Sentient’s 2011 marketing trends and economic predictions


Sentient Decision Science has predicted the 2011 trends that will continue to transform the research industry and help shape the customer agenda for Global 2000 brands:

  • Behavioral science will supplant traditional market research: Traditional market research is very good at describing what people have done, but has lacked insight into the true drivers of behavior. Plucking principles from psychology, sociology, anthropology, neuroscience and behavioral economics has proven to provide an immediate boost to the bottom line by revealing specific methods for influencing customer behavior.
  • Economic and competitive pressures will continue to drive this transition: Ongoing economic and competitive pressures highlight the urgency of businesses having this new kind of competitive information. Those companies tapping the behavioral sciences now will surge out of the global recession differentiated from their competition and more profitable than before.
  • More businesses will establish “consumer and shopper insights” groups. Cutting edge companies have established “consumers insights” divisions to use behavioral scientific advances for real business advantage in the marketplace. We will see a surge of insight divisions created in the coming year as companies try to keep up with their competition.
  • Companies will require their insights groups to provide a greater depth of information about how emotion influences choice and in particular the principles of hot-state decision making. Companies will invest in better understanding real consumer visceral response in the short-term while building programs for improved customer satisfaction in the long-term.
  • Businesses will seek deeper understanding of how to architect consumer choice through the subconscious activation of consumer values.Choice architecture principles will become better understood and more widespread in application. Insight groups will test and implement choice context parameters in the shopping environment that fulfill deliberately activated consumer values.

Automatic brand association research methodologies will allow brand managers to more precisely measure the conscious and subconscious drivers of consumer behavior, particularly those drivers that are difficult to capture via traditional research methods.

  • Companies will embrace hybrid research to quantify their gut feelings and tie research results to the ROI expectations of the boardroom. Companies will invest in research that blends the best of behavioral science with cutting edge quantitative and qualitative research to form tighter bonds with their customers and enact new design and product development strategies, inventory and pricing models and go-to-market strategies. The demand for qualitative and quantitative research to be tied to business bottom line metrics will continue to rise.
  • The rise of neuromarketing research techniques will continue, with more insights groups accessing neurological data to inform strategic decision-making. However, cost and questions of representativeness across market segments will prove to be obstacles for broad adoption of physiological methods, leading insight groups to look to priming and response time methods for more efficient and representative data on the subconscious that can be tied to actual market sales.
  • Social media will continue to play an important role in backgrounding and in “listening” to consumers in their native environment, enhancing our intelligence about consumers’ brand perceptions and satisfaction. Market researchers will have to define social media’s role within the toolkit, and its use will continue to evolve as consumers join the social media movement in growing numbers in 2011.

Increasingly, companies recognize that market research is no longer business as usual. Instead, it is a competitive advantage that opens up new levels of understanding and engaging with their stakeholders in ways previously unimaginable.



33 Comments »

  1. avatar SentientDecisionSci Says:

    Check out 2011 research trends and predictions from #Sentient http://ow.ly/3pynJ

  2. avatar SentientDecisionSci Says:

    More “consumer and shopper insights” groups in 2011. http://ow.ly/3pyDZ #Retail #New MR #Behavior #Research #Neuromarketing

  3. avatar SentientDecisionSci Says:

    Read more about 2011 research trends here….feel free to retweet! http://ow.ly/3q9m3 #NGMR #QRCA #MRA #AMA #ESOMAR #MRB #MRWEB #WARC

  4. avatar Renco Schoemaker Says:

    Research trends for 2011 according to @SentientInsight : http://bit.ly/gqoTS8 #mrx #li

  5. avatar SentientDecisionSci Says:

    2011 trend: tie research results to the ROI expectations of the boardroom. http://ow.ly/3pz0d #2011 trend #New MR #Marketing #Research

  6. avatar SentientDecisionSci Says:

    The rise of neuromarketing research techniques will continue – 2011 trend http://ow.ly/3pz7a #Sentient #2011 trends #Neuromarketing

  7. avatar SentientDecisionSci Says:

    2011 trend on social media….an important role in backgrounding and in “listening”… http://ow.ly/3pzvt #social media #marketing #research

  8. avatar Kathleen Starr, Ph.D Says:

    RT @SentientInsight: 2011 trend on social media….an important role in backgrounding and in “listening”… http://ow.ly/3pzvt #social m …

  9. avatar Genevieve Pritchard Says:

    2011 trend on #socialmedia – an important role in background and listening http://ow.ly/3pzvt #marketing RT @DrHealthPsych @SentientInsight

  10. avatar Rich and Co Says:

    We would strongly disagree with pretty much every prediction here and predict the opposite. Of course, these predictions track the commercial interests of the authors firm, which is fine.

    Wishful thinking. If only….

    Our position can be summed up quickly with: “The methods of science may be slow, counterintuitive, and painstaking but they lead to truth.”

