Affiliate marketing – An online marketing strategy that involves revenue sharing between online advertisers/merchants and online publishers/salespeople.

Accompanied Shopping – is a form of observation study where an interviewer accompanies a respondent (with his or her agreement) as they go shopping.

Acquiescence Bias (aka “yea saying” or “friendliness effect”) – a systematic bias caused by some respondents tending to agree with whatever is presented to them. Such a bias may be caused by either respondents or interviewers being overly friendly during interviews.

Awareness – is a measure of respondents’ knowledge of an object or an idea. There are two main measures of awareness: spontaneous (or unaided) and prompted (or aided) awareness.

Ad Hoc Research – is research that is specifically designed to address a particular problem or issue. Ad hoc research is usually conducted when there is insufficient existing information. Ad hoc projects are usually single pieces of research rather than part of a continuous programme.

Back Translation – is a validation process where a survey is first translated into another language and then translated back into the original language by a different person. The objective is to ensure that the original translation is accurate.

Banner Format – is a style of data tabulation where the responses from each sub-group are listed for each question in the survey.

Banner Point – is a column heading in banner format tabulations and corresponds to a particular sub-group of the sample. It is usual practice to have the independent variables as banner points.

Best Light Phenomenon – is when respondents bias their answers in a market research project so that they can then appear in the best possible way to those who are looking at the responses.

Blind Testing – is the testing of products with potential consumers where brand names, packaging and other identifying items have been removed.

Blog – a frequent, chronological publication of personal thoughts and Web links. A blog is often a mixture of what is happening in a person's life and what is happening on the Web, a kind of hybrid diary/guide site, although there are as many unique types of  blogs as there are people. Blogs are alternatively called web logs or weblogs. However, "blog" seems less likely to cause confusion, as "web log" can also mean a server's log files.

Booster – refers to additional interviews involving a particular sub-group of a sample to ensure there are sufficient members of the sub-group in the resulting sample.

Brief (aka Briefing) – can have two similar meanings in the context of Marketing Research. A Brief can be a statement (usually in writing) of a business problem that could be alleviated by conducting some marketing research. Briefs are normally written by a client company for a research supplier and they usually have a background and an objectives section. A suggested methodology section can also be included. A Briefing can be a training session prior to starting work on a study in which all specifications and details of the study are reviewed. This is generally followed by practice (or pilot) interviews where they are being used.

Busy (BZ) – is the accepted abbreviation for indicating a busy signal in a telephone survey.

Buying signal – a verbal or visual cue that indicates a potential customer is interested in purchasing a product or service. It indicates that a salesperson should begin to close the sale.

Buzzword – a trendy word or phrase that is used more to impress than explain. A buzzword may be a newly-coined word or an old word used in a new way. Buzzwords are part of the fashion of a living language, more about style than substance. Some buzzwords are actually useful for a period of time, but the object they describe eventually becomes less useful.

Cannibalisation – is the degree to which increased sales of one brand replace sales of another brand or brands from the same manufacturer.

Centralised Research Function – is where the marketing researchers in an organisation are located together in one department.

Centroid – is the average value of a group of objects in a cluster.

Chat Room – is where participants in separate locations are invited to join a virtual group discussion using their PCs and the Internet. The discussion may or may not have a moderator and comments are communicated in writing on members’ screens. Participants in the discussion are usually not screened in the same way as for an online discussion group or a moderated e-mail group.

Chronological Age – is individuals’ ages in years and months (which may be different to their cognitive age).

Clarifying – is the repeating or re-phrasing of an existing question to get a further explanation of an answer provided by a respondent.

Client Facing Staff – are marketing researchers who are the link between research clients and the marketing research department or supplier.

Clutter Reels – are video tapes with a number of TV commercials including the one(s) being tested and they are used to assess a commercial’s ability to stand out from the rest.

Cognitive Age – is an individual’s perceived age, which may be different to their chronological age. For example pre-teens aspire to be older and 40 year olds may well aspire to be younger.

