My business is communications research and sensory testing. I don’t feel compelled to rely on one methodology to solve research challenges. Facial coding, EEG, biometrics, eye-tracking – all are tools that can satisfy different research specifications.
It seems to me that many companies focused on market research position themselves as experts in a specific technology, selling the benefits of one methodology rather than matching the method to the problem being addressed.
In the past, to adequately provide a total assessment of a problem, we combined qualitative and quantitative tools. We had flexibility in employing models, interview approaches, etc. It seems that in the world of neuromarketing, there is a tendency for companies to provide one methodology that is positioned as the solution to every client problem. This makes business sense in that it creates efficiencies as project volume increases, spreading out the overhead costs associated with that service. But does the focus on one technology provide optimal research results?
We believe that employing the appropriate tool or set of tools for the job is preferable to offering a single technology solution, regardless of the issue being addressed. Appropriate tools should be selected to satisfy specific needs by engaging experts in marketing research and sensory testing disciplines who have training in psychophysiology and neuroscience, rather than relying on experts in a single technology.
My point is that one should choose a marketing expert who can utilize the appropriate technology, rather than a technology expert who is utilizing marketing.
