Abstract:

Our approach enabled us to deliver findings that were grounded on naturally occurring consumer conversations about the condition. Incorporating social intelligence allowed us to build a picture of the sufferer journey not limited by structured questionnaire design or constrained by the time a primary qualitative approach would have taken. However, whilst it provided us with a blueprint there were knowledge gaps, we needed further context behind why patterns in behaviour were happening and only a primary asking phase could provide us with this insight. There has been at times a reluctance amongst market researchers to understand and embrace the change that is upon us, but in order to keep up with the demands on our industry and the change amongst participants, we have to start looking beyond our traditional toolset. Whether you're using data derived from social media activity, Google search activity or transactional data, the fundamentals of market research are ever-present applying these means were not tackling something new, it's simply an evolution. There will always be a place for surveys and primary data collection, however through integrating developing approaches such as social intelligence we can ensure we ask the right questions at the right time.