For long technology and market research have been 2 opposite sides of a river – do you see a change in this trend?
Steve August: I disagree with the premise that technology and market research have been on opposite sides. I think while it is true that market research has been slower than other industries to broadly adopt certain aspects of technology, it certainly has made great strides in the last two decades. I think the question is more about market research and business intelligence data. Market research has dominantly been about primary research- talking to people directly. Data has been about information that enterprises generate in the course of business, a mass of data that has been steadily growing in volume, variation and velocity. This data is something market research did not take on as part of its purview, yet it is a source of intelligence that is an important part of customer understanding. Now we are seeing more crossover between market research and data driven understanding.
How can technology be leveraged to enhance customer experience while undertaking a survey?
Steve August: Technology can be quite helpful in enhancing the customer survey experience. It can format survey questions to adapt to phone and small screen user interfaces. It can have a more engaging and responsive look and feel. What it cannot do is truly prevent people from creating poorly designed surveys, surveys that are too long, or use overly expansive matrix questions. Ultimately people need have more bearing than technology on survey experience.