Frequently asked questions about market research

Brand tracking is a regularly repeated brand study used to measure the development of key brand metrics (KPIs) over time. Typical metrics include unaided and aided brand awareness, brand image, consideration (whether the brand is considered in a purchase decision), brand preference, as well as purchase intent, usage, and willingness to recommend. This makes it possible to see how a brand’s perception and positioning are evolving, how it stacks up against the competition, and whether communication or marketing initiatives are driving changes in brand metrics.

To ensure a meaningful comparison, the most important competitors are directly included in the study. Awareness, image, and other brand metrics are measured using the same questions within the same target group. This creates benchmarks that show where a brand stands in the competitive landscape, what strengths set it apart, and where there is room for improvement. Repeated measurements also reveal whether it is only your own brand that is changing or whether a trend is affecting the entire market.

Brands are not perceived solely through conscious and deliberate thought, and people do not make decisions based exclusively on conscious considerations. Spontaneous impressions and automatically triggered associations can also influence the perception and evaluation of a brand. intervista’s implicit image measurement captures these spontaneous evaluations: Respondents decide as quickly as possible whether attributes such as “modern” or “trustworthy” fit a brand. In addition to the response itself, reaction time is also taken into account. It provides insight into how strongly a brand is mentally linked to certain attributes. This reveals which brand values are intuitively embedded and how your brand differs from competitors.

The appropriate frequency depends on the study’s objectives, market dynamics, and the brand’s communication activities. To monitor long-term trends in brand values or brand image, an annual measurement is generally sufficient. For major brands with high communication intensity or in highly dynamic markets, quarterly, monthly, or continuous brand tracking surveys are more appropriate. This also allows for the observation of shorter-term changes, such as those occurring during a campaign. Regularly collected time series can also serve as a valuable basis for marketing mix modeling: they make it possible to correlate the development of brand metrics with advertising activities, marketing expenditures, and sales data.

Reliable brand tracking requires measurement conditions that are as comparable as possible. This includes consistent question wording and response scales, a stable target group definition, and comparable sampling methods and structures. Seasonal effects and changes in the market environment should also be taken into account. Not every fluctuation indicates an actual change in brand perception. Differences should therefore be assessed while taking into account the sample size and statistical uncertainty. Tracking trends over multiple measurement points and comparing results with competitors help to better contextualize individual fluctuations.

The required sample size depends on how precisely results are to be reported and which subgroups are being compared. A general overview requires fewer interviews than detailed analyses by region, age group, customer segment, or other target groups. The expected changes between measurement points also play a role: the smaller the differences that need to be reliably detected, the larger the sample size generally must be. Therefore, the sample size should be determined based on the analysis objectives and the desired statistical precision.

However, sample size alone is not the sole determinant of representativeness. Equally important are the sampling method and the composition of the sample: It should reflect the relevant target group as closely as possible in terms of key structural characteristics.

A high-quality online panel forms the basis for representing the relevant population or target group as reliably as possible. Controlled recruitment, careful sampling, and ongoing quality checks are crucial for this. A large panel offers the advantage that new samples can be drawn across multiple survey waves, and participants from earlier waves can be excluded for a defined period. Such a “fresh sample” reduces learning and recall effects caused by repeated surveys on the same topic. intervista uses its own online panel and consistent sample management over time to achieve this.

Yes, through the intervista B2B Online Panel, professional target groups can be surveyed specifically based on characteristics such as job function, industry, company size, or area of responsibility. For example, an insurance company can examine how it is perceived by individuals involved in insurance decisions at SMEs and how it is positioned compared to competitors. It is crucial to include individuals who are involved in the relevant decisions. Which target groups, sample sizes, and survey intervals are feasible depends on the size and accessibility of the respective group of people.

Industries, target groups and brand strategies differ. An insurance company, for example, faces different questions than a retailer. Even within a single industry, brands pursue different positioning strategies and have defined their own value propositions and brand values. That is why intervista tailors the key metrics, image dimensions, and benchmark brands to the specific research question. This also allows for the targeted evaluation of brand values defined internally by the company. Sample size and survey frequency are also selected appropriately. Existing question wording and scales can be incorporated if comparability with previous studies is to be maintained.

