Quantitative methods

Quantitative research methods permit us to evaluate very precisely the outspread of certain facts and phenomena existing on the market. By using rigorous research techniques, combining statistics with mathematics, we obtain concrete data on such market indicators as, for example, average purchase frequency, share of loyal customers, specific weight of expenditures for a certain group of products in a household budget. 

Face-to-faces interviews

Magenta Consulting staff has rich experience, including the international one, in conducting face-to-face surveys. Such surveys are based on a developed questionnaire that includes both closed questions (when respondents need to choose among pre-defined answers) and the open ones where respondents answer in their own words.

Our interviewers carry out the surveys that permit obtaining statistically valid data and objective answers to clear-cut questions.

Magenta Consulting has experience in conducting big samples survey in Moldova of up to 6,000 respondents.

The research specific goals dictate the use of one of several techniques such as door-to-door interviews in Moldova, street survey or point of sale interviews.

Telephone interviews

When the specifics of a research project permits using a short and simple questionnaire, it is often worth applying telephone interviews using CATI method (Computer assisted telephone interviews). This is a less expensive quantitative research method compared to face-to-face surveys.

This research method can be used for such tasks as identifying the target consumer preferences, market size evaluation for certain goods and services, describing a purchasing decision mechanism or evaluating efficiency of certain mass media channels.

Our interviewers fill in the questionnaires directly into a web platform at the same time they do telephone interviews, which helps to better manage the received data, and using traditional printed questionnaires, which is much more convenient when a questionnaire has many open questions.

A drawback of this method is that very often telephone surveys cannot provide a comprehensive market picture as the duration of such interviews must not exceed 5-7 minutes in order to keep the respondents objective and interested in providing information.

Online surveys

Besides the quantitative research methods described above, Magenta Consulting also accomplishes online surveys though a web platform www.sondaj.md. Such surveys are the cheapest tool for market and opinion research.

However, to be objective, we have to recognize that the target audience of such survey is mostly the urban population of Moldova, aged from 15 to 24 years, active internet users. For some types of products or services, this is an ideal research target audience. However, internet surveys do not fit to all types of research objectives. 

Magenta National Screening

Magenta Consulting periodically accomplishes this national survey using omnibus research tool. This method assumes conducting a quantitative survey for several clients simultaneously, which permits sharing the research logistics’ costs and significantly reduce the price of the survey.

This research method allows collecting a detailed information regarding various products and services and the research subjects can vary from the consumed food product to the intention of purchasing a car. Basing on this research it is also possible to do customers segmentation.

This survey is done on a sample of 1,400 respondents, both city and rural dwellers. Magenta interviewers carry out door-to-door interviews basing on a structured questionnaire.

Magenta National Screening survey can be effectively used at any stage of the marketing process, for example, at the stage of the product concept development, or before, during or after an advertising campaign implementation. Such research is usually utilized to identify:

  • Purchase/consumption frequency of certain goods and services;
  • Place of purchase
  • Customer preferences
  • Customer satisfaction
  • Customer perception of advertising;
  • Brand awareness level
  • Price perception etc.

The advantages of the omnibus research are:

  • Low cost for a national level representative survey;
  • The data is periodically verified and updated;
  • Possibility to include the questions that are specifically important for the client;
  • Bedsides the primary data you get a comprehensive report with deep analysis.

The omnibus questionnaire contains the questions related to different clients, however, each of the clients receives only the answers to his questions, therefor being sure in confidentiality of data.

Quality control in quantitative surveys

Doing an extensive national level research, with a big sample size, requires minimization of the risks related to an incorrect interpretation of questions and data entry and data processing mistakes.

Magenta Consulting eliminates those risks by using a tested algorithm of research project launch and execution.

At the initial phase, we do an obligatory pilot testing of a questionnaire in order to make sure that the used terminology is correct and the questions are clear to the respondents. An obligatory training with interviewers has a scope to explain them all questions so that they can correctly interpret them to respondents.

The use of verification questions permits checking out consistency of the answers and rejecting those questionnaires where the logic of the answers impugns the correctness of their content.

The primary data entry is made in parallel by two operators, which excludes possible mistakes cause by human factor.

The validity of the results obtained is verified by applying statistical correlation and significance tests.

To get the maximum accuracy of the filed data collection we verify at our account minimum 30% of the filled questionnaires by calling the respondents and verifying the answers to certain questions.

The total quality control of the filed data is our main competitive advantage that permits us positioning our company as a leader in providing marketing and sociological research services.