How to Use a Perception Study to Research Your Market 

A perception study, also known as a perception audit, is a market research method used to gauge consumers’ perspectives on a company, topic, or product.

To conduct the study, an auditor gathers data from targeted consumer groups. Then, the auditor performs a comprehensive analysis of the findings to identify and exploit the elements that shape customer perception.

This article will guide you through conducting a perception study, offering expert advice and effective strategies for success.

Why should you conduct a perception study?

There are several reasons for conducting perception study research. In this section, we will look at the two most common.

Investor relations (IR) strategy

For businesses to increase value, investors must feel confident in the company and its future stock performance. Organizations will have difficulty developing a strong IR strategy without understanding investor sentiment. An investor perception study reveals how the investment community and key stakeholders feel about a brand and its industry. The survey results help companies improve strategic communications and other investor relations efforts.

For example, if investors worry about the company’s recent financial performance, the organization can develop a long-term plan to enhance valuation. Ensuring transparency in financial reporting may also help improve investor communications.

Brand development

Studying a brand’s customer base can uncover insights related to its products and operations. The company’s leadership team can use this information to develop a new strategy to push the brand in the right direction. Feedback from the study can also reveal how to fill gaps in the corporate portfolio or improve the brand’s image. A study may open up opportunities for expanding into a broader market based on customer needs that weren’t previously identified.

Vulnerabilities are another key area evaluated. This includes identifying the brand’s weaknesses, potential threats and offers so companies can address them and build greater resilience.

Perception studies can help determine whether a business needs a new messaging or public relations strategy. If a brand’s message doesn’t resonate with the target audience, all marketing initiatives fall flat. Studies can show companies how to build strong customer relationships and improve organic growth campaigns.

Finally, businesses considering a rebrand can benefit from an audit. Audit findings will show them how to create a new brand identity that will make the most impact.

Perception survey goals

The first step in the study process is to set goals to guide the audit requirements and data collection processes. Goals also help the management team measure and assess progress.

Common goals of a study include finding out if customers understand how new products fit into existing product lines. Examples are product features people value most. This information assists companies looking to create sub-brands or repurpose existing product lines.

Other common goals of an audit include attracting future investors, evaluating company culture, and developing hiring practices.

Types of perception studies

In this section, we’ll explore perception study methodologies. These approaches offer a more nuanced understanding of how audiences perceive brands.

Brand tracking audit

Brand tracking is a fundamental method for measuring changes in perception over time. By consistently monitoring how consumers perceive your brand, you can identify trends, track improvements, and address any shifts in sentiment. This ongoing process provides valuable insights into the effectiveness of your branding and marketing strategies.

Competitive analysis

Understanding how your brand is perceived in relation to competitors is essential for strategic decision-making. Competitive analysis in perception studies allows you to benchmark your brand against others in the market, identify areas of differentiation, and capitalize on strengths. By gaining insights into competitor perceptions, you can refine your positioning and messaging to stand out in a crowded landscape.

New product or service launch assessment

Conducting perception studies before and after launching a new product or service is invaluable. By assessing perceptions prior to the launch, you can gauge initial reactions, identify potential barriers, and develop messaging accordingly. Following the launch, evaluating changes in perception helps measure the impact of your communication strategy and informs future product development.

By incorporating these diverse methodologies into perception studies, brands can understand how they are perceived by their target audience, competitors, and the market at large. This multifaceted approach enables companies to make decisions based on data, refine their strategies, and improve their relationships with consumers.

Perception study research methodology

Usually, it is best to use a neutral, third-party auditor. These professionals know how to formulate surveys and make respondents more comfortable offering their true opinions during interviews. Auditors know how to avoid leading questions as much as possible. Leading questions interfere with outcomes, create biases, and skew results.

Survey groups

Survey groups (or focus groups) are another way to determine how consumers perceive a brand or product. These groups should be diverse and qualified to get accurate insights.

Qualitative studies

Sometimes, it isn’t possible or practical to conduct a perception audit. This could be because of budgetary restrictions or limited access to qualified survey candidates.

