How Social Media could be a storehouse for CONSUMER INSIGHTS

Normally, when a brand manager wants to find out consumer reactions towards his brand, how does he go about it? The conventional route is that he conducts research by interviewing consumers. When any consumer is posed with a question what are the chances of him speaking his mind or actually giving the right opinions? There are so many conditions to this aspect-Is it the right time to speak to him ? Is he saying what the interviewer wants to hear? How is interpreting the question? Does the interviewee reminds him of someone and whether that could shift his mood to the answer? There are so many combinations and possibilities. As a researcher, I have faced this, so the best way to overcome these limitations is to have a large sample size. This irons out some of the concerns mentioned above. However, this does not guarantee that the inputs that one gets would be useful to the brand manager. Social media has the potential to throw inputs which could be just perfect for the brand manager. When we say, SM is all about observing conversations, we are allowing the consumer to speak his mind at his convenience, the time he wants to speak and in the habitat he deems perfect. In an environment like this what are the chances of a consumer speaking his mind on a cell phone that he intends to buy? What is the likelihood that he would voice his concerns which could well be besides price so on and so forth. I think as a researcher these inputs would be very useful to a brand manager than a conventional research which can, at times be confrontational and put the respondent on the defensive.Social media is an excellent medium which has the potential to provide consumer insights which could really drill down on consumer needs.