Rapidly changing technology coupled with shifting economic and political conditions make market research strategies shift and adapt. In 2017, executives in market research have predicted several emerging trends. These include:
Greater Reliance On Research To Safeguard Against Uncertainty
Polling experts were blindsided by Donald Trump’s victory in the 2016 race to the US presidency. In a time of political uncertainty and volatile global markets, pundits say we’ll see increasing reliance on market research. Business leaders will need to consult with research experts to understand their evolving markets against a backdrop of uncertainty.
Improved Automation And Artificial Intelligence
2016 saw media hype around self-driving taxis. This trend in automation is only likely to accelerate as businesses seek ways to save costs in industrial operations, with the help of AI.
Speedier Technological Development
As the rate of technological advancement increases, it will only accelerate more in 2017 and the marketing research industry will need to keep up with this fast pace of change.
Increased Efficiency With More Concise Market Research Results
Along with the efficiency of improved automation, business leaders relying on market research will expect more concise, actionable insights in 2017. The increasing availability of complex data increases the need for competence in translating data into clear, concise findings that give decision clear points of view.
Smart Combining Of Human And Automated Marketing Research Processes
The increasing availability of big data (thanks to social media analysis, increasingly powerful crawl bots, more efficient online surveys and more) means that savvy tech companies are poised to develop market research software that will make smart combining of human and automated processes simpler than ever.
Filtering automated data with human insight will still be necessary to eliminate bad results and add value to basic software-driven analysis.
Qualitative Research That Gives Customer Intent And Purchasing Insights
Market research traditionally gives us plenty of information about the past. Big data helps us understand customer decisions and purchase funnels retroactively. Yet 2017 will see more use of qualitative market research to discover emerging, new customer needs and understand why people shop where they shop and buy the products and services they do. 2017 will be the year of using market research to guide future innovation.
Market Research That Foretells Outcomes
In a volatile global political and economic climate, more businesses are asking market research consultants for research that qualitatively matches customer behaviour and desires with financial performance. Strategies such as performing textual analysis of customers’ reviews will become more popular, for example.
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