The market research industry has come to rely heavily on surveys to collect consumer insights, asking respondents to recall behaviors and explain sentiment via a questionnaire. This type of collected data can best give us a complete picture of an audience if it is combined with behavioral data, something which has been eluding researchers for years. Our vice president of sales, John McLaren, writes about the challenges and opportunities for uncovering this "holy grail" of consumer insights in his latest article for MarTech Series. 

In the piece, called "The Elusive Holy Grail of Consumer Data Science and Intelligence," he first covers some of the traditional reasons that consumer behavioral data has been difficult to obtain. Some of these challenges include an unwillingness by the industry to pay respondents fairly for sharing this type of information, alongside low levels of consumer trust in the organizations collecting, or potentially collecting, their information. An added layer of complexity ensues when considering consumer privacy legislation and app security measures.

However, John maintains that the need for this type of data is not going to simply go away - in fact, it is becoming more important than ever. He writes that there is a course of action that can help: "In order for brands to achieve the insights they need for decision making, consumer needs must be put at the forefront." This means building a strong foundation of trust with respondents to encourage sharing, for one thing. 

He concludes with: "As a society in general, we all benefit from sharing data, but only when it’s done responsibly, and in the best interest of individuals – not the organizations. Maybe this approach will facilitate the marriage of data, behavioral and claimed, and we can behold the holy grail of consumer insights."

The complete article can be viewed here: https://martechseries.com/analytics/customer-data-platforms/elusive-holy-grail-consumer-data-science-intelligence/