An online omnibus is particularly suitable when only a few questions need to be asked to a representative sample of the population. However, it is less suitable for extensive surveys or for surveying very small or highly specific target groups.

The intervista online omnibus combines professional implementation with high data quality and excellent value for money. The survey is conducted within intervista’s carefully maintained and actively recruited online panel. Thanks to weekly fieldwork, short field times and fast project turnaround, results are available quickly. Various multimedia formats, such as TV and radio commercials, videos or posters, can also be flexibly integrated into the survey.

For the online omnibus, you can choose between 500 and 1,000 interviews. The sample is representative of the 15- to 79-year-old online population in German- and French-speaking Switzerland. An additional sample in Italian-speaking Switzerland can be included as an option.

The online omnibus can be used for as little as a single question. In principle, the number of questions is flexible. As a rule, the format is particularly suitable for surveys with fewer than ten questions. For more extensive questionnaires, an individual ad hoc study is often the more suitable solution. We are happy to advise you on choosing the right study design.

The submission deadline for the online omnibus is Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. The survey starts the following Thursday, and the data is analysed one week later. You will usually receive the results by 5:00 p.m. the following Monday – around 14 days after placing your order.

For the online omnibus, costs are calculated per question. The price depends on the type of question. For example, a closed-ended question with up to 15 response options and a sample of 500 people costs CHF 800. Detailed prices for the different question types can be found in our factsheet.

An online panel is a group of registered persons who can be regularly invited for online surveys and other market research studies. Depending on the question, it can be used to compile targeted samples, for example according to sociodemographic characteristics, interests or other target group criteria.

An online panel is particularly suitable for quantitative online surveys as well as for recruiting participants for qualitative studies. The intervista online panel can be used to recruit representative samples of the population in Switzerland as well as specific and hard-to-reach target groups.

The intervista online panel comprises more than 125,000 active people in the B2C panel as well as around 35,000 specialists and executives in the B2B panel and covers the whole of Switzerland. In addition to population-representative samples, specific target groups can be recruited in a targeted manner, such as customers of certain companies, consumers of certain product categories, early adopters, high-net-worth individuals or people who are responsible for insurance, banking services, IT services, marketing or HR in companies, for example.

intervista relies on broad-based, active recruitment via controlled channels. This includes, in particular, recruitment via customer bases of large Swiss companies as well as postal invitations. intervista deliberately refrains from open self-registration as well as recruitment via search engine advertising or social media.

Active recruitment significantly reduces the risk of fake profiles, multiple registrations and AI-generated responses and helps to represent different population groups in the panel in the most balanced way possible. The panel structure is continuously reviewed and, if necessary, supplemented by targeted follow-up recruitments.

In addition to high-quality and controlled recruitment, intervista ensures panel quality through continuous maintenance and quality controls. This includes regular structure checks, the clean-up of duplicates and the exclusion of inactive participants.

The quality of the answers is also checked on an ongoing basis, including the individual completion time, conspicuous response patterns such as straight-lining, and the quality and quantity of open answers. Participants who repeatedly provide unreliable or low-quality answers will be removed from the sample pool.

In addition, intervista is certified as a full-service and access panel service provider according to ISO 20252:2019.

Yes. In addition to full-service market research projects, intervista also offers sampling only. intervista recruits suitable participants from its own online panel for a survey designed and programmed by the client itself. Recruitment for qualitative studies such as interviews, focus groups or online diaries is also possible.

Online surveys enable fast and comparatively inexpensive data collection, even with large samples. Compared to classic survey methods such as telephone interviews or personal interviews, they can often be carried out faster and more efficiently. They also offer a wide range of design options with images and videos, enable different survey approaches, can be easily implemented in several languages and provide quickly available results. Since no interviewee is present, interviewer effects are also reduced.

Online surveys are suitable for many quantitative questions in the B2C and B2B sector. Typical areas of application are customer surveys, brand and image studies, advertising impact studies, product and price research, target group analyses and population surveys. Online surveys are particularly suitable when a larger number of people are to be surveyed in a standardised manner and the results are to be statistically evaluated.

