Article by Melissa Lewis, RMS Intercept Projects Supervisor –
In market research, the timing and method of data collection can greatly impact the quality and reliability of data gathered. Brief face-to-face interviews, or Intercept Surveys, conducted immediately after a real-time experience provide clients with a wealth of benefits, resulting in richer, more accurate, and actionable data. Here’s why this approach is particularly effective:
Capturing Fresh and Unfiltered Reactions
Immediate Feedback: Conducting face-to-face interviews right after a real-time experience ensures that participants’ reactions are fresh in their minds. This immediacy captures genuine, unfiltered responses, as participants can vividly recall their feelings, thoughts, and reactions without the distortion of memory over time.
Accurate Emotions: Emotions and impressions are often most intense immediately after an experience. Face-to-face interviews conducted at this time can capture these raw emotions, providing deeper insights into participant satisfaction, preferences, and pain points.
Enhanced Contextual Understanding
Relevance of Responses: Participants can directly relate their responses to the experience they just had during a face-to-face interview. This direct correlation allows researchers to gather specific and relevant feedback, making it easier to identify which aspects of the experience were most impactful.
Behavioral Observations: Researchers can observe participants’ behavior and body language during and immediately after the experience. These observations can provide additional context and validation for verbal feedback, offering a more comprehensive understanding of the participant’s experience.
Increased Detail and Specificity
Detailed Descriptions: When participants discuss an experience immediately after it occurs during a face-to-face interview, they are more likely to provide detailed descriptions and specific examples. These rich details can help clients understand exactly which elements of the experience were positive or negative.
Spontaneous Insights: Immediate face-to-face interviews can capture spontaneous insights that participants might forget or overlook later. These on-the-spot observations can reveal unique perspectives and nuances that are often forgotten or missed in delayed feedback.
Improved Data Accuracy
Reduced Recall Bias: Memory can be fallible, and the accuracy of recalled information diminishes over time. Conducting a face-to-face interview right after the experience minimizes recall bias, ensuring that the data collected is more accurate and reliable.
Consistent Context: The context of the experience is fresh for both the participant and the researcher, leading to clearer and more consistent communication. This shared context helps avoid misunderstandings and ensures that the participant’s feedback is accurately interpreted during a face-to-face interview.
Increased Participant Engagement
Higher Participation Rates: Participants are more likely to agree to a face-to-face interview immediately after an experience, especially if it is convenient and requires minimal effort. This higher engagement can lead to a larger and more diverse sample size.
Willingness to Share: The immediacy of the face-to-face interview can make participants more willing to share their thoughts and feelings, as they are still actively processing the experience. This willingness can result in more candid and valuable feedback.
Real-Time Adjustments and Improvements
Immediate Actionability: Real-time data collection allows clients to make quick adjustments and improvements based on participant feedback obtained from a face-to-face interview.
Iterative Testing: Clients can use immediate feedback to iterate and test different aspects of the experience in real time. This iterative approach can lead to continuous improvement and optimization of the product or service.
Face-to-face interviews conducted immediately after a real-time experience offer significant advantages for market research in any industry. By capturing fresh and unfiltered reactions, enhancing contextual understanding, increasing detail and specificity, improving data accuracy, boosting participant engagement, and enabling real-time adjustments, this approach provides clients with richer and more actionable insights. For researchers and clients alike, the immediacy and personal interaction of these interviews can unlock deeper understanding and drive more effective decision-making.
Relational RMS Blogs:
Unlocking the Power of Intercept Surveying: A Game Changer in Market Research
Maximizing the Effectiveness of Intercept Surveys: 3 Essential Tips
Intercept Surveys Done Right: Tips for Achieving Meaningful Results
About the Author – Melissa Lewis
Melissa joined RMS in April 2022 as QualiSight Supervisor where she managed the day-to-day operations of RMS’s onsite call center and focus group facility, known as QualiSight. In January 2024, Melissa joined the RMS Research Analytics team where she coordinates the management and fieldwork activities associated with contracted intercept fieldwork for various national airports, public transportation, and other intercept work conducted by RMS.
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About RMS
Research & Marketing Strategies, Inc. (RMS) is a full-service market research firm in Central New York. Formed in 2002, RMS helps organizations that are looking to know more about their customers and/or potential customers. We conduct surveys, focus groups, mystery shopping, studies, and analyses. Each project is customized and gets personal attention so that actionable, data-driven findings are delivered. RMS has a reputation for getting results. We offer an independent, professional means to conduct telephone, on-line, and mail surveying, as well as in-depth interviews, intercept interviews, and participant recruitment. We also host discussion groups through QualiSight, our onsite call center and focus group facility. We have a proven reputation for successfully recruiting and moderating focus groups, community forums, and town meetings.
