In the first four installments of this series, we explored how generative AI tools, including ChatGPT and Claude, can be employed to onboard, refine research objectives and develop hypotheses; determine a research methodology and develop an airtight screener; optimize both qual and quant data collection instruments; and perform quality control and gain a preliminary understanding of the results.
In this article, we will explore how you can use GenAI at different stages of reporting. We’ll provide specific examples of prompts that you can use to leverage the power of AI to enhance your reports. As always, before putting proprietary content into a GenAI, ensure that you’re up on your company policies and know how to use the GenAI securely.
Building a final deliverable
Whether your project is qualitative or quantitative, the final deliverable must be well-polished, clear, and insightful. GenAI can be a valuable tool in streamlining the report-building process and improving the overall quality of your deliverables.
Ideate on Storytelling, Structure, and Flow
To engage your readers, your report should tell a compelling story. GenAI can assist in brainstorming ideas for improving the structure and flow of your narrative. A very basic prompt can get you started.
Suggest ways to enhance the storytelling aspect of the report and improve the overall flow of information.
Generate Compelling Images
Visual elements can enhance the impact of your report. GenAI tools like Dall-E or Bing AI Image Generator can help create evocative images, such as persona profile photos, to make your report more engaging. You may need to tweak your prompts through several iterations to get usable photos.
Generate professional headshot profile photos for four personas in a technology company: IT Director, CFO, Chief Security Officer, and CEO.
Initial Output from Bing AI Image Generator:
The initial output consisted of four personas with the same exact face – a common occurrence with several image generators. Tools like Bing also struggle with spelling within images.
Re-prompting with the same request generated different results each time, but a ‘complete set’ of profiles seemed too big of an ask. Piecing together individual photos from various rounds and overlaying titles without spelling errors eventually delivered the required output.
Final Image:
Design Data Visualizations and Infographics
Data visualization is crucial to creating compelling, engaging reports. GenAI tools can help create effective visualizations and infographics, making even complex quantitative data more accessible. While specialized tools like DataRobot or Tableau can assist in this process by actually creating graphics, you can ask for suggestions from GenAI tools like Claude or ChatGPT.
What’s the most compelling way to graphically show data for a 7-point Likert scale question about to what extent respondents agree or disagree with a statement? There are four different personas that we’d like to compare in one chart.
If the goal is to showcase clear differences between the personas, I would recommend using either the stacked bar chart or the adjacent bar charts.
The stacked bar chart allows you to see the full distribution of responses for each persona, while easily comparing the overall shape and skew of the bars. This makes it easier to see if certain personas align overall or have divergent responses.
The adjacent bar charts also let you compare the response distribution shape across personas. Seeing each persona’s data side-by-side makes it very easy to compare percentages for each point on the scale.
The downside is that you lose the full distribution for each persona in favor of direct comparison. But this may be a worthwhile tradeoff if you want to highlight specific differences between the groups.
Both these options provide an intuitive, visually compelling way to compare the personas. I’d start with simple stacked or adjacent bars as the most direct way to showcase the differences. You can then try out more complex charts like a bullseye or heatmap if you need to present additional details.
Summarize Key Findings
A thorough and concise Executive Summary is essential for busy decision-makers who want to quickly grasp the key findings of the report. Detail-oriented researchers sometimes struggle to distill complex findings into a one-page high-level overview. GenAI can help generate concise summaries of your report’s key findings and recommendations of any desired length. Note that this will only be a “rough draft” that the researcher may have to significantly refine and enhance, but it means that you don’t need to start with a blank slide.
Generate a 200-word executive summary of my market research report.
Ensure Findings Meet Research Objectives
It’s crucial to ensure that your findings align with your research objectives. GenAI can help you validate this alignment and flag any inconsistencies, starting with a very basic prompt and following up with additional, more specific questions to help you address each issue.
Review the research objectives and assess if the findings in the report align with these objectives.
Refine Recommendations
Crisp recommendations are critical so stakeholders can take your findings from insights to action. GenAI can help ensure recommendations are clear and actionable.
Assess recommendations to ensure they are actionable and align with the objectives of the research. Identify any gaps between project goals and included recommendations.
Polishing a final deliverable
Once you have a solid draft, GenAI can perform an important copy-editing function: a final editorial sweep to hone the document’s language, tighten structure, and ensure a clear, polished flow.
Proofread and Check Grammar
One of the simplest yet most effective ways to use GenAI is for proofreading and grammar checking. These tools can quickly identify and correct issues such as typos, grammatical errors, and punctuation mistakes, ensuring your report is error-free and professional. Simply upload the report and ask GenAI to proofread.
Please proofread and correct any grammar and spelling errors in my market research report.
Enhance Language and Clarity
GenAI models can assist in improving the clarity and coherence of the report’s narrative. They can rephrase or rewrite sentences to enhance readability, reduce jargon, and simplify complex concepts for a broader audience. This is particularly useful in qualitative projects where the narrative needs to be compelling.
Rewrite the following sentence to make it clearer and more concise: In terms of the recent product launch that took place, it can be concluded that it was, indeed, met with a level of success that exceeded our initial expectations.
The recent product launch was a great success, surpassing our initial expectations.
Ensure Consistent Structure and Format
Maintaining consistent formatting and structure is important for report readability, especially when multiple members of a project team contribute to the final deliverable. GenAI can help standardize the report, ensuring that it adheres to industry standards or company guidelines. This consistency makes it easier for readers to navigate and comprehend the content.
This report had multiple contributors but needs to be consistent. Please review and identify any inconsistencies in tone, voice, tense, or style.
Looking to the Future
GenAI has the potential to revolutionize the way we create and polish market research reports. By embracing GenAI and integrating it into your research process, you can not only save time and effort but also provide more valuable insights to your clients or stakeholders.
AI is not a replacement for human expertise; it is a powerful ally that can enhance the quality and impact of your market research reports. It’s important to remember that GenAI can hallucinate and make mistakes, so a human review of final drafts before publishing is always recommended.
As AI continues to advance, its role in market research will likely become even more prominent, making our work as researchers more efficient and impactful. In our final installment, we’ll dive into how GenAI unlocks new potential to augment traditional market research, synthesizing supplemental insights from existing data to uncover additional perspectives and strategic value.
Reach out to us today at [email protected] to learn more about how GenAI can help optimize your research projects.
Read more in our AI for Market Research series
Part 1: Objectives, Onboarding, Methodology
Part 2: Methodology Selection + Participant Screening
Part 3: Data Collection Instruments
Part 4: Quality Control + Preliminary Findings
Part 5: Final Deliverables
Part 6: The Future + Synth Data (Coming Soon)