If, for men, hair is a sign of youth and virility, for women, it is a symbol of femininity and seduction. A healthy, thick and shiny hair is an indisputable sign of beauty, as well as one of the characterizing elements of a person. When asked to test some professional shampoos and evaluate their characteristics and effectiveness, OpinionCity citizens immediately responded with interest and did not hesitate to give their availability.
Ready for the test?
200 women from OpinionCity community were recruited to participate in an interesting product test: they received samples of professional shampoos to test at home. Opening a package with samples to be tested is always a nice surprise: there is a mixture of expectation, pleasure and, why not, perhaps even a little anxiety about the idea of managing a test and expressing judgments that will guide the choices of important companies.
For this test, the samples were de-branded, that is, contained in bottles without a label and identified simply with a code: this serves to prevent that the judgment of those who have to evaluate is influenced by the brand.
The OpinionCity citizens selected for the test were asked to wash their hair in the normal way with the sample shampoo instead of their usual product. After using the shampoo with the frequency indicated in the instructions and within the established time, they were required to complete an online questionnaire. In product tests, the completion of the online or paper questionnaire is anonymous, so that everyone has the opportunity to express their opinions sincerely and without conditioning.
What to evaluate of a shampoo?
It is certainly not enough to say “I like it” or “I don’t like it”. Citizens of OpinionCity are always asked for a careful and detailed evaluation that can really help manufacturing companies to improve their products to meet the needs of consumers.
The questionnaire therefore clearly indicates parameters and characteristics on which to focus one’s attention: nothing is left to chance or the imagination of the participant but rather it is necessary to answer specific questions using a simple five-point scale for the answers. The goal is to thus produce objective results to be submitted to client companies.
How much work behind the scenes …
Do we have a vague idea of how much work it takes to set up a test like this? The products must be purchased and then stored in special rooms, then the researcher proceeds with the preparation of the questionnaires, while the logistics department deals with the preparation of the boxes, an operation not very simple because you have to distribute different samples in each box on the basis of a rotation plan which follows precise rules. Whoever prepare the boxes must scrupulously follow this plan, fundamental for market research purposes. If the product test requires it, samples must then be de-branded by transferring them to anonymous containers marked with a code, everything must be carefully packed so as to avoid accidental breakage, the questionnaire is included in the boxes, the packs are labelled and shipped throughout the Country to the Opinion City citizens who have been selected to participate in the test.
