Digital research best positioned to understanding African consumers

Business Reporter
WITH market research continuously finding new ways to work with consumers digitally, industry players in Africa are getting closer to harnessing the digital revolution to leverage the exceptional depth of insight that it provides for brands doing business on the continent, experts have said.

More and more brands are looking to digital research as a means of unlocking the insights they require to reach the African consumer. However, despite huge amounts of digital data and exponential increases in respondents, market research is not yet effectively leveraging the digital revolution.

Recent surveys indicate only five percent of research in South Africa, one of the continent’s most advanced economies, 13 percent in the rest of Africa and 21 percent in other developing markets using digital methodologies, when compared to more than 40 percent globally.

Informed by such a context, the forum for research organisations, including media research providers, media owners, marketers, and advertising agencies in different African countries, Pan African Media Research Organisation (PAMRO) in association with Borderless Access, hosted a webinar on July 21, where African research and the digital evolution of the continent’s consumers was unpacked.

Sifiso Falala chief executive officer of Plus 94 Research and PAMRO president said the webinar highlighted the importance of collaboration and discussion between key industry players.

“There is much to be learnt when bringing level individuals together. It is up to us as an industry to share learnings about how we leverage African digital online opportunities,” he said.

The webinar included a real life project presented by Stacey Grant, who is insights director, country and customer development for Africa at Unilever.

“Despite the potential digital research holds for the continent we are off to a sub-optimal start. There is no continent that needs digital intervention more than Africa does,” she said.

“There are places in Africa that a researcher simply cannot get to physically, either due to cost, safety or health factors.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted a number of the pitfalls of traditional research and has necessitated a better approach. These limitations can be reduced or even overcome by conducting research digitally.”

Africa is seen as a continent at the forefront of digitised consumers while mobile penetration is extremely high, and mobile connectivity has over the years leapfrogged that of personal computers. More and more people are living their lives online — a trend that has been accelerated by Covid-19.

“Our research needs to be where the people are, and to understand the world through their eyes. And so, to this end, engaging in research digitally is a business imperative,” said Grant.

“Digital provides constant and higher levels of engagement, and the opportunity for brands to adapt. It also enables deep insights into consumers that brands should be hungering after.

“The best way is to listen, we need to be passive listeners and pro-active partners. Through technology such as social media listening there is no longer an excuse not to hear our target market.”

Bev Tigar Basset, associate vice president at Borderless Access, and one of the presenters of the PAMRO webinar added: “We’re a young digital continent, we have an opportunity to move forward. The digital revolution is enabling the insight industry in ways we would not have imagined.

“It is constantly challenging our industry to be open and to adopt change to use technology in new ways which optimise the delivery of insight to the clients we serve.”

The participants were, however, agreed that digital research should not threaten traditional research methods but rather it should complement them. This focus is critical especially in a market as diverse as Africa, which needs a hybrid approach.

“What is most important is the business question or challenge you are addressing, and if this is clear, then the research methodology selection of digital, traditional or hybrid is is an easy one to make, to ensure we glean the right insights,” explained Grant.