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Socratic In Print
January 2008
Using the PRD technique online Quirk's Marketing Research Review.
Article by Stefan Althoff (Lufthansa Technik, Germany) showing results of a series of tests on the effectiveness of using "Previous Rating Displayed" technique (PRD) as a way of increasing discrimination between subtly different stimuli. Socratic (Bill MacElroy and Jeffrey Kerr) is mentioned in the article for having conducted the online portion of the study for Mr. Althoff and having contributed to the analysis.
May 2007
Measuring Brand Success: Converting Awareness to Loyalty
Marketing Magnified (E-zine of the CMO Council)
An article by Bill MacElroy outlining the process and interpretation of Socratic's Brand Power Rating index.
March 2007
Proceedings of the 9th International GOR Conference
GENERAL ONLINE RESEARCH '07
March, 26-28, 2007
University of Leipzig, Germany
Poster sessions and podcasts contributed:
- Bill MacElroy Virtual Product Simulation, a step-by-step presentation of using Web-based VPS to allow people to build their own ideal products in real time.
- Bill MacElroy and Emmanuel Laroche (Symrise Corp) Product Concept Testing Using Virtual Product Configuration: Creating the Cocktails of Tomorrow, a case study revealing how Symrise Corp used VPC to segment and profile cocktail preferences and create prototype alcoholic beverage flavor combinations.
- Stefan Althoff (Lufthansa Technik), Udo Dumke (topcom), Bill MacElroy (Socratic) & Jeff Kerr (Socratic) The PRD Technique – (Previous Rating Displayed) Don‘t You Forget About Me, a case study involving the usability and effectiveness of the Lufthansa Technik intranet, detailing a multi-phasic evaluation of the Display of the Previous Ratings technique: an essential tool for a survey using Magnitude Estimation Scaling (MES).
February 2007
Let me show you what I need? Quirk's Marketing Research Review.
Article by Kari McGlynn discussing Socratic's approach to digital ethnography and detailing a study of how consumers use child seats in automobiles, done in conjunction with BabyCenter.com.
January 2006
Laying new TURF with NCURA? Quirk's Marketing Research Review. p. 26.
Article by Michael DeHart discussing Socratic's Non-cannibalization Unduplicated Reach Analysis (NCURA) which is used to model optimal product mix strategies. Article outlines use of online simulator for playing "what if" games with line substitutions.
December 2005
Collective Opinion - Marketing. Forbes.com. Allison Fass, 11.28.05
Article by Allison Fass discusses new uses of online virtual brainstorming and discussion communities for customer input on new product concepts. Bill MacElroy is quoted as saying "People are much better at reacting to ideas than creating them."
August 2005
But will they buy it? Quirk's Marketing Research Review. p. 52.
Article by Ed Erickson outlining the use of Perceptometer-based online ad testing including results from a large number of surveys establishing norms for second-by-second measurement of television advertisement success.
February 2005
Make the process open to all: Bringing Web surveys into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Quirk's Marketing Research Review. p. 38.
Article by Bill MacElroy detailing the many ways that surveys can be made accessible to those with varying types of disabilities and how many companies may be forced to adopt "accessible" technologies when researching their customers.
February 2005
To Market: You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet. QSR Magazine. p. 26.
Article by Steve Weiss, discussing hot topics from The Marketing Research Event (Oct. 2004 in San Francisco). Article highlights presentation by Donna Wydra, Vice President Consumer Product Practice for Socratic Technologies Inc. and Donna Kassarjian, Director of Consumer Insights, Taco Bell; in which they discuss the results from a Socratic Configurator AnalysisTM project that allowed consumers to "build their own ideal chicken burrito" online.
February 14, 2005
Have it Your Way. Forbes. p. 78.
Article by Melanie Wells discussing new ways that companies are "tapping consumers as never before to help them create new products." Highlights Taco Bell Chicken Burrito Configurator AnalysisTM project and discusses pricing implications that the study revealed.
July/August 2004
How to catch a cheat: techniques for identifying problem respondents in online surveys. Quirk's Marketing Research Review. p. 46.
Article by Bill MacElroy exposing the ways people attempt to cheat at Web surveys, the types of sophisticated software that is being employed, and various methods for detecting and terminating cheaters before they can adversely affect your real-time results.
June 2004
Spyware's potential threat to the profession. Alert!, pub: MRA, (vol. 44, No. 6). p. 4.
Article by Bill MacElroy detailing how Spyware/Adware is being misused for "marketing research" purposes in contravention to the codes of ethics of MRA/IMRO. Article details the various types of Spyware; what they are being used to do, surreptitiously, on people's computers; and how to get rid of these intrusive applications.
May 2004
Hidden barriers to new product acceptance: preference inertia. Quirk's Marketing Research Review. p. 52.
Article by Bill MacElroy and Donna Wydra examining a potential explanation as to why methods for projecting new product sales often overstate the demand in the short run. Preference inertia ("Sticking with the devil you know"), creates barriers to trying new things. This article outlines the three major components that create this phenomenon in the minds of customers.
