The Characteristics of Good Reputation Research
(continued)
Good reputation research should have the following characteristics:
The right stakeholders are identified and recruited for interviewing. Careful selection is critical to assuring that insights are relevant and actionable. Interviews with non-influential stakeholders can muddy results and lead to less effective management strategies.
The research does not try to be "one size fits all." Many competing reputation models are based on prescribed factors that are used to describe a company's reputation. While such models permit comparisons of reputation across sectors, they can underestimate the importance of some factors while overstating the importance of others. Reputation has strong category-specific attributes and drivers that generic templates don't include.
The research is carried out by skilled and senior people. GlobeScan offers its best talent and most senior staff on each reputation research project. Each step, from developing the questionnaire to formulating strategic recommendations, will involve GlobeScan's top team of research professionals.
The research can be tracked from one period to the next. Sufficient sample size and a clear specification of stakeholders must be determined prior to field execution.