Recap of SoCal MRA Education Event 2014: How Technology, Big Data & Cultures have merged in MR

At no other time in the history of the United States has there been such an introduction and growth of new technology that has infused itself into our community. And what is the purpose of new technology you say? The purpose is meant to improve the lives of people and to add greater value to everyday experiences.  And people who use new technology have different values, different beliefs, different principles and different cultures that they live by on a daily basis. And mind you, the keyword here in all of this is PEOPLE.  People invent new technology. People use it. People manage it. People tweak it. And people stop using it once it has become obsolete.

The relationship between technology, people and pop culture exists everywhere, including within the Market Research industry. If this is the case, then it seems natural to ask, “Is there a better, faster, more efficient, more experiential way to conduct Marketing Research & Consumer Insights studies?

This underlying theme was addressed last week at the Southern California Marketing Research Association’s Annual Education Event (SoCal MRA), held March 14^th & 15^th, 2014 at the gorgeous South Coast Winery Resort & Spa in Temecula, CA.

Advantages & Disadvantages of Location Based Mobile Research

The event opened with a Mobile Research panel that discussed the new advent and technology of Location Based Mobile Research.  Imagine, reducing the lag time between the customer experience and their report of the experience by weeks.  Imagine instead, the customer experience is reported in real time, as they enter a retail store per se.  With mobile device in hand, their movements and shopping experience is tracked, all the while submitting pictures and responding to real time survey questions or phone calls  (remember, many mobile devices also act as phones!) Well no need to imagine anymore because the technology already exists and the segmentation possibilities and data collection opportunities for Location Based Mobile Research seem endless.

But not so fast.  There are a few barriers to Location Based Mobile Research at the moment.  The biggest seems to be client acceptance of the new technology.  Surprisingly, some clients are hesitant to add Mobile Research to their portfolio because the new data interferes with their current reporting systems.  And someone at their company spent many hours to perfect that system and doesn’t want to change it.  But are resistances to change a legitimate and understandable reason not to implement it? 

Paul Johnson, Director of Analytics for SSI, believes it is not a valid reason.  “Respondents are already involved in Mobile Research, but you just might not be treating them well.  Up to 25% are entering online survey portals through mobile devices!”  So if a client is hesitant to implement Mobile Research because it interferes with their reporting system, then in all likelihood, they will not design their surveys to address the special needs of mobile devices (smaller screens, smaller fonts, etc.) Would this hesitancy affect respondents overall survey experience? Would not addressing it affect the quality of data gathered? Does resistance to change still seem a viable option given what’s at stake?

Multicultural Values - Different Cultures Do Exist

Another interesting facet of the educational event was the discussion of Multicultural values within the marketplace. And let’s face it…surprise…different cultures do exist in the United States. Ultimately, the research we conduct is with living people with different emotions & different values that are based on different cultures.  But are companies properly addressing the multicultural differences that currently exist in our society?  Carlos Garcia, Multicultural SVP of GfK, suggests there is room for improvement. “Companies still have a tendency to blanket general marketing communications to a general audience (customers), without giving a lot of weight to the different nuances of culture that exist between Caucasians, Hispanics, African-Americans, etc.”

Because of this gap of identification between multicultural communities and their unique experiences and perceptions, in comes the service of a company like RMS Communications and Research who’s President, Rhonda Scott, primarily conducts research in the African-American community. “Traces of the Black culture exist all throughout mainstream America. And even in our own Black culture, there exist subcultures, so you cannot simply categorize everyone as Black. It is just not that simple.”

So if companies on average tend to send out targeted messages to their audience that are not culturally specific, does this leave room for Market Research opportunities within a Multicultural marketplace?

Dr. Jung, Professor of Marketing at Cal Poly Pomona believes there is.  He delved into the concept of multicultural predictability and opportunity. “Typical corporate America values independent culture, such as independent achievements, opinions & activities that pertain to one’s self.  On the other hand, Asians value interdependent culture, where their actions revolve around the concerns of the group, where they don’t want to stand out and where silence is equated with wisdom.  These differences in culture yield lower success rates of Asians in corporate America. So if you can predict one’s independent or interdependent culture, you can predict one’s behavior & success”

So technology leads to advancements that improve people’s lives.  And people have different values, beliefs, and cultures.  And these values, beliefs, and cultures allow one to predict behavior.  So in market research, we gather consumer’s opinions that are full of Multicultural influence, with upcoming new technology, that improves the market research methodology which leads to…you guessed it…the advent of BIG DATA!

Challenges of Synthesizing Big Data

Our industry’s ability to collect tons of data on consumers often leaves us with the challenge of insightfully synthesizing the data and turning it into useful marketing intelligence.  For example, Karen Manne, Vice President of Research for ABC Studios shared with the SoCal MRA, the obstacles and challenges of utilizing Big Data in the world of media measurement.  “With the dawn of new gaming platforms, Video on Demand (VOD), DVR playback, & online playback, synthesizing proprietary and syndicated data to answer a simple question like, ‘Who and how many people watched last night’s premiere’ can be a daunting challenge.”

It’s a daunting challenge because each new form of media has its own individual set of viewing metrics that are not necessarily compatible with each other. Now add the fact that not all media is readily consumed (e.g. VOD & DVR playback) and not all new media collects detailed demographics, and you begin to understand the dilemma that the studios and networks face.

So does experiential research, cultural identification and Big Data leave room for opportunities in the market research industry?  Has new technology in our industry improved or hindered methodology? Has it improved or hindered respondents survey experience? And has it provided our community with more insightful results? The answer is ____________. (Insert comments below)

Chris Ruby is an award-winning Marketing Research & Consumer Insights Executive with Fortune 500 consulting experience. His niche is the ability to turn complex data into compelling stories that induce a call for action among key decision-makers. His work has been featured by MRA, MRIA, IIR, Norstat Times, Chadwick Martin Bailey & the Optimization Group. Keep up with Chris Ruby by following him on Twitter @ChrisRubyMRX or by reading the Chris Ruby Market Research Blog.
The Southern California Marketing Research Association can be reached at www.socalmra.com or Follow them on Twitter @SoCalMRA.