    We’d be thrilled if even part of what is predicted came true in a decade.

    Finally – “Dream as we may, reality knocks relentlessly at the door.” F.Crick

  11. avatar Aaron Reid PhD Says:

    Hi Rich and Co.

    Thanks for your comment.

    It actually looks like your thoughts on the importance of a scientific approach to studying behavior are well aligned with ours.

    So is your disagreement with the speed with which we will see these changes?

    I can tell you that many advanced enterprises are already adopting behavioral science methods into their market research programs and it is providing them with an insight advantage over their competitors which is likely why we’re seeing a surge in the adoption of these methods. The prediction that this trend will continue does not seem that far-fetched.

    What are you seeing in the market that would indicate that behavioral science will not continue to be adopted by businesses in 2011?

  12. avatar Herb Sih Says:

    RT @gpritchard: 2011 trend on #socialmedia – an important role in background and listening http://ow.ly/3pzvt #marketing RT @DrHealthPsy …

  13. avatar SentientDecisionSci Says:

    New in 2011:defining social media’s role within research toolkit http://ow.ly/3pALW #social #PR #research #New MR #behavior #neuromarketing

  14. avatar Yuriy Gumen Says:

    RT @SentientInsight: New in 2011:defining social media’s role within research toolkit http://ow.ly/3pALW #social #PR #research #New MR …

  15. avatar Leonard Murphy Says:

    Great post and I tend to agree with most: Sentient’s 2011 marketing trends and economic predictions http://ow.ly/3sW1M #mrx #ngmr #mrgasn

  16. avatar SentientDecisionSci Says:

    New in 2011: more accessing neurological data to inform strategic decision-making http://ow.ly/3pAG2 #neuromarketing #2011 trends #research

  17. avatar Yuriy Gumen Says:

    RT @SentientInsight: New in 2011: more accessing neurological data to inform strategic decision-making http://ow.ly/3pAG2 #neuromarketin …

  18. avatar Jean-Philippe Galan Says:

    Sentient's 2011 marketing trends http://bit.ly/gqoTS8 (by the way interpretive consumer research is rather a 1990's trend…)

  19. avatar Jean-Philippe Galan Says:

    Sentient's 2011 marketing trends http://bit.ly/gqoTS8 (by the way interpretive consumer research is rather a 1990's trend…)

  20. avatar Alexandra Vignolles Says:

    RT @jeanphigalan: Sentient's 2011 marketing trends http://bit.ly/gqoTS8 (by the way interpretive consumer research is rather a 1990's tr …

  21. avatar Alexandra Vignolles Says:

    RT @jeanphigalan: Sentient's 2011 marketing trends http://bit.ly/gqoTS8 (by the way interpretive consumer research is rather a 1990's tr …

  22. avatar Alexandra Vignolles Says:

    RT @SentientInsight: New in 2011:defining social media’s role within research toolkit http://ow.ly/3pALW #social #PR #research #New MR …

  23. avatar Alexandra Vignolles Says:

    RT @SentientInsight: New in 2011:defining social media’s role within research toolkit http://ow.ly/3pALW #social #PR #research #New MR …

  24. avatar SentientDecisionSci Says:

    New in 2011: Automatic brand associations use expands. http://ow.ly/3pAd7 #research #marketing #behavioral science #consumer behavior #brand

  25. avatar SentientDecisionSci Says:

    Blend behavioral science, quantitative/qualitative research to form tighter bonds with customers in 2011 #2011 trends #PR http://ow.ly/3pAAj

  26. avatar SentientDecisionSci Says:

    New in 2011:Choice architecture principles become better understood and more widespread in application. http://ow.ly/3pA6p #2011 trends

  27. avatar Janis Kudins Says:

    Sentient’s 2011 marketing trends and economic predictions
    http://bit.ly/gcbQxE

  28. avatar José C Hernández N Says:

    RT @jeanphigalan: Sentient's 2011 marketing trends http://bit.ly/gqoTS8 (by the way interpretive consumer research is rather a 1990's tr …

  29. avatar SentientDecisionSci Says:

    New in 2011: Surge this year via behavioral science techniques http://ow.ly/3pzPO #2011 trends #New MR #Research #Sentient

  30. avatar SentientDecisionSci Says:

    New in 2011: Principles from "ologies" provide immediate boost to bottom line http://ow.ly/3pzBL #Research #Behavioral Science #Marketing

  31. avatar SentientDecisionSci Says:

    2011 trends in market research, for retail, cpg, others: http://ow.ly/3pB2c #Sentient #retail #CPG #consumer electronics #2011 trends

  32. avatar SentientDecisionSci Says:

    2011 trends in market research, for retail, cpg, others: http://ow.ly/3pB2c #Sentient #retail #CPG #consumer electronics #2011 trends

  33. avatar Adam Picker Says:

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