Tag Archives: market research

Target Data Breach Aftermath

Oh, Bullseye...who could stay mad at YOU?
Oh, Bullseye…who could stay mad at YOU?

Trolling around for blog topics this morning, I came upon this piece, “The Impact of Target’s Data Breach on Consumer Trust.” And I suddenly remembered that I shopped at Target this weekend, AND I paid with my debit card! I guess my consumer outrage over identity theft had a short shelf-life, eh?

As you will recall, Target had a terrible security breach involving their card-readers back on Black Friday….er, Black Friday weekend…um, make that November 22nd to December 15th! Bad security issue, even worse public relations nightmare. Heck, the Target CEO just stepped down!

So, have we changed our habits in the aftermath? Obviously, I haven’t – and I remember saying “I will NEVER shop there again!” But how about you? Let’s look at the stats, as compiled by Bizrate Insights:

  • 35% of Target’s customers have changed their shopping behavior.
  • 22% shop there less
  • 13% have stopped shopping there altogether (22+13=35!)

And it seems that the ones who shop there less are more cautious when they do:

  • 44% now pay only in cash

How about you? There seemed to be a rash of these things during the Holiday shopping season. I remember Michael’s Crafts got hit, too. Are you changing your habits? Being more cautious? Don’t care? Let us know over at the MindField Online Facebook page!

A Sam-tastic Opportunity Just Got Better!

 

sams connect thing 3As Benjamin Franklin once said, “Bro! Why buy a can of Axe Body Spray when you can buy a whole case, Bro?” Buying in bulk can be a great deal, especially if you have a large crew. And Sam’s Club is one of the premier names in the biz. So it’s big news when a giant like that teams up with MindField Online.

MindField Online Announces “Member Connect” with Sam’s Club

MindField Online has been proud to be associated with Sam’s Club for almost two years ago. Now the partnership gets even better with the Sam’s Member Connect Panel!

The Member ConnectPanel is open for MindField Panelists who are also Sam’s Club members. So, if you aren’t a Sam’s member, but someone else in the household is, then that person can participate and get the incentive. So go to the Sam’s Member Connect page at the MindField website and give it a shot!

To take part, head over to the “Welcome Sam’s Club Member!” page at the MindField Online website. First, click the box that says, “I have read and accepted the Member Terms of Agreement, Privacy Policy and Data Quality Statement.” And congrats on being among the 2% of people that ACTUALLY READ the Member Terms of Agreement, Privacy Policy and Data Quality Statement before accepting! Then fill out the required info. Also, do the thing about setting your email privileges to accept MindField emails.

We also want to extend a huge welcome to Sam’s Club Members who are joining MindField for the first time through the Member Connect Panel.   Any questions about the Sam’s Member Connect Panel? Hit us up at the MindField Online Facebook page, and we will try to get you an answer ASAP!

Savings for the Month of May!

may savingsThere are unique savings to be had each month of the year. Here are some highlights for May (with bonus dumb commentary!) followed by some links. Enjoy!

  • Thrift Stores: Not going to go into my love/hate relationship with Goodwill (you’re welcome) but now is the time at this and other second-hand stores. They’re stacked to the ceiling with the stuff you got rid of during Spring Cleaning. Have fun buying back your own junk!
  • Refrigerators: Just happens to be the time of year when the new models ship to store. So last year’s gleaming, untouched side-by-side gets kicked to the curb in favor of one that looks exactly like it but costs $100 more!
  • Mother’s Day: Last month was better, but if you have waited this long, skip jewelry. AFTER Mom’s Day, buy jewelry for next year. Then, put it in your hall closet, and never see it again.
  • Memorial Day: Truly, one of the more authentic holiday sales. Real savings, instead of “30% off our already inflated prices!” Best yet, immediately after Memorial Day (act fast!) all of that red, white and blue stuff is waiting to be snapped up, to use for your 4th of July cookout! If you really want to confuse your drunk guests, make sure the banners still say “Memorial Day”!

Those are your savings highlights for May. Check out some more useful links below:

Do you have any May savings secrets to share? Let us know over at the MindField Online Facebook page! And have a great weekend!

Tax Day Freebies!

Merely a serving suggestion...
Merely a serving suggestion…

And now, a tradition not nearly as annoying as those corporate April Fools’ Day pranks we talked about previously: the Tax Day Freebie! Restaurants, bars, hotels and other retailers love to capitalize on our tax day grief, offering various freebies, 2-for-1’s and “$10.40”-themed deals on April 15. And the list grows every year! Here are some samples:

  • Free curly fries at Arby’s
  • “Sing for Your Supper” at Hard Rock Café
  • Dinner for 2 for $10.40 at Boston Market
  • A big ol’ bag of bagels and cream cheese from Bruegger’s for $10.40
  • Free document shredding at Office Depot
  • Free sandwich at Schlotzky’s Deli
  • Half-off fro-yo at PinkBerry
  • Free coffee at Micky D’s
  • Free shave ice from Kona
  • Half-off lunch at Sonny’s BBQ
  • Half-price drinks and slushees at Sonic

…and on and on. Here are some links. What’s your favorite Tax Day deal or freebie? Let us know over at the MindField Online Facebook page!

