Next Gen Market Research: Just Do It For Me!
If you want to know the future of market research, forget about what the futurists and innovation gurus have to say. Instead, just ask the next generation of marketing and business professionals—the people who will be our future.
That’s what we did in a recent survey of business students about market research. We talked with MBA students and undergraduate business students who were enrolled market research classes. A few were planning market research careers, but most were launching other business careers for which they would likely use research to help them make smarter decisions.
A few of the findings:
- Three-quarters (75 percent) expect to rely on research as much or more than they expect to rely on intuition and common sense in their future business careers.
- Even among those who will following mostly business intuition, all agreed that research is important for today’s businesses, with nearly two-thirds (62 percent) believing it is very important.
- Three out of four survey respondents (72 percent) see qualitative research as more interesting than quantitative research. But students are equally split on which of the two approaches is more valuable.
- Most students value and get excited about the outcomes of research. But they see the process of getting there as difficult. Few want to do it themselves.
You can read a complete report of the findings in our June 2012 newsletter.
—Joe Hopper, Ph.D.