Conclusive Research – involves the use of highly structured techniques (such as questionnaires with closed questions) with statistically representative samples in order to prove or disprove hypotheses.

Conjoint Analysis (aka Trade Off Analysis) – is a research technique that aims to describe how consumers make complex decisions by assuming the decisions are based on a number of factors considered jointly (hence the name) and they trade off some factors for others. The technique requires participants to choose a limited number of attributes from a selection, thereby providing an indication of the importance attached to particular attributes.

Construct – is a set of attitudes or values used by consumers.

Consumer Panel (aka Panel) – is a group of selected research participants who have agreed to provide pre-designated information at regular specified intervals over an extended period of time. The information may be on purchasing, media consumption or life-style activities.

Continuous Panel – is a consumer panel that involves participation from the same respondents repeatedly over time. This contrasts with an ad hoc panel, where a pre-recruited group of willing respondents are used as and when they are required.

Cookie File – is a computer file that is secretly added to the hard disk of someone who visits a web site that sends them. Their purpose is to track web site visitors, however the use of cookies in marketing research is not approved by ESOMAR.

Copy Point Recall – is an advertising research measure of a respondent's ability to remember a particular message, slogan or theme etc from a commercial.

Cost per Interview – is determined by dividing the total budget for a project by the number of completed interviews.

Counter-biasing – is a technique that is used to increase respondents’ willingness to answer questions honestly. Questions are prefaced with statements that attempt to justify an answer that may go against social group norms, eg “recent surveys have indicated that the majority of people have difficulty saving every month”.

Creative Development Research – is a type of qualitative research that is used to formulate advertising. It can work at three stages in the advertising development process (i) Defining the strategy - ie what should the advertising be saying? (ii) Defining the execution - ie how should it be said? (iii) Testing a chosen execution.

Decentralised Research Function – is where the marketing researchers are spread throughout an organization and are not located together.

Demand Artefacts – are the responses given when respondents attempt to guess the purpose of the questions being asked. Demand artefacts can be the result of experimental conditions.

Dendogram – is diagram that shows a hierarchy and the relation of subsets in a structure. It branches like a tree and is usually read downwards from the main trunk.

Deontology – is a non-consequential approach to evaluating ethics, whereby the degree of ethicalness depends on the intentions behind the decisions rather than the outcomes or actions that result.

Diad – is an in-depth interview involving an interviewer and a participant (ie two people only). It is also referred to as a "one-on-one".

Diary Panel – is a type of consumer panel where participants record activities or events in a diary.

Dual Moderator Group – is a group discussion with two moderators, each moderator having a different role, eg one to ensure the smooth running of the group and the other to discuss or explain key issues.

Dummy Variables – are a way of respecifying categorical variables in data analysis by giving them either of two values (eg 0 or 1).

Eye Tracking Research – involves the use of various mechanical devices to record participants’ eye movements when they are looking at some form of stimulus (such as a press advert in a newspaper).

Field Force – refers to the interviewers and supervisors who are involved in data collection.

First-mover advantage – a sometimes insurmountable advantage gained by the first significant company to move into a new market.

Friendship Pair Interview (aka Paired Depth or Triad) – is a type of depth interview where there are two respondents (instead of the usual one). Friendship pair interviewing is often used for research with children and young people (where they know each other) in order to avoid respondents being intimidated and biasing their responses accordingly.

Funnel Approach – is a way of ordering questions in a questionnaire so that general questions are asked before specific questions. This ordering avoids the responses to specific questions biasing the answers to general questions.

Generalizability – is the extent to which inferences can be drawn about the population of interest based on the results of some research.

Generation X – are 18-29 year old post baby-boomers.

Geodemographic Information – is based on a combination of demographics (age, gender, life-cycle stage and occupation) with geographical area.

Groupware – refers to the computer software that is used to run online group discussions.

Guerilla marketing – unconventional marketing intended to get maximum results from minimal resources. Coined by Jay Conrad Levinson, guerilla marketing is more about matching wits than matching budgets. Guerilla marketing can be as different from traditional marketing as guerilla warfare is from traditional warfare. Rather than marching their marketing dollars forth like infantry divisions, guerilla marketers snipe away with their marketing resources for maximum impact.