Links to Tax Day Deals!

Consumer Culture Hall of Fame!

1981905_710425518979512_1357359628_nIf you asked me what the biggest consumer trends of the past however-many years would be, I would say cell phones are at the top of the list. I remember in 1985 being fascinated by the ONE guy I knew with a cell phone… it looked like something Radar might use to call Sparky at the 8063rd on M*A*S*H: a big blocky unit, the size of a VCR, with a shoulder strap and a wired handset.

Turns out I am correct – or, rather, one-twelfth correct. Cell phones are on the list, as compiled by the London Globe and Mail. What else is on the list? Lots of things, not just technology but also trends. Here are the highlights…

  • Everyone is a designer: And don’t I know it! For many years, I was a Professional Video Producer. Now, any Joe with a camera and a laptop can make videos that I needed a ROOM full of technology to achieve!
  • Brands are keepers of culture: Sadly true. I was looking at my second-grade class picture. Know what I didn’t see? Nike, Spider-Man, Dora, or Red Bull t-shirts!
  • Everything you need fits in your pocket: See the picture above. A guy from 1990 carries 200 pounds of crap – a camcorder, VCR, TV, telephone, dictionary, road atlas, etc. – in contrast with carrying a smartphone.
  • Life is a project to be optimized.: “I’m living life to the fullest – even with my mild-to-moderate plaque psoriasis!” See also: Viagra.
  •  Technology never sleeps: Oof, I am guilty of this one. Wake up at 3:45am. Hit the bathroom. Then, check the iPhone for emails or texts.
  • Scarcity is something to embrace: Ehh, not so sure about this one. There is a certain stripe of people who think that the itty-bitty SmartCar is cool, but I don’t know any of them.
  • Connectivity is like oxygen: Want to see a super freakout? Tell somebody that the WiFi is down!
  • Nothing is from one place any more: Remember “American Made”? Now it’s “Assembled in America from parts from who knows where”… and we’re OK with that!
  • Crowds know more than experts: Who do you trust to give you the lowdown on that new restaurant – the trained culinary expert, or a bunch of Joes who post on Yelp?

So, those are the highlights. Check out the original piece for further insights. So. what do you think? Are these relevant? Are there other cultural and technological phenomena you would add to the list? Let us know over at the MindField Online Facebook page!

October Surprise (deals!)

ID-100246553Time for a look at your best deals of the month! October is an in-between month, stuck in the dead zone between back-to-school and Black Friday. It can be difficult to spot a bargain – and the right time to snag it – without professional consultation! So, what do the experts say are good buys in October? Hot items include Cars, Costumes, Vacations, Thanksgiving travel, Music, School Supplies (whatever’s left!) Cruises, Camping gear (the warmer-weather stuff,) Jeans, Cookware and Whatever Apple thing that is about to be replaced.

In general, there are many items that you don’t have to wait until Black Friday to buy, but also a bunch of things that you SHOULD wait for. (Helpful!)

Here are some links for ye:

How about you? What savings tricks do you use during October? Let us know over at the MyMindField.info blog!

Tracking the Consumer’s Mobile Habits

tabletsareclickingMobile devices and smartphones are changing the way we get our information and entertainment, as well as our shopping habits. This is no shocker; what’s surprising is how quickly these changes are happening, one on top of the other, such that advertisers can hardly keep up!

The constant-flux nature of the digital landscape means that brands must rapidly adapt their marketing strategies to map the shifting consumption habits of consumers. In order to be present where consumers are focusing their attention, brands must be aware of the shifts in real time, as they are happening.  Tnooz.com

Which is pretty much what I just said, dudes! Anyway, Nielsen has released a report that attempts to capture these changes in our mobile consumption habits. Here are some highlights…

We consume 60 hours of content across different devices weekly. Ehh, seems like a lot. I have an iPhone, iPad and a laptop and, yes, I probably do come close to 60 hours a week – but I am a professional social media person! How about in YOUR house?

Each month we spend roughly…

  • 134 hours watching TV, down 3 minutes since 2012
  • 34 hours using browsers/apps on a smartphone, up 10 minutes.
  • 27 hours using the web on a computer, down 2 minutes.
  • 13 hours watching time-shifted TV (DVR, Hulu, etc.), up 2 minutes.
  • 7 hours on a game console, no change
  • 5.5 hours watching DVD or BluRay, no change.

Another fun fact… when we look a retailer up on our smartphone web browser, (somebody we visit a lot), and we find out that they have an app, about 84% of us download it!

So, it seems that the balance between devices is changing – but not that greatly.  It looks like we are simply finding more time to consume more info and entertainment, and we’re using mobile devices to do it! It’s no wonder that the wireless carriers are getting SO DARNED AGGRESSIVE in courting your business – free phones (even the fancy ones!), no contracts, offering to buy out your old contract, etc.

