Feb
Can AI & Human Researchers Coexist In Market Research?
jerry9789 0 comments artificial intelligence, Brand Surveys and Testing, Burning Questions
AI In Market Research Today
With 90% of the world’s data created in just two years time between 2021 and 2023 and the global data volume standing at 149 zettabytes by 2024, it’s understandable why AI would be readily adopted by the market research industry. Traditional methods of data collection and analysis would hold a place in market research but they simply aren’t as powerful as AI when it comes to handling all that staggering volume of data. But is AI powerful enough to take the place of human researchers?
AI enables research teams to move, process and analyze massive datasets with speed and accuracy, efficiently handling all the repetition and scale involved in the research process. From drafting questionnaires to monitoring survey data quality, from analyzing open-ends to formulating dashboards and charts, AI fully automates the research process leading to faster and better decisions at a scale beyond the capabilities of human researchers.
But is AI the endgame for market research? Does it make human researchers obsolete?
Image: geralt
Cascade Strategies and AI
Cascade Strategies conducted a member perceptions study for a company looking to develop and implement a brand typology. The overall goal of the study was to help them better understand their different customer type’s overall motivations and aspirations for more effective engagement. As part of the study, we conducted an online survey with over 1,500 of their randomly selected members. We then utilized an AI-assisted Self-organizing Map (SOM) to run all the cases recursively, sometimes millions of times, until it optimizes the separations among the groups. The SOM produced a 6-group solution, with each group having a dominant passion that is served well or poorly by the company, ranging from proclivity for deals and new brands to yearning for customization and connection with other users.
The AI has done the heavy lifting of scanning all that dataset, surfacing themes, and summarizing the respondents. It has done enough to structure the story of each group but not enough tell or paint the whole picture.
This is where the human researchers at Cascade Strategies step in. We came up with names for each group that best described their dominant passion, names resonant enough that they not only convey an immediate idea of what they’re most passionate about but makes them fundamentally relatable even if one doesn’t necessarily share the same propensities: Shopper, Seeker, Learner, Sharer, Individualizer and Intellectual.
In isolation, each group achieves the study’s goal of guiding the company on the most effective way to engage with them. Their sum, however, grants the company an overview on how to improve and further develop its platform by considering and introducing new features that matter to one particular group, but would essentially benefit its membership base as a whole when implemented. For example, the Sharer would appreciate increased opportunities to connect and interact with other experts and enthusiasts of the same interests in the platform by making it easier to make reviews and share content.
AI surfaced all those patterns and signals from all that survey data, but it lacked the judgment and context to elevate it into a meaningful and coherent narrative. Human researchers, on the other hand, saw what story can be told from all those themes and by layering in human understanding, they’re able to tie them down to actionable business decisions.
Image: Christina Morillo
Leveraging AI In Market Research
So would AI replace human researchers? We’d like to frame our response to this question with the words of Joseph Weizenbaum, one of AI’s early researchers: “We can count, but we are rapidly forgetting how to say what is worth counting and why.”
Yes, AI is powerful enough to handle large amounts of data to identify patterns, cluster themes, and summarize respondents, but it generates outputs rather than insights. Outputs foster decisions rooted in logic and reasoning, but insights spring from judgment and context. Outputs can provide directions and surface themes from which stories can be framed, but insights take it one step further by asking what matters and why it matters, adding depth and resonance to the story.
In addition, Weizenbaum posits that computer programming can make decisions but it can’t ultimately choose. Just like insights, choosing requires judgment which takes in emotions, values and experience.
We at Cascade Strategies are among a growing number of proponents who believe that AI works best as a tool and extension of human intelligence and talents. AI strips the friction from manual, repetitive work without compromising methodological rigor and accuracy, but rather than adopting it for the sake of automation, we choose to see it as a freeing and empowering agent that enables researchers to focus more on interpreting data with the context of human understanding and values, translating insights into sensible and confident business decisions. Just as quantitative and qualitative research can coexist in the same study, we choose to live in a world where AI and human researchers work together towards the same goal of finding and crafting meaningful and relevant stories worth telling.
