Abstract:

It has become increasingly critical for the market research industry to provide deeper analysis, more compelling insights and highly actionable recommendations generated from the consumer research we provide to clients. This perhaps in large part stems from the fact that our clients increasingly feel the pressure to use market research to its fullest potential, especially given how competitive our client markets are, how slim their profit margins are and how even small innovations can be the difference between a successful or unsuccessful year.It appears the debate with many clients has shifted from merely trying to convince them of the significant value qualitative research has (especially in relation to quantitative) to that of discussing how they want to use new approaches and how they need to find ways of getting richer insights. Clients have clearly become more sophisticated, which has had implications on our role as market research providers. These implications are discussed in detail in the following pages.