Qualitative research in the age of big data and smart machines

In a world of ever-evolving technologies, big data and smart machines, there is a risk that brands overlook the importance of fostering emotional connections with customers. Using algorithms to predict behaviors can be really exciting but qualitative research’s particular strength is that it adds a game-changing, emotional dimension to the narrative that  numbers reveal.

At the upcoming Qualitative360 APAC conference on October 19-20 in Singapore,Pankaj Jha, Vice President – Consumer & Business Insights at Tata Teleservices will discuss the significance of empathy in order to better connect with consumers. Pankaj will be joined by Jason Wong from Harley-Davidson, Anup Pradhan from General MillsIndia and Deepak Chandran from Fonterra. The panel will address the value of empathy for research as well as brands, discuss barriers to the expression of digital empathy and explore how the rapid rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and automation may impact brands’ abilities to emotionally connect with customers.

As the world is becoming more and more data-driven, it is naive to ignore the potential of big data and machine learning. However, finding detailed, deeper insight requires more than just technical skills and researchers need to embrace empathy to clarify the relationships between data, expression, situation and other unstructured elements of marketing research.

Joseph Stalin infamously said, “the death of one man is a tragedy; the death of millions is a statistic”. Research without compassion will give you data. Research with empathy will give you incredibly insights and the chance to build brand advocacy that last a lifetime.

Join us at Qual360 APAC and find out how qualitative research and empathetic methods can help you to make (better) sense of big data!

gmo-research

Author

  • Jens Cornelissen

    Jens Cornelissen has been writing for over two decades – initially for general newspapers in his home country Germany. After receiving an MA degree in Communications, he joined a new media start-up in Amsterdam as consultant on new media technologies and country editor for two daily newsletters. In his current day job, Jens runs the global conference division for Merlien’s dedicated marketing research events. Jens is a trained journalist with a BA in Journalism from Westminster University in London and has authored several media industry reports and articles on mobile and media technology.

Avatar photo

Jens Cornelissen

Jens Cornelissen has been writing for over two decades – initially for general newspapers in his home country Germany. After receiving an MA degree in Communications, he joined a new media start-up in Amsterdam as consultant on new media technologies and country editor for two daily newsletters. In his current day job, Jens runs the global conference division for Merlien’s dedicated marketing research events. Jens is a trained journalist with a BA in Journalism from Westminster University in London and has authored several media industry reports and articles on mobile and media technology.

View all posts by Jens Cornelissen →

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *