Innovation is coming from inside and outside of the traditional market research sector, driven by technology and the need for speed and lower costs. In searching for new ways of getting closer to customers, where are we seeing the most innovation and what are the best ways to innovate?
There is a lot of talk about new technology trends and ways to collect and process vast amounts of data but is that smart? Collecting and ordering this data is currently loosely termed big data but the question has to be: Is big data smart? Can research create context in this world? Is research able to create smart data rather than big data?
For some, evolution, or change, represents a wonderful opportunity; for many others, it poses a grave challenge to the accepted norm; but for all of us, such change is now an undeniable and omnipresent element of daily life. As developments in technology, travel, media and communication enable us to bring the world closer together, faster, more regularly and more frequently, change ironically becomes the constant, common denominator of life that we need to celebrate more.
In this issue we look at the how technology and innovation are shaping the research industry.
With over 25,000 firms and 3,000,000 professionals engaged in market research worldwide - in a world where Encyclopedia Britannica has been largely eclipsed by Wikipedia: how do we stay afloat? This paper will demonstrate how technology and society are changing and ask how market researchers must adapt. Highlights will include an illustration of the sheer amount of data now available to market researchers, and a consideration of the impact that devices like the iPad will have on data collection and market research.
The projects we will draw upon throughout this paper have all been conducted within the technology sector. Historically, this sector has been driven more by product or technology led innovation processes than by allowing innovation to be driven by what the customer really wants. Therefore it is logical that, with the new emphasis on customer centricity, an increasing number of technology companies are turning to ethnographic approaches to help streamline and improve innovation. The challenges facing the technology sector as it switches from a product-led to a customer-led innovation process reflect challenges that are also relevant to other sectors wishing for greater customer centricity. Therefore, the methodological issues and considerations that this paper highlights will be relevant for all industry sectors.Ethnography offers several benefits over and above traditional qualitative research. Listed below are just some of the benefits that our clients gained from the use of ethnographic techniques within recent studies we conducted on their behalf.
This paper investigates how ordinary people use technology as both topic and resource in their natural interactions, away from research. New insight into attitudes and behaviour is achieved by researching how people use technology to manage real-life issues and relationships, e.g., by remarking on the technological taste and know-how of others. Research data of special interest are technology-mediated communications, from web pages to chat rooms. New research methods have emerged to tackle these data: in this paper, a selection of ethno-methods is introduced. The findings concern trust in cyberspace, stability in virtual communities and displays of individual expertise.
This paper looks at the use of cultural differences to help segmentation at a socio-cultural level rather than solely at a demographic or psychographic level. It uses Geert Hofstedes cultural dimensions to understand consumer mindsets and attitudes towards technology. This would help marketers communicate and position their products to appeal to a wide variety of consumers with different levels of technological evolution.
This paper describes the key elements of Custom Research Inc.'s quality management system and the role technology has played in Custom Research's continuous improvement, a system which has been recognized by its success in United States national and state quality recognition programs. The paper presents a case history, in specific terms, of what one company has done to achieve significant, measurable quality improvements, which have translated into business and financial success, too. These improvements and the approaches that provided them are real life, proven practices-not just theory. Moreover, the practices outlined are ones any research firm or company research department could adopt for its use.
This paper will be focused on the illustration of the use done by the subscribers of a multiclient study on the European market of Intelligent Building - vendors of technology and large owners of buildings - of the results of this study. A short introduction will illustrate the business of Intelligent Building as well as the main characteristics of the study.