Market research hall tests

What better way is there to find out how consumers react to your product than enabling them to give it a try for themselves? Hall tests are designed specifically for this purpose. Tailored to suit specific project objectives, hall tests involve hiring a venue in an accessible location and inviting a group of people to test products, services or even advertising concepts. They're an incredibly useful methodology adopted by DJS Research when we are looking to test reactions to stimuli in a controlled and neutral environment. 

One of the key benefits of hall tests is the opportunity to present respondents with a wide range of different stimuli, from consumable and household goods, such as food and drink or cleaning products, to more durable consumer items like furniture or shoes. They can also be used to help shape the direction of advertising campaigns and brand messaging, by presenting concepts, storyboards or slogans within controlled groups to help validate or discount potential ideas. Participants respond live to the items or concepts they are presented with and sessions ensure sufficient time for both engagement and feedback; testers are actively encouraged to explain their thoughts in detail, both positive and negative, to the researcher leading the session.

As they are conducted in-person and in real-life, they enable researchers to hone in on key product pain points or concept concerns raised by the group to probe deeper. For example, if a session was testing a television advertisement, participants would be able to pause the video at the exact point at which they didn't understand or perhaps even disliked the advert. For example, if they felt the tone was inappropriate, or it was overly sales oriented for instance, they could cite exactly where this came across – supported by the research lead. 

Potential hall test participants are recruited in advance, sometimes even on the street outside the venue itself just prior to a session taking place. This method can be very cost-effective and can generate high numbers of responses per day depending upon location, target audience and the length and complexity of the subject.

DJS Research has vast experience completing hall test market research for a wide-range of clients. We have used this methodology to test respondents' reaction to many different things, from new flavours of crisps to the taste and texture of cakes that contained specific enzymes in order to retain moistness. The second of these examples was conducted under very strict hygiene conditions, and the hall test location was streamed live to the client via webcam. One example of a large-scale, and highly successful hall test campaign we ran for a client in the chemicals sector is outlined below. 

Hall tests market research: case study

Our client is a manufacturer of a number of effects which can be added to yarn and other fibres to make fabrics wrinkle-free. In order to understand customer attitudes to this, DJS Research carried out hall tests in India, the UK and the USA. The research covered a large number of respondents (800 in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore alone) and respondents were shown swatches of both treated and untreated fabrics. We were responsible for the recruitment of participants in all three countries, and conducting the hall tests themselves. Following the research, we were able to make actionable recommendations to our client about the course of action to be pursued in each country.

At the same time as running a traditional hall test, we are also able to undertake 'quali-hall tests' whereby our senior researchers conduct more qualitative interviews (i.e. in-depth interviews lasting around 30 minutes in length).