Abstract:

This paper argues that much of the frustration with market research output centres on a failure to extend our skill set into business consultancy and thereby improve our ability to enhance the quality of information-based decision-making. By extending market researchers' business consultancy skills and placing greater focus on communicating with decision-makers in an impactful way, the quality of the market research offered to clients will dramatically improve. An illustrative case study example of these ideas in action is provided. The paper concludes by arguing that extending the market research offer in this way is a 'win-win' for the market research industry: we can continue to offer excellence in traditional market research but will be responding to the growing need to bridge the worlds of data analysis and management intuition. In this way we can prevent the industry from becoming a low cost commodity provider of data, with other management services players picking up the responsibility for explaining how our consumer data impacts on business decisions.