Takeaways from IIEX NA 2024
Zintro recently attended IIEX North America. Beyond the chance to connect with both old and new colleagues and friends, our team on the ground enjoyed the lively discussions around trends and technologies in the market research industry.
AI Drives Efficiency
According to a 2023 study by PwC, fifty-four percent of companies had used generative AI in their business by November 2023, which is just one year from the time ChatGPT was released. So it comes as no surprise that AI was the subject of several breakout sessions during the conference. Many of the presentations had a similar theme and takeaway - while AI can deliver efficiency to researchers who are strapped for time, a human touch is still needed in order to apply it effectively.
As an example, while discussing five mindset shifts for insights and analytics organizations, Kendra Speed of LinkedIn cited the evolution from knowing how to best use a tool to knowing how to best prompt a tool to give you the outputs you need. Additionally, when discussing the future of product research, Yana Welinder of Kraftful noted that while AI can analyze the data, it’s researchers who determine how it’s prioritized and put to use. Finally, a panel of client-side researchers, including Nicholas McCracken of Ford Motor Company and Leena Doshi of Electronic Arts, highlighted the potential for AI to mine and synthesize past insights and other data sources to surface key themes, thereby helping these brand teams be more effective in using the data they already have and how they deploy new research opportunities. For more perspectives, check out Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Market Research.
Respondent Experience Matters
Another key topic was the participant experience. While sourcing the right respondents is critical for delivering the right insights, it was clear from the conversations that more can be done to ensure a positive participant journey and keep respondent engagement high throughout the research process. As an example, Isaac Rogers of Sago cited that screener length from qualitative studies the company fields has increased over the past two years, going from an average of 27 questions to 29. That being said, respondents typically begin to drop off after 12 questions, so it’s critical for researchers to be more selective in their screening criteria if they want to maintain response rates.
In another session, Scott Worthge presented the findings of Quest Mindshare’s extensive research with B2B audiences. The findings indicated that respondents are willing to give only three minutes of their time to see if they qualify for a quantitative survey before they will move on. Moreover, the research generated interesting results surrounding respondents' motivators for taking part in a study. As is to be expected, the findings showed that respondents always want fair monetary compensation for their time. That said, through their research, Quest Mindshare also found that respondents are motivated by the chance to make their opinions known and heard, as well as the opportunity to be exposed to new ideas or technology that might be helpful to their role. These types of benefits can be useful to include as part of the initial outreach about a project, helping prospective respondents understand that they can gain more from the experience than just monetary compensation. For Zintro’s own tips for participant screening, check out How to Make Your Next Screener a Great One.
