Modern market research tools like IoT, AI, and VR are transforming the industry. IoT collects consumer data through smart devices to customize insurance premiums and product offerings. AI can detect reader disengagement online and predict future behaviors. VR provides an immersive experience for testing new products with customers. However, traditional methods like surveys still have value in understanding consumer motivations. The future will integrate new and traditional methods by linking various data sources to gain deeper insights.

1. Future of Market Research
Trends and Technologies

2. 7%
11%
8%
13%
12%
17%
16%
16%
Telecom
Media
Financial services & Insurance
Consumer Durables
Industry-Wise spend on Market
Research in India during the year
2013-14
Source: Frost & Sullivan Report on Market ResearchTrends in India
Methodology: Modern tools for market research
have had varying impact in different sectors, thus our
study segments the market research industry into
various sectors for the purpose of this study.
We have looked at all the modern tools of market
research and their bearing on the major sectors where
market research is needed.
Case Studies: We have worked with Paperless
Postcards to study how they offer Market Insights to
their clients using the modern market research tools.
Industry Speak: We have recorded the views of
industry leaders as what their prescience tells them
about the future of market research in the Indian
context.

3. The Internet of Things: Transformation in Market Research
Scenario 1: IOT objects that collect information
Insurance industry can derive information from smart objects to dynamically determine their
premiums. For instance, in the health insurance industry, the wearable health band collects
information about the vitals of the human body. Health insurance companies can use the data from
these devices to ascertain the health condition of the policy holder and set the insurance premium
every year based on this. Similar applications are possible in the motor insurance industry.
Scenario 2: IOT predicts the needs of the customer
IOT can register consumers needs and analyse it to predict consumers future needs. For instance,
Amazon Dash Button, a small electronic device designed to make ordering products easy and fast.
The Dash button contains an embedded button emblazoned with the name of a frequently ordered
product. As soon as the user presses the button, the order is sent to Amazon.
Scenario 3: IOT improves the product and offers new services
IoT devices are constantly connected to the internet, this allows them to be constantly updated. By
gathering data collected from customer behaviours, preferences and needs and combining this with
R&D capabilities, organisations can quickly offer new products, services or functionalities. For
instance, the Nest thermostat is able to programme itself as you use it over a period of time.

4. Artificial Intelligence: Predicting Reader Behaviour in Online Media
Step 1: Detect
Apply text mining and behavioural analysis techniques to construct
about data points to detect reader disengagement. Reader
disengagement can be measured in terms of quantity and quality
dimensions respectively by calculating the percentage of actively
participated-in posts and the number of cognitive words a reader
uses per post. Cognitive words such as because and think reflect the
effort that has been put into the post.
Step 2: Predict
Predictive analytics and Artificial Intelligence allow to predict reader
disengagement, low quantity and low quality behaviour. Historical
data and machine learning techniques can be leveraged to identify
patterns in past data that explain future behaviour.
Human behaviour is very predictable; this also goes for the content
context. One can adopt the output of the two prediction models in
the 4 quadrant framework to give insights into the future behaviour
of each participant.

5. Artificial Intelligence: Predicting Reader Behaviour in Online Media
We can follow a three-stage approach in
particular:
Identify: The prediction model predicts
each member’s future profile; the
framework allows to classify each member
into one of the four quadrants to identify
their future participant behaviour.
Contextualize: Historical data can be
retrieved to provide the right context for
the content writer. Moreover, actions could
even be recommended to proactively
correct disengagement behaviour; these
have worked successfully in the past.
Finalize: The writer interprets all the
information from the previous steps and
uses the intuition and creativity to finalize
the prevention campaign by deciding
which action needs to be taken.

6. Virtual Reality: Audi Customer Private Lounge
Cost Effectiveness: A VR program
might cost €100,000 and take
several weeks to program, but
that's a fraction of the €1 million
an automaker could easily spend
on building an actual prototype.
Customer Immersion: You can
immerse consumers in real-life
situations and thus unlock a more
predictive consumer truth, one
that is based on less rational and
controlled responses.
Elevated attention: Participants are
in a tunnel and intensely focused.
They don't have to react to others;
to an interviewer's body language,
for example.

