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    The TRC Blog

    Pricing Research

    February 24th, 2025

    Measuring Price Sensitivity to Unlock Profitability

    Setting the right price is one of the most crucial decisions a business can make. A price that’s too high can alienate potential customers, while a price that’s too low may leave revenue on the table. Price Sensitivity Analysis (PSA) provides a d...

    Ted Benzing | Vice President, Sales

    General Research

    May 9th, 2024

    My Recap of Analytics & Insights Summit

    Inspiring. Insightful. Challenging. Thought-provoking. Daunting. Encouraging. These are just some of the words I’ve heard spoken by others to encapsulate the experience of attending this year’s Analytics & Insights Summit hosted by Sawtooth ...

    Westley Ritz | Senior Director of Analytics

    Market Segmentation

    April 26th, 2024

    Should You Update Your Market Segmentation Now or Later?

    While those steps are all critical to a strong, long-term segmentation solution, a faster, leaner version is the best bet now.

    Michele Sims | Vice President, Research Management, TRC

    General Research

    April 19th, 2024

    Driving, Chess, and Market Research

    What do driving, chess, and market research all have in common? No, this isn’t the beginning of a silly joke (though if you come up with a punchline, I’d love to hear it). The answer is anticipation; in order to excel in all three, anticipation i...

    Westley Ritz | Senior Director of Analytics

    About TRC

    March 4th, 2024

    Are You Really Going to Be Able to Step Back?

    I had dinner with an old friend last week and I told him the news that I’m about to tell you…namely that I plan to retire in the spring. His question was “Are you really going to be able to step back?” I emphatically answered “YES”. So...

    Rich Raquet | Chairman

    About TRC

    March 3rd, 2024

    Passing the Torch

    When I was 24 years old, I became one of the founders of a new market research company. At that time, I’d only been in research for four years. Young, naïve, and with little to lose, I enthusiastically jumped in. It never occurred to me that I’d...

    Rich Raquet | Chairman

    About TRC

    December 6th, 2023

    Our President, Rich Raquet looks back and looks forward

    From a personal and professional perspective, this was a great year! We added new clients and new projects After the challenges of the pandemic, and recovery from it, 2023 felt for me to be a much more normal year. TRC realized its greatest growth ...

    Rich Raquet | Chairman

    B2B Research

    June 26th, 2023

    4 Times We’d Choose Qualitative over Segmentation Research for B2B Clients

    If you’re in market research and you’re working the business-to-business category, you’ll likely be asked to help with market expansion—finding new customers and identifying opportunities for profitability. The most obvious market research so...

    Charlie Humenn | Vice President

    Artificial Intelligence

    June 1st, 2023

    AI in Market Research: Why We're All Grieving

    Have you heard anything about AI recently? If you have not, feel free to skip this article and return your head to the sand. Personally, I’ve read a ton of fresh articles about the arrival of AI, how it's poised to change the world, and not just...

    Rich Raquet | Chairman

    Pricing Research

    May 23rd, 2023

    Pricing Research and Practicalities

    As market researchers we have an array of tools available to help companies get market input on pricing their products and services. Rajan Sambandam lays out a number of options based on elicitation method and where you are in the development cycle. ...

    Michele Sims | Vice President, Research Management, TRC

    Pricing Research

    May 4th, 2023

    Pricing Research Requisites

    I’ve been thinking about pricing research lately and how far it's come from the days of simply asking people what they'd pay for something. From Gabor-Granger laddering to Van Westendorp’s Price Sensitivity Meter to Discrete Choice Conjoint model...

    Michele Sims | Vice President, Research Management, TRC

    Pricing Research

    May 3rd, 2023

    Price Laddering: An Effective Research Approach for Pricing Strategy

    In research, the gold standard method for testing price points is through monadic design. But that method requires a large number of participants, and sometimes we don’t have that luxury. (See Rajan Sambandam's White Paper - Monadic Price Testing v...

