Victoria Zagorsky
I made an interesting observation while running training programs for market researchers in the Middle East. When I presented business issues and asked participants about the optimal approach to address each of them, conducting a survey often ended up being an only proposed option. This reflects an industry fundamental tenet that we need to collect data in order to gain insights into consumer attitudes and behaviors. While survey research is needed to address many business issues, researchers need to keep in mind that emergence of big data phenomenon is set to reduce our reliance on data collection.
What are the implications for Market Research?
Big data assets contain a wealth of information.
Consider a banking organisation. Existing datasets, if analysed, may help uncover in-depth insights into customer behaviors. They can help decision makers understand what transactions customers perform and which channels they use to interact with the bank. Clickstream data reveals website usage patterns that can provide guidance in how to improve online banking and develop effective personalised campaigns and offers. Analysing call logs and email correspondence can enhance understanding of complaints and queries customers raise and areas where internal processes can be improved to deliver an optimal experience. In addition to studying customer feedback delivered via traditional channels, social media analytics can be used to determine what customers say about their experiences. All of these can be matched with customer demographic data to develop an understanding of customer profiles and their behaviors.
Therefore we can learn a great deal about consumers without conducting survey research.
Moreover, big data assets can be a preferred choice for analysis as they reflect actual consumer behaviors captured through observation as opposed to the self-reported data that may have its own limitations.
Will Big Data make Market Research obsolete?
Big data assets will play an increasingly more important role in helping marketers develop a better understanding of actual behaviors of their target consumers. Asking customers about their behaviors may no longer be needed if readily available data can offer us rich insights and reveal what customers may not be in a position to accurately self-report when responding to a survey.
However, we need to conduct survey research in order to address questions that may arise while analyzing data and to enhance our understanding of behavior patterns and decision making processes.
Survey research is not only needed to close the insight gaps, but also remains a key source of data on customer attitudes and opinions. In a banking organization, for example, survey research is undertaken to evaluate brand health, to test advertising and new concepts / products, as well as to measure customer satisfaction & loyalty. All of these represent high-priority areas, and existing big data assets may not effectively substitute survey research.
What will be the role of Market Research in Big Data era?
Research should not be defined by the data collection approach or the type of data used for analysis. Rather, it should be seen as a function to guide effective decision-making within an organisation.
Therefore, with the emergence of the big data phenomenon, the vast amount of meaningful data from a greater variety of sources becomes available to enhance researchers’ ability to deliver in-depth insights that can help business leaders improve the quality of decisions.
Research does not only benefit from big data, but it is also well-positioned to contribute to the analysis within big data.
Data on its own has very limited value, and without skills to interpret data, an organisation has a risk of becoming data rich but insight poor. Human intelligence is needed to attach context and translate raw numbers into insight to tell a story that will help business achieve its objectives.
Researchers are trained in finding the story behind the numbers and delivering meaningful insights that can drive business impact and add value to an organisation.
In big data age, these skills are highly relevant to organisations looking to leverage the data assets.
Victoria Zagorsky, Managing Director, Insight Middle East and Africa
If you’re interested in finding out the new and upcoming in research in the Middle East attend ESOMAR’s MENAP Forum 2015 in March 2015
