FEATURE15 July 2021

Adapt and transform: How technology is changing the insights process

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Data analytics Features Impact Innovations Technology

Technology now allows the research sample process to be automated, with considerable upsides for researchers and clients – but could greater automation benefit and transform the whole research sector? Katie McQuater reports.

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‘Better, faster, cheaper – you can pick two.’ It’s a well-worn belief that, in the world of business, good and fast come at a cost.

Yet when Martin Sorrell, formerly chief executive of global advertising behemoth WPP, founded his own venture, S4 Capital, he proclaimed that it is indeed possible to achieve all three today – that technology has opened up a realm of previously inaccessible opportunities for marketing.

Can it also be the case for market research, in which accuracy is critical, but where speed and cost are becoming increasingly – in some cases equally – critical considerations?

Technology is driving new efficiencies and a scale not witnessed previously in research, and some of this automation is likely to significantly impact how the industry operates in the future. In some corners, it’s already happening.

Change is afoot in online research; do-it-yourself (DIY) tools and services have given clients new means of accessing insight, and data collection is undergoing transformation ...