How Your Answers to Marketing Questions Affect the Products You Use
Think about your truck. What are its lines? Is your seat air ride? How much horsepower do you have in your engine? The design, mechanics, and technical details of your truck are what they are because of you.
How did the truck manufacturer know what you wanted? Market research. When you answer questions in a survey, your answers are presented to the people who make the products you use. Those people rely on the feedback you and thousands of your fellow drivers give in marketing research to:
Your opinions shape the decisions these manufacturers make, and their decisions shape the products and services you buy.
New product shaped by driver opinions
Product shape was quite literally the subject of questions William Dyer asked truck drivers. Dyer is a consultant with Markinetics Inc., a marketing firm with expertise in the transportation industry.
“A manufacturer was interested in new shift knobs developed by a design firm,” Dyer recalled. “But before rolling out new truck models with these new knob designs, the manufacturer wanted to hear from truck drivers.”
Researchers set up a truck cab at a truck stop. The study examined two key factors: functionality and appearance.
Form follows function
To eliminate visual clues from the function test, the driver was blindfolded. For each of approximately seven designs, Dyer put the knob on the shifter and asked the blindfolded driver to locate and identify the controls.
“We tested whether the driver could find the control and determine what it does without having to look,” Dyer said. “When you're driving, you don't want to take your eyes off the road to hunt for the right control. We also tested for ergonomics, such as whether a toggle was better than a button for this function or in that position.”
The blindfold was then removed and the driver asked about the looks of the new designs. The researcher followed up with questions about the function, with the driver now able to use visual cues.
“The feedback on some of the designs was intensely negative,” said Dyer. “The manufacturer wisely listened to its customers. Those designs were eliminated before they were ever produced.”
Feedback loop
Your opinions influence more than new products. Existing products are also affected by accumulated customer feedback.
Customer satisfaction studies measure what about the product, price, distribution, support or other aspects customers like — and what they don't. For example, a producer of a premium truck component learned that the support literature that worked for its fleet customers was not satisfactory for its owner/operator prospects. The research study showed that owner/operators wanted detailed information on product specifications related to over-the-road performance features. Fleet managers, on the other hand, focused on the affect of product features on bottom line performance. As a result, the manufacturer developed new literature especially for its owner/operator audience.
Software suppliers interview owner/operators every so often to keep current on how many laptops and PDAs (personal digital assistant) are being used on the road. The suppliers use the data to decide what types of programs and services to offer at truck stops and in the cabs of new trucks.
In benchmarking studies, owner/operators across the country are asked about their brand preferences and which product features they value most. The study tests what owner/operators recall about brand advertisements. By knowing which benefits most interest its customers, a company knows what to emphasize in its advertising.
Take part in HDMA study now
The Heavy Duty Manufacturers Association (HDMA) invites owner/operators to take part in a benchmarking study going on now. The HDMA survey measures heavy truck maintenance practices, truck use, changes in buying patterns and service work performance. Markinetics is partnering with HDMA to field the study.
HDMA sponsors the annual survey of maintenance parts and services for Class 6 through 8 trucks. The study is open to owner operators and managers of for-hire and private fleets across the U.S. Managers and owner/operators who make truck maintenance decisions for their businesses can take the HDMA survey online at www.research.net/trucks.
“Feedback from owner operators and fleet professionals lets manufacturers and suppliers improve their product quality, service and price,” said Frank Hampshire, director of research for HDMA.
The HDMA study was first published in 1978, making it longest running study of the heavy-duty aftermarket in the transportation industry. The organization conducts a new survey — and encourages fleet maintenance professionals and owner operators to take part —every year.