Image: Pavel Danilyuk
Featured Image: Ron Lach
Top Image: kc0uvb
Dec
Can AI Replace Human Respondents In Qualitative Research?
jerry9789 0 comments artificial intelligence, Brand Surveys and Testing, Brandview World, Burning Questions
Like most industries these days, market research is no stranger to AI with its broad applications including the employment of synthetic respondents, which are individual profiles constructed by Large Language Models (LLMs) from real or simulated data. They offer fast, cheap, and scalable synthetic data that closely mimics how human participants would respond, a boon for quantitative research. But can synthetic respondents be just as effective in qualitative research? Can AI-powered profiles fully take over the role of human respondents in market research?
Image: Diana
Synthetic Respondents and Qualitative Research
L&E Research recently hosted a webinar sharing their findings and observations testing synthetic respondents across a variety of qualitative research tasks. They shared that AI characteristically produces quick, structured, and consistent surface-level insights. It does well with detecting macro trends in usage or preferences, concept screening if you need to compare multiple ideas at scale, and spot issues with survey testing. It is also capable of gap-filling or simulating missing segments from known data, as well as bulk analysis for summarizing large open-ends quickly.
The key takeaway L&E found is that AI can describe what people do, but it falls short of telling why people do it. AI fundamentally excels in following patterns, but it would struggle with finding out the emotional driver, the motivation behind certain responses. AI can match logic but it won’t be able to fill in tone, nuance nor context like human insight and experience can.
Most AI models are also built on public data and may not have access to knowing how real people would respond to certain questions. When the engineers tried to influence AI agents in the direction of how real participants would respond, it rejected this notion and firmly stood by the perspective formed from the vastness of public data.
Additionally, AI can be absolutely and confidently wrong. Synthetic data can look convincingly human but since AI relies on patterns instead of experience, the air of confidence it puts up doesn’t guarantee accuracy.
Of course, the hosts added a disclaimer that this is where synthetic respondents are at right now, as no one could tell how things could possibly be so much different in the years to come. But the continued utilization of AI in market research- or any other industry, for that matter- is inevitable thanks to the operational and executionary efficiency it grants, and that is enough reason to continue studying and developing synthetic respondents.
Image: Ron Lach
Why The Human Factor Matters
In market research, emotions matter and context counts. AI can prove to be a powerful partner but it is no replacement for lived insight or validation. Human researchers are simply going to remain essential.
AI’s inherent structure and consistency is representative of its pursuit of perfection; however, humans aren’t perfect, nor simple. Humans are emotional and oftentimes, irrational. AI participants would respond based on their perfect approximation of how a human being would, but the synthetic logic behind that would be narrower and more consistent, as it discounts the fact that humans are imperfect.
Humans also bring incredible complexity and a broader range of perception to the table. We can contradict ourselves, and this would be natural. One human participant’s perception and experiences could inform the difference in how they respond from the next, while synthetic data would be uniformly shaped by congruence and invariability, no matter how much effort or work is put into making AI come close to mimicking humanlike responses.
The complexity, variability, and randomness of human nature is desirable in qualitative research. The engineers recognized this and cautioned about overly guiding or influencing randomness in AI that it “will hard-code your picture of randomness to the point where it is no longer random.”
AI can quickly give you bulk analysis but you might not want to rush in bringing it to your stakeholders, as they would question and challenge the quality and reliability of synthetic data. Human insight continues to be vital and irreplaceable when it comes to trust, nuance, and real-world complexity in market research.
Image: Kathrine Birch
The Hybrid Approach
At the end of it all, the hosts made a point that the webinar wasn’t meant to scare people away from synthetic data but rather bring a valid conversation on when it makes sense to take advantage or steer clear of AI-generated personas. In fact, they recommended utilizing a hybrid approach of employing virtual respondents and recruiting human participants, striking a delicate balance between synthesis and empathy.
Synthetic data would be great during the early exploratory stages of market research when you want to get an initial pulse check, something quick and good enough before getting people involved. But once you’re at the point when you need to uncover the emotional driver behind responses and decisions, understand or predict behaviors, or even gain a bit more confidence and trust in your findings, that’s when you bring in your human respondents.
