Has the Market Research Industry Forgotten What It’s For?

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Market research was originally born out of the hard-nosed discipline of business realism. The bridge between boardroom goals and consumer truths. But somewhere along the way, the market research sector lost sight of an essential purpose: helping companies sell more goods and services.

The insights industry has evolved into a more nuanced practice, focusing on human empathy, storytelling, and multi-layered understanding. Great when that’s the goal, but where commercial impact is the reason clients commission research, this has increasingly been obscured by methodology, psychology, and even performative intellectualism.

The Cult of Insight Over Action

The first problem is cultural. Some modern researchers prefer to see themselves as discoverers of deep human truths, not as sales enablers. Researchers talk about “connecting brands to meaning,” “co-creating with consumers,” and “uncovering latent needs.” But these lofty phrases don’t always translate into practical steps that drive revenue.

Many agencies are driven by insight theatre, producing beautifully designed decks, catchy frameworks, and emotional videos that wow clients but don’t help to shift product. “Understanding” has replaced “selling” as the end goal, and intellectual prowess is rewarded over commercial impact.

Methodology as a Distraction

Methodological innovation has become another trap. Agencies compete on who can deploy the smartest techniques and the shiniest new tools, for example: ethnography, neuroscience, semiotics, cultural safaris, machine learning, and AI tools. These approaches are impressive and do have rigour and merit but often create distance between the research and the drive to sell goods and services.

Lots of methods will reveal “what people really think,” but can fail to clarify what the research buyer should do next to grow market share - a focus on method and research outcomes, but not on the commercial relevance to the end client. All of this allows agencies to be cutting-edge without being held accountable for results.

Misalignment

The market research industry can attract people who are analytically minded and intellectually curious, driven to unearth nuanced truths. Traits that make for great researchers, but not necessarily people who are comfortable driving commercial agendas. They can be more comfