Researchers positive about AI, says Qualtrics study

The research, published in the report 2024 Market Research Trends, found that 56% believed AI would be beneficial to their work, leading to faster analysis.

Of those surveyed, only 25% were concerned about AI outpacing personal or team abilities.

Nearly two-thirds ( 62%) of researchers said their company depends on their research and insights significantly more today than in the past two years, with reports that insights budgets were on the rise.

The findings are based on a survey of 3,050 researchers across 14 countries and 12 industries who were asked for their thoughts on significant issues affecting the market research industry.

Qualtrics said its research showed that 47% of respondents were already using AI to analyse qualitative data sets from sources such as surveys, product reviews and focus group transcripts.

Almost half ( 46%) said they would use AI to analyse survey content for issues such as bias, readability and duplicate questions.

Researchers also said they would find an automated data quality solution to identify poor quality responses extremely ( 37%) or very helpful ( 42%).

However, generative AI and remote data collection did pose some issues, with 43% of respondents agreeing that “identifying and/or preventing AI-generated responses is a challenge when collecting data using online providers”.

In-house research teams said they were struggling to keep up with new methods, with 33% outsourcing projects due to lack of skills internally.

The Qualtrics study also found that remote and virtual research were still going strong post-pandemic, with 87% of researchers running more than half of their qualitative work remotely.

However, 36% of respondents added that they were not able to develop as strong a rapport with participants online as in-person.

Jill Larson, chief product officer for strategy and research at Qualtrics, said: “The market research industry may experience a more rapid AI-powered transformation than any other industry in the world in 2024, but will they be ready for it?

“Advances in AI will help companies use market research to make faster, smarter decisions and get closer to their customers at a time when it has never mattered more.

“Researchers are embracing AI. They recognise AI as an important research tool, helping them maximise their impact by unlocking potential insights hidden in unstructured operational and experience data.”