September 2003
10 Tips For Successful Online Survey Design. Alert!, pub: MRA, (vol. 41, No. 9). p. 23.
Best practices article from Bill MacElroy and Michael Gray. Gives step-by-step pointers for creating workable Web-surveys that avoid common problems.
July 2003
High-Technology Branding Deflates. The Business-to-Business Marketer. (vol. 8, No. 7). p. 12.
Article based on a study of global high technology branding decision-makers by Bill MacElroy and Robert Nelson. Second wave of a study released in 1997 shows that branding, as an activity is not as sophisticated as consumer branding and that most organizations are not measuring brand equity.
June 2003
IMRO Online Survey Satisfaction Research: A Pilot Study of Salience-based Respondent Experience Modeling. IMRO Journal of Online Research. www.ijor.org.
Study by Bill MacElroy and Michael Gray examines the Interactive Marketing Research Organization's (IMRO) design of a template for measuring and producing a satisfactory survey experience. Study measures elements of salience for potential respondents and how co-variate such as length, topic, amount of incentive and sponsor affect satisfaction and participation rates.
May 2003
Proceedings of: Innovations in Customer Loyalty, Retention and Advocacy: Powered by Technology
The Penn State University eBusiness Research Center (eBRC) and Center for Global Business, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Wednesday, May 14 – 15, 2003.
Bill MacElroy addressed the topic of developing loyalty through the effectiveness and efficiencies of Web site usability.
May 2003
Combining Perceptual And Behavioral Data For Reporting Overall Web Site Performance. IMRO Journal of Online Research. www.ijor.org.
Article by Bill MacElroy detailing the process for integrating behavioral and perceptual data in order to optimize the usability of Web-based systems and to drive visitor satisfaction and loyalty.
March 2003
What will the world of online research look like 15 years from now? Alert!, pub: MRA, (vol. 41, No. 3). p. 17.
An opinion piece by Bill MacElroy concerning the forces shaping the research industry and how the profession must change its business practices in order to avoid extinction.
February, 2003
The Democratization Of Marketing Research: Industry Faces Increasing Competition From DIY Surveys. Quirk's Marketing Research Review. p. 23.
An opinion piece by Bill MacElroy outlining the problems internal research professionals are reporting with regard to decision makers by-passing the research department and "doing-it-themselves."
February, 2003
Survey Satisfaction Research: Respondent Satisfaction Modeling: Initial Results from an IMRO/CMOR Client Outreach Project. Included in proceedings from CMOR Protecting Our Assets conference, (Orlando, Florida).
Findings from a survey experience study authored by Bill MacElroy and Michael Gray showing that building a relationship with respondents increases response rates and satisfaction and increases likelihood of future participation.
January 2003
Marketing Research Industry Crisis Of Non-Cooperation And Survey Avoidance: A Focus On Web Research. Alert!, pub: MRA, (vol. 41, No. 1). p. 19.
Report on key reasons why people eschew survey taking. Key findings: Phone studies are too invasive of privacy and are the least favorite mode of survey taking. Web surveys are most preferred method, but can be boring.
January 2003
The Role Of Online Surveys In The Usability Assessment Process. Usability Interface, The Newsletter of the STC Usability SIG, (vol. 9, issue 3). p. 1.
Article by Bill MacElroy delineating the division of labor in usability testing between qualitative and quantitative approaches.
July 23, 2002
"The Need for Speed Time-savings as a Competitive Distinction for Online Research"Quirk's Marketing Research Review, July/August 2002 pages 22 - 27
Article by Bill MacElroy that discusses respondent feedback from recent surveys that indicates that the online environment has speed-based advantages and other elements that make a survey seem like less work.
July 9, 2002
"Results are In", San Francisco Business, Vol 37, No. 7, pg 2
Article showing results of a Socratic survey of SF Chamber of Commerce members.
June 7, 2002
"MALT uses big names to help save farmland" San Francisco Chronicle
Saving the Bay Area's remaining acres of farmland is as patriotic as baseball and apple pie. That's the subtle message of a new advertising campaign that features, in part, an abstract image of an American flag. (Socratic Technologies' research is mentioned towards the end of the article. We helped with the campaign planning and message testing.) http://www.sfgate.com/
March, 2002
Article by Bill MacElroy, Patty McDowell and Jennifer Mikucki comparing the quantity, quality and level of sophistication of open-ended responses collected via a paper-and-pencil questionnaire versus a Web survey.
April 1, 2002
"Computer Configuration Figures to Change Market Research", AMA Marketing News, pages 23-25
Article by Bill MacElroy discusses the emerging use of online virtual product configuration methods through which consumers explore options, specify features and choose sets of components in real time. Participants are more thoroughly engaged and that may result in higher-quality data.
December 12, 2001
"Poor Customer Service Can Hurt Online Sales"
"More than one-third of online shoppers will abandon a shopping cart because they can’t get crucial information at the time of purchase, according to a new survey of experienced online shoppers and prepared by Socratic Technologies Inc. in San Francisco."
December 4, 2001
"Web retailers increasingly find success just a click away"
"A survey of 1,000 online customers earlier this year found that poor service is the largest barrier to shopping online. San Francisco-based Socratic Technologies reported that 72 percent of respondents would stop doing business with an online retailer if service was poor."
