The market research industry is approaching an alarming crossroads. On one hand, DIY tools like SurveyMonkey and Google Consumer Surveys are taking off, making it possible for anyone to create their own survey for free. Research firms are left vying for work on more complex studies that require their expertise and scale, and client-side researchers are equally challenged, as budgets dry up and internal clients expect insights that are faster, cheaper and actionable.
At the same time, there is also a growing consensus that consumers cannot always accurately tell market researchers what we want to know; that consumers are highly emotional and make decisions for reasons that are often not accessible to their consciousness (and, by extension, not discernible through classic market research techniques).
Amidst this disruption, the utilization of nonconscious measurement (also called “neuromarketing” or “applied neuroscience”) for commercial research continues to be a growing trend for pursuing consumer insights.
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