Our Australian branch recently won the Best Paper award at the Australian Market and Social Research Society (AMSRS) National Conference. The award was given for our ground-breaking chatbot experiment with Nestlé Australia.

“Digital research communities have been one of the biggest disruptions to our industry. And we believe that another game-changer is lurking around the corner: chat!” says Stijn Poffé, Business Director at InSites Consulting Australia.

Collaboration with Nestlé Australia

Together with Nestlé Australia, we set up a qualitative research experiment. It comprised two studies with two similar groups. One was moderated by an experienced qualitative researcher; the other by a fit-for-purpose chatbot. The experiment’s end goal was to deliver business-relevant insights, while exploring the potential of bringing bot moderation to qualitative research.

Nestlé committed to making 100% of its packing recyclable or reusable by 2025. The study design was as such that it would encourage consumers to recycle whilst working towards achieving their goal.  However, could the chatbot deliver relevant, actionable business insights? And almost more importantly, would consumers prefer or object to engaging with an artificial entity?

“We reviewed the experiment outcomes and examined measures of effectiveness. As a result, we strongly believe that a combination of bots and humans should be the new standard in a research set-up. Bots can be effective moderator assistants; they collect data and peel the first layer of information. This would allow the human moderator to focus on digging deeper into the bot’s findings, connecting the dots and leading to richer and deeper insights.” concludes Stijn Poffé. “We’re proud to have been able to present these findings at the recent AMSRS Festival of Research in Sydney. And we also brought home the Best Paper award.”

“Waste is one of the main sustainability issues in today’s world. We commit to finding improved solutions to increase recyclability of our packaging”, says Rashna Shroff, Corporate Programs & Sponsorship Manager at Nestlé Australia. “Technology has a significant role to play in addressing the sustainability challenge. This includes helping us to produce insights as we work towards achieving our commitment.  We enjoyed working with InSites Consulting; they help us push the boundaries of what marketing research can do, by pioneering new methodologies to get the job done more efficiently and effectively.”