    Michele Sims | Vice President, Research Management, TRC

    Fintech Industry

    April 23rd, 2023

    Wise Up: How One Fintech Startup Is Taking on the Big Banks in International Money Transfers

    Does anyone love international money transfers? Allow me to explain based on my own experience and using better informed sources (such as James Revell – see End Notes). Given that more than half of non-governmental international money transfers...

    Rajan Sambandam | President

    Fintech Industry

    March 30th, 2023

    ABC of Digital Payments

    Imagine this scenario: There are three countries, say A, B, C, that have their own versions of road systems. In Country A, roads are completely owned by private entities. They are aplenty and of varying quality – but road switching generates a tr...

    Rajan Sambandam | President

    Qual and Quant Integration

    February 6th, 2023

    What Can Super Bowl LVII Teach Us About Market Research?

    As a lifelong Philadelphian, I am, of course, focused on the possibility of a second Eagles victory in five years. Having suffered through the horrible team of my youth (yes, I’m looking at you, Roman Gabriel), it has been wonderful to see now the ...

    Rich Raquet | Chairman

    General Research

    January 31st, 2023

    The-Give-and-Take of AI in Market Research

    The notion of an unstoppable and often maniacal Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a science fiction trope that goes back at least a century. Normally in these stories humans manage to overcome the superior processing power of the machines to take back ...

    Rich Raquet | Chairman

    About TRC

    November 14th, 2022

    As We End 2022, We Have So Much to Be Thankful For

    The tangible metric is that we once again showed solid growth. This growth was driven by building our relationship with many existing clients and the addition of a dozen new ones. I am so thankful for the opportunities our clients have presented us w...

    Rich Raquet | Chairman

    Green Marketing

    October 10th, 2022

    Examples of Great Green Marketing

    Here are 4 examples of green marketing for companies that helped make a difference in their industries.

    Lenka Kolar | Director of Marketing

    About TRC

    August 29th, 2022

    Innovating for 35 Years and Counting

    TRC was founded in 1987 and employed innovative technology from the start. Back then simply having networked PCs was enough to warrant cover stories in tech publications! But we didn’t stop innovating and this year, we were recognized with our high...

    Rich Raquet | Chairman

    Green Marketing

    August 21st, 2022

    Handling Climate Change Deniers in Green Marketing Research

    For years our clients in the energy sector have been innovating ways to make energy production and distribution more sustainable and encouraging their customers to engage in green practices when it comes to making choices about the ways they consume ...

    Michele Sims | Vice President, Research Management, TRC

    Fintech Industry

    July 21st, 2022

    TRC for PayPal: Case Study Featured in Harvard Business Review

    Recently, Harvard Business Review featured an article about TRC Insights study conducted for PayPal. We are proud to share how the study results influenced PayPal's global expansion strategy for their "Buy Now Pay Later" (BNPL) product.

    Kevin Dona | Senior Vice President

    About TRC

    June 20th, 2022

    TRC and Spruce Haven Farm Presenting a Case Study of Sustainability

    We are proud to announce that TRC's own Elliot Savitzky, SVP, along with our client Hannah Robbins, CMO at SPRUCE HAVEN FARM presented at the MRMW Merlien market research conference in Atlanta, June 15th. They also presented the case study at the Qui...

    Rich Raquet | Chairman

    Fintech Industry

    June 10th, 2022

    Quantitative Fintech Surveys: Why I Miss the Market Research Interviewer

    Learn more about creating optimal Fintech market research surveys with our online survey tips like adding definitions and pre-tests.

    Melissa Hoffman | VP/Account Manager

    General Research

    December 2nd, 2021

    Challenge Everything, Including Artificial Intelligence

    I was listening to the “People I (Mostly) Admire” Podcast this week and Steve Levitt’s guest was Sendhil Mullainathan, author of the book Scarcity (great read).

    Rich Raquet | Chairman

    About TRC

    November 16th, 2021

    A Year to Remember, and Learn From

    In our nearly 34 years in business, we have been very fortunate. We have had up years and down years, but through it all we have had great clients to partner with and a staff of incredibly talented, curious people to drive insights. From a business s...

