It's important to do all research right, but this is especially true for segmentation studies. Does your company put the right amount of priority, attention and resources behind your segmentation research?

What we found when we explored singles' attitudes and behaviors to brands, shopping, and lifestyles confirmed our suspicion: the face of single adults in 2015 was very different than the one that marketers and even market researchers may have set in their

Maybe you saw the media splash that month that occurred after the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that for the first time in our national history, the number of adults who were single outnumbered those who were married.

One of the more infuriating experiences a moderator can encounter in a focus group is the respondent who seems to be critical of everything. Show him advertising, and he will quibble about an adjective. Show him a new product, and he will question its quality. Show him a completely different product, and he will have another reservation--Or, exactly the same one. Behind the mirror, the observers are losing their patience.

By Paul Metz, Senior Vice President

A segmentation study is a major undertaking for any brand. It provides a wealth of information and insight. Who would not want to understand the differences among their consumers and what drives different groups of them? I have rarely encountered a brand team that is not excited by its initial dive into the segments. In this sense, segmentation research is almost always "good."

By Bob Relihan, Senior Vice President