# Missing: Why Fractured Data Is Killing Market Research

What does the massive consolidation in the MR industry indicate?

by Catherine Gutierrez  
VP of Marketing at MFour

Picture this.

You’re standing in front of the CEO. He pulls off a pair of black-rimmed glasses, rubs his eyes where they once framed his face, and asks: “Why is our foot traffic down?”

_Uh oh_.

You need to answer that. Fast.

But you’re stumped. The survey data and foot traffic you’re looking at clearly contradict. Ugh, this is going to be a wild goose chase. You’ll need to need to sort through six different data platforms to figure out what’s _really_ going on. Right now, you can’t trust what you’re seeing.

_Yuck_.

This sticky situation sounds all-too-familiar. Marketing attribution is hard, and it gets a whole lot harder once it’s mixed with fractured data. Yet, that’s just how it’s been. Market research has been so niche for so long, it’s forgotten the value of a single-source platform.

Until now.

You can see it too, I bet. In the past four years, there’s been a massive consolidation, and that can only mean one thing. The market is finally demanding suppliers take a holistic approach to measure the consumer experience, and without silos or “islands of information”.

_Phew_.

It’s about time.

#### Here’s the back story

I’ll show you what’s happening.

But, before I do, you’ll want to know where the problem began. See, companies have always used stated surveys to talk about trends. They tell you what people are saying. But, with the onset of fraud, researchers began to wonder if consumers said what was _actually_ happening.

So, then data came into play.

Suddenly, you could capture insights on apps, sites, and stores. But there’s no life behind this data. It can show you some trends, which are nice to see, but it can’t tell you _why_ people are taking certain actions. For that, you need a consumer panel that combines behaviors and opinions from the same person, because [context is everything](https://mfour.com/blog/get-better-data-6-things-you-need-to-know/).

#### Now is the time