How has market research changed in the age of social media?
Less than two weeks before the referendum on Scottish independence, there was a YouGov poll suggesting that the ‘yes’ vote was in the lead but the actual result was a 10 percentage point victory for the ‘no’ vote. So was the YouGove poll flawed? According to the pollster’s Chief Executive Stephan Shakespeare, the poll was accurate but opinion changed. He argues that theses days political and consumer opinion is very volatile.
Shakespeare says YouGov has seen its polls fluctuate more because citizens and consumers think and act faster in the digital age, and everyone has a voice, thanks to social media. “People have become much less loyal and less fixed in their affiliations in political terms,” says Shakespeare. Attitudes to consumer brands are also more fickle. “Marketers are extremely nervous about the degree their brands are resilient to outside forces and knocks,” he says.
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Real-time monitoring was once a novelty, but not any more. Shakespeare says: “Markets are moving faster, opinions are changing faster. Companies’ reputations go up and down because of a greater variety of forces. That’s where market research needs to be.
These are quotes from an article in today’s “Evening Standard”. You can read the piece here.