When all this is over.
Are the other companies conducting market research right now? Should we be conducting market research in times of Covid19? Is online market research really trustworthy?
These are some of the questions that we are continually receiving from our clients. Covid19 came when nobody was expecting it, in a way that nobody imagined, and wreaking havoc that nobody could predict would happen in 2020. However, my answers to all three questions above are yes, yes, and yes. Let’s find out why.
The economy, the political environment, the world’s modus operandi has changed without notice, and alongside, more out of necessity than out of choice, people are also changing. Their preferences and shopping habits have changed, their purchase patterns, their lifestyle, their everyday priorities, and their values are in the process of unprecedented transformation.
Besides its worldwide social and economic impact, Covid19 has placed us in a new life scenery based on a constant, rapid, and unpredictable change that we haven’t assimilated yet.
Nonetheless, like all the crisis, it has also provided us with opportunities:
We live with Covid19 in a digital era. A different scenario from the 1820 cholera or the Spanish Flu in 1920. This socio-historical moment is different, ready for an interactive communication system. The digital platforms offer us the perfect tool for market research to become a brand ally in times of uncertainty.
Technology allows us to obtain real-time data regardless of geographic location. We can reach any place in a matter of hours.
We are facing a new consumer full of new stories and experiences, willing to participate, share, looking forward to talking about what is happening, and connected 24/7.
It has been a process full of learning on a human level. Covid19 changed people’s perspectives; the individualism has been substituted for solidarity; creativity and resourcefulness are flourishing and becoming the best tools to adapt to a changing world.
The interesting part of this transformation process is that, while some keep on waiting for things to go back to normal, by the time all this is over, people will change their way of thinking, behaving, and living. Even when the economy is reactivated, the planes go back to flying, the hotels are filled up with guests, and the world is active like before, we will not be the same. Only the companies that will dare to look for meaning and information in turbulent and aimless waters will gain ground over those who are waiting for everything to go back to normal. By then, there will be two kinds of companies: the ones that are talking to a transformed consumer and the ones who are facing an unknown consumer. Whom do you want to speak with when all this is over?
María I. Casas, Managing Partner MCLF