If you have experience planning a wedding, charity fundraiser, an industry conference, or smaller industry event, the skills utilized in event planning can transfer over to qualitative market research.
Qualitative market research (QLMR) is about understanding POBAs (Perceptions, Opinions, Beliefs, and Attitudes) of Respondents, much like where event planning is about understanding who the event attendees for an event are and what they are looking for (i.e., family and friends at a wedding or working professionals attending a conference to learn more about their career field) and planning an experience that they will enjoy.
Below are some skills that are transferable from event planning to qualitative market research:
Project Management: Event planners typically must manage vendors, timelines, budgets, stakeholder expectations, and many other moving parts. This is much like a qualitative market research project where there are budget constraints, recruiting timelines, deadlines for the final report, and managing multiple stakeholders involved in the research project. You can use some of the same methods you use in event management to help you stay organized and on top of things.
Flexibility and Adaptability: Almost no event goes exactly according to plan. Weather issues cause outdoor events to move indoors, technical difficulties, flight delays, last minute schedule changes and more can affect an event. A good event planner needs to be able to remain calm and focused on finding solutions. Similarly, qualitative market research has its own set of surprises: last minute changes from the Client/new issue areas to cover, technical challenges during the research session itself, Respondents naturally having provided answers to questions covered later in the guide, etc. Like event planners, qualitative market researchers must stay flexible and adapt to the ever-changing research landscape.
Attention to detail: Event planners know that every detail matters. A missed dietary requirement can lead to a guest having nothing to eat at a wedding, a mis-labeled name badge may make a guest feel unimportant, and a missing cord to connect the laptop to the projector can delay a speaker session at a conference. In qualitative research, not spotting inconsistencies can lead to inaccurate data. For example, if a Participant is mis-recruited into a research session, the findings may not accurately represent the target audience that the Client is looking to speak to. If a Moderator’s guide isn’t looked over carefully, questions may be repetitive, unrelated to the Client’s gotta-gotta, or leading.
Relationship building: Event planners are generally good at connecting quickly with event attendees, putting people at ease, and reading the room, noticing when attendees might seem bored/restless waiting for the next activity. Moderating a focus group requires the ability to quickly build a bond with Respondents (what RIVA calls the Emotional Handshake), so that they feel at ease opening up and discussing their POBAs. A good Moderator does not start a qualitative research session with “So, what do you think of [Client product or service]?” They start with introductions and building a connection with each Respondent. During the group, Moderators must also notice which Participants might be more dominant and who might be holding back, if the energy shifts in the room, and when to probe deeper or move onto the next section of the guide.
Both qualitative market research and event planning are about logistics and people. Both fields need strong attention to detail, adaptability, and relationship building. If you have experience in event planning, you may have picked up some foundational skills necessary to succeed in qualitative market research.
Written by: Linda Mui