Rampant in the Market research and insights world for a few years now: widespread misuse of a trendy piece of research lingo. And recently, I notice this misuse is getting even worse. This is not a trivial issue; I think we would all agree that as a profession, we should use common market research jargon precisely and consistently. But when it comes to the phrase “DIY Research,” all bets are off. I commonly see the phrase used to mean 4 very different things: 

1. Online surveys
2. Online surveys conducted using platforms such as Decipher, Qualtrics, SurveyGizmo, etc.
3. Market research conducted by corporate researchers
4. Market research conducted by people without skills or training (analogous to the use of “DIY” in the phrase “DIY home improvement”)

Which of these definitions is correct? They can’t all be!

In this conversation, I share some context about how the term “DIY” Research is commonly used and abused, and share a current marketing example that reflects “definitions” 1 and 3 from above (ouch!).

Please share this video with any colleagues who might want to learn about the issues with DIY Research references. And if you think the video has value, please do like and subscribe on YouTube! Prefer podcasts? Also available on iTunes.