The rise of Market Research has both powered and accompanied the rise of companies driven by principles of Scientific Management in which Algorithm and Data Management have replaced Intuition as the prime mover behind decision making. MR as a discipline can produce impressive tomes of data –cut every which way –and can be very rigorous and logical. As regards rigor, MR beats pure intuition. MR can also provide frameworks for analysis that provide new ways of thinking about current problems. As regards these frameworks, MR and Intuition are about equal. Where, however , MR falls flat on its face is in idea-generation, the life-blood of entrepreneurs.
Agree or disagree, I challenge you to recall reading about a start-up that grew out of its founders’ in-depth reading of MR tracts. I can’t think of one such story. What I do read about all the time is how companies germinate in the minds of entrepreneurs because of some “experiential deficit,” some perceived lacking in the particular experience of a particular person or small set of people. The person who started an Internet music company because he couldn’t get the songs he wanted on traditional radio, the person who started a shoe company because she couldn’t find comfy-yet-sexy high heels, and so on.
Market Research is important but not as the point of embarkation.
Agree? Disagree? Let me know.
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