PSI Research & Metrics Staff Profile
Reid Moorsmith
Deputy Director, Qualitative Research
Washington, DC
Reid Moorsmith oversees qualitative research and manages primarily field-based researchers. Reid previously served as a consultant with PSI, where he...
FoQus for Qualitative Segmentation
FoQus for Qualitative Segmentation is the process of discovering and refining an idea into a complete description for branding a behavior, product or service. Unlike FoQus for Marketing Planning (CD), Segmentation does not start with an input from PSI TRaC studies. In some cases, FoQus for Qualitative Segmentation will serve as a surrogate for the quantitative segmentation table normally generated from a TRaC. In other cases, it will be used as an input into the TRaC study design and questionnaire. FoQus for Qualitative Segmentation is recommended in situations where a target audience is poorly understood (usually because it is new) or where it is impossible to collect TRaC data (usually due to political or cost constraints).
The strategy for collecting data and completing the dashboards for FoQus for Qualitative Segmentation and FoQus for Marketing Planning (CD) are largely the same. However, there is an additional level of data analysis required for Segmentation. Major themes that emerge from the study transcripts must be identified: this is the formative data analysis component of the segmentation process (where the “input” would otherwise be a segmentation table from TRaC). This layer of analysis enables the data to be distilled into the predefined dashboard items so that marketers and researchers can produce final interpretations together. The section of the dashboard on Beliefs to Change and Beliefs to Reinforce is longer for FoQus for Qualitative Segmentation than it is for FoQus for Marketing Planning (CD). Rather than limiting the ideas to one or two constructs, the process of prioritizing bubbles is dynamic and occurs while working together with programmers. The other components of the dashboard remain the same. The final portion of the dashboard identifies the appropriate marketing mix and defines the positioning statement for the brand. This completed dashboard constitutes the concept that is then used as in input into the marketing plan.