My day as a UGA Masters of Marketing Research (MMR) student begins with a morning walk to campus. I live just a 25-minute walk away, which is a real perk compared to living far from campus. Today, I decided to take a little detour from my usual route and stopped by Independent Bakery, a spot my professor recently recommended. After picking up a pastry, I continued my walk to class, feeling energized and ready for the day.
Kicking Off the Day with a Focus Group
On Wednesday mornings, my first class is actually a scheduled focus group session for my Qualitative Research class. Each week, a different student in our class hosts the focus group, exploring a unique topic. This week, my classmate Annabel took the lead with the topic of influencers.
Annabel did a fantastic job probing us on our perceptions of influencers, diving into what makes an influencer “good” or “bad.” The real twist came when she introduced us to the concept of AI influencers—a topic I wasn’t super familiar with. When she showed us some examples, it was definitely unsettling; the whole experience gave off serious “uncanny valley” vibes. I later shared my thoughts with her, saying that I might be more comfortable with AI influencers if they leaned more toward the fictional side. It’s when technology tries too hard to mimic human behavior that things get a bit eerie.
After the focus group, we regrouped in class to discuss one key insight, one strength, and one weakness from the session. It’s always interesting to hear different perspectives and see how each student approaches the topic of the week.
Diving into Market Research Tools
After a short break, it was time for my next class: Market Research Tools. This class is all about mastering the technical skills essential for market researchers, including SQL, Qualtrics, and R Studio. Today, we focused on learning more about AYTM (Ask Your Target Market), an online survey tool that helps us collect and analyze consumer insights.
We also had three student presentations that brought some great discussions into the mix. One presentation provided insights into the winter holiday season, exploring consumer behaviors and trends, while another focused on convenience stores and how they fit into our everyday lives. I love this part of the class because it not only reinforces what we’re learning but also showcases how versatile and relevant market research is in different industries.
Wrapping Up the Day
By the time class ended, I felt both inspired and a bit exhausted—typical for a day in the life of an MMR student! There’s always something new to learn, whether it's a cutting-edge market research tool or gaining fresh insights from a classmate's presentation. Each day brings its own set of challenges and opportunities to grow, and that's what makes this program so rewarding.
