The Impact of Data Ecosystems on the Market Research Sector

What is a Data ecosystem? In brief, it is an ability to gather and combine data from numerous service providers and build value through the usage of that processed data. In the UK, Amazon is the ecosystem which jumps out immediately with its offer of shopping, TV and music. Tesco is another example offering groceries, mobile and banking services.

In Japan, even Amazon’s ecosystem is dwarfed by Rakuten. Rakuten, like Amazon, started life as an online shopping portal. Now there are 70+ businesses within the group, offering a broad range of online and offline services, including e-commerce, loyalty points, travel, digital content, financial services, mobile networks and professional sports. Animal lovers can even insure their pet dog! There is hardly any aspect of consumer lifestyle that goes untouched, unrewarded or unrecorded by Rakuten!

A successful ecosystem encourages participation through offering services with clear benefits such as economies of scale and cultivates a collaborative environment in which new ideas on monetizing data can flourish. Rakuten Group is one of only a limited number of companies have the ability or potential to possess enough data to build a successful ecosystem as the requirements are very high. Services must be provided and used by a significant population of a large nation or internationally to ensure sufficient data coverage. Also, services must remain competitive across several sectors. Acquiring an ecosystem of existing would be too costly and associated risks too high.  

So, it is interesting to reflect on what impact these vast data ecosystems will have on the market research sector.

One way to assess the impact is to begin by categorizing available data into two buckets. The first label is a familiar one, ‘Self-Reported’ such as behaviours, feelings, and opinions from market research surveys. The second category can be labelled ‘Big Data’ but is so much more. Observed data capturing behaviors, product usage, media engagement, lifestyle data such as hobbies, fashion, diets as well as a much deeper sub-set of emotional data on the individual’s hopes, dreams, fears and even the thoughts and feelings that they are not aware of themselves – a complete 360° view of the consumer.

One benefit of the ecosystem on the ‘Opinions’ category is that practically the notion of ‘difficult to recruit’ disappears entirely. When 90+% of the online population operate somewhere within the ecosystem, if they exist, they can be found. The other effect is that this data can be ‘enriched’, ‘matched’ or ‘tailored’ in consideration of the second category ‘Big Data’.

To better understand, let’s imagine a scenario of a Brand Manager for a well-known drinks brand. In the pre-ecosystem environment, the Brand Manager may limit their scope to the category of drinks they operate in. After guidance from a researcher, they may widen that view to include more categories of drinks, all drinks or even the role they play in the consumer’s life such as refreshment, socializing or fun.

However, when that same Brand Manager can access data within an ecosystem, there is no limit to the scope that can be applied. They can have a complete 360° view of the customer. What holidays do they go on? What TV shows do they like? What books do they read? What are their retirement plans? This data and more can be accessed and analysed. Using traditional methods, the research would become costly, time consuming and unwieldy with only the largest of brands being able to take on the efforts to gain the 360° view.

This does not mean the need for traditional approaches is removed. It just means that if big data is consulted first, surveys can become shorter, cheaper, and more targeted since any screening questions can be removed and invites sent only to specific pre-identified audiences. Additionally, it can also fill in gaps or ask questions that have been overlooked.

What the impact of ecosystems will be on the market research sector has not been fully understood yet. Market research needs to embrace the new structured methods, the new jargon, and the interconnectivity of the dramatically different world in which the ‘ecosystem consumer’ now lives.

About Rakuten

Rakuten Group, Inc. (TSE: 4755 ) is a global leader in internet services that empower individuals, communities, businesses and society. Founded in Tokyo in 1997 as an online marketplace, Rakuten has expanded to offer services in e-commerce, fintech, digital content, and communications to approximately 1.6 billion members around the world. The Rakuten Group has over 28,000 employees and operations in 30 countries and regions. For more information, visit https://global.rakuten.com/corp/.

Rakuten has been active in Europe for more than a decade and is constantly growing its footprint. The network of business units consists of more than 14 services, available in almost every European country, including Rakuten France, Rakuten TV, Rakuten Kobo, Rakuten Advertising, Rakuten DX, Rakuten Symphony and Rakuten Europe Bank among the main ones.

With Rakuten Europe’s head office in Luxembourg and offices in London, Dublin, Paris, Berlin, Barcelona and other major European cities, Rakuten is more than just a company, it’s a vision of a true Ecosystem.

About Rakuten Insight Global

Rakuten Insight Global, Inc. (“Rakuten Insight”) is a wholly-owned online market research subsidiary company of Rakuten Group, Inc. Rakuten Insight was established in 1997 as AIP Corporation and became part of the Rakuten Group in 2014. Rakuten Insight possesses a research panel focusing on 12 major Asian markets & the US and a panel network covering 60 countries and regions. With offices in 11 countries and regions, Rakuten Insight provides market research for over 500 leading companies around the world. For more information, visit https://insight.rakuten.com/