MarketTools Blog

Here's the MarketTools Market Research Team's take on the following question posed by Next Gen Market Research (NGMR):

What do YOU think are the 10 most important things to consider for the research industry going forward?  In other words, what 5 things will continue to be "Hot" and what 5 things will not in regard to market research in the next few years?

HOT

1)      Mobile
More and more consumers are integrating smart phones with their daily activities.  These devices offer the capability for real-time research.  However, mobile is no longer strictly defined by phones – iPad anyone?

2)      Social Media
Brands will continue to mine social media to discover the deeper motivations of consumers.  Nothing that matters to long-term success is ever easy, so integrating social media findings with consumer insights will continue to be a goal.

3)      Global
The global internet population has grown from 1 billion to 1.6 billion in the last 5 years.  The newest internet users are influenced in entirely different ways politically, socially and economically.  Brands will have to balance these challenges along with the overwhelming opportunities.

4)      Pricing
Commodity prices are wild.  Economies are fragile.  Pricing mistakes carry more “costs” than ever.  Brands need to get pricing changes right the first time.

5)      Shoppers
Smart brands are paying attention to all their channels, and budgeting programs accordingly.  The shelf is the last opportunity for a brand to make an impact before purchase.  Enhancing brand associations for shoppers, and delivering communication to them within the point of decision, is where the new leaders will excel.
 

NOT Hot

1)      Normative Databases
How do you forecast when conditions are unlike anything history has ever seen?  Predictive models need to be considerably more flexible to account for the rapid change in economies.

2)      Privacy
New rulings are making this complex issue even more so.  And as more and more companies are proactively addressing the quality of online research, keeping out of hot water on this topic is the goal.  What is hot is the way that technology solutions from third party providers are becoming more critical to ensuring respondent data quality. 

3)      Automation
Automating data collection is a goal that has been achieved.  The next goal will be to automate making sense of the data – analytical tools are the new frontier.

4)      Eye Tracking
An evolution of tools and methods has taken place – the industry has embraced eye tracking and it’s no longer the new thing.  However, interest analysis is the cost-conscious alternative for accurate research.

5)      Video
We're already there – video is ubiquitous.  Next!

What's your view of what's hot and what's not?  Comment below!