Special Study Areas

G&R is particularly experienced in several specialty areas in which we have conducted hundreds of studies and enjoy an international reputation for quality. The proprietary knowledge we have developed in these areas qualifies us as a unique and important resource for clients interested in….

• Advanced Persuasion
• Attitudes & Usage Studies/Segmentation
• Claims Substantiation
• Communicating for Cause
• Content Marketing
• Corporate Image
• Events and Sponsorship
• Integrated Communications
• International Communications Research
• Medium Influences
• Physician Testing
• Spokesperson and Icon Testing

Advanced Persuasion
Shifting the Paradigm in Persuasion Measurement
 

Traditional persuasion measures focus on the extent an ad can influence new buyers, overlooking the effect it has on the current customer base. For most brands, it is the core customers who are most loyal and profitable, buying your brand repeatedly, in quantity and usually without promotional incentive. Gallup & Robinson's Advanced Persuasion takes into account the complex and multi-layered nature of brand preferences that move consumers not only towards trial, but also to greater feelings of conviction about and attachment with your brand. More...

Attitudes, Usage & Segmentation
So who knows you, what do they think about you, and how do they engage with your products?
 

Attitudes and Usage Studies, A&U in the US and U&A in Europe, help our clients define their market and spotlight areas of opportunity. They provide the key knowledge elements you need to navigate your markets. They reveal insights on issues such as awareness, trial, loyalty, brand shifting, heavy/light purchase/usage, etc. A well-designed A&U study can increase understanding of product or service attributes that are most important to purchasing decisions, where you stand versus your competitors, and how people maneuver through the buying process. Our segmentation analyses enable you to more precisely define and target your audience.

Claims Substantiation
Measuring market reaction to advertising messages or claims
 

G&R has frequently conducted surveys for advertisers, agencies or their attorneys to support or to challenge possible actions by media review bodies, regulatory agencies or courts. Data is collected independently and according to strict industry practice to allow for the quantification of how audiences perceive and evaluate messages and claims. Study designs are generally simple, but compelling. They are overseen in design, execution and analysis by skilled practitioners who will work with you closely, whether your needs are internal, regulatory or adjudicatory. If desired, our survey directors are prepared to serve as expert witnesses.  

Communicating for Cause
Doing good, done well
 

Raising awareness or encouraging behavior modification for a social or public health issue is quite a different communications challenge than persuading consumers to purchase commercial products. Increasingly, though, the two forms of communication are being held to one overall standard: accountability. Campaign designers and funding sources face two underlying questions: 1) is a campaign worth the investment of time and resources; and 2) how does one increase the chances that the campaign will be effective? Unfortunately, not all communication campaigns work and, when they do work, they usually do so in a messy, real-world way. More...

Content Marketing
Stronger connections through branded marketing
 

Companies are increasingly driving profitable customer action by delivering high-quality, relevant information to prospects and customers, with its attendant benefits in acquisition, retention, and advocacy. As a result, many companies supplement traditional marcom channels and communicate new information via a variety of media contexts, including custom magazines, print or online newsletters, emails, websites or microsites, webcasts, podcasts and videos. However, quantifying the value of those communications can be a difficult challenge. To help in this, G&R offers in-depth research solutions for measuring, understanding and improving the effectiveness of Content Marketing. More...

Corporate Image
The company we keep
 

In today's world an increasingly important influence in buying decisions is people's perceptions of the companies that stand behind the brand. Understanding how customers, consumers, communities and/or constituents think about the company, the esteem they have for its values, mission and people, and how well they trust what it does influence purchase behavior in both good times and bad. G&R image studies identify areas that impact decisions to consider, try and continue to use your products.

Events and Sponsorship
After all the hoopla, how do premium media opportunities pay out?
 

