New Delhi: Honesty in marketing products is of utmost importance, said Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs & Food & Public Distribution and Textiles, while delivering keynote address during the unveiling of the latest figures for the Indian Consumer Research and Insights Industry at Market Research Society of India’s (MRSI), 30th Annual Market Research Seminar held here recently.
While urging the industry to adopt new technologies and practical ways to deliver hard but intelligent facts, Goyal said that misleading advertisements violate the rights of consumers and therefore, he stressed that there must be self-regulation and code of ethics which is implemented in the industry for efficient and credible functioning. He encouraged the industry to focus more on self-regulation and to further expand the size of the industry to ensure that at least a million more people become a part of it.
Talking about the surveys taken by the industry, Goyal said that the entire market research industry in India has matured significantly in the last few years. There’s a lot more use of technology, more analytical skills and AI being used. He opined that the industry can come up with insightful researches on areas concerning Commerce & Industry for example which areas one should be investing in, where the export markets are or where a plant should be located ideally.
Similarly, he mentions how during Covid period, India through its flagship schemes of National Food Security Act (NFSA) and Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana (PMGKAY) ensured that no child remained hungry. He said that India, probably, is the only country in the whole world to do so. Around 80 Crore people are being covered under the Public Distribution System and the feedback on such schemes comes from the industry.
Adding on he said that while technology should be adopted and encouraged, doing physical surveys especially in a country like India, where dialect differs within the state, should also be encouraged. He said that online surveys in rural areas may not be able to lock the essence of the response due to varied class, dialect and other reasons, a physical survey will help in understanding the response of people on ground.
“Given the complexities of a large and diverse nation like India, we must adopt technology intelligently, smartly and make sure that we don’t lose the essence of our work in the outcomes. The market research should have real resonance on the ground,” said Goyal.
“If we get good feedback on the concerns of our consumers, we will be in a position to regulate businesses better to serve consumer interests, get more investment into India to meet the demand and needs of Indian consumers,” he added.