    Rich Raquet | Chairman

    Qualitative Research

    September 28th, 2021

    More than One Right Answer?

    As you may be aware, academia is currently wresting with a “replication crisis” — a paper is published with stunning findings, gets lots of attention, and then when other academics try to duplicate the results they get a very different answer. ...

    Rich Raquet | Chairman

    Qualitative Research

    September 14th, 2021

    InTXTigator Gives Respondents Equal Chance to Be Heard

    I recently interviewed 20 people caring for loved ones with degenerative diseases.  The discussions yielded over 400 pages of transcripts. Those transcripts are filled with frustration, fear and heartbreak, as well as pride, devotion and love. There...

    Cindy Reisner | Senior Moderator

    General Research

    August 24th, 2021

    It's Official, TRC Is Great Place to Work-Certified!

    I’ve always been proud of the team we have at TRC, and I love that I get to work with such talented, thoughtful, driven people. I’m proud that we’ve been chosen consistently for the GRIT list of innovative research firms, our HITRUST Certificat...

    Rich Raquet | Chairman

    General Research

    July 13th, 2021

    To Innovate Is Human

    All of us at TRC are thrilled to be recognized as one of the most innovative companies providing insights to industry. It’s our sixth year on Greenbook’s GRIT Top 50, and after the year we’ve all had it got me thinking about what, specifically,...

    Rich Raquet | Chairman

    Conjoint Analysis

    June 10th, 2021

    Making Choices During Tough Times: Conjoint Analysis

    Knowing the top features developers should focus on, we can use conjoint analysis to dive deeper into these features and see what gamers are willing to pay for these experiences.

    Myesha Butler | Associate Project Director

    General Research

    June 7th, 2021

    5 Tips for a Great Market Research Online Community

    Many firms are catching on to the tremendous value of online communities as a means of gathering a steady stream of insights. Communities do require a significant investment (most of which is up front). Therefore, to maximize the value you receive, i...

    Dana Mathiot | Research Community Manager

    General Research

    May 5th, 2021

    FinTech and the Buggy Whip

    I read an article in the NY Times about the fable of the buggy whip manufacturer. We were all taught in business school that buggy whip companies were wiped out by the auto industry. Had they only seen themselves as part of the transportation industr...

    Rich Raquet | Chairman

    Market Segmentation

    April 15th, 2021

    Leveraging Market Segmentation to Turn Lemons into Lemonade

    A bit of history The first insurance company founded in the US was called The Friendly Society, in Charleston, SC, back in 1735. Today, there are 32 insurance companies in the Fortune 500 alone, none of which has a higher market share than 22% [1] f...

    Elliot Savitzky | Senior Vice President

    General Research

    March 22nd, 2021

    HITRUST Recertified, Your Data Continues to Be Safe with TRC

    We’ve obtained a recertification status by 3rd party auditor, HITRUST® CSF, which means we adhere to best-in-class high standards for data and information security which is so critical and important to all our clients and their customers. “Wh...

    Rich Raquet | Chairman

    Feature Prioritization

    February 16th, 2021

    Making Choices during Tough Times: Feature Prioritization

    In the last 10 months, people have been seeking ways to stay entertained as lockdowns around the world put limitations on what we can do.

    Myesha Butler | Associate Project Director

    General Research

    January 11th, 2021

    Chaos in DC & New Market Highs in NY — Which Is Reality?

    After a year of pandemic, protests and deep political divisions we thought, or perhaps hoped, that we’d seen the worst of it.

    Rich Raquet | Chairman

    Brand Equity Research

    November 21st, 2020

    5 Keys to Successful Awareness Market Research Studies

    We at TRC conduct a lot of choice-based research, with the goal of aligning our studies with real-world decision-making...

    Michele Sims | Vice President, Research Management, TRC

    New Product Research

    November 21st, 2020

    4 Great Sources for Using Conjoint in New Product Research

    So much has been written about conducting research for new product development. Not surprisingly...