This all aligns not only with a recent growing trend of companies coming around from the AI hype of the last few years but also with our stance on the appropriate use of AI, where we advocate for the responsible and ethical use of artificial intelligence. Instead of handing AI complete reins over all aspects of a business- or in this case, all stages of research work- we at Cascade Strategies encourage the thoughtful and practical application of artificial intelligence in combination with or enhanced by human experience, values and discretion.
To find out how our brand of inspired and enlightened human thinking can help you with your market research needs, please contact us here.
Additional Reading:
Can Synthetic Respondents Take Over Surveys?
Featured Image: Darlene Anderson
Top Image: Michelangelo Buonarroti
Sep
Some years ago, Publix Supermarkets allowed us to conduct qualitative and quantitative research for them. The result was a key brand insight about a kind of consumer called the Reluctant Shopper. Despite the ironic name, this kind of consumer hewed more closely to the shopping experience Publix offered than to competitive shopping experiences. The campaigns built around the Reluctant Shopper helped Publix weather the storm of competition from well-heeled operators like Walmart. Winn-Dixie, a much larger chain with many more stores, perished.
We recently asked Gemini to review the same dataset and report on it. Gemini provided a sparkling and quite accurate report on the data but perceived nothing about the Reluctant Shopper. This is something to bear in mind if you’re a consultant advising a brand on how to thrive: perspicacity counts.
There’s a kind of intelligence AI can’t reach. It has dimension, soul, and human inspiration. We’d do well to remember this as we pour more datasets into the maw of AI. If you’re a consultant and need perspicacity, you might call Cascade Strategies. We can help you see things AI can’t see.
Image: Harrison Keely
Jun
How Great Market Research Can Help Food and Beverage Manufacturers
jerry9789 0 comments Brand Surveys and Testing
How do you navigate a market landscape as vast and dynamic as the Food and Beverage Manufacturing industry? How do you introduce your new product or make it stand out from the competition? And how do you keep your offerings or your company itself relevant amidst the fast-changing times?
These questions might make one think that thriving let alone venturing into the Food and Beverage Manufacturing industry would prove to be formidable and intimidating pursuits. But that wouldn’t necessarily be the case if one leverages great market research in their endeavors in Food and Beverage Manufacturing.
From resonating with the right audience to competitively pricing your product, from adapting new and emerging technologies to innovating in an ever-shifting industry, market research would prove key to the foundation of strategies and achieving the goals of any enterprising Food and Beverage Manufacturer.
Copyright: Gustavo Fring
Benefits of Market Research for Food and Beverage Manufacturers
One of the largest and most saturated industries in the US, Food and Beverage Manufacturing could prove to be challenging and daunting for startups to enter and for new products to be introduced. That is, unless plans and business decisions are informed and backed by data gathered from market research which utilizes one or a combination of research methods which includes qualitative and quantitative research, feasibility studies, focus groups, interviews, and surveys.
Great market research allows upcoming products to find their optimal customer or target audience. This type of research allows manufacturers to tailor their marketing and advertising to resonate with their ideal consumer versus a blanket approach taking aim at multiple customer segments all at the same time, which might be more costly and inefficient. With a better understanding of their target customer through market research, Food and Beverage Manufacturers could improve not only their product’s reception but also their chances of getting their own share of the market.
The Issue of Feasibility
You might even say that market research could inform manufacturers if there is even a market for a particular product. Feasibility studies and the like would attest whether there is money to be made with a proposed product which you could also present to interested investors.
In addition, market research not only provides insights into consumer behavior but also of trends and opportunities for growth, improvement and innovation. Manufacturers who are able to identify these opportunities and develop the appropriate products or solutions could greatly benefit for being first in line, discovering and capturing niche markets, as well as gaining an edge over their competition. Identifying or forecasting consumer and market trends allows Food and Beverage Manufacturers room to pivot with existing products, either by increasing the production and/or promotion of a selection that’s becoming popular or mainstream, or pull back efforts on one expected to be in decline, possibly exploring ideas to improve it or shelve it until conditions become favorable.
What Product Attributes Should Be Emphasized?
