Implicit Research - What is it and is it for you?
What is implicit research?
Implicit research – the mysterious and elusive field of study! It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack, but with a lot more hay. It’s been around since the dawn of time, yet it’s still shrouded in secrecy and mystery. But why? What’s so special about this type of research?
Simply put, implicit research is used to uncover the underlying motivations and beliefs of participants. It’s a qualitative approach that uses indirect methods such as interviews, focus groups, observations, and projective techniques to explore attitudes and behaviors that people may not be aware of or willing to share. Marketers, psychologists, and product designers use it to gain a better understanding of their customers, patients, and users. So if you’re looking to get to the bottom of a tricky issue - read on!
An implicit research methodology is a research approach that focuses on exploring the underlying motivations and beliefs of participants. It is a qualitative approach that relies on indirect methods to uncover the real attitudes and behaviors of a group or individual. This includes techniques such as interviews, focus groups, observations, and projective techniques. Implicit research looks beyond what people say and can uncover their true intentions and thoughts.
What are the top 10 forms of implicit research?
1. Interviews
2. Focus Groups
3. Ethnography
4. Projective Techniques
5. Experience Sampling
6. Eye Tracking
7. Biometric Measurement
8. Virtual Reality
9. Augmented Reality
10. Artificial Intelligence
Implicit research is going beyond traditional research approaches
Implicit research is replacing traditional forms of research such as surveys, interviews, and focus groups, as it provides a more in-depth and nuanced understanding of participants' attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. Implicit research is also being used to replace traditional market research methods, such as conjoint analysis and market segmentation, as it can provide more detailed insights into the needs of customers and the drivers of their behavior.
VR, AR and AI are helping in all sorts of situations
Implicit research began with traditional qualitative methods, really with a more nuanced and sensitive approach to observation. Today, technology is being used to innovate new implicit research approaches to help the researcher observe participants in new ways and previously unobservable settings. Key technologies to look out for are virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and artificial intelligence (AI). These technologies can be used to simulate real-world scenarios, allowing researchers to gain access to participants’ reactions, feelings, and emotions in ways that are not possible with traditional methods.
VR can be used to create immersive experiences and allow researchers to observe how participants interact with virtual environments.
AR can be used to overlay digital objects onto real-world settings, allowing researchers to better understand how participants perceive and interact with their environment.
AI can be used to analyze data and uncover insights, providing researchers with more detailed and accurate results
These technologies can be used to create powerful use cases. For example, VR can be used to simulate job interviews and observe how participants respond in different situations. AR can be used to study how people interact with product packaging and understand what draws their attention. AI can be used to uncover unconscious biases in job interviews and identify potential areas of improvement.
Spot light: Eye tracking
Eye tracking is a type of implicit research methodology that uses a device to measure and record where a person’s eyes are looking and for how long. It is a non-invasive method of collecting data on visual attention and can be used to gain insights into decision-making processes and cognitive processes. Eye tracking can be used to measure how people respond to visual stimuli, such as ads, websites, and product packaging. It can also be used to identify patterns in how people focus their attention and understand how they interact with their environment.
There are risks with implicit research which need to be managed
As you might guess, implicit research has to manage the boundary of consent and bias:
Consent: the extent to which research participants know, understand and permit others to observe their inner thoughts and behaviours
Bias: How research observers construct and interpret research to avoid pre-loaded findings that echo societal or political agendas
The risks with implicit research include the potential for misinterpretation of data or results, a lack of transparency in the data collection process, and potential privacy or security issues. To mitigate these risks, researchers should use ethical research practices, such as obtaining informed consent from participants, being transparent about the research process, and using secure data storage systems. Researchers should also consider data quality and accuracy when interpreting results, and use multiple data sources to cross-validate results.
Is a research project involving an implicit approach right for you?
An implicit research approach would be most appropriate for products or services that involve complex decisions or behaviors, such as healthcare, finance, or education. It can also be used to better understand customers’ needs and wants, and identify areas of improvement. Implicit research would be least appropriate for products or services that require straightforward decisions and behaviors, such as ordering food or buying a physical product. Nevertheless, even in these settings there is scope to uncover hidden insight with the right approach and expertise.
The outputs of a project using an implicit approach ultimately ladder-up into familiar business inputs, and could include
Insights into customer motivations, beliefs, needs, wants, and behaviors;
A better understanding of what drives customer decision-making;
Potential areas of improvement
These insights would inform product strategy, marketing initiatives, and customer experience design.
If you’re interested in deploying an implicit methodology in your next project. Get in touch and we’ll find you just the right person or team to support you. Alternatively, you may be one of those people looking to connect with the right buyers. Either way, our job is to connect you both and you can begin that process on the links below.
