There are three main reasons why the expert perspective is particularly important in the framework of a complete research program :
• Experts provide an expert opinion: they’re the ones who know the core of the issue at stake and can go more in-depth on the subject, enhancing and enriching data collection,
• They can anticipate. French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu has often been quoted as saying that certain new and emerging subjects have yet to benefit from a public opinion. But strategic decisions still need to be made. Experts are able to provide insight and indicate future opinions,
• And they are able to step back from information and provide criticism on the issues at hand. Being on the outside looking in provides enormous added value to research.
We employ three types of experts, defined according to the responses clients need…
Industry Experts
Specialists of an industry, a sector of activity or a subject in the framework of a study.
Their direct or indirect perspective (on an issue or on our analysis of that issue) will help enrich our response and optimize our recommendations.
Examples: transactional analysis of a homepage by a psychologist, video game programmer’s perspective on cell phone gaming, an editor’s thoughts on an annual report, a designer’s analysis of packaging, etc.
Expert Consumers
Early adopters, heavy users, hard core gamers, target core… asking them the right questions means getting the most out of their habits and their expertise to develop with them new ideas and new ways to represent a brand or a market.
Examples: creative development group for a range of games, an interactive blog on market representation for the distribution of sports accessories, etc.
Key Opinion Leaders
OpinionWay offers two different approaches to working with KOLs:
• Top Leaders® : The Top Leader’s reason for being is to provide extremely short-term answers concerning hot topics for companies and institutions.
Top Leaders include personalities who influence decisions and help lead changes in representations in our society. They are made up of 100 press executives, major congressmen, ministerial cabinet members, senior officials, CEOs of large companies and union leaders who have accepted to provide their opinions on a regular basis and participate in online surveys.
Online surveys are particularly well suited to this population, which traditionally has very little time to offer and is difficult to get in touch with. Thanks to Top Leaders, our clients can investigate all their strategic issues through quantitative and qualitative research with the top French minds.
• The tailor-made approach: most of the time KOLs are an integral part of the issue being studied. For each subject, in each sector, the relevant leaders have different profiles. For each issue OpinionWay defines the relevant profiles for KOLs and recommends the best way to survey these profiles.