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If your organization is considering a marketing research project, it is critical to select the most effective methodology for meeting your particular goals. Four data collection methods are commonly available for conducting marketing research—telephone surveys, web and mail surveys or interactive voice response systems.

Computer-assisted teleph

According to USFDA, a combination product is one composed of any combination of a drug and device; biological product and device; drug and biological product

one interviewing (CATI) is by far the most popular methodology for collecting data used in marketing research today. This is because telephone surveys have a high response rate and are particularly helpful when a company needs to screen potential respondents to get to the most appropriate person to answer their questions.

With CATI research, a

; or drug, device, and biological product and fixed dose combination would include two or more combinations of drug.

Examples of combination products may in

survey is developed, tested, and then programmed into an interactive computer-based script. CATI begins with a computer randomly dialing phone numbers from the established sample. After a respondent is reached, a live interviewer conducts the interview by reading verbatim from the programmed survey script. If the correct person is not availabl

lude drug-coated devices, drugs packaged with delivery devices in medical kits, and drugs and devices packaged separately but intended to be used together.

e, the interviewer may schedule a callback for a specific time in the future. The data set will contain not only answers to each question, but also a complete log of what happened with each sample record.

CATI is the best data collection method when:

Surveys are transaction-based, and thus time-sensitive. Typically, if asking questi

here is enormous increase in the number of combination products entering the market in the recent years. Combination products have proven advantages but fixe

ons regarding a specific experience or representative involved in a specific experience, the telephone survey should be completed within four weeks of the transaction/experience.

There is a need to screen for the appropriate participants. For example, finding the person who had direct contact with a Service Department. Here the interv

d dose combinations are still in the process of convincing regulatory authority on their advantages over the single ingredient formulations.

Combination pro

ewer will ask for the person listed in the sample file. Once that individual is on the phone, the interviewer asks if he/she had direct contact with the Service Department. If so, the interview continues. If not, the interviewer asks to speak with the person who did.

The sample does not contain the respondent’s name. For instance,

ucts have become life saving products for the pharmaceutical companies who doesn’t have many innovative molecules in their product pipeline and have been inc

if there is a business name and number for business policies, but no contact name. In this case, the interviewer can explain whom he/she is trying to reach.

There are multiple versions of the survey. For example, there are differences in which questions are asked of whom and/or the survey is being fielded for multiple brands or produ

easingly used in the product life cycle management. Even the companies having product patents are trying to extend their product life cycle through the combi

ct types. In this case, the script can read directly from the sample file and pipe in different text depending on the respondent’s brand or type. It can also skip over questions that are not applicable.

The telephone survey requires extensive quota cell management. For example, you may want to get a specific number of completes for ea

nation products and maximize the revenues. But the companies involved in this practice are overlooking that they are burdening the patients both economically

ch brand. Then within those brands, you may want a certain percentage to be for B2C policies and another for B2B policies.

The survey requires extensive explanation or clarification. For example, a respondent may need clarification regarding some of the industry terms used in the telephone survey.

The survey contains follow

and physically. They need to rightly judge the benefits of the combination products and they have to even look at the risks involved when combining the produ

-up or probing open-ended questions. For example, the respondent may say that they were very dissatisfied with their overall service experience. In this case, the next question may be to probe for specifics (e.g. “Why specifically did you say you were very dissatisfied with your service experience?”) Often, the initial answer is fairly vague

ts. Some of the combination products were well accepted by physicians while others suffered. Companies involved in development of combination products are fi

e.g., because the service wasn’t good). The interviewer, however, will probe to get specifics that are actionable within your organization.

You have accurate phone numbers for the majority of the intended respondents. (Remember that, by law, cell phone numbers cannot be used.)

You do not have enough sample for IVR and/or mai

ding difficulty in defining their combination products and facing various challenges from selecting a combination to marketing it.

Following aspects would a

l. Since the response rate is higher for CATI, it will take a less usable sample to achieve the desired number of completes.

The targeted respondents are busy people. CATI can record scheduled callback times, allowing the interviewer to call the respondent back at a time/number convenient for them.

The subject of the survey

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

Which markets to tap where the combination products can do fairly well?
Which combination prod

is not too sensitive or controversial. Respondents may be unwilling to discuss sensitive topics with the interviewer. (Mail is the best data collection method for sensitive topics). Once you have determined CATI is the best methodology for your next project, selecting a qualified marketing research firm is the next important decisi

cts are meaningful and rational?
Which therapeutic categories to select?
Which Combinations can address unmet needs of the patients?
Do combin

on. Consider these 10 critical questions when searching for a qualified marketing research firm to conduct CATI research for your organization:

Do you use the latest CATI software? (The most up-to-date software will include predictive dialing and automated call distributor capabilities.)

Does the phone facility have sufficie

tions increase the patient compliance?
What would be the developing cost?
How to tackle the risks encountered during combination product developmen

nt flexibility and capacity? (This ensures the facility can handle multiple projects simultaneously.)

Can phone stations be assigned for either outbound or inbound calls? (This allows busy professionals to return a call at their convenience, resulting in higher response rates and more representative samples.)

Can interview sc

t?

As combination products don't fit into the traditional categories of drugs, medical devices, or biological products, the USFDA is in the process of devel

ipting access external databases? (This means that questions can be customized to a specific respondent, integrating information on purchases or revenue.)

Can the system play prerecorded messages and digitally capture voice responses? (This allows the interviewer to use conferencing to bring a client representative into the call immedi

ping new procedures for reviewing their safety, efficacy and quality.

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

ately and/or transfer the respondent to a client-specified location, such as a customer service department.)

Are predictive dialers used? (Predictive dialers randomly call numbers in the sample list, turning over the survey to an interviewer only when it detects a "live" respondent, thus dramatically increasing interviewing productivit

y and representatives from various regulatory agencies are working out to design the regulatory requirements for manufacture and sale of combination products

y.)

Does the call center have redundant quality checks? (This ensures that skip patterns are followed precisely and questions are rotated randomly.)

Is monitoring equipment used? (This allows clients to listen to surveys in progress from their own offices, as well as interviewing center supervisors and project managers to con

.

As there is an increasing trend of the combination products companies manufacturing such products should be able to tackle the problems involved in the de

tinuously monitor the interviews.)

Are telephone surveys pre-tested? (Test interviews check the survey instrument both for ease of administration, accuracy and usefulness of the information.)

Are interviewers experienced? (Interviewers are charged with a very demanding responsibility: conducting quality, professional intervie

elopment. They need to be wiser in analyzing the market trends and the regulatory requirements.

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

ws resulting in accurate survey databases.)

When a marketing research firm answers these 10 critical questions, you will be well-informed and can make the best decision about their CATI capability. Choosing a qualified research partner, along with the most appropriate methodology, will result in the most valuable data for your organization

tion in industry events and feedback to regulatory authorities would be able to face the challenges and will be successful in developing combination products

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