Word clouds (market research)

Word clouds are a spatial information visualisation approach used in market research to transform written content into engaging imagery. While they often gain criticism because of the incorrect ways they are used (often wrongly used for quantitative data), they can be very useful in telling the audience what the main theme is.

When used properly, they can add some colour to a research report to keep the readers engaged. Ultimately, word clouds are big, colourful word collages that can be adapted to show any theme, or to put a specific topic in the forefront.

An effective way of using word clouds is to decide on the size of each word based on how frequently it appears throughout the report. The more important the word, the bigger it should look in the word cloud. This allows for an easy way to portray different shapes and sizes that is easy to follow for the audience.

The downside to the perceived easiness of word clouds is that different people may take different aspects of it away, and have a varying understanding of the message. The simplicity means it could lack detail and take away the desired meaning. This should be taken into consideration, both when reading and producing it, as to ensure the wrong message isn’t portrayed.

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Contact us today to discuss your next market research project and discover how we could become a valuable extension of your team.