How to Eliminate Bias in Market Research

Understanding the wants and needs of customers should be at the forefront of any business’ plans. Market research is often conducted to further this understanding, and better meet the needs of customers.

Utilising psychology, and psychological profiling, within market research, helps businesses to better understand the various thoughts, beliefs and perceptions customers may have. By using various tools, you will be able to identify the above, alongside wider consumer trends within your sector.

All of this can be massively beneficial for any business but it can, however, be the subject of bias and the sooner you can eliminate this bias from your market research, the better.

Eliminating Bias in Market Research with Psychology

Consumers may not know it, but psychology normally underpins many commonly used market research tactics including:

• Project planning
• Questionnaire design
• Interviews
• Focus, cluster and friendship groups
• Statistical analysis

The importance of applying the correct psychological methods to your market research shouldn’t be downplayed. Bias and undue influence can impact a person whether they know it or not, and without correct project management, incorrect or skewed information can be collected, which in turn can cause long-term problems for the company conducting said research.

Possible Biases within Market Research

It’s possible for multiple biases to exist within market research, if not conducted properly, and three of the most common are:

Question Order Bias

Questionnaires may appear to be simple tools for collecting information, thoughts and opinions, but the reality is that they can be subject to unexpected biases.

The most common issue is that of questionnaire order or structure. By positioning certain questions before or after others, the person answering can be unduly influenced in a way that impacts the results.

Confirmation Bias

Conducting market research should be free of any type of bias or belief. Unfortunately this doesn’t always happen, as those implementing the various tactics may be subject to ingrained employee beliefs or cultures within a workplace, if the research is being conducted in-house.

Culture Bias

Cultural biases can be one of the hardest to manage and exclude. This type of bias normally happens when the person, or peoples, developing the research tactics, do so with the subconscious assumption that other people have the same beliefs as them.

Again, this type of bias can result in skewed or unnatural results.

Independent Market Research

The risk of biases within market research are clear. Even the most well-intentioned employees can be subject to influence which negatively impacts a project.

As a result, it’s highly recommended to engage the services of an independent market research company. At CARD Group, we believe that with a clear project focus, free from cultural or systemic influence, the chances of obtaining quality, insightful market research, is much higher.