Recruitment depends on the target group and the question and is an important part of the study concept. Participants are often recruited via the intervista online panel, via customer addresses of the client, directly via a website or by means of postal invitations. Depending on the study, other access channels are also possible, for example via QR codes at the point of interest. Different recruitment channels can also be combined with each other if necessary.

An online survey is representative if the sample reflects the relevant population as well as possible in terms of important characteristics. Therefore, not only the number of interviews is decisive, but also the recruitment of the participants, the composition and control of the sample, the exhaustion and, if necessary, a weighting of the data. A high and as balanced as possible utilization helps to reduce distortions caused by different willingness to participate.

intervista designs the sample to suit the target group and research question, taking into account the relevant quality criteria for the most meaningful representation of the population.

The necessary sample size depends on the research question, the target group and the desired accuracy of the results. For many population-representative studies, around 1,000 people are surveyed. With an appropriately composed sample, reliable statements can usually already be made for the population as a whole.

In the case of specific target groups or B2B surveys, significantly smaller samples can also be useful and sufficient. In customer surveys, depending on the size of the customer base and the desired evaluation, significantly larger samples are sometimes used. If individual subgroups are to be evaluated separately or compared with each other, it can also make sense to specifically consider certain groups more strongly in the sample.

The process of an online survey depends on the needs of the client. In a full-service study, research questions, target group, sample and study design are defined at the beginning. The questionnaire is then developed or tested, the survey is programmed and the participants are recruited. After data collection, the results can be processed, analysed and made available as a data set, table volume, presentation, report or dashboard as required.

The individual services can also be obtained on a modular basis. For example, intervista can only take over the recruitment and provision of the sample ("sampling only") or provide targeted support for individual steps of a study. The scope of the services is flexibly tailored to the requirements of the respective project.

The costs of an online survey depend in particular on the number of interviews, the target group, the length of the questionnaire and the desired services in terms of conception, programming, analysis and reporting. Short surveys with a few questions can be carried out cost-effectively via the intervista online bus. For more extensive or individual questions, a tailor-made ad-hoc study is usually designed.

intervista combines its own large online panel with high quality standards and extensive experience in the design and implementation of market research studies. This allows us to reach the right target group for a wide variety of questions, via the intervista online panel, via customer addresses or via other suitable recruitment channels.

Our strength lies in the combination of methodological quality and practical advice throughout the entire study process. We develop a suitable study design, design well-founded questionnaires, control the sample in a targeted manner and accompany programming and fieldwork. We then analyze and interpret the results, prepare them in an understandable way and derive strategically relevant recommendations for action from them. If necessary, we also support their implementation in the company, for example with a results workshop.

Predictive Eye Tracking is an AI-based method for analyzing visual attention. A model trained on data from several thousand traditional eye-tracking studies predicts which areas of an image people are likely to look at. This makes it possible to determine, for example, whether the brand logo, message, or central image on a poster stands out sufficiently.

People often view posters only briefly and in passing. A poster therefore needs to attract attention quickly and communicate its key messages clearly. Predictive Eye Tracking can assess how well a poster stands out in a realistic advertising environment and at different viewing distances. The analysis also reveals the visual hierarchy of the individual elements in the advertising creative, showing whether, for example, the brand, message and visual motif attract sufficient attention.

Heat maps show which areas of a poster receive the most attention. The Share of Attention indicates the proportion of attention individual elements—such as the logo, headline, or product—receive in the first few seconds. In poster analyses, intervista supplements these results with its own metric: The Poster Attention Index shows how eye-catching a poster is in a realistic advertising environment. The evaluation is conducted for different viewing distances. Proprietary benchmarks also allow for comparison with other advertising creatives tested by intervista.

Predictive Eye Tracking can predict, with accuracy of up to 95%, which areas of an image people notice in the first few seconds of viewing. Prediction accuracy decreases when people view the advertising creative for longer and more closely. In addition, this method cannot determine whether an advertisement is liked, understood, evokes emotions or influences purchase intent. To answer these questions, we recommend combining this method with a qualitative or quantitative advertising pre-test.