So, what about you? Are you shifting your consumption habits to a more mobile platform? Are you downloading specific apps more often now? Are you doing it because you want to, or because you don’t want to get left behind?  Let us know over at the MindField Online Facebook page, and have a great weekend!

Another MindField Difference…

roundabout simple signIf you are a big doer of surveys (known in scientific circles as a “survey-doer”) you may have heard of Routing. Or maybe not – it’s only a few years old and it’s sort of an “inside baseball” term.

Anyway, routing means that, if your survey company works with a larger consortium of survey companies (as MindField does now) then you log in to a certain survey opportunity, then maybe you don’t qualify, and then the big computer in the sky keeps pulling you along to the next opportunity, and the next, until it finds a survey that you qualify for.

Basically, the practice has several benefits for the survey companies and the clients who commission the surveys. For the panelist, maybe not so much. You do eventually qualify for something, but how long will that take? The answer is, it varies between survey companies.

It leads to one of the biggest complaints panelists have about routing: Respondent Fatigue. And it’s a big reason that MindField doesn’t do it!

At MindField, we make our best attempt to target the sample to the needed qualifications and should you not qualify you are finished with that opportunity rather than being passed around until something finally fits.

In the research we conducted, we found routing to be a huge complaint among panelists and something we listened to.

In other news: Email avalanche! One panelist asked, “I’m getting 30 email invites a day! I’m overwhelmed! Is that normal?” Well, going forward, no. This is one reason we are going to the Survey Cloud. With all these new opportunities, you would be bombarded with invites! So, invites are ramping down while Cloud is ramping up – and we are in this temporary “between time” that will end shortly.

So, again, a time of change, growth and increased opportunity. Will we break a few eggs along the way? Probably. We just ask for your continued patience as we build a bigger, better MindField for you!

New Survey Opportunities!

2 Comments

opportunityHey gang! Big news about a new type of survey opportunity available right now!  But first, do you say “opporTOOnity” or “opporTYOOnity?” Why is that important? It’s NOT!

Anyway… let’s start with a recap.  The surveys you know and love have a new name: MindField Premier. With MindField Premier, you will enjoy the same 5 to 10 opportunities per week out of the typical flow of 15 to 20 surveys we have going at all times depending on the various targeting methods such as specific geography, ethnicity, age, etc.  Basically, nothing changes – it just has a name now.

Why? To differentiate between a NEW type of opportunity!

MindField Global, as we are calling it, is new. It refers to surveys commissioned by a new batch of clients – clients that could be anywhere in the world, with surveys on a whole range of topics. With MindField Global, we hope to add 100+ opportunities per week on a wide variety of topics across the general panel population. MindField Global is active right now on your Member Home page. Just log in (you may have to complete a few security questions) and give it a try!

What’s the catch? Well, it’s one that you’re used to, on a slightly larger scale. You are accustomed to acting fast and getting in on a survey before the quota fills. Same here but, along with “competing” with other MindField panelists, you are competing with panelists with other survey companies. Also, by offering a far greater number of available surveys, Global opportunities may offer a slightly lower incentive compared to Premier opportunities, which will continue to maintain the standard incentive ratio.

More news, this time regarding Notifications: MindField Online encourages everyone to login DAILY to take advantage of all of these opportunities.  Our goal is to limit the amount of emails you receive as more people login.  We will then send Survey Cloud updates every 3 to 4 days.  We will also be sending mobile and Facebook reminders to login and take advantage in the near future.  This will help us – and you – to cut down on the number of emails sent and received.  So, now you have your own personal Survey Cloud that has replaced the Live Now! panel on your Member Home page.

The name of the game is INCREASED OPPORTUNITY. You have been hollering for it, and MindField heard you!

So that’s the news. Any questions about MindField Premier? MindField Global? Survey Clouds? OpporTOOnity vs. opporTYOOnity? Let us know, and we will do our best to answer them. In the meantime, enjoy the new surveys!

Facebook Fans Speak!

megaphone-kid-croppedIt’s time once again to feature comments from satisfied MindField Online panelists, collected from our over 41,000 Facebook fans (and blog fans, too!)  You will find them at our “Panelist Feedback” page. Here’s a sample from Lois…

If you are interested in helping companies make decisions regarding their products and which areas of sales they want to expand into…if you enjoy helping to shape the future of the companies whose products you purchase, then this is a great company to work with.

I have worked with many different companies doing surveys over the years, and there are really only a handful of them that I would highly recommend to my friends and family. MindField is right at the top of that list. Your earning potential is limitless, all they ask is that you share their sense of integrity.

Their pay rate is fair and I have never, ever had a problem receiving any earnings from them. They also have a terrific support team, and the community of people who work with them is full of people just like you who want to earn some spare cash and help to shape the market. Just be honest, be yourself, and enjoy the job.

Wow, Lois…THANKS! Be sure to check out the rest of the satisfied commentary at the Panelist Feedback page.

(photo: southerncrescentsolutions.com)