The terms "central location test" or "hall test" refer to consumer tests conducted in specially adapted facilities in convenient locations where larger groups of people can be gathered.
This type of testing is usually used for research into new or modified products, though it also finds successful application in testing advertising or packaging materials - in other words, in any case where direct contact with the item under research is necessary. Central location tests employ both traditional - quantitative and qualitative - research techniques, as well as modern visual techniques involving monitoring of respondents' eye movements with specialist apparatus ("eye-tracking"), and testing for degree of recall of particular elements of an image by displaying it for a very short time ("t-scope").

Just as cultures around the world vary widely, so do business cultures. This can complicate the process of searching for the right business partner in remote parts of the world. Many international research agencies face these problems when looking for partner agencies in the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) region. This article highlights issues worth considering when choosing the most appropriate partner in this part of the world.

This article is aimed at end clients and research agencies who are considering conducting market research studies in more than one country in Central and Eastern Europe. We argue that co-operating with just one experienced research agency from the region and using it as the single point-of-contact is a better approach than liaising with individual providers who are based in each of the researched countries.

Many international companies are facing the challenge of researching the fast changing markets of Central and Eastern Europe, and trying to interpret the results of their market research projects in this region compared with those from other parts of the world. This paper is written as an introductory guide and is based on the author's 15 years of business experience in Central Europe and Russia and the hundreds of market research projects that PMR has conducted in Central Europe and Russia for companies and governments from around the globe.