Results are typically available within three to five business days. The cost depends on the number and type of advertising materials to be analyzed. For example, an analysis of a single poster—including an environmental analysis, reporting, and benchmarks to contextualize the results—costs CHF 2,500. Additional advertising creatives can be cost-effectively integrated into the analysis.

Qualitative market research helps us understand how people think, feel, and make decisions. It is particularly well-suited for exploratory questions where needs, motives, or relationships are to be initially explored in an open-ended manner. Typical applications include examining purchasing decisions, identifying barriers along the customer journey, or evaluating new products and services. Open-ended questions and targeted follow-ups enable deeper insights and also reveal aspects that were not previously the focus of attention.

Qualitative market research examines the “why” and “how”: Through open-ended conversations or observations, it provides an in-depth understanding of the target group. Quantitative market research uses standardised methods to determine how frequently certain opinions, needs, or behaviours occur. Both approaches can be used independently and complement each other effectively. For example, insights gained through qualitative research can be validated in a larger survey, or quantitative results can be better understood through in-depth interviews.

Individual in-depth interviews are particularly well-suited for understanding personal experiences, sensitive topics, or complex decision-making processes. Participants can share their perspectives in a safe setting without being influenced by other respondents. Focus groups, on the other hand, rely on the exchange among participants: different perspectives come to light, experiences are discussed, and ideas are developed collaboratively. In both methods, a discussion guide outlines the relevant topics while leaving room for new insights.

Recruitment depends on the research question and the defined target group. Through its own online panel, intervista specifically recruits individuals with specific characteristics or usage habits, as well as professional decision-makers. Alternatively, existing customer data can serve as the basis for recruitment. A brief pre-screening ensures that participants meet the specified criteria. Alongside participant selection, intervista handles scheduling and participant incentive payments. Recruitment is also available as a standalone service for studies conducted by companies or other research teams themselves.

The appropriate number depends on the research question, the diversity of the target group, and the desired comparisons. For a narrowly defined research question, as few as four to five in-depth interviews or one to two focus groups can provide valuable initial insights. If different customer segments are to be compared, a sufficient number of interviews or focus groups is needed for each segment. The more diverse the experiences and needs within a target group, the larger the required study scope typically is. It is crucial that the perspectives relevant to the research question are adequately covered.

Both are possible. In-depth interviews via video call allow for flexible participation without the need to travel and make it easier to include people from different regions. Interviews conducted at home or at the workplace offer additional insights into the respondents’ living and working contexts. For focus groups, conducting sessions in person provides an ideal setting for a lively exchange. The intervista test studio in Bern allows discussions to be monitored live from a separate observation room through a one-way mirror. The most suitable format depends on the specific research question and the target group.

intervista combines targeted recruitment through its own online panel with methodological expertise and professional, neutral facilitation. Experienced market researchers guide the studies from conception through analysis to the derivation of concrete recommendations. The interpretation incorporates in-depth industry knowledge and psychological insights, such as those regarding motivation, perception, and decision-making behaviour. intervista places particular emphasis on transparent documentation, a clear analysis, and a comprehensible presentation of results.

With “Sampling Only,” the client programs and hosts the online questionnaire themselves, while a panel provider recruits the appropriate participants for the survey. intervista handles the sampling, the distribution of invitations, field management, and ongoing quality and quota control.
“Sampling Only” is particularly well-suited for companies, universities, market research firms, and other organizations that program and analyze their surveys themselves but wish to rely on a professionally managed online panel for recruitment.

Yes. With Sampling Only, you can conduct a self-programmed online survey with participants from the intervista online panel. The B2C panel comprises more than 125,000 active participants from across Switzerland. For surveys targeting business customers, approximately 35,000 specialists and executives from Swiss companies are available.

This makes it possible to conduct both representative population surveys and studies with specific B2C and B2B target groups. Thanks to extensive profile information, suitable participants can be specifically selected even before the survey begins.

The sample is tailored individually to the desired target group for each project.

For representative population studies, for example, we often work with interlocked quotas based on age, gender, and region. For specific target groups, screening questions are included in the questionnaire to verify whether a person meets the defined eligibility criteria.

The quotas and screening criteria are determined jointly before fieldwork begins.

Yes. The intervista online panel offers more than 300 profiling variables that can be used to specifically target certain target groups right from the invitation stage.

These include, among other things, sociodemographic characteristics as well as information on consumption, household, and occupation. In the B2B sector, for example, data on job function, industry, and company size are available.

The profile information is used to specifically target the sample. All criteria relevant to participation are additionally verified in the questionnaire through corresponding screening questions to ensure their accuracy and up-to-date status.

First, the target group, sample size, quotas, screening criteria, field period, and other requirements are defined. Next, the technical integration of the externally programmed questionnaire is set up and reviewed by intervista in terms of sampling, field management, and participant guidance.

Typically, the survey begins with a soft launch involving a smaller number of participants. This phase verifies that the questionnaire, data transfer, quotas, and redirection functions are working correctly. Following a successful test, the full launch takes place.

During the field phase, intervista continuously manages the sample and the distribution of invitations. In doing so, panel members are invited in carefully managed numbers to meet the defined quotas and reach the target groups. Response rates and quota achievement are continuously monitored, and additional invitations are sent out as needed.

The selected individuals from the intervista online panel are redirected to the online questionnaire programmed by the client. The technical integration is handled via GET parameters, which are appended to the participation link and stored in the questionnaire.

After completing the survey, participants are redirected back to the intervista survey system so that their participation can be correctly recorded and they can receive their incentive.

This can be implemented with all common professional online survey systems.

For many “Sampling Only” studies, a field period of about 7 to 10 days is appropriate. This allows even those who do not respond immediately to an invitation the opportunity to participate. A sufficiently long field period enables a higher response rate from the sample and contributes to a more balanced composition of participants.

With very short field periods, there is a risk that particularly quick-to-respond individuals will be overrepresented—for example, those who use the internet very intensively. However, depending on the target group, sample size, and study design, shorter field periods may also be appropriate and feasible.

Key factors include, in particular, the quality and size of the panel, the recruitment of panel participants, the available profile information, a methodologically sound sampling process, and active quality and quota control during the field phase.

intervista maintains its own large Swiss online panel with more than 125,000 active B2C participants and approximately 35,000 specialists and executives in the B2B panel. Panels and samples are continuously monitored for data quality. intervista is also certified as an access panel service provider and full-service market research institute in accordance with ISO 20252:2019. As a result, clients using the “Sampling Only” service receive not just participants for their questionnaire, but a professionally planned and controlled sample.

Yes, the test studio in Bern can also be rented for studies that companies, agencies, or other research teams conduct and moderate themselves. In addition to the discussion room and the observation room, technical equipment as well as support with reception and participant care are available. If needed, intervista can also handle the recruitment of suitable participants through its own online panel.

The discussion room seats up to ten people and is equipped with a projector, screen, whiteboard, and flip chart. In the adjacent observation room, up to eight people can follow the discussions through a full-wall one-way mirror and via speakers. Technical equipment includes Wi-Fi, a fixed camera, and microphones for audio and video recordings. Live video streaming and connections for interpretation equipment are also available upon request.

A test studio is particularly well-suited when the focus is on personal interaction, participants’ reactions, or the direct experience of products. In focus groups, being in the same room facilitates a lively discussion where facial expressions and gestures are clearly visible. Products, packaging, or prototypes can be viewed, touched, and tested on-site. The test studio provides a professional setting for this while also allowing for the observation and recording of conversations.

In the intervista test studio, conversations can be observed from a separate observation room. A full-wall one-way mirror allows a view into the brighter discussion room, while appearing to participants as a regular mirror. Audio is transmitted via speakers. This enables project teams, for example, to experience reactions and statements firsthand without being physically present in the discussion room. Live video streaming is also available upon request. Participants are informed in advance about the observation and any recordings.

The intervista test studio is located at Optingenstrasse 5 in Bern. From the Bern train station, it takes about ten minutes to reach by public transportation or about 15 minutes on foot. Its central location makes it easy for participants and project teams to get there.