Hall Test – is where research participants are invited to a central location to participate in some (usually quantitative) market research.

Halo Effect – is a form of response bias where a respondent carries an overall generalised positive or negative impression from one specific characteristic to the next, eg if a respondent considers a product to be excellent, then he or she is likely to rate the product highly on taste, appearance and texture etc.

Hand Tab – is the simplest type of tabulation possible, consisting of a manual count of the answers to certain questions on the questionnaire.

Hidden Issue Questioning – is a technique used during depth interviews that aims to identify significant personal views that would otherwise not be revealed by respondents using a direct approach.

Hierarchy-of-effects Model – is a marketing behavioural response model consisting of stages through which a buyer is presumed to go, including: awareness, knowledge, liking, preference, intention to buy and purchase.

Host or Hostess – is the person whose major responsibility is the comfort of clients, guests and respondents at a focus group or central location test.

Identica – visual expression of brand’s image and philosophy, its positioning and promises to consumers. Strong image creates competitive advantage and increases brand value in different auditorium’s opinion: partner, client, colleague. The complete image works on brand recognition, forms positive attitude and loyalty.    

Implicit Alternatives – are alternatives in a question that are not expressed openly. Such alternatives may have lower chance of being selected and therefore the data may be biased.

Implicit Assumption – is when all respondents are assumed to have the same level of knowledge on a subject. Questions with implicit assumptions can lead to instrument error and/or respondent error.

Indirect Approach – is one where the true purpose of a research project is disguised. Indirect approaches are used when revealing the true purpose of the research would bias the responses given by participants.

Interaction Effect – is the effect of all the factors working together, which is greater than the sum of the separate effects.

Interviewer Cheating – is when interviewers knowingly do not follow their instructions.

Interviewer Error (aka Interviewer Bias) – is a type of non-sampling error caused by mistakes made by the interviewer. These may include influencing the respondent in some way, asking questions in the wrong order, or using slightly different phrasing (or tone of voice) than other interviewers. It can include intentional errors such as cheating and fraudulent data entry.

Kelly Repertory Grid – is a qualitative research technique that aims to describe how potential consumers perceive products. Participants are presented with three attributes and they are asked to think of ways in which two are similar to each other but different from the third.

Key success factors – those factors that are a necessary condition for success in a given market. That is, a company that does poorly on one of the factors critical to success in its market is certain to fail.

Key Word Recording – is a method used by interviewers to record answers to open-ended questions where only the important words and phrases are recorded.

Kickback – a payment made by a salesperson to a buyer based on the size or number of orders placed by the buyer for the salesperson's products or services.

Kolmogorov Smirnov One Sample test – is a non-parametric goodness-of-fit test that compares the cumulative distribution function for a variable with a specified distribution, based on one sample.

Kolmogorov-Smirnov Two Sample Test – is a non-parametric statistical test to determine whether two distributions are the same. The test takes into account differences in means, dispersion and skewness.

Laboratory Test Market – is a simulated market-place situation for new products where consumers are exposed to advertising and visit an experimental store where they may buy products under controlled conditions. Through follow-up interviews, focus groups and purchase patterns, the market shares for new products can be predicted.

Laddering – is a technique for conducting depth interviews where questions progress from product characteristics to user characteristics.

Latin Square Design – is a type of statistical experimental design where the aim is to remove the error associated with variations in two non-interacting external variables in order to understand the effect of each variable in addition to the effect of manipulating an independent variable. Experimental units are allocated in such a way that variations in experimental treatments occur once in each row or column (in a table of treatments).

Law of comparative advantage – this law states that a country tends to export those economic goods in the production of which it has a comparative advantage and to import those economic goods in the production of which it has a comparative disadvantage. If a country has no comparative advantage, then it should tend to produce those products for which it has the least comparative disadvantage.

