Why Fieldwork is Crucial in International Market Research
Fieldwork in market research is essential to success in international market research writ large. When entering a new country’s market, conducting fieldwork abroad – that is, leading interviews, surveys, observations, focus groups and other initiatives to gain insight on the target market – is part of the best practices for global research that set brands up for success.
Understanding the Role of Fieldwork in Global Market Insights
Fieldwork in market research is important because it is the way that brands, usually working through research partners, directly gather information as part of cross-cultural market research. Conducting fieldwork abroad lets firms assemble data and insights that are tailored to their particular questions or concerns. Market research field data collection also has the benefit of being private, as internal research by a brand will not be available to other companies in the sector, giving the commissioning firm an edge on the competition.
Challenges of Conducting Fieldwork Across Borders
Conducting fieldwork abroad is no small feat. The research team will need to do considerable fieldwork planning for international studies to get ready. Part of that is taking steps to avoid causing offense or asking unhelpful questions when engaged in cross-cultural market research. Best practices for global research include sensitivity to local attitudes and behaviors, such as the appropriateness of asking about personal finances. Likewise, global research best practices also call for adapting surveys and similar tools to cultures where directly saying “no” is considered impolite. In sum, international research fieldwork faces challenges in finding what is important to the target population and then asking questions in ways that will yield helpful answers.
Fieldwork vs. Desk Research in International Contexts
International market research can include both fieldwork and desk research. The difference is that fieldwork gathers information that the user (i.e. your brand) collects firsthand or through an outside partner they have hired. An example would be engaging a team to conduct interviews for market research field data collection. Desk research, on the other hand, draws on data collected by a person or organization unaffiliated with the user (such as analyzing industry trends from data assembled by regulators or trade associations). Both have their place in international market research and global research best practices assign a role to both of them.
Pre-Fieldwork Planning: Setting the Foundation for Global Success
Failing to plan is planning to fail. Actionable insights only come after considerable planning for international studies, so let’s take a look at what needs to happen before the first potential respondents are contacted.
Defining Clear Objectives and Country-Specific KPIs
Fieldwork planning for international studies involves meticulous goal-setting. Teams need to have a clear understanding of what defines success, and easy-to-evaluate criteria for deciding when to do more work or say that the research can stop. Cross-cultural market research will likely require setting different KPIs and objectives for different markets, in response to financial or cultural norms about who makes purchasing decisions in a household or company. To sum up, international research fieldwork requires drawing bright lines about what constitutes success before any instruments or interviewers are put in the field.
Choosing the Right Methodologies for Multinational Studies
Actually gathering the data while conducting international market research can be done in many different ways (e.g. interviews on the street, phone interviews, on-site observations, online surveys, etc.) and so teams need to be aware of best practices for global research generally, plus the specific expectations of their target market when conducting fieldwork abroad. Likewise, best practices for global research include setting sampling parameters that accurately represent the potential market or segment of the market that the brand is interested in. Brands and their research partners will have to do background research on conducting fieldwork abroad for their multinational study and choose the method(s) that best match their target market and the specific needs of the firm.
Legal, Ethical, and Cultural Compliance in International Research
Field researchers also need to consider legal and social norms for global research best practices and cross-cultural market research. Sometimes there are laws about how data can be gathered and used (such as the General Data Protection Regulation in the EU) with implications for market research field data collection. Likewise, fieldwork in market research requires awareness of local attitudes about the subject matter, and asking the wrong question during cross-cultural market research may interfere with the results. For example, asking the question “How much money do you make?” may be off-putting to some survey respondents (quite possibly breaking with best practices for global research) while asking “What is your annual household income?” would be fine.
Executing Fieldwork Across Multiple Countries
Conducting fieldwork abroad is a challenge but experience has taught us that some things are applicable to most fieldwork in market research projects. Fieldwork planning for international studies usually involves a few steps common to each project, so let’s take a look at what we can expect during international market research.
