People Watching People
Observers in supermarkets. Purpose: comparative shopping.
People watching phenomena
Observer stationed at intersection counts traffic
Machines watching people
Video cameras record consumers selecting frozen foods to determine popularity of choice.
Machines watching phenomena
Traffic-counting machines monitor the flow of traffic through an intersection
Define Observation Research
The systematic recording of patterns of occurrence or behaviors without communicating with the people involved.
Conditions for using Observation?
- The information must be observable.
- The behavior must be repetitive
- Short duration
Natural vs. Contrived Situations?
Natural = requires the observer to play no role in the behavior of interest. Contrived = set up as a simulation by the observer.
Open vs. Disguised Observation
Open/Undisguised = the person knows that he/she is being observed. Disguised = process of monitoring people, objects, or occurrences that do not know they are being watched.
Structured vs. Unstructured
Structured = the observer fills out a questionnaire-like form on each person observed. Unstructured = the observer simply makes notes on the behavior being observed.
Human vs. Machine Observers
Machines (like cameras) may be more desirable due to being able to do the job (in certain situations) less expensively, more accurately, or more readily.
Direct vs. Indirect
Direct = directly observing the current behavior. Indirect = Observing past behavior.
Advantages of Observation Research
- Provides complementary evidence
- We can see what people actually do
- Avoids interviewer bias
- Quick data collection
Disadvantages of Observation Research
- Only behavior and physical personal characteristics can usually be examined.
- Researcher does not learn motives.
- Time-consuming and expensive
Ethnographic Research (humanistic inquiry)
- From anthropology
- Recording people in their natural settings
- Observation of behavior and physical setting coupled with depth interviews
Mystery Shoppers
- To gather observational data about a store
- To collect data about customer/employee interactions
Four Variations of mystery shopper
- A mystery telephone call
- A quick purchase, little or no interaction
- Using a script, initiates a conversation
- Requires excellent communication and knowledge of a product.
Phases of Employee Training
Phase 1 - Evaluate existing customer service
Phase 2 - evaluations analyzed and training program developed
Phase 3 - shoppers return to evaluate the customer service post-training
Objectives of Mystery Shoppers
- Preparing for new competition
- Monitoring the competition
- Recognizing good employees
One Way Mirror Observations
- Clients to observe the group discussion
- Used for focus groups
- Used to observe users of product
- Used to observed children at play
Audits
Examination and verification of the sale of a product
Shopper Patterns
Used by retailers to trace the flow of shoppers through a store
Shopper behavior
Involves observing, or perhaps filming and then watching the film, of shoppers or consumers in a variety of shopping settings.
Content Analysis
An observation technique used to analyze written material (usually advertising copy) into meaningful units using carefully applied rules
EEG: electroencephalogram
Researchers claim that EEG measures can be used to assess viewers’ attention to an advertisement at a specific point in t time, the intensity of the emotional reactions elecited by specific aspects of the ad, and their comprehension and attention to the ad.
