As researchers, we know some aspects of studies are out of our control. We never know how respondents will answer, and sometimes their insights don’t give us straightforward solutions or suggest changes to products or services that don’t seem feasible. While you may not get the answers you originally set out to find, when you think creatively, all insights are valuable.

Our goal as market researchers is to uncover the consumer motivations or truths that can then be turned into business outcomes through strategic decision-making by business professionals. However, we know that consumers’ perceptions, emotions, and behaviors don’t always align.

Solution quality is tied directly to how a research team works with stakeholders at every touchpoint — from project inception to deliverables.

It’s an age-old question: What is the consumer thinking? Market research online communities and online research panels are methods of uncovering consumers’ preferences, motivations, and opinions. Market researchers often use the terms interchangeably, but there are differences in their size, structure, and use.

Some modern researchers have argued in favor of abandoning consumer research and instead relying solely on intuition in the quest for innovation, claiming that consumers don’t know what they want. Do focus groups make sense for today’s (or tomorrow’s) research?

“I started using Instacart here. Been pretty fantastic. When I used to go into the store it was always clean and the staff was always friendly.” What happens when an entire generation of shoppers has no direct contact with a brand or store?

As an organization or brand, your immediate goal is to survive and advance, but the ultimate goal is to be the last one standing. Seeing customer experience management through the lens of March Madness shows us that every touchpoint counts toward being the one to cut down the nets.

Acting with empathy can increase sales, loyalty, and referrals, yet some companies don't keep a pulse on how well they treat customers and prospects.

Making meaningful discoveries from unstructured data is not out-of-reach. Bellomy’s text analytics platform offers insights teams access to advanced NLP and AI tools.