Marketing Research and Consumer Insights

Careers in Marketing - Marketing Research and Consumer Insights

Market research informs marketers about consumers, customers, the industry and line of business, competitors, and the public. This information helps firms identify opportunities and/or challenges, monitor performance, and better understand the business, the consumers, and markets. It helps develop effective marketing strategies and minimizes risks in crucial business decisions. Consumer insights are data-driven observations, thoughts, ideas, and behaviors collected from consumers and analyzed to help businesses make informed decisions about reaching and engaging their target market more effectively. Lessons from marketing, data analytics, and social sciences (anthropology, psychology, and sociology) help companies make strategic and informed decisions about brands and their relationships with consumers. By combining quantitative and qualitative insights about consumers, the industry, and competitors, marketers can discover what matters most to consumers when choosing a specific product or brand and why. This helps firms develop, implement, and improve marketing plans and brand strategies to better serve target customers and create value for them. The roles may be in research firms (suppliers) or client organizations. While roles within the two sides may differ in job descriptions, the roles are not separated due to space constraints.

  • Consumer Insights Manager/Director

    A Consumer Insights Manager/Director translates consumer thought processes and behaviors into actionable insights and generates essential intelligence to define consumer-centric strategies for the organization. They oversee the strategic design, execution, and implementation of research plans to capture consumer behaviors and uncover the underlying affective and cognitive processes. They monitor internal and external research to document consumer trends and work closely with cross- functional teams (Marketing, Sales, R&D) to understand and anticipate the organization’s market intelligence needs. Other responsibilities may include building partnerships outside the company with research suppliers, briefing them, reviewing and approving proposals and research design, scrutinizing and synthesizing results into actionable insights, and providing recommendations for presentation to the responsible cross- functional team. They are also responsible for managing the research budget efficiently and effectively. (MBA/MS 8+ yrs. Exp.)

    Market Research Manager/Director

    Market Research Managers select the appropriate research methodology and oversee the design and execution of research and the supporting techniques to meet business objectives. They communicate with internal teams and external clients to understand the information needs, and lead market research projects to address them. Upon completion, they review the collected data, summarize findings in reports, and make client recommendations. They oversee and manage market research analysts and specialists. (BA/BS, MS, 6+ yrs. Exp.)

    Market Research Analyst

    A Market Research Analyst uses primary and secondary data on consumers, competitors, the market, and the industry, and analyzes data to develop a 360-degree view of consumer attitudes/behaviors and forecasts. Examples include surveying customer preferences and analyzing the data to inform clients during their decision-making process regarding product development, pricing, and promotions. They analyze qualitative and/or quantitative data, trends, and competitive strategies and interpret the results to generate insights and develop management reports and recommendations. (BA/BS, 3+ yrs. Exp.)

    Marketing Intelligence Specialist

    Marketing Intelligence Specialists collect data from internal and external sources and monitor the trends and shifts within and outside the industry to generate the intelligence needed to help the firm maintain a competitive market position over time. They monitor and synthesize market factors to anticipate threats or opportunities for the company’s leadership to consider when developing the firm’s long-term business strategy. See also Business Intelligence - Data Analytics category. (BA/BS, MS, 3+ yrs. Exp.)

    Market Research Specialist/Consultant/Market Researcher/Qualitative/Quantitative Researcher

    A Marketing Researcher serves as the bridge between products and consumers. They work with various business, product, and marketing departments to design and conduct research (e.g., surveys) to generate information backed by research data. They work on designing and analyzing longitudinal and experimental research using quantitative techniques and analytical tools to validate results. (BA/BS, 2+ yrs. Exp.)

    Consumer Insights Coordinator/Associate/Analyst

    A Consumer Insights Coordinator/Associate/Analyst conducts research to better understand consumer behavior and guide decision-makers in product development, sales, and marketing activities. They perform research to provide insights into the market and customer preferences, needs, and wants. By compiling and evaluating relevant data, the analyst identifies trends and assesses target customers to enhance marketing performance. They may analyze custom qualitative data or gather internal and external data to drive insights and recommendations to improve and optimize various business and marketing practices. They also predict market trends to guide firm strategies and tactics. (BA/BS, MS/MBA, 2+ yrs. Exp.)

    Data Analyst

    Data Analysts utilize both structured and unstructured data from proprietary or non-proprietary sources. They work closely with technologists and data scientists and manage the firm’s data operations. They collect and manage datasets to support strategy and segmentation functions. See also the Data Analytics category. (BA/BS, MS, 1+ yrs. Exp.)