Standard market research can seem like the promised land.
We can see the future laid out before us in that nice, thick report. Whether it’s quantitative or qualitative, it’s just so damned sure of itself. All those numbers marching in line. All those neat charts and graphs. All that data justifying itself. It just seems so irrefutable.
But it’s a mirage. Conventional market research is a myth. The idea that questions answered on a questionnaire or discussed in a focus group can provide useful insights on which to base business decisions is dangerous.