Mail Panel – is a type of consumer panel where participants have agreed to complete a limited number of mail surveys each year. The household classification data of the participants is known in advance, which allows a client to select a sample of respondents with whom to conduct a survey. Mail panels can be local or national in scope.

Mail Survey – is one where respondents are asked to complete a questionnaire (unaided) and return it to the sender either by post or e-mail. The respondents may or may not be recruited in advance of the survey.

Marketing Decision Support System – is a type of marketing information system where decision makers can make particular requests for information that may not be part of the existing on-going reports.

Mechanical Observation – is when some form of mechanical device records the behaviour of interest, eg a people-meter recording who watches what TV programmes.

MEG (Moderated E-mail Group) – is where a group of pre-recruited research participants are all in e-mail contact with a facilitator and the facilitator e-mails questions to them on a particular subject. At periodic intervals, the facilitator produces a summary of views and sends it to all the participants. It is similar to an online focus group in that the participants are unable to see each other therefore no visual signals can be communicated, although anonymity can be assured.

Monitor – is a quality control measure that may involve observing, auditing and checking the interviewing to ensure that the required procedures are followed and to give feedback and instruction to the interviewers. Monitoring is one means of validating or giving assurance that data is collected from qualified respondents who are interviewed under prescribed conditions. Monitoring can be done in person for face-to-face interviews or by phone for telephone interviews.

Mystery Shopping – is a type of observation study where someone is sent into a business location to act in the role of a customer to evaluate the performance of a business or an employee.

Nominal Group Technique – is a type of face-to-face group discussion that is designed to minimise the group effect (where participants moderate their opinions and go along with a majority view). Participants are asked to consider a subject and then discuss it with one other member (or a small number of members) of the group before presenting it to the whole group.

Null Hypothesis – is a statement to be tested that is usually expressed in a negative (or null) way and suggests that no difference or effect is expected. If the statement is disproved, then the null hypothesis is rejected and the alternative hypothesis is accepted.

Occasion Image – is the impression created, either explicitly or implicitly, of the types of occasion for which a brand is perceived to be most appropriate.

Omnibus Study – is a periodic study that asks questions on a number of unrelated subjects. The results may be completely or partially syndicated among clients.

On-air Test – is where research participants are exposed to some advertising in a natural setting, such as their own homes.

One-Way Mirror – is a sheet of glass which, when viewed from one side, appears to be a normal mirror and when viewed from the other side, is transparent. It is used in Marketing Research to observe respondents without their being constantly reminded that they are being watched, although they have to be advised by the researcher that they are being observed. A one-way mirror is often used in focus group discussions.

Online Discussion Group (aka Virtual Group) – is where a number of pre-recruited research participants are in simultaneous electronic contact (via a PC) and they are discussing a particular subject. The discussion is guided by a moderator and the participants are unable to see each other, therefore no visual signals can be communicated although anonymity can be assured.

Overclaiming – is a phenomenon where research participants make claims that are not factually correct. There are many reasons for this behaviour including; best light phenomenon and social group norms.

Pairwise Deletion – is a treatment of survey data where only the completed questions are analysed, ie partially complete responses are not excluded from the analysis.

Panel Conditioning – is a form of systematic error that occurs when panel participants change their behaviour (that is being observed) as a result of being part of the panel.

People Meter (aka Audimeter) – is an electronic device attached to a TV set that monitors which programmes are watched by whom.

Perceptual Mapping – is an analysis technique that is designed to demonstrate how consumers view a concept or brand relative to the alternatives. Perceptual maps can be constructed from different types of analysis, eg Factor analysis, correspondence analysis and multi-dimensional scaling.

Permission marketing – marketing centered around obtaining customer consent to receive information from a company. It is the opposite of traditional interruption marketing. Permission marketing is about building an ongoing relationship of increasing depth with customers.

Pictorial Scale – is a type of scale where the intervals are represented by a sequence of pictures or diagrams, eg smiling faces (as opposed to numbers or words).

Pop-up Survey – is a questionnaire that appears on the screen of a web site visitor. The term can also be used to refer to an invitation to participate in a survey. Pop-up surveys are usually triggered by a mechanism of some form, eg after a pre-defined period of time, or after so many visitors to a web page.

