The Role of Technology in Modern Market Research: Revolutionising Data Collection and Analysis
By Harsh Pandey
Technology has had a huge impact on market research, creating a new generation of faster and easier-to-use tools that help brands discover what consumers truly think. At its core, market research is a discipline designed to help us keep up with change. But at times, even market research itself must transform to keep up with the market.
Technology enhances what market research can already do. Technology has made it possible to accelerate traditional market research processes, making them more efficient and streamlining costs through innovative approaches that can be used as either an alternative or supplement to traditional methods.
Here are some examples of the different technologies fueling a transformation in market research practices.
Automation-
Automation has benefitted insights-seekers by drastically shortening the time between putting a survey in-field and retrieving valuable consumer feedback.
DIY market research platforms-
DIY platforms facilitate greater agility, allowing market research teams to bring smaller projects in-house and execute as soon as needs emerge.
Consumer Neuroscience-
One of these growing in popularity approaches is the application of neuroscience to online market research, which enhances our understanding of consumers’ emotional responses. Within the neuroscience field, one of the key insights tools is facial coding. When applied to ad testing, facial coding technology allows marketers to observe how people react to their creative by analyzing their facial expressions and eye movements – decoding these expressions to predict overall sentiment with a high degree of accuracy.
Artificial Intelligence-
Another technological innovation is the ability to process vast quantities of unstructured data at scale. Because we now have so much data about consumer behavior (often created by consumers themselves in the form of social media posts, online reviews and other digital content), market researchers can analyze larger and more complex datasets with much faster turnaround times.
Improving marketing research, one technological advancement at a time
As consumer behavior evolves ever more rapidly, insights play a vital role in increasing business agility. Technology is democratizing market research while still providing high-quality intelligence, allowing brands to move confidently – and with speed.
(The author is Harsh Pandey, Managing Director, Takumi International, and the views expressed in this article are his own)
