AI is about to transform industries, including market research. AI-assisted tools are enhancing both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods.

1. Objectives: As primary researchers we launched an experiment for the usage of AI in the market research process by using 3 new technologies from three different tech partners to potentially replace the classic open ended question format. Feasibility and opportunities for AI integration in both quantitative and qualitative research approaches in questionnaires.
2. Method & approaches: Four approaches of Human Computer Interaction are compared with the topic of travel asking 12 identical questions in four different tech settings. For each of the technical settings a minimum of 50 responses was collected in the horizoom Panel. The four different modes of interviewing were:
3. Classic Type-In questionnaire with 12 open answers in a standard online questionnaire format
4. Voice in Questionnaire (Questions in oral mode using AI transcriptions) HTW Berlin
5. AI Chatbot Interview (Dialogue while typing) Xelper
6. AI assisted Telephone Interview (AICati: Telephone Call with AI Bot) Susi&James
7. Results: Once the different setups are up and running they all produce insightful responses with enriched data as respondents compared to the classic open ended question. The presentation will reveal the differences in the approaches.
8. Impact: With the help of AI, we aim to support different MR tasks, augmenting the input from a user’s perspective. The technologies used could potentially reduce costs and bias while enabling bigger data collections for both qualitative and quantitative research approaches which can be easily enriched with the different modes. One industry impact may also include the technology change by using non-MR technologies to perform MR tasks.
9. Limitations: The different modes produce different interaction profiles which seem to be more related to the person answering than to the technology used. In future studies the interaction mode preference of respondents might be integrated into the market research process to ensure a fit with a respondent’s preferred interview mode.

The comparative studies focused on the AI supported data collection. AI could was also being used for the analytical parts of all four input types.

Current Situation: With the advent of LLMs, a significant impact on various industrial activities has been anticipated. However, their current application in market research within companies remains limited. The challenges associated with this approach lie beyond the capabilities of the method itself.

Problem: LLM-based methods compete with established techniques and existing data sources.

Future: The limited adoption of LLMs is not due to deficiencies in the method itself but rather to competition with existing data sources and analytical approaches. The use of LLMs is likely to grow when they enable answering questions that remain unresolved with current analytical approaches.