Working with Local Partners and Field Teams
Firms typically don’t have in-house staff for conducting fieldwork abroad or doing market research field data collection. Much (if not most) fieldwork in market research is conducted by in-country providers that specialize in their local markets for cross-cultural market research. Engaging local partners and field teams is common in international research fieldwork and is widely regarded as falling within global research best practices because of these teams’ heightened cultural sensitivity.
Managing Translations and Localized Research Instruments
Creating and managing locally tailored versions of research instruments (such as surveys) is an important part of conducting fieldwork abroad. Cross-cultural market research will make sure that the instruments are available in the necessary languages, while adapting item framings to account for local attitudes and behaviors around the study subject (e.g. the acceptable degree of bluntness or directness in answers, or polite ways of asking about money or debt). Likewise, best practices for global research will include some sort of consistency check to make sure research instruments are tracking the same variables and KPIs across languages and populations, despite local adaptations.
Recruiting Respondents in Global and Emerging Markets
Finding participants is essential to successful fieldwork in market research. Conducting fieldwork abroad means finding people who are willing to talk to interviewers or complete surveys as part of international market research in global and emerging markets, so researchers need to be good at building trust with respondents. Cross-cultural market research like this also requires skill in presenting and eliciting information from respondents (that is, asking questions the right way and maybe also “reading between the lines” of answers), to account for cultural differences that come up when conducting fieldwork abroad.
Ensuring Data Consistency Across Markets
Global research best practices call for local adaptation, so researchers have to strike a balance between fitting the local context while making sure that the same topics are properly addressed in all markets. As such, cross-cultural market research must make sure that a brand gets answers to all its questions across markets, even accounting for local variation. Proper fieldwork planning for international studies will take steps to ensure that data is responsive to the indicators that the brand is interested in.
Tools and Technologies to Improve Global Fieldwork Execution
Technology plays a growing role in international research fieldwork. Internet tools – including smartphone apps – let teams reach more participants and capture more detailed data. Here are some common ways that technology is leveraged in cross-cultural market research.
Digital Platforms for International Data Collection
Digital platforms form a major part of market research field data collection. Survey platforms – that often incorporate randomization or customizable question pathways that provide a route to users based on previous answers – are one common tool. Using digital platforms like this for market research field data collection, teams can follow global research best practices and control for priming due to question order and other confounding variables. Likewise, tools like these help make sure market research field data collection is relatively clean by channeling respondents to further questions based on their prior replies, making sure they only answer items that are relevant to them.
Post-Fieldwork: Consolidating and Interpreting Multinational Data
International market research does not end when the market research field data collection ends. Best practices for global research still include data cleaning (e.g. identifying and eliminating fake or duplicate responses), coding (putting data into categories) and running analysis to find trends, patterns and business opportunities. In short, once we gather the data we still have to prepare it for analysis and figure out what it means.
Partnering with ESR Research for International Fieldwork Excellence
When you make ESR Research your partner for international market research, you’ll work with a team that rigorously follows global research best practices, with extensive experience in conducting fieldwork abroad.
Our Global Network of Trusted Field Teams
We have a worldwide network of teams in the field who conduct international market research, and our relationships with them go back years. Our local partners are experts in conducting fieldwork abroad and the results of their market research field data collection will give you actionable insights for entering your new market.
Customized Research Design for Cross-Market Projects
Part of our fieldwork planning for international studies is customized research design that is adapted for multi-market projects. If your international market research requires work in multiple countries or regions, then our international research fieldwork will be tailored to fit each place or market you need data on.
Quality Assurance and Local Expertise at Every Step
We have a thorough quality assurance process to adhere to best practices for global research, plus detailed knowledge of local attitudes and market conditions to bring you the best of cross-cultural market research. At every step – from discovery call to final analysis – we combine our expertise and thorough processes so that you walk away with the best possible outcomes for fieldwork in market research.
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