The Impact of Technology on Marketing Research-Myassignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about the Impact Of Technology on Marketing Research in today's Business. Answer: Introduction Marketing research is the process of collecting the information from consumers and businesses to ascertain the opportunities or creating the strategies for the organisation. The advancement in technology in previous decade has changed the method of marketing research of companies. There are numerous types of marketing channels available to reach the target audience. The customers are viewing more advertisement according to their relevance, due to the size of personal data they share. Technology has increased the number of consumers as well as number of advertisements on various platforms. The use of technology in marketing research has several benefits, but there are numerous disadvantages as well. This report will discuss the effects that modern technology has over the marketing research strategy of a company. Marketing Research The marketing research process of a company includes various processes such as data research, product development, and method of delivery. Modern technology has impacted all the different aspects of marketing research (Hair and Lukas 2014). Data Research According to Washington (2013), the process of data research includes collection and analysis of the consumers data for marketing research. It includes process such as identification of sources of collection, the amount of data, a method for analysis, and preparation of strategies. Social Media In the past decade, the use of social media has increased significantly. Peoples are sharing a large part of their life on social media websites such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Google+. These websites are transforming the marketing research process in new ways. The social media provide a large amount of personal data of customers to the companies, assisting them in analysing demand in the market. The social media websites assist in conducting surveys and research, without spending large resource. The social media help organisations in finding their target demographic and directly advertise to them. Many experts consider the social media as faster, cheaper and simpler method of marketing research. But many experts believe it to be a non-reliable and low-quality method. Social media does provide the company a large amount of data but the reliability of such data is not certain. Many of the online accounts are fake or generated by companies, to trick firms in thinking that they are reliable sources (Venkatesh, Thong and Xu 2012). Data Collection The process of data collection has changed significantly with the advancement in technology. The previous method of data collection includes paper reviews, one-on-one interviews, and focus groups, but technology enables the organisations to target a specific audience. The time required for receiving the feedback has also reduced significantly. With the help of the internet, organisations can gain access to the data of millions of individuals in few minutes. Various method of data collection includes online surveys, mobile application and online posts (Earnst, Hoyer and Rubsaamen 2010). Data Analysis The research conducted by Press (2016) concluded that, with the advancement of data collection process, the requirement of improved data analysis procedure increased. The new technology created the data analysis process easier and more refined. The improved data evaluation process predicts the consumer requirement and desires more clearly. The new systems can easily analyse the large data provided through various sources, such as Predictive analytics, NoSQL database, and Stream analytics. New Roles With the updating in technology, the marketing research required new roles to manage the process. The new technology procedures required a new set of skills and knowledge. With the availability of customers data from various places, the managerial departments are required to adopt several new strategies for marketing research. Various new posts such as analytical CPO are in charge for preparation of data driven approach in an organisation (Babin and Zikmund 2015). Large Resources The organisation receives a large amount of data from both online and off-line sources, requiring the marketing researchers to analyse and prepare strategies for a large amount of data with accuracy. The companys strategy should avoid the irrelevant data from the large data, and focus on the relevant parts. According to market expert Brown (2015), a company should identify their trusted and essential sources of data collection, from the various available options, such as Towerdata, Nielsen, and Axciom. Product Development The marketing research assists companies in developing a precise product according to customers requirements. The research provides important data, such as requirement, demand, and feedback, to the company which helps them in creating a better product. The success of a product depends upon the quality of market research. Morrell (2014) research concluded that new technology has changed many processes such as testing, assessing and measuring of customer feedback on various new platforms. But several new tools are completely changing the game like uSamp has announced their new product Instant.ly that help organisation and retailers to measure the consumer's interest in new product ideas. Feedback Technology has changed the traditional method of collecting customers feedback. Now the companies use social media or other online sources to get instant quarries or feedback of their customers. Due to instant feedback, the company can change their products according to their customer's requirements. New feedbacks tools include feedbackify, Client heartbeat and getfeedback (Hair, Sarstedt, Ringle and Mena 2012). Demand Before the launch of a new product, the organisation is required to ascertain the demand of their customers to provide a successful product. With the help of modern technology, organisations show their product to a group of the audience before its launch, to monitor their reaction and change their product based on their feedback (Varnali and Toker 2010). Conclusion The above report concluded that modern technology has a significant impact on the marketing research of an organisation. Companies have adopted new modern methods of data collection and analysis to increase the quality of marketing research. New technology has various advantages such as faster collection, large data, cheap and simple methods. But there are several drawbacks such as reliability and quality issues. In order to achieve success, companies are required to create solid strategies of marketing research. References Babin, B.J. and Zikmund, W.G., 2015.Exploring marketing research. Cengage Learning. Brown, M. S., 2015. When and Where To Buy Consumer Data (And 12 Companies Who Sell It). Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/metabrown/2015/09/30/when-and-where-to-buy-consumer-data-and-12-companies-who-sell-it/#590509c93285 Ernst, H., Hoyer, W.D. and Rbsaamen, C., 2010. Sales, marketing, and research-and-development cooperation across new product development stages: implications for success.Journal of Marketing,74(5), pp.80-92. Hair Jr, J.F. and Lukas, B., 2014.Marketing research(Vol. 2). McGraw-Hill Education Australia. Hair, J.F., Sarstedt, M., Ringle, C.M. and Mena, J.A., 2012. An assessment of the use of partial least squares structural equation modeling in marketing research.Journal of the academy of marketing science,40(3), pp.414-433. Morrell, L., 2014. Technology could speed up new product development. Marketing Tech. Retrieved from https://www.marketingtechnews.net/news/2014/dec/01/technology-set-speed-new-product-development/ Press, G., 2016. Top 10 Hot Big Data Technologies. Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/gilpress/2016/03/14/top-10-hot-big-data-technologies/#3070937565d7 Varnali, K. and Toker, A., 2010. Mobile marketing research: The-state-of-the-art.International journal of information management,30(2), pp.144-151. Venkatesh, V., Thong, J.Y. and Xu, X., 2012. Consumer acceptance and use of information technology: extending the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology. Washington, R., 2013. 5 Ways Technology Has Changed Market Research. Market Research Blog. Retrieved from https://blog.marketresearch.com/blog-home-page/bid/339928/5-ways-technology-has-changed-market-research