The start of a year brings about exciting opportunities and challenges around the office! So, before we all dive head-first into the holiday season (that seemingly slides all-too-quickly into New Year’s resolutions and task lists!), we hope you will consider looking at a few of the ideas we’ve pulled from our 2022 archive. A few tips or thought-provoking ideas, if you will, that you can take with you as you plan for the new year.  

This compilation includes the following topics: marketing research and connecting on a human level; big data, causal analysis and randomized experiments; Gen Z; research storytelling; and customer feedback. 

“As a researcher, we are trained to never offer an opinion on a person’s response. That’s a given. Yet I believe there is tremendous value in making sure each person who participates knows they have been heard and that what they had to say, whatever it is, matters. In face-to-face conversations, it’s easy. A smile, a nod, an 'I hear you.' I remind others in a group conversation to remember to focus our attention on the person addressing the group. I don’t let people get away with saying, ‘Yeah, I agree with what he said.’ I ask that person to respond to me in his or her own words. It gives them power and reassurance. It encourages them to share their unique voice. 

“Technology gives us fantastic tools and yet it can sometimes create a wall between us. We must remember that there is a person on the other side. And on a human level, we desire – we need – engagement.”

Takeaway: Technology has given the marketing research and insights industry so much, but it’s important to remember to connect with customers – in B2B and B2C – on a human level. Researchers must be sure to let respondents know they are listening to – and hearing – them. Read the full article. 

“The notion that big data has removed the need for theory and experimentation made a splash in the bus...