In today’s world, we are continuously confronted with the debate of Artificial intelligence (AI) and how it will transform our daily lives. Will it change the services we receive as we navigate new ways of attaining advice? Will it make us better informed as human beings? Will it speed up our ability to get answers that impact us and allow us to be more efficient in the way we utilize our time and resources? There certainly are many benefits and AI will most certainly have a significant impact on us going forward. We need to, however, use AI in the right context and be aware of the risks and ethics associated with it when making strategic decisions as individuals and businesses.  In this blog we will look at the role AI will play in adding value to the market research industry

Market research plays an important role in allowing us to better understand our customers, better assess the competitive environment and lastly push data driven decision making deep into organizations. After all, that is the primary goal we have when undertaking market research, to determine insights for business decision making.

AI has the potential to be revolutionary in market research. We, at Greenfields Research, support this and will adapt accordingly to ensure we are leaders in the space in which we operate. Businesses continuously strive to attain answers according to their needs, problems and challenges. More timeously accurate information can be attained can only lead to more effective decision making.

AI’s  contribution in the research space can be classified into four main categories:

1. Supporting current practices:

Examples in research where this can be done is through collecting data and generating insights quicker and cheaper. AI can for instance automate data collection through chatbots and virtual moderators. AI can code qualitative data at a fraction of the time that it would take a research analyst.

• Replacing current practices:

New ways of generating insights through AI have significance when leveraging synthetic data i.e. artificially generating data that mimic real people’s behaviours and preferences. This can be of particular use in new products and market areas.

• Filling existing gaps:

This will be useful for instance, when one requires insights and evidence that are not available in conventional data. AI can work across a wide variety of sources which could not be done in the past where we would draw insights from one single source only. The processing power of AI is simply far greater than the human brain. AI can predict future consumer behaviour, giving us huge competitive advantage. The result is the ability to avoid missing out on any insights through looking wider than current practices.

• Creating new types of data and insights:

With the use of digital twins. Here we see businesses able to predict future consumer behaviours for competitive advantage.

These new ways and categories, however, come with caution and challenges. What risks should decision makers be aware of when employing AI within their market research projects? I would like to highlight 3 key risks. The first issue is using unverified findings when making strategic decisions. This is a major risk associated with any form of market research with or without AI. Adding AI to research makes this only riskier to our decision making.  The second issue is the lack of real-world business context, industry knowledge and discernment of experienced research analysts. The third issue is applying conclusions that seem logically valid but lack nuanced understanding. We live in a rapidly changing world that requires relevant and current data about our markets within which we operate to understand the sensitivities to customer changing needs.

In conclusion, AI has an important role to play but you need to be educated on AI best practices, its limitations and risks as well as the ethics surrounding it. Furthermore, it is important that you involve professional market researchers to minimize error and eliminate bias that could creep into results. People making decisions on their businesses without professional input are at severe risk to applying insights incorrectly when making strategic decisions on their businesses.

At Greenfields Research, we’re not just about collecting data – we’re about crafting stories from numbers and insights that propel your business forward.

In blogs to follow we intend to expand further on this important subject and assist you in making the right decisions for your business. Stay tuned for more!

References:

• How Gen AI is transforming market research
• Harnessing AI for market research opportunities and challenges
• How AI could change the way we market research