    Lenka Kolar | Director of Marketing

    General Research

    November 4th, 2020

    In Defense of Polling: A Market Research Parallel

    When we do market research we face our own “turnout” issues.

    Rich Raquet | Chairman

    Satisfaction and Loyalty

    October 27th, 2020

    How New Is Relationship Scoring?

    I was reading Russell Perkins blog (Russell and his firm Infocommerce group help clients develop product strategy)...

    Rich Raquet | Chairman

    Market Segmentation

    October 26th, 2020

    5 Useful Tips for Naming Market Segments

    As anyone with experience with pets will tell you, no two are alike...

    Michele Sims | Vice President, Research Management, TRC

    Market Segmentation

    October 26th, 2020

    Should You Update Your Market Segmentation Now or Later?

    While those steps are all critical to a strong, long-term segmentation solution, a faster, leaner version is the best bet now.

    Melody Matthews | Vice President and Client Advisor

    Brand Equity Research

    October 26th, 2020

    Brand Equity and Crisis Management

    We are living in very volatile times full of huge concerns about our health, the economy, social justice, a coming election.

    Rich Raquet | Chairman

    Pricing Research

    October 20th, 2020

    3 Common Mistakes When Conducting New Product and Pricing Research

    Discrete Choice Conjoint is a powerful tool for, among other things, conducting pricing and product development research.

    Rich Raquet | Chairman

    General Research

    October 20th, 2020

    Can AI Help in Finding Optimal Pricing?

    Technology is simply brilliant! If I didn’t already embrace that fact...

    Rick Quinlan | Vice President

    New Product Research

    October 20th, 2020

    What Research Is Best to Test New Product Development Efforts?

    A few times a week I get the privilege of talking to an inventor/entrepreneur.

    Rich Raquet | Chairman

    New Product Research

    October 20th, 2020

    Product Development Research to Find Out What Is Useless?

    I read an interesting article about design elements that no longer serve a purpose, but continue to exist.

    Rich Raquet | Chairman

    Brand Equity Research

    October 11th, 2020

    Keep Off-Brand Option in Mind when Measuring Brand Equity with Conjoint

    I grew up in a family that always seemed to be on the hunt for a good sale.

    Emily Wolf | Project Director

    Feature Prioritization

    July 27th, 2020

    Max-Diff for Feature Prioritization: Is the Output Telling the Whole Story?

    We love Max-Diff! It is the industry gold standard for feature prioritization, and with good reason.

    Westley Ritz | Senior Director of Analytics

    Feature Prioritization

    May 5th, 2020

    Agile Market Research and Conjoint for Ideal Product Design...Even for Jigsaw Puzzles!

    Folks isolating at home during the COVID-19 pandemic...

    Michele Sims | Vice President, Research Management, TRC

    General Research

    March 13th, 2020

    Image Technology in Qualitative and Quantitative Research: Get the Picture?

    In market research, a single image may communicate far more than a single word.

    Cindy Reisner | Senior Moderator

    Feature Prioritization

    March 3rd, 2020

    Surprising 'Features' in Product Feature Prioritization

    Many of our clients ask for our help with feature prioritization as part of the product development cycle. This typically involves using...

    Michele Sims | Vice President, Research Management, TRC

    Conjoint Analysis

    June 13th, 2019

    Rational vs Irrational Trade-Offs and Conjoint Analysis

    I’m a big fan of Russ Roberts’ podcast Econtalk.

    Rich Raquet | Chairman

    General Research

    February 11th, 2019

    TURF Analysis Can Help Grow and Expand Any Business: A Lesson from the Girl Scouts

    Every winter one of my co-workers at TRC reminds us that Girl Scout Cookie Season is upon us. GSCS (my abbreviation) is a time to call attention to, celebrate and support the agency dedicated to building “girls of courage, confidence, and characte...

