Artificial Intelligence and User-Generated Data Are Transforming How Firms Come to Understand Customer Needs

We provide an overview of how artificial intelligence is transforming the identification, structuring, and prioritization of customer needs – known as the voice of the customer (VOC). First, we summarize how the VOC helps firms gain insights on using user-generated data. Second, we discuss the types of user-generated data and the challenges associated with analyzing each type of data. Third, we describe common methods, matched to the firms' goals and the structure of the data, that are used to analyze the VOC. Fourth, and most importantly, we map the methods to relevant applications, providing guidance to select the appropriate method to address the desired research questions.