Speaking of competitive edge, market research allows manufacturers to recognize the strong points of their products in comparison to their competitor’s offerings, enabling their marketing and advertising efforts to highlight those advantages. By the same token, insights on what a competing product offers could be helpful in assessing whether it’s worthwhile to emulate the same qualities or counter it with a better solution. These insights in combination could help determine the ideal price point for a product to strike a balance between gaining revenue and competitive pricing.
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Continental Mills Case Study by Cascade Strategies
Continental Mills was looking to introduce new package designs for their line of baking and pancake mixes. Cascade Strategies conducted a study for them, interviewing respondents who were current buyers of baking and pancake mixes. Half were shown the current packages and the other half were shown the proposed designs. They were told that they have $10 to spend and were asked to browse and buy as normal. Their eyes and brainwaves were tracked throughout the shopping process.
We found that by deploying the new designs, Continental Mills would be losing around $19 million. The existing package designs exhibited a harmony among the visual elements that was not replicated by the new designs. The current packages were well-liked, and this was demonstrated by consumers responding positively with their brainwaves and wallets at higher levels than with the new package designs. The visual harmony was consistent throughout the entire current line of packaging.
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Growing Your Food and Beverage Manufacturing Business with Market Research
We’ve touched on the benefits of market research for startups and new products, but it doesn’t cease being an important asset to a Food and Beverage Manufacturing company once they’ve gotten off the ground. In fact, market research is just as important to any established company for remaining relevant amidst shifts and trends in the market and consumer behavior, as well as up-and-coming competitors and new technologies.
Customer loyalty and retention might not only be as important but possibly more vital than new consumer acquisition, as existing customers have already consistently endorsed your product over time. Recognizing what they like about your product or what makes them stick with you could be essential in how your offering evolves or your selection expands, gaining new customers without turning away loyal ones. Such insights could also influence how creative you can get with rewarding customer loyalty, chief of which is how and when you would launch relevant promotions or marketing. Think of a buy-one-get-one promotion to counter the introduction of a competing product into the market, or advertisements thanking your most loyal consumers when celebrating milestones.
Health Consciousness
Another thing to consider is the increasing popularity of healthier product selections. Market research can help you learn whether a health-conscious version is good enough to replace your primary product or if it needs to be offered as a separate line. Your marketing team might also be interested in finding out if your ideal consumer buys your product for health benefits to warrant emphasizing this in your advertising.
This also extends to sustainable practices. While this would score well with Gen Z, this isn’t only for marketing purposes. Market research can help you locate the ideal location where not only you have a competent workforce and cost-effective resources to tap into, but also local regulations that support and enable sustainable production practices.
Regional Flavor
Another interesting benefit that market research gives Food and Beverage Manufacturing companies is the opportunity to diversify or introduce flavors or cuisines from a different region. It can either stem from the idea of introducing a novel new product or identifying a growing or trending preference towards a particular regional taste or selection.
And amid the pressures of e-commerce (boosted by the pandemic), DTC, omni-channel shopping, and AI, market research is as relevant as ever to any company with regard to the viability of adapting new technology, expanding shopping and distribution options, and even the prospect of globalization.
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Food and Beverage Manufacturing Market Research with Cascade Strategies
Whether you’re a startup looking to claim your share of the market or an established company who wishes to stay relevant by launching new products or adapting a new way of managing your Food and Beverage Manufacturing business, you can’t go wrong partnering with an esteemed and experienced market research team like Cascade Strategies. With 35 years of market research excellence serving leading US and international companies like the aforementioned Continental Mills, we’re not only well equipped with a wide array of research methods but we’ve remained on the cutting edge of market research with a potent combination of leveraged AI technology and a high level of excellent human thinking. Contact Cascade Strategies today to learn how we can help you navigate the massive and ever-changing market landscape of the Food and Beverage Manufacturing with a roadmap built on high quality and data-driven market research!
Featured Image Copyright: Gustavo Fring
Top Image Copyright: Rulo Davila
May
As technology progresses, older tech is often rendered obsolete. This idea, known as creative destruction, can be applied to any industry and any technology. For an
easy example, just look at how a single smartphone has made obsolete digital cameras, CD players, watches, and a host of other technologies. The market research industry is not immune to creative destruction, and these five past staples of the industry are on their way out.
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