    Michele Sims | Vice President, Research Management, TRC

    Pricing Research

    January 3rd, 2019

    How to Google Things, Such as Pricing Research

    I spent a very long time on Amazon and Staples.com recently trying to find a replacement for the little hand-held gadget that I use to clip crossword puzzles out of my newspapers

    Michele Sims | Vice President, Research Management, TRC

    New Product Research

    November 21st, 2018

    Conjoint Analysis or Configurator in New Product Research?

    Why choose one technique over the other? There are many reasons, but here are a few...

    Michele Sims | Vice President, Research Management, TRC

    General Research

    August 29th, 2018

    Don't Forget the Basics of Correlation vs. Causation

    Last week I was watching the CBS morning news and they had a story about a new study that indicated that your attitude toward gym class as a child shaped your attitude toward exercise your entire life. After watching the story I am convinced that i...

    Rich Raquet | Chairman

    General Research

    May 9th, 2018

    The Presence of NOUNS vs. VERBS in Market Research and the Potential for Bias

    I’ve written many times about the importance of “knowing where your data has been”. The most advanced discrete choice conjoint, segmentation or regression is only as good as the data it relies on.

    Rich Raquet | Chairman

    Pricing Research

    May 2nd, 2018

    Pricing Research in Context

    Our clients typically look for answers to how to price their products either alone or bundled...

    Michele Sims | Vice President, Research Management, TRC

    Feature Prioritization

    February 13th, 2018

    What to Consider When Using Emojis? TRC's Market Research Study Might Give You a Hint

    We assembled a list of 21 "violations" we experienced (or committed) and set out to find out which ones are considered the most bothersome.

    Michele Sims | Vice President, Research Management, TRC

    Green Marketing

    September 5th, 2017

    Why Trade-offs Are Key for Green Marketing

    Do people buy green products? Yes, of course. The real question for green marketers is whether they buy enough. In other words, are green sales in line with pro-green attitudes?

    Rajan Sambandam | President

    Conjoint Analysis

    June 21st, 2017

    When Not to Use Conjoint Analysis in New Product Development

    At the beginning of my research career I grew accustomed to clients asking us for proposals using a methodology that they had pre-selected...

    Michele Sims | Vice President, Research Management, TRC

    General Research

    May 9th, 2017

    How to Strengthen the Ideation Process and Improve Brainstorming: A Webinar

    In today’s fast paced, high stakes business environment, where budgets are tighter than ever, finding the time and dedicating the resources needed for generating breakthrough product ideas can be very challenging. Many companies we’ve worked with...

    Kevin Dona | Senior Vice President

    Conjoint Analysis

    June 21st, 2016

    Is 5 Minutes Late or Not? It Depends. Our Market Research Helps Explain.

    My friend and I don’t share the same definition of what it means to be on-time. I don’t necessarily subscribe to the “early is on-time, on-time is late, late is unacceptable” theory, but I do try to arrive at or before an agreed upon time. Sh...

    Michele Sims | Vice President, Research Management, TRC

    Feature Prioritization

    March 28th, 2016

    Using Market Research to Help Break Through Catalog Clutter

    If you open your mailbox today, chances are that there will be a catalog in it. Even with the explosion in online purchasing, paper catalogs continue to be an important part of the retail marketing mix. Whether they spur traditional mail- or telephon...

    Cindy Reisner | Senior Moderator

    General Research

    September 28th, 2015

    6 Tips for Conducting Market Research Surveys in Smartphone Apps

    About a decade ago, if someone would have mentioned the words "mobile app", anyone would have looked at them with a very puzzled expression. Nowadays, we hear about these apps everywhere. There are commercials for them on television, ads in magazines...

    Meghan Staudt | Project Director

    New Product Research

    July 21st, 2015

    How Much "Reality" Is Needed in Your Conjoint Design for New Product Research?

    When working with clients on parameters for a conjoint design, there is often an assumption that the design includes a current product configuration, or base case.

    George  Hausser | Senior Analyst

    Conjoint Analysis

    July 9th, 2015

    Using Conjoint Analysis to Determine Importance of Standard House Stats

    During my recent first time home buying experience I learned there are many, often competing, factors to consider. My last blog discussed how I used Bracket™, a tournament-based analytic approach, to determine what homebuyers find most important wh...

