THE METHODS
DATA MANAGEMENT
Thanks to the reputation and trust that Key-Stone has built in 20 years of activity in the area of market research and, in particular, in the dental industry, we are able to receive and process data from all over the world.
We have collected more than US$ 2,5 Billions of sales data per year from the most important dental companies under high standards of confidentiality, security and sensitive data management.
The data collection is based on the original sales statistics provided by manufacturers, dealers and consumers. The data comes from different sources and we are able to process it thanks to the know-how in management and standardization of such different data and the specific expertise in the dental sector.
The data is strictly controlled to ensure the results accuracy. Collecting and processing data at various levels, our analyses cover the entire dental value chain.
Fore more than 20 years, Key-Stone’s panels in the dental sector have been the landmark in market research for local and international companies operating worldwide in the dental industry.
INTERVIEWS
There are different types of interview according to needs and technology used.
An interview is made of an interviewer, a questionnaire and a list of partecipants. Key-Stone sample databases are constantly updated and validated to ensure the highest grade of accuracy and can be used to perform the interviews requested by the client, or the client’s database can be used as well.
The interviewer follows a script mainly developed and provided by our team according to the client's needs.
PHONE INTERVIEWS
Computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) is a technique where the interviewer asks questions by telephone and records answers on a computer.
Our telephone researchers are experienced and carefully trained, on the basis of the script. We are able to perform interviews worldwide in original language.
WEB INTERVIEWS
Computer-assisted web interviewing (CAWI) is a technique where the questionnaire is online/web-based and the answers are recorded and processed automatically by the system used.
PERSONAL INTERVIEWS
A direct exploration of the psychological and emotional aspects related to the research topics, which often are latent or hardly verbalized. Effective in analyzing and understanding delicate matters (eg. economic information, preferences/reason of choice, etc.). Additional material can be shown to the respondent and there are no restrictions for the typology of questions.
HOME/ON THE JOB INTERVIEWS
Interviews with a direct observation of the job experience. It allows to observe the conditions of use of products, in order to highlight existing relations with stated opinions and behavior. It also allows to understand the dynamics and perceptions in a private scenario and to capture information otherwise unidentifiable. This kind of interview can be complementary to an in depth internal audit.
FOCUS GROUPS
A focus group is a discussion, conducted by a senior qualitative researcher, within a small group of respondents (typically 7-10 respondents) to gain information about a specific topic.
The participants are recruited on the basis of similar socio-demographic characteristics, buying attitudes, behavior etc. and they usually don't kown each other. The interviewer uses a discussion guide that has been prepared in advance after a conceptualization phase with the client, without putting pressure to participants to vote, plan or reach consensus: the respondents are free to give their different perceptions and points of view from any aspect of the discussion.
The discussion could be conducted several times with different groups and all dialogues and answers are recorded (audio/video). The final phase is data analysis and reporting.
OMNIBUS
The omnibus is a multi-client survey.
Like a bus, it is developed with a regular and fixed frequency and everybody can “get on” paying only for its own journey… The expense is shared but not the results: some fixed data are in common but each customer can add customized questions about specific topics for a detailed knowledge.
In the Dental Monitor System, the omnibus tool is used in the OmniVision surveys, performed on dentists and technicians. The analysis is carried out in general on consumer products belonging to market segments whose investigation periodically rotates, such as Cad-Cam, Implant dentistry, Equipment, online purchases, etc.
Positioning: A.P.B.S.
The A.P.B.S. methodology allows to analyze the positioning of the main brands in a specific market segment, describes and measures the complexity of the competitive universe under analysis.
AWARENESS
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PRIMARY INDEXES |
DERIVED INDEXES |
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Top of Mind: the unaided, first named brand, related to a given product family. Unaided awareness: the total of spontaneously quoted brands, related to a given product family. Aided awareness: the awareness coming from the interviewees, when prompted to a list of brands (not spontaneously quoted). |
Prominence index: the ratio between Top of Mind and unaided awareness: for a given brand, the ability to represent a given product family. This index is not related to the total awareness. Relevance index: the ratio between unaided awareness and total awareness: the brand's ability to be included in the basket of the brands taken into account by customers at the moment of the purchase. |
PENETRATION
Penetration index: the percentage of customers who declares to use a given product or brand, not necessarily in an exclusive way.
Top Used: the percentage of customers who uses a given product as the first one, in order of importance
PQI (Penetration Quality Index): the ratio between “Top Used” e “Penetration”: it indicates the quality of the penetration.
BUYING BEHAVIOR
The investigation of the main drivers in the choice or abandonment of products or brands. The most significant and discriminating items allows to create positioning maps according to different purchase drivers.
SATISFACTION LEVEL
The perceived quality of a product/service based on the analysis of several evaluated satisfaction items.