Why Researchers are Turning to AI for Qualitative Research and Deeper Insights

Qualitative research has been a foundational tool for market researchers for decades, offering critical depth and context that quantitative data alone cannot provide. However, traditional qual methods—such as in-depth interviews (IDIs) and focus groups—have historically been expensive, time-consuming, and difficult to scale, making them inaccessible for many research teams operating under tight budgets and compressed timelines.

Today, advancements in AI-driven qual and asynchronous (async) methodologies are democratizing access to robust qualitative insights, allowing researchers to do more with less. Video open-ends (VOEs) and AI-moderated conversations are reshaping how brands collect, analyze, and act on consumer insights by making qual more scalable, cost-effective, and agile.

Suzy’s newest AI-moderated solution, Suzy Speaks, is taking the best pieces from traditional quant (i.e. scale and cost-effectiveness) and traditional qual (i.e. depth of insights captured). This new AI-powered methodology allows up to 10-minute conversations, allowing researchers to:

Define multiple open-ended questions
Control the AI’s probing depth and tone of voice
Gather richer, more dynamic insights at a fraction of the cost of traditional qual

This innovation empowers brands with deeper, more nuanced consumer understanding while keeping research timelines and budgets manageable.

The Shift from Data Volume to Data Meaning

In today’s data-saturated environment, brands are recognizing that more data does not always mean better insights. The challenge is not just collecting information but understanding it in a way that drives meaningful business decisions.

While quantitative surveys can track consumer sentiment, they lack the richness of human expression. Async qual tools like VOEs and AI-driven conversations provide the missing context behind the numbers, offering researchers real consumer voices and stories at scale.

The ability to control the AI moderator’s tone and probing depth within Suzy’s new AI-moderated qual tool ensures that responses remain highly relevant and tailored to research objectives. This allows brands to ask deeper follow-up questions in real time, mimicking the experience of a live IDI—but at a fraction of the cost.

For instance, consider the following potential use cases of Suzy Speaks:

Scenario	How Suzy Speaks could help
A CPG brand evaluating packaging concepts	Understand first impressions Probe deeper into visual appeal and readability Explore how packaging influences purchase decisions
A tech company refining a mobile app interface	Uncover how users feel about the app experience Get immediate feedback on usability, pain points, and feature desirability Test iterations quickly and understand how they impact the experience
A food & beverage company understanding the drivers of loyalty	Capture the emotive reasons why affinity exists towards certain brands Deep understanding how consumers view your brand Pinpoint the reasons and rationale for what makes consumers switch
A retail or ecommerce company testing promotional effectiveness	Capture the live reaction as shoppers experience the promotional assets Understand the effectiveness and how consumers interact with the digital or in-store promotions Discover how the new promotion impacts the path-to-purchase journey
A retail banking team testing campaign and communications concepts	Uncover the emotive reactions towards different concepts Understand the effectiveness and potential challenges of each concept prior to launch Discover how each concept impacts consumer trust & sentiment towards the bank or offering

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The result? More actionable insights—without the need for time-consuming, expensive focus groups.

Tech-Enabled Makes It More Scalable

One of the biggest barriers to conducting qual research has always been scalability. Traditional qual requires:

Recruitment efforts to find the right participants
Scheduling coordination across multiple time zones
Trained moderators to conduct live sessions
Weeks of manual analysis to extract insights

These logistical hurdles make qual research prohibitively expensive and resource-intensive for many brands. Particularly challenging when market research budgets are being squeezed.

With AI-driven qual, brands can now:
✅ Run multiple simultaneous interviews without human moderators
✅ Engage with a broader, more diverse respondent pool
✅ Get results in days instead of weeks

✅ Capture rich, actionable insights at scale

Suzy’s AI-moderated conversations remove these roadblocks, making the capture of rich insights accessible to brands of all sizes. This democratization means that even research teams with limited budgets and small teams can conduct deep consumer research at scale.

Blending Methodologies for Holistic Insights

The most effective research strategies combine a range of methodologies to deliver scale, depth, and speed to insights. A blended approach ensures that brands:

Validate broad trends with data
Uncover the human stories behind the numbers

For example, consider this mix of methodologies:

Scenario	How Suzy Speaks could help
A retailer launching a new loyalty program	Run a quant survey to measure appeal across demographics Follow up with AI-moderated interviews to explore customer motivations Iterate the program based on both data and emotional insights
A beauty brand iterating and testing consumer reactions to a new skincare ingredient	Deploy quant survey to gauge Initial reactions to the ingredient and benefits Uncover rich emotional reactions with AI-moderate interviews Run live product testing to capture reactions and stories
A media or entertainment company preparing to launch new content	Leverage quant surveys to gather high-level reactions and intent to consume Next, use AI-moderated interviews to collect live reactions to new content Deploy tracking studies to uncover how the content impacted perceptions over time

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This seamless integration of multiple methodologies enables faster, smarter decision-making, reducing risk and maximizing impact.

Conclusion

Qual research is no longer a "nice-to-have"—it’s an essential part of modern market research. VOEs, AI-moderated conversations, and other async qual tools are democratizing access to rich consumer insights, allowing researchers to gather robust, actionable data—without the traditional barriers of time and cost.

With Suzy’s AI-moderated methodology, researchers can control question flow, customize AI probing, and collect deeper insights—fast. The future of qual research is agile, scalable, and accessible, ensuring that brands can listen deeply, iterate quickly, and act with confidence in today’s fast-moving market.

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