The answer is that, until now, reliable consumer insights obtained by identifying real people’s actual, validated buying journeys have been out of reach.

The new solution, Path 2 Purchase™ Platform, gives clients a panoramic window on real consumers’ journeys along their paths to purchase, both historically and in real time. The key is a first-party cohort of consumers who’ve downloaded an advanced survey and data-tracking app and can be observed as they move among locations relative to your research. And, thank to proprietary GeoNotification^® technology, you can approach them with a survey at times and places of your choosing.

Path 2 Purchase™ gives you easy, one-stop fulfillment of all fundamental requirements for accurate, validated consumer data. Among them are:

Representativeness: Reach that reliably includes groups that are hard to access with online surveys. There’s strong representation of Hispanic consumers (20%), African Americans (14%) and Millennials/Gen Z, including ages 18-34 (66%).

Quality Experience: The consumers  you’ll reach are gathered around and engaged by Surveys On The Go^®, the highest-rated consumer research app. It earns glowing reviews and a 4.5 stars out of 5 rating on the Apple iOS and Google Play stores that reflects some 100,000 individual ratings. There’s no better indicator of the kind of smooth, rewarding panelist experience that’s at the heart of obtaining accurate, trustworthy data from representative respondents.

Right Research Environment: Apps are the mobile environment of choice, accounting for 92% of the time U.S. consumers spend with their smartphones. Meet them where they want to be met, with an excellent app experience that secures the engagement and panel stability needed for trustworthy consumer insights.

For a one-on-one demo to learn how Path 2 Purchase™ and its first-party consumers can power your specific research needs,  just get in touch by clicking here.

If you’re talking to the wrong consumers, consumer data and consumer insights suffer. A recent GreenBook webinar called “Working Together To Improve Respondent Experience” reminded us of the deeply inadequate state of online consumer panels, and the threat it poses to your ability to do your job and secure your standing in the decision-making process.

Kristopher Sauriol, Senior Director of Global Research Insights for Visa, was one of the participants, and he summed up the problem and what’s at stake in just a few words:

 “Your data is only as good as the people who are taking your survey….[But panel quality] is not always something research agencies  are forthcoming about….you either should ask, or you should look at some other agencies that do consider this a factor.”

We’d take it just a step further. Accessing validated consumers who are fully engaged in sharing what you need to know is not just “a factor.” It’s the factor. Finding them is a matter of reaching them in their preferred environment, via their preferred technology, the mobile app.

MFour’s story, in a nutshell, is that we built the app, 2 million representative U.S. consumers have downloaded it, and these are the consumers who are best situated to give the insights industry “data…as good as the people who are taking your survey.”

 It’s often said that memories make life worth living. But in consumer insights, too often they make life a headache.

Yes, we’re talking about recall bias, which is the error that occurs when survey respondents give answers based on faulty recall. It’s a harsh reality that while memories are made to be cherished, the reason we cherish them is because they are so easily lost. And in market research, data infected by recall bias compromises everything.

As the authors of a 2017 scholarly study examining recall bias put it, “simple…recall questions generate large measurement errors.” The study focused on a survey by the Canadian government in which respondents were asked how much they had spent on food over the previous four weeks. The answers consistently underestimated actual expenditures, compared to data from subsequent diary studies involving the very same respondents (the authors noted that the diary phase was considered more reliable, but had accuracy problems of its own because of data-distorting factors such as respondents growing tired of having to record expenses each day).

The good news is there’s now an almost surefire remedy for recall bias in consumer research. But first, let’s dig a bit deeper into the problem, by asking you to take a very quick survey.

• How often have you eaten quick-serve restaurant food in the past two weeks?

• How many times have you stopped for gas over the past four weeks?
  
  
• When did you last pass by a billboard for [fill in the name of the brand or product]? 

• Do you like being asked questions you can’t properly answer?

That last one is rhetorical and perhaps a bit facetious. But the fact is, recall-based research happens all the time, and it puts insights professionals in the uncomfortable position of having to present recommendations to decision-makers that the researchers know are tainted by recall bias. Until now there has been no reliable and affordable alternative, except to accept recall bias as a fact of life and hope it doesn't distort data too badly.

But now there is.

Users of the new Path-2-Purchase™ Platform are putting recall bias behind them. They’re targeting mobile consumers by leveraging smartphones’ GPS features to find real people in real time and in the most relevant places, for in-the-moment, Point-of-Emotion^® research. Instead of asking about experiences from a week ago, they’re getting insights into what their consumers just did – or are doing right now – along with vivid and trustworthy feedback on why they’re doing it and how it makes them feel.

It’s also important to note that with Path-2-Purchase™ you don’t have to even ask a question to learn how many times a consumer has been to a gas station or a quick serve restaurant over the past two or four weeks. Respondents opt in for location tracking that automatically tells you where, when, how often and for how long they’ve been in a given location. You can use that information to build a perfectly-tailored questionnaire. You also can track whether they’ve come in view of your brand’s billboards.

Early adopters of Path-2-Purchase™ Platform are beating recall bias at last, and so will you. For a one-on-one demo of how it can fill your projects' specific needs, just click here.

Sarah Chung, Jim Timony and Joan Martinez (L-R)

MFour welcomes three new employees who together bring more than 60 years of experience to its Sales and Operations teams.

In Sales, veteran market research executive Jim Timony joins as a Senior Solutions Executive, and Sarah Chung as Solutions Executive. Joan Martinez has joined the Operations team as a Senior Research Consultant.

Jim has been immersed in consumer insights for more than 25 years. At GFK he rose to Vice President of Media and Communications Research, and won an Employee of the Year award. More recently, he was Phoenix Marketing’s Vice President of Converged Technology & Media. He brings extensive experience in designing and overseeing qualitative and quantitative projects, and in guiding clients to new methodologies that provide a clear roadmap for growth. At MFour, Jim will help clients benefit from unprecedented capabilities, including measuring and testing mobile ads’ effectiveness and gaining insights via the new Path-2-Purchase™ Platform. Jim earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Economics from Franklin Pierce College. He’s a golfer and a football fan, and enjoys spending time with his family.

Joan has 20 years of market research experience across a wide range of business categories, which she’ll apply to understanding MFour clients’ goals and guiding them to successful projects, from survey design through analysis and recommendations. Most recently she was Research Director for Alter Agents, Inc. Joan holds a Bachelor’s degree in History from California State University, Los Angeles. She’s an avid golfer, and is especially proud that she was one of two women who qualified for the championship round of the 2016 Southern California Golf Association’s Amateur Net Score tournament. As befits a stats and numbers expert, Joan also has played competitive poker. She says she has been unusually successful in raffles and playing the lottery, which she attributes to having been blessed by Pope John Paul II when he visited her native Guam in 1981.

Sarah brings more than 17 years’ sales experience to MFour, including positions with Salesforce, Ingram Micro, Alteryx and Kimberly Clark. At MFour she will guide clients toward Path-2-Purchase™ solutions that include identifying audiences with behavioral and profiling data housed in Consumer Knowledge Center, coupled with real-time, location-specific surveys. Sarah is an alumnus of California State University, Long Beach, where her focus was business administration. She is a dedicated gastro-tourist, enjoys spectator sports (especially basketball) and likes spending time with her husband and her dog, Louie.

Welcome aboard, Sarah, Jim and Joan!