7. “Expert Speak” on the role of
Traditional Market Research Methods
Rhea Fox, Head of Research, EBay UK
Between a quarter and one third of her
budget goes on surveys. “We obviously have
to a huge amount of user data, but surveys
help us to understand the ‘why’ as well as
Alison York, Research Director,
Nickelodeon Research and Insights
We are actually using surveys more, not
less, from year to year. Surveys are used to
understand media consumption, obtain
feedback on new TV shows and evaluate
marketing campaigns.
Surveys tend to give us the robustness we
need to validate our qualitative findings.
This also provides a more rounded picture
of what is happening.
“Expert Speak” on the role of New
Age Market Research Methods
Mehmet H. Goker, Vice President,
Survey Monkey
There are ‘likes’, forums, comment areas,
tweets and user feedback forms to
communicate directly with a company or
influence their products without having to
participate in surveys.
Robin Hilton, Director, ResearchBods
We use software to track mobile use
passively, and can link with diary studies
that capture mood at key moments.
“Behaviour- tracking is much more accurate
than asking people to recall events and
provides a wealth of data for researchers,
as well as a means by which they can go
back to consumers and ask them about
specific activities.

8. Our Case Study: Cipla Activ Immunoboosters Case Study
Market Research Exercise
Sampling method: Random sampling from
audience that reacted to the campaign
Sample Size: 40 respondents
Survey Question: What do you think Cipla
ImmunoBoosters is useful for?
86
%
42%
Women
Marrie
d
Campaign Description: The objective was to test the brand message and its efficiency to create a stronger brand
recall in the relevant consumer’s mind. Cipla ran an influencer marketing campaign with Paperless Postcards with
the campaign thought that mother’s can take care of their kids immunity even beyond their infant stage with
Cipla Immunoboosters.
Campaign Spread: 10 conversations over a span of 60 days
Campaign Impact: Impressions: 18.7 Lakh, Reach: 13 Lakh, Audience Engaged: 1.4 Lakh
Survey result:
• A significant majority of pollsters had a strong recall of what the product was.
• Men or women of less than 25 years of age which comprise of 43% of the pollsters who did not receive the
brand message. This strengthens the fact that the content curated was such that it only served the target
audience.
Building
immunity
in kids
It’s not a
kids
product
57%
43%

9. Our Case Study: Charcoal Eats Case Study
Market Research Exercise
Sampling method: Random sampling from audience that reacted to the campaign. Social listening exercise was
conducted based on the comments on the posts.
Sample Size: 40 respondents
Campaign Description: The objective was to conduct a sentiment analysis among the audience to find out what
emotions do the consumer attach to their brand. Charcoal Biryani ran an influencer marketing campaign with
Paperless Postcards with messages varying in emotions of love, joy and friendship.
Campaign Spread: 10 conversations over a span of 60 days
Campaign Impact: Impressions: 13.6 Lakh, Reach: 9.4 Lakh, Audience Engaged: 88,000
Survey result:
• They got maximum traction on the posts which attached the brand with love
i.e. couples fondness to bond over Biryani and Pizzas.
• The campaign got people talking about Pizzas even though the caption copies
and posts themselves did not mention Pizzas directly. This implies that people
had a fair amount of awareness about the other offerings too.

10. Way forward….
Ben Page, Chief Executive Officer, Ipsos Mori
Link observational data, passive data and web activity to things we can ask people about and, rather than
just ask them, we can measure their galvanic response or pulse rates, we can look at how quickly they
click on things to see if they’re thinking long and hard about it or is it just an implicit response? What’s
interesting is that nothing is exterminating everything else. There’s still huge demand for face-to-face
interviews, but we can get people to wear Google Glass and Go Pro cameras, and film their everyday life
and have that streamed back to us. We have far more channels to understand human behaviour and what
people are thinking.
Marie Wallace, Global Analytics Strategist, IBM
Marie Wallace is a huge advocate of the power of data analytics to generate business insight, but says it
can never tell the whole story. “We keep thinking that now we have social data we believe we can analyse…
but very often the data doesn’t find you the complete answer,” she says. “You have to reach out to people
at times, you have to ask questions and you have to get some feedback. That isn’t ever going to go away.”
A lag of many years between a new
technology emerging and it achieving
widespread diffusion and adoption
across the industry
Complexity of modern research requires data
scientist and psychologists to conduct market
research, changing the human resource at
Market Research firms.