Enterprises have been seduced by the idea that people know what they think and understand what they want.
But there is little legitimate data to support this notion and an ever-increasing body of evidence that flatly refutes it.
The current practice of market research to predict people’s buying decisions is a false science. By definition, it focuses on the wrong criteria - a conscious, logical thinking process when people almost never make buying decisions like that.
People make choices without thinking. They decide quickly and efficiently, with their unconscious minds. The more routine the behavior, the more unconscious.
Any research method that presumes that people can consciously account for their preferences is inherently flawed.