Posteriori – is an approach where a theoretical framework is developed from the research (after it has been conducted).

Pre-recruited Participants – are consumers or business professionals who are contacted (by telephone, mail or in person etc) and invited to participate in a research study scheduled for a future date and time, provided they qualify. People who agree and are eligible are often compensated for their participation in the research.

Pre-teen (aka Tweenager or Tween) – is a young person aged around 8/9 to 12, who does not consider themselves to be a child, but they are not yet a teenager.

Primary Purchaser – is the person responsible for 50% or more of the household grocery purchases.

Priori – is an approach where a theoretical framework is developed before the research is conducted.

Professional Respondent – is one who regularly attends group discussions, whose views may well not be typical of the intended respondents.

Pseudo Research – is research that is carried out for reasons other than to reduce the risk in a resource-allocation decision.

Pupilometer – is a device used to measure the dilation of a participant’s pupil in response to a visual stimulus.

Readership – is the number of people who read a particular publication and it is not necessarily related to its circulation.

Repertoire – refers to the range of different brands used by consumers.

Response Latency – is the speed with which a respondent provides an answer.

Response Style – is a systematic tendency of respondents to select particular categories of responses regardless of the content of the questions.

Role Playing – is a projective technique where participants are asked to play the role or assume the behavior of someone else.

Salience – is a general term that can be used in two similar ways: (1) The importance a brand holds for different groups of consumers. It is an indication of emotional closeness to, or distance from a brand. (2) The extent to which a brand comes readily to mind (eg first mentioned in an answer to an awareness question), or the most frequently mentioned in connection with a set of associations.

Saturation Survey – is a survey where as many members as possible of a population of interest are contacted.

Scanner Panel – is a type of consumer panel where participants use a bar-code scanner to record purchases.

Semiotics – is the theory of signs and symbols in language and the meanings they convey. In research it is used to identify and evaluate the true meaning behind consumers' linguistic responses, to decode their cultural frames of reference and behaviors. It employs specialist techniques to overcome the problems of conditioned or expected responses (Social Group Norms) and provides a deeper understanding of consumers' motivations.

Sensitivity Panel – is a type of focus group where the same participants are convened several times over a period of time. The subsequent discussions may or may not be on the same subject.

Situation Analysis – is a form used by each interviewer on a job to track the results of each contact made for a study, whether by phone or in person. This form can also be referred to as a "call record sheet", "contract record", "dialing records" or a "tick sheet". A new tally should be used every day of a job by each interviewer.

Smiling Face Scale – is a type of pictorial scale that consists of a balanced series of facial expressions that are often used in children’s research to obtain satisfaction ratings.

Trick banner – a banner ad that attempts to trick people into clicking, often by imitating an operating system message. Trick banners seek to overcome "banner blindness" and "banner baggage" by disguising the fact that they are advertising devices. A trick click-through is sometimes called a trick-through.

Theatre Test – is an advertising testing procedure where participants are exposed to test and control commercials in the context of a TV programme or a film.

Tally Sheet – is a form used by each interviewer on a job to track the results of each contact made for a study, whether by phone or in person. This form can also be referred to as a "call record sheet", "contract record", "dialing records" or a "tick sheet". A new tally should be used every day of a job by each interviewer.

Viral marketing – marketing phenomenon that facilitates and encourages people to pass along a marketing message. Viral marketing depends on a high pass-along rate from person to person. If a large percentage of recipients forward something to a large number of friends, the overall growth snowballs very quickly. If the pass-along numbers get too low, the overall growth quickly fizzles.

Web Site Survey (aka HTML Survey) – is a questionnaire that is based on a web site. Potential respondents are invited to participate in the survey (by a banner advert or other message) and then they are given a link to a satellite site where they complete a questionnaire. The survey is completed on line and respondents can be offered anonymity.

Word Association – is a form of projective technique where participants are presented with a list of words and, after each word, they are asked to say the first word that comes into their minds.