Jean-Michel Portier talks about the challenges of social media research in China, and we discuss market research translation. On Research magazine’s website yesterday, the CEO of Kantar Media, Jean-Michel Portier, was interviewed about the recent acquisition of Chinese social media monitoring firm CIC. After you’ve read the interview, come back and we’ll discuss the importance of market research translation when expanding into global markets. Read the interview with Jean-Michel Portier here Welcome back. So how would Portier and his team at CIC ensure that social media research undertaken in different parts of China is not affected by the language barrie? The answer is market research translation. Document translation is a vital service for market research companies looking to conduct studies in different countries. Without translation, it is not only impossible for researchers to extract the findings from their studies, but to even conduct the studies in the first place. Organisations call on translation companies such as ourselves to translate questions for surveys, interviews and focus groups, as well as translate the responses. Market research translation companies are a unique service, and the demands of the work aren’t suitable for any standard translation agency. This is because market researchers are looking for certain things from the document translation, such as feelings and expressions, tone of voice, dialect and background noise amongst others. Qualified document translators who have worked in the market research field are trained to pick up on these little nuances, and these translation companies are called on for their expertise in providing this calibre of translator. Now you know what to look for, we want to know what sort of qualities you look for in a market research translation company? If you aren’t a market researcher, put yourself in their shoes and leave some comments below! Image from SCA Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget
