Less
Data, More Insight, Says Research Expert
Dubai,
UAE March 2014:
Marketers are being urged to optimise their survey design in order to
deliver better insights into what people do, according to Steve
Hamilton-Clark, CEO of TNS MENA, one of the world’s largest custom
market research organisations.
“Recent
research by TNS aims to reveal the reasons behind the mismatch
between what people say and what they do, and how these insights can
support our clients in their decision-making geared to growth,”
explained Hamilton-Clark.
TNS
MENA’s syndicated benchmark program ‘TNS Brand Health Tracking
Norms’ focuses on consumer decision-making with regards to Middle
Eastern brands. This unique benchmark programme uses more than
300,000 consumer conversations spanning more than 120 brands, over 45
FMCG, durable and financial categories across the GCC region.
“These
conversations have given us key behavioural and attitudinal metrics
on which marketing strategies can be based,” said Hamilton-Clark.
He
noted that one such insight is known as the Rule
of Four
which explains the cognitive limits humans are challenged with
when faced with complex choices, irrespective of the market category
and its size
“Both
marketers and researchers need to appreciate the fact that we are
born with a unique fingerprint, constrained by bounded rationality,
and employ quick decision-making aids to optimise our choices. In
fact we can on average only hold about four brands in our mind.
“Our
study reveals why traditional research approaches sometimes fail to
provide true direction, and why advances in psychology, neuroscience,
and most recently, behavioural economics, help in understanding human
decision making behaviour more accurately,” concluded
Hamilton-Clark.