We sat down with TMRE: The Market Research Event speaker Kristin Luck, who is also the Growth Strategist at Luck Collective. She shared with us how researchers can thrive in the “Trump Era” and what the future of market research looks like.
Here’s what Luck had to say:
How has market research been disrupted and how has digital impacted market research?
Luck: Every new generation of researchers ushers in a new era. When I was in my late 20’s, still relatively new to market research, online was disrupting offline research. Today there’s wave after wave of new technologies and methods driven primarily by the advent of digital advertising and the mass of secondary data we now have access to, as well as by the entry of Gen Z, who are really the research industry’s first digital natives. So how is the industry being disrupted? Significantly! Although still slow to change….
How can market researchers thrive in the “Trump Era”?
Luck: With the sciences under almost constant attack, the researchers that will thrive will be the ones who refuse to get distracted by the “Trump Show”. Stay the course. Use research and the data you collect wisely such that you are beyond reproach and….RESIST!
How are consumers shaping the future of market research?
Luck: Consumers are getting smarter about the value of their data and savvier about monetizing it. With survey participation rates continuing to drop, researchers have the tough task of reworking their methods to adapt to a less patient respondent universe. I’m hopeful this results in shorter, more engaging surveys and better quality data.
Where do you see market research moving in the next 5 years and how is Gen Z impacting market research?
Luck:I look at Gen Z when I consider the future of market research. Media consumption for Gen Z’s is embedded in their daily lives so they’re not consciously making decisions to consume content. Among teens (13-18 years old), Smartphones are used almost three hours a day to consume TV shows, videos, music, games, and social media. According to Trifecta Research, 59% of Gen Z video consumption is done via OTT services, as opposed 29% for TV and 70% of Gen Z’s watch more than two hours of YouTube each day, as opposed to millennials for which still TV and cable are used together with OTT services for media consumption. So where do I think market research is moving? At least when it comes to primary research, video, video, video.
How has technology helped or hindered market research?
Luck: Without a doubt, technology has HELPED market research. When I first started out in research we collected data face to face, hand punched data cards and couriered reports to our clients. Now we can collect, tabulate and report data entirely online in a quarter of the time while still using technology like video to ensure we don’t lose that human connection with our respondents. I think technology is perceived as a hindrance when it becomes a distraction- which I think is the case for a lot of folks. It can be tough to separate what technology is truly going to be game changing, and what is going to waste countless hours of your time (or countless amounts of money) with little return.
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