Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday pitched for use of physical surveys combined with the smart use of new technology in the market research to get the response from the ground.
Addressing a seminar at the Market Research Society of India, the minister also said the market research industry in India has matured significantly in the last few years as there is more use of technology, analytical skills and artificial intelligence.
"Given the complexities of a large and diverse nation like India, we must adopt technology intelligently, smartly and make sure that we don’t lose the essence of our work in the outcomes. The market research should have real resonance on the ground,” Mr. Goyal said.
While technology should be adopted and encouraged, doing physical surveys, especially in a country like India, where dialect differs within the State, should also be encouraged, an official statement quoted the minister having said at the event.
Mr. Goyal further observed that online surveys in rural areas may not be able to lock the essence of the response due to varied class, dialect and other reasons and a physical survey will help in understanding the response of people on the ground.
He emphasised that India has a huge potential to digitise surveys. If language skills are improved along with the tools of analysis, the companies will be able to compete better in the developed markets.
“If we get good feedback on the concerns of our consumers, we will be in a position to regulate businesses better to serve consumer interests, and get more investment into India to meet the demand and needs of consumers,” he added.
The research inputs provide feedback to the government on what are the concerns and areas to focus upon. The inputs are used extensively in understanding the concerns of people, based on which government policies are devised, he said.
The industry can come up with insightful research on areas concerning commerce and industry, for example, which areas one should be investing in, where the export markets are or where a plant should be located ideally, he added.
On misleading advertisements, the minister encouraged the industry to focus more on self-regulation and a code of ethics for efficient and credible functioning.
"Misleading advertisements violate the rights of consumers and therefore...there must be self-regulation and code of ethics which is implemented in the industry for efficient and credible functioning," he added.
