The Evolution Of Consumer Research

Today’s world is changing faster than ever, but what continues to remain true, is the need to understand consumers. Consumer and market research continues to play an integral role in the age-old questions of:

‘What is it that consumers truly want, and how can our brand win with these consumers?’

However, just as all methods and processes evolve over time, so too must the way we conduct consumer research. That’s where digital comes in.

Traditional research has had, and continues to have, an important purpose, whether it be through focus groups, surveys, or observing consumers in ethnography.

• Qualitative research is a great method for probing on specific details and asking burning questions direct to consumers. However, gaining a big sample of consumers can be tricky, and sessions can be subject to inherent biases of being outside of their usual day-to-day setting, and claiming behaviours and opinions in front of strangers.
• Quantitative research methods allow reach to many more consumers, and to quantify opinions in a measurable way. However, the richness is often missing, and the scope of the study constrained by the number of questions.

However, the exponential rate at which technology has evolved means the potential just got bigger, and we can do more than just ask. We can listen.

Digital research gives us the perfect quali-quant blend. An ability to understand consumers at scale, without leading questions and without biases; studying consumers in the wild.

What do we mean by Digital Research?

Not to be confused with digitalising traditional methods (i.e. running surveys through an app), or purely looking at hashtags and brand conversation on social media (that’s just the tip of the iceberg).

Digital research means leveraging the huge digital footprint consumers leave online. It means unlocking consumer and category understanding by tapping into what people are searching in search engines online, what people are posting and engaging with on social media platforms, what people are writing in product reviews, how they move across different websites and webpages… and the list goes on.

This online world gives us an incredible opportunity to surface insights in ways that traditional methods are unable to. This makes it a powerful research method to use in place of, or in conjunction with, traditional research methods.

Project initiation works in the same way as traditional research. Our clients provide us with the business questions for which they are seeking answers; the key questions about consumers, categories, competitors, and/or markets that they want to know answers to. We then tailor our method to these questions.

We don’t always use the same data sources. This is because each data source has unique properties and can therefore provide different insights. For example, search data is considered a ‘digital truth serum’, providing a candid window into consumers’ unfiltered thoughts and desires, unconstrained by societal norms or external influences. This means it’s a great source to get an early read on trends, as consumers often use search as a tool for discovery and exploration. On the other hand, social media acts as a portal to the moments and viewpoints consumers eagerly share with their networks. This puts social media in a unique position too, as it allows us to gather insights in real-time about consumers and their sentiment towards brands, products, and topics. It’s because of these unique properties that we often use a blend of different digital data sources on any one project.

Ultimately, the advantages of digital data boil down to four powerful benefits, which serve as the cornerstone of why we do, what we do, at Curve:

1. Big

   The sheer quantity of consumer data we have access to is astronomical. Think about every search you’ve ever made, every social media post, every review, every like… Then times that by the number of online users in the world and you’ll start to see the endless possibilities this data possesses. The sheer quantity of data available makes it possible for us to understand what the noise is versus what’s real.

2. Unprompted

   The digital footprint being left by consumers, isn’t being left with us in mind. And this is a huge plus point! Consumers are having conversations online, without anyone there to steer, direct or manipulate. It is truly authentic; free from the biases that often cloud traditional methods and individuals’ subjective perceptions of themselves and their behaviours.

3. Always on

   The online world never switches off; consumers are always leaving their footprint online. This completely minimises the time between consumers feeling, experiencing, or thinking about certain things, and us being able to capture this information in real-time.

4. Predictive

   With access to big data, we can discover patterns in human behaviour and look at trends over time to predict outcomes which are likely to occur. Our research has shown that digital data can be used as a leading indicator of future sales.

These properties mean that not only do we have access to consumers’ behaviours and preferences, but we have it at a scale. We gain the richness of the consumer voice, and we also get to know when and how often. Thanks to this, the insights we can draw from digital data are extremely powerful.

A combination of traditional and digital research methods can be very complimentary when used in the right way. For example, research might begin digitally to get the lay of the land and understand, for example, the consumer needs, motivations and moments to target, and to understand what wins over and loses consumers in the category. They may then use traditional methods to test out product concepts with consumers and gain direct feedback. Digital methods can then be used once again to measure the results of the product launch when it’s out in the real world.

If you’d like to hear more about how you could benefit from Digital Research, get in touch!