Change Behavior

Lots of places do surveys and focus groups. What truly distinguishes a research partner in today’s information environment isn’t what methods they employ, but their overall approach to problem solving. Our approach is shaped by five core beliefs:

1. Education and awareness aren’t enough. Surrounding our decisions are other powerful factors like norms, efficacy, and emotion, which are often overlooked. Over the years, we have integrated behavioral science with real-world experience to create a methodology that examines behaviors against 12 key behavioral determinants.

2. Consumer decision-making is best viewed as a problem-solving exercise. When viewed through this lens, communications and positioning efforts are about understanding the ultimate needs, goals or values sought by your audience. These are the personal, often hidden reasons why consumers choose one course of action over another. Armed with this understanding, we are able to demonstrate how your “offer” helps consumers achieve these desired experiences or consequences. We can build a more compelling offer.

3. Research should help you tell your story. Rather than using research to provide discrete windows into static issues, we prefer to blend diagnostic metrics, content co-creation opportunities and community-building activities into our communications and outreach efforts.

4. You cannot rely solely on traditional research and analyses methods. Interviews, group discussions and surveys are a big part of what we do. But in a Big Data* world, primary data must be integrated with the waves of information already out there, from disparate data sets to real-time social media measures. We build the big picture.

5. Gathering and sharing data should be engaging, thought-provoking, and – we’re going to say it – fun. This applies to collecting information from research participants, as well as sharing results and discussing implications with you.

Staffed with professionals from politics, public health, journalism, academia, and corporate branding, our team fuses diverse information sources, behavioral theories and research methods to offer a framework validated on a national scale but implemented with the nimbleness and creativity of a boutique.

∗ While there are many definitions of “Big Data" out there, this is our favorite: Data that becomes so large and/or unstructured that it cannot be organized and understood using conventional methods.