Who offers the Perception Analyzer®?
The Perception Analyzer is developed, manufactured, sold, rented and supported by MSInteractive. Through MSInteractive's own service offerings as well as its network of partners and system owners, the Perception Analyzer is available in over 25 counrties worldwide.
How long has the Perception Analyzer been around?
The Perception Analyzer was invented in 1984.
How does it work?
Respondents and audience members use wireless, hand-held dials to answer questions and give feedback during focus groups, meetings, presentations, etc., and a small wireless receiver (we call it a console), connected to a computer, polls the dials and instantly tallies the results. Those results are then immediately available (in aggregate and by subset) to be viewed privately or displayed back to respondents and audience members.
Results are also available for analysis in graphical, cross-tab and quick frequency formats as well as able to be exported to SPSS as a .por file, to Excel as an ASCII file, to the internet as an HTML file and as .jpg or PDF files for presentations and/or reports.
What type of wireless connectivity is used between the dials and the console?
It is a radio frequency (RF) connection that allows wireless communication between the dials and the console in venues as small as focus group facilities and conference rooms or as large as hotel ballrooms and convention centers.
What type of software is used to run the Perception Analyzer?
MSInteractive has developed a three-module software suite to operate the Perception Analyzer system. The modules include:
EDIT (for questionnaire development and authoring)
COLLECT (for data collection during sessions)
REPORT (for real-time reporting of data as well as data export for further analysis)
What question types can be asked with the Perception Analyzer?
The most commonly used question types are discrete (multiple) choice, intensity scale (i.e. 0-10, 0-100, 1-5, etc.), trade-off (conjoint) and Moment-to-Moment.
Moment-to-Moment is a way by which respondents and audience members use their dials to communicate second-by-second feedback to stimuli such as TV shows, TV ads, speeches, debates, presentations, legal proceedings, etc. The resulting data are then superimposed over what's being tested to give a continuous read on what people like and don't like. Here's a sample.
For what applications are the Perception Analyzer used?
The Perception Analyzer is used extensively for focus groups (8 – 12 people), large group interactive sessions (25 – 50 people), mock juries (12 – 36 people), TV pilot and show maintenance tests (10 – 50 people) and meetings/conferences/events (10 – 500 people).
Haven't I seen this on TV?
It's very likely, yes. During times of political races, it is not uncommon to see on-air focus groups evaluating speeches and debates with the resulting Moment-to-Moment overlays analyzed and discussed by news commentators and pundits. The Perception Analyzer has also been featured on NBC’s The West Wing, VH1's Strip Search and Surreal Life 6, in the Showtime Original Movie Spinning Boris and in the Fall of 2006 it may be seen in the new FOX series Justice. The Perception Analyzer has also been used behind the scenes to test countless television pilots.
What are my options for working with MSInteractive and the Perception Analyzer? Can I rent from you, buy a system, both?
Both. MSinteractive sells and rents the Perception Analyzer.
If you choose to rent, we offer turn-key service where we program your questionnaire into the software, send a consultant along with the system to run it during your session(s), coordinate all on-site audio-visual needs and deliver the data to you immediately following the project.
If you choose to purchase a system, we sell you the Perception Analyzer software, hardware and necessary audio/visual peripherals. You then supply your own computer and generally rent audio/visual equipment as needed.
If I purchase a system, what types of training and support are available?
We provide custom training at your office or ours and 24/7 technical support so you're never alone.
What type of computer will I need to operate the Perception Analyzer?
Virtually any newer, non-widescreen, Windows®-based notebook computer with a PCMCIA slot will work just fine.
Where are your people based?
We have offices in Portland, OR, and Livonia, MI, and representatives in Chicago, IL, and just outside of London, UK.