    Amy  McCarthy | Research Director

    Feature Prioritization

    June 17th, 2015

    What You Consider Important When Buying a Home: Measuring Priorities in Market Research

    The weather is starting to warm up and more of us are venturing outside, myself included.

    Amy  McCarthy | Research Director

    General Research

    April 21st, 2015

    3 Tips for Knowing if a Market Research Poll Is Legitimate

    A recent post on my Facebook timeline boasted that Lansdale Farmers Market was voted the Best of Montgomery County, PA two years in a row. That’s the market I patronize, and I’d like to feel a bit of pride for it. But I’m a researcher and I kno...

    Michele Sims | Vice President, Research Management, TRC

    General Research

    July 29th, 2014

    3 Rules to Keep Market Research Representative (Or Not)

    Some months ago, Lily Allen mistakenly received an email containing harsh test group feedback regarding her new album. Select audience members believed the singer to be retired and threw in some comments that I won’t quote. If you are curious, the ...

    Ellen Edelmann | Account Manager

    General Research

    July 14th, 2014

    Free Give-Aways as a Marketing Tactic, Can Market Research Help?

    Rita’s Italian Ice is a Pennsylvania-based company that sells its icy treats through franchise locations on the East Coast and several states in the Midwest and West. Every year on the first day of spring, Rita’s gives away full-size Italian ...

    Michele Sims | Vice President, Research Management, TRC

    Conjoint Analysis

    April 28th, 2014

    How Apple, Samsung and Conjoint Came Together

    Apple is suing Samsung for alleged patent infringements that relate to features of the iphone and ipad. The damages claimed by Apple? North of 2 billion dollars. The obvious question is how Apple came up with those numbers?

    Rajan Sambandam | President

    General Research

    April 9th, 2013

    Market Research in the Toilet

    I read an astounding fact this week, “More Indians have used a mobile phone than a toilet”. It seemed absurd to me that a relatively new technology would outpace an old (and very useful) one. I came to realize that the absurdity was mainly due to...

    Rich Raquet | Chairman

    General Research

    March 15th, 2013

    Is Market Research Worth Doing If It Confirms What You Already Knew?

    I read an article about the discovery of the Higgs boson at CERN. This is the so called "God Particle" which explains why matter has mass. While the science generally is beyond me, I was intrigued by something one of the physicists said: Scientists ...

    Rich Raquet | Chairman

    General Research

    February 22nd, 2013

    My Evening with the Godfather of Behavioral Economics - Daniel Kahneman

    Okay, so it wasn’t really just the two of us – there were a few hundred others involved. Still it was a very memorable evening that I think is worth sharing. The day started innocently enough. I was heading out to Yale for a guest lecture in t...

    Rajan Sambandam | President

    Market Segmentation

    May 4th, 2012

    Segmenting Movie Goers

    A Segmentation Research Example A few months ago I posted that we researched 18 factors in deciding which movie to see and where to see it. We reported that “It’s in 3D” was at the bottom of the list, and concluded that 3-D was unlikely to sav...

    Michele Sims | Vice President, Research Management, TRC

    General Research

    March 5th, 2012

    Lessons from Thinking, Fast & Slow - System 1 and System 2

    The Nobel Prize winner and the intellectual godfather of behavioral economics, Daniel Kahneman, has summarized a lifetime of research in his book Thinking, Fast & Slow.

    Rajan Sambandam | President

    General Research

    November 2nd, 2010

    Why Marketing (Research) Is Important

    Yes, I admit it. This is a self-serving post. But when compelling research crosses one’s eyes, one is forced to write a blog post. In this case the compelling research comes from Natalie Mizik under the intriguing title of “The Theory and Practic...

    Rajan Sambandam | President

    General Research

    August 3rd, 2009

    Pizza: Round or Square?

    The common tendency is to underestimate the importance of one of the dimensions, usually the less prominent one.

    Rajan Sambandam | President

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