In these cases, a qualitative study can serve as an alternative. A qualitative approach requires experienced researchers or industry experts to pre-arrange interviews with carefully selected candidates. During these interviews, they will ask open questions to get each person’s opinion of the company based on their experiences, behaviors, and opinions.

Data analysis and interpretation

When it comes to data analysis in marketing, going beyond the basics is essential to extract actionable insights. Let’s delve into the types of analysis commonly used and the tools that facilitate this process:

Quantitative analysis

Quantitative analysis involves utilizing statistical methods to uncover trends and patterns within datasets. By crunching numbers and quantifying data points, marketers can identify correlations, measure performance metrics, and make data-driven decisions. This approach provides a quantitative foundation for understanding consumer behavior and measuring the impact of marketing campaigns.

Qualitative analysis

On the other hand, qualitative analysis focuses on interpreting open-ended feedback to uncover underlying themes and sentiments. This method goes beyond numbers, diving into the narrative and context behind consumer responses. By analyzing qualitative data, marketers can gain deeper insights into customer preferences, emotions, and perceptions, enriching their understanding of the target audience.

Analytics tools

Marketers often leverage specialized tools to facilitate data analysis efficiently. These tools range from sentiment analysis software that gauges consumer attitudes toward a brand or product to spreadsheet tools like Excel or Google Sheets for organizing and visualizing data.

Survey platforms like SurveyMonkey, Google Forms, or Qualtrics are tools for collecting and analyzing data. These platforms enable researchers to design customized surveys, gather responses from diverse participant pools, and generate reports that shed light on consumer perceptions and preferences.

Data visualization tools like Power BI or Google Data Studio help auditors transform raw data into charts, graphs, and dashboards. These tools allow marketers to present complex data in a digestible format, making it easier to identify patterns, trends, and outliers in perception study data.

Steps to ensure a successful investor perception study

Launching an effective investor perception study involves several key steps to ensure you gather actionable insights and strengthen stakeholder relationships. Here’s how to set up your study for the best results:

1. Engage qualified experts
Start by involving professionals with experience in market research and investor communications. Their expertise will help craft unbiased, insightful questions and ensure the analysis is comprehensive.

2. Define clear objectives
Work with your team to identify the main goals of the perception study. Are you looking to uncover concerns about financial performance, assess communication effectiveness, or measure confidence in your leadership?

3. Identify the right investor audience
Carefully select which investors and stakeholders to include. Consider a mix of current shareholders, potential investors, and key analysts to gain a well-rounded view.

4. Develop a comprehensive questionnaire
Tailor the survey questions to elicit honest, relevant feedback about your company, management, and broader market conditions. Use a combination of quantitative and qualitative questions.

5. Maintain confidentiality and transparency
Reassure participants their responses will remain confidential. This step encourages candor and boosts response rates.

6. Analyze and interpret findings
Once data is collected, analyze the results for common themes, areas of concern, and opportunities for improvement. Compare findings against industry benchmarks when possible.

7. Share actionable insights with leadership
Present a clear summary of results to your executive team. Highlight actionable recommendations—whether addressing specific concerns or seizing new communication opportunities.

By following these steps, you’ll set the stage for a thorough investor perception study that not only captures honest feedback but also drives meaningful improvements in your investor relations efforts.

When should a company undertake an investor perception study?

Timing is critical when it comes to conducting investor perception studies. There are several key moments when such research can be especially valuable for your business:

• During major transitions: If your company is undergoing significant changes—such as launching a new strategy, shifting executive leadership, setting ambitious long-term goals, or considering mergers and acquisitions—it’s wise to assess how these shifts are landing with investors. Understanding their views early on can help manage expectations and refine messaging.

• Following key announcements or events: Sometimes, you might roll out an initiative or complete a significant transaction, yet investor enthusiasm doesn’t materialize as expected. In these cases, a perception study can help pinpoint reasons for muted reactions and highlight areas to address in future communications.

