Welcome to our "Why I Love MR" Q&A Series! We have talked with both internal AMC Staff and some of our clients, so keep an eye out for fun interviews coming up exploring all the reasons why those of us who work in market research are so passionate about what we do! Interested in being interviewed and sharing why YOU love MR? Reach out to us.
Here we get a chance to know Michelle "Shelley" Borman, Consumer Understanding Consultant, Retired Procter and Gamble Research and Development Director, a little bit better...
MB: I went to college to be a Chemical Engineer. I liked seeing how things were put together and understanding how it worked. When it came time to graduate, I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do, but I was super intrigued by consumer goods. I wanted to work on items I could relate to and purchase off the shelf. I interviewed with a consumer goods company and selected a skill path in consumer understanding to identify and design new products. I loved the consumer and market understanding work from the first minute I was introduced to data and interviewing. I was fascinated by listening to consumers and learning how they understood products and used them. I was hooked and have spent over 30 years learning!
LYU: Qualitative research is where I really thrive – again coming from a psych background I love to dig deep into consumers behavior and qual interviews are the perfect place for that as I can really get the full picture by hearing the consumer’s voice. I also love the fluidity of it where you can probe and pivot on the spot to follow different threads and let the consumer lead where the story goes. I also enjoy foundational research like A&U studies and segmentations where you gain a comprehensive understanding of a category, or brand, or type of consumers. While segmentations can be challenging and overwhelming, there’s something really rewarding about the whole process – from exploring different segment solutions to then taking all the pieces of data and making them come to live into different personas.
MB: Honestly, what surprises me the most is seeing data misused. It is relatively common to read into the data/insights what you want to hear and make conclusions that could be biased. Superior Market Analysts are able to assess multiple streams of research to make unbiased conclusions. The more recent use of AI in analyzing both quant and qual research can be helpful to make analysis more efficient, but it can be misleading if the researcher is only using the tool and not doing their due diligence in viewing the data.
MB: I have a lot of interest right now in online shopping segments. There are many small business companies using social media platforms to advertise to consumers. I often wonder how many consumers purchase directly from the social media link vs. doing more homework to look for a similar type of product or the same product from other major online platforms. I’m curious about the different consumer segments that buy online as well. After COVID, more and more work from home and buy from home options are available to us. I wonder how the online search is different from the instore search and how those consumers are similar and different.
MB: That’s a tough question! I truly love in depth qualitative interviews, but if forced to choose I would say my favorite is a large base quantitative foundational study. The more data in a particular market or product area, the more potential to find different target audiences and how they are unique in what they want and how they feel about products and brands. Using the power of statistics and modeling can really unlock new insights and new ways of communicating to consumers about products.
MB: More and more I am seeing a trend back to nature, back to growing our own food and community. With more remote work opportunities, I see people moving their family to more rural settings to get away from the “always on” buzz of the city. It seems to be evolving beyond “shop local” to a “support your neighbor” mentality. This will mean market research will also need to get more customized, and less “mass questionnaire” approach. I believe there will always be some level of trending ideas that transcend audiences, but early fast growing ideas are going to be found in the small corners of a community where a need was born and delivered. DIY YouTube videos is a great source for consumer needs! If you need to find something or learning something, it is common place now to say “just google it”!
MB: If you love digging for treasure and finding new thoughts and insights, I recommend studying market research. Market research has both data mining AND consumer qualitative. Using both of these skills together opens the doors to cutting edge ideas and development of new brand and products as well as enhancing business potential of existing brands and products. Market Research Careers get a 5 star rating!
Thank you, Shelley!
Why do YOU love market research? Let us know, and maybe you can be our next guest in this series!