After all the hoopla, how do premium media opportunities pay out? When you decide to advertise on premium events such as the Super Bowl or the Olympics, do people notice, and how do they react? Given the premium prices such events command, the answers to these questions are critical. We have monitored the performance of Super Bowl commercials for several years and the results are often surprising. Some of the most heavily advertised brands may be hardly noticed. Independently and objectively, G&R research can help you assess such media opportunities using a variety of testing and tracking tools. We can measure the effectiveness of a commercial in premium events vs. standard programming to enable quantification of the boost your brand receives in the former. Or we can measure it relative to other advertising in the premium event and track its impact on consumer awareness and attitudes for a period after it airs. Either way, we can help you identify potentially effective spots or quantify their effectiveness after the fact so you can justify and allocate those premium dollars.

Integrated Communications
Turning silos into plowshares
   

Most companies make substantial investments in communicating with their markets via an assortment of channels. Many accumulate data at considerable expense about how effective these communications are individually. Often though, they lack understanding about how the various parts contribute to the whole. Are your magazine ads reinforcing your television commercials or competing with them? Are your radio commercials directing listeners to your web site? G&R can help answer such questions. Integrated Communications Research uses advanced modeling and analytic techniques to help companies mine and better use attitudinal, dispositional and media consumption patterns data to improve and integrate their communications programs by enabling them to understand their synergies and combined impact.

International Communications Research
Expanding your grasp of a contracting world
  

The global nature of many communications programs brings with it the need for international communications research. As more research of this kind is done, there is a fuller understanding of how different local consumption of advertising messages can be and how important local input is. Through a network of field agents and focused, independent research partners, we provide the touch points you need to balance your global and local needs to make your messaging more effective worldwide. Technological improvements via the computer, the Internet and telecommunications have reduced logistical considerations, improved control, compressed timelines, and lowered costs. When needed, as an affiliate of Gallup, we offer "feet-on-the-ground" presence in every region and in most key markets. All of this leads to better, more uniform quality with greater insight and value for this critical information need.

Medium Influences
How can advertisers harness the way people think about and use media content? 
 

G&R has conducted large scale studies using masses of data aimed at quantifying audience characteristics, the nature of their use of and involvement with a given medium, and the consequences this has for advertising messages. These studies are aimed at increasing our understanding of how the medium itself, influences the effectiveness of the advertising it carries. For magazines, we have measured such factors as the premium or penalty associated with position in the book, right vs. left hand pages, cover positions or proximity to competitive ads, etc. In television, we have quantified how premium primetime programs enhance or detract from message communication. We know how your commercial's position in the program or pod influences its performance or if certain media categories are more effective than others in communicating your message. We are equally experienced in conducting ad hoc studies of client-specific media issues. In these, data are typically gathered using telephone interviews or self-administered mail questionnaires using designs that control external influences. Recent examples include studies of viewer or subscriber characteristics, content evaluation, reader/viewer attitudes toward specific media vehicles and the influence of individual media features on ad effectiveness.

Physician Testing
Research solutions for specialized samples
 

When testing among specialized B2B samples, G&R provides a full spectrum of ad testing measurement capabilities while providing the flexibility to select the methodology that best fits each test circumstance. For example, for pharmaceutical and medical devices companies interested in testing among physicians, Physician WebCheck provides comprehensive, actionable, fast and cost-effective quantitative assessments of ads or other messaging stimuli. Our Physician Journal Impact Research Service precisely measures how your advertising is perceived and retained by targeted physicians in the real world environment where it must succeed to be effective.

Spokesperson and Icon Testing
How do advertising spokespersons, celebrities and icons influence brand attitudes
 

Selecting the right spokesman or symbol to represent your brand is an important decision that can affect its performance for years to come. A subspecialty for G&R, we have conducted numerous studies to identify and/or evaluate the effectiveness of potential spokespersons, celebrities or icons. Traditional measures generally cover awareness, expertise and likeability. Our surveys go beyond these to examine the linkages and goodness of fit between source/presenter evaluations, brand attitudes and purchase interest. Applying our online and in-person designs, including WebCheck and FasTrac, respondents can be exposed to alternatives as names, statements, combinations of audio/ video material or as rough ads. The recommended questioning sequence includes free associations, image and attitudes about the brand and the presenter. Studies can be turned around quickly and economically.