• As routine practice: It’s also beneficial to regularly check investor sentiment, even absent any seismic events. Periodic studies uncover evolving priorities, such as growing interest in sustainability, social responsibility, or governance. This routine feedback loop keeps your IR team proactive, rather than just reactive.

By strategically timing your perception studies, you can ensure your IR program keeps pace with investor expectations and market dynamics.

Actionable insights: From data to strategy

Let’s look at how insights from these studies can guide our strategic choices:

Reframing messaging

One impactful way to leverage perception study insights is by reframing messaging to address any misperceptions uncovered. By understanding how consumers perceive your brand, you can adjust your communication strategy to correct misconceptions, highlight strengths, and resonate more effectively with your target audience.

Targeting new audiences

Insights from perception studies can also reveal untapped audience segments aligned with your brand values that may have been overlooked. Marketers can refine targeting strategies to reach new segments effectively with tailored messaging and product offerings that resonate with diverse audiences.

Internal alignment

Perception study results can promote internal alignment within organizations. By sharing insights with teams across departments in sales, product development, marketing, and service, you can build buy-in on strategic decisions. Aligning internal teams based on perception study findings ensures cohesive messaging, consistent brand representation, and a unified approach to consumer engagement. This cross-functional collaboration enhances operations and drives collective efforts toward achieving business goals.

Common challenges and best practices

Designing and executing a study can pose various challenges that require a proactive approach. Let’s explore some common hurdles and best practices to overcome them:

Ensuring representative samples

One key challenge in perception studies is ensuring the selection of a diverse and representative participant pool. To address this, it’s crucial to employ strategic sampling methods that reflect the demographics and characteristics of your target audience. By incorporating a diverse range of participants, you can gather insights that accurately represent the broader population, enhancing the validity and reliability of your study findings.

Avoiding bias

Another critical consideration in study design is mitigating data collection and analysis bias. To minimize bias, it’s essential to craft neutral and unbiased questions that do not lead participants toward specific responses. Implementing randomized question sequences, utilizing multiple data sources for triangulation, and conducting pilot tests can help identify and rectify potential biases, ensuring the integrity and credibility of your study results.

Resource considerations

Balancing the cost of conducting a perception study with the potential value it brings is a significant challenge for many organizations. When planning a study, assessing the resources required against the expected outcomes and actionable insights is essential. Organizations can optimize their research investments and maximize the value derived from perception studies by aligning the study objectives with available resources, setting clear budgetary limits, and exploring cost-effective methodologies.

Marketers can design and execute perception studies that yield meaningful, actionable insights by proactively addressing challenges related to sample representation, bias mitigation, and resource considerations. These best practices enable organizations to navigate complexities, enhance study effectiveness, and drive informed decision-making based on reliable data and analysis.

How many responses do you need?

The number of responses needed to get the best results from a perception study can vary. At least 100 responses will suffice for most surveys. However, the sample size should be considered to ensure confidence in the data.

A sample size that is too small can lead to skewed results. Any outliers can end up carrying more weight than they should. A sample that is too large makes for an expensive and complicated study.

Several other essential factors to consider include population size, margin of error (typically between two and five percent), confidence level, and standard deviation.

It is usually best to work with a specialist who can help you determine the ideal number of responses needed. The optimal range is 50-100 responses. For qualitative studies, fewer may be acceptable.

The chart below shows how the sample size of a perception study impacts the accuracy of the results. Notice how the largest gains in accuracy (reduction in margin of error) happen in the beginning. This demonstrates that even relatively small sample sizes can yield valuable insights.

How much does a perception study cost?

On average, the cost of a perception audit starts at around $7,500 for basic services. Prices can increase because of the size and complexity of the study. The price could also be higher if the auditor needs to perform extra market research services.

What factors play a role in the cost of a study?

The cost of a perception study can vary depending on the methods used. Most studies require open-ended interviews. These interviews can range from a few phone calls to hundreds in person. Most perception audit projects are based on an hourly or project rate fee schedule.

Is your brand messaging falling flat?

A perception study can reveal hidden customer insights and help you refine your brand strategy for maximum impact.