended correctly and that responses are clear.

Precision (lack of):
Relates to accuracy in sampling and consistency in repeated sampling. If data seems to be widely scattered and would be difficult to duplicate, there would be a lack of precision due to the high standard error. A larger sample size will yield improved precision in any case.

Predictive Dialing:
A telemarketing method where a computer dials the phone number and then, if a connection is established, an interviewer takes over the call.

Predictive Function:
Using descriptive and diagnostic research to pre-determine the success of a marketing plan prior to its execution.

Predictive Validity:
The accuracy of forecasting with a particular measurement scale whose success is monitored to determine whether it will be a good predictor in the future.

Predictor Variables:
Factors that are considered in determining future success of a marketing campaign. Examples of these independent variables are demographics and attitudes of the target market.

Prefix:
Refers to the first three digits of a telephone number, also called an exchange. These digits are a way to identify the area that the phone number is located in.

Presentation Software:
Software that is easy-to-use on personal computers to prepare presentations and produce effective reports.

Primary Data:
Data that is gathered to solve a particular problem as opposed to secondary data which is previously gathered and would need to be located to solve a problem.

Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area (PMSA):
Defined by the U.S. Census Bureau as two metropolitan areas that are adjacent to each other.

Primary Research:
Research conducted in search of new data to solve a marketing information discrepancy.

Primary Sampling Units:
The geographic units that will be covered by a survey.

Privacy Policy:
A company’s policy as stated on the webpage that explains the privacy rights of the consumer and the company by confirming data collection techniques, data storage, how the data is used, and who will have access to the data.

Probability (or density) Function:
Identifies the probabilities of each of the possible values to be achieved. Generally comes in the form of a table or an equation. Also referred to as a probability distribution.

Probability of a Simple Event:
The numerical value representing the likelihood of an event occurring. The value will be between one and zero, with one occurring every time and zero never occurring. The sum of all probabilities associated with a sample must equal one.

Probability of an Event:
Determined by adding together the probabilities of all of the simple events that contribute to an event.

Probability Sample:
Each element in the population has a known nonzero probability of being selected for inclusion in a study. Also called random sampling.

Probing:
Follow-up questions to clarify why a particular response was given. Can occur in quantitative or qualitative research.

Probit Model:
A type of multiple regression analysis where the categorical dependent variable using a cumulative normal curve as opposed to a logistic one.

Processing Error:
An inconsistency in data due to an error in the transfer of information from the document data was collected on to the computer.

Product Concept Testing:
A pretest of a particular product with a consumer group before the product is placed in the market.

Product Movement Data Syndicated Services:
Retail and wholesale data that a company collects, packages, and sells to many firms.

Product Placement Study:
A study in which consumers respondents are asked to try products in their own homes as they would normally use the product, instead of in a lab setting. Can also be called a product test.

Product Positioning Research:
Research performed to measure how brands are perceived compared to one another’s key dimensions so that they can be properly positioned in a target market.

Product Pricing Research:
A look at consumer sensitivity to a range of prices for a particular product.

Professional Respondent:
A term with negative connotation that refers to respondents that participate often in market research studies with different companies. Moderators look to remove professional respondents so that they might have a new unpracticed approach with a fresh participant. Also, often times professional respondents participate for the incentives rather than truly contributing to the marketing research efforts.

Profiling:
A process of meeting customers needs by collecting information about them. This information can be obtained with volunteered/declared information from the customer or collected passively (observing the customer’s behavior patterns).

Programmatic Research:
Research performed to better understand more efficient marketing processes by looking at market segmentation, opportunity analysis, and/or consumer attitude and product usage.

Projectability:
The ability for market researchers to take the results from their sample and be able to apply those results to the entire population thereby assuming that the sample was a true representative of the population.

Projection:
An expected future result based on birth, death, and migration assumptions to describe a particular demographic characteristic for population or number of households. Also called forecasting.

Projective:
Techniques used in focus groups or interviews to stimulate the participant’s minds by having them think in more creative and subjective ways than they might without the moderator’s techniques. Sentence completion, expressive drawing, anthropomorphization and associations are all examples of projective techniques.

Proportional Allocation:
A study that is sampled with a proportion that is maintained between the sample and the size of the stratum and the size of the stratum compared to the size of the population.

Proportional Sample:
The sample elements drawn is proportional to the relative number of elements of the population.

Proprietary Research:
Market research that is owned exclusively by the client who purchased the research.

Psychographics:
The “why” of consumer research to attempt to explain why consumers behave the way that they do. Research is conducted by observing and analyzing personality traits and values. Very closely related to lifestyle research.

Pupilometer:
Changes in pupil dilation to certain stimuli are measured by this machine.

Purchase Intent Scales:
A way of measuring a participant’s intention to buy a particular product.

Purpose:
A set of objectives that a research project is meant to achieve. The main focus of the research is how the information gathered will be used.

Purposive Sampling:
This process is the selection of a particular sample on purpose. Popular with qualitative research, the variables to which the sample is drawn up are analytically and theoretically linked to the research questions.

Push-Poll:
This is a political campaign technique. The individual convinces the respondent that they are participating in research when the actual objective is to influence the views of the respondent.