New Studies, New Thinking
Here are two of the topics that Thinks Research has been working on lately. Click on the red headlines to find out more about them.
Lady Be Good
Traditionally women have made up a tiny proportion of UK gamblers. The conventional stereotypes show women as 'trusting to luck', betting on random numbers, whilst men engage in 'skilled' gaming where knowledge and manipulation can increase chances of winning. In fact, just as many men play games of pure chance and women now make up a third of online gamblers.
This study debunks many myths and concerns about the dangers of internet gambling. It indicates a new breed of woman gambler, young, confident and controlled, playing for the excitement of the game and not the lure of the winnings. She finds roulette boring, loves poker, competes on equal terms with men — and beats them.
Client
This is an independent qualitative research study conducted by Thinks Research for State of the Nation 2007, published by the Association for Qualitative Research.
Scope
Individual, paired, and triad interviews were conducted in Greater London. The interviewees were women aged 25 and over who gambled on the internet at least once a month. The interviews, conducted during the fourth quarter of 2006, lasted 90 minutes to 2 hours each.
The Battle for Insights
The value of conflict is being rediscovered as a great tool and enabler in generating insights which conventional group discussions can't reach.
The group discussion is a wonderful vehicle for gathering information, the bedrock of qualitative research, and for very good reasons. But times change. Informants are now increasingly aware of marketing methods and aims, inclined to second-guess what researchers want. Too easily, this can steer discussion towards consensus, bypassing valuable if off-the-wall or contentious discussion.
Argument, anger, resentment and a good fight can take the lid off real feelings, bypass the considered and the politically correct — and deliver those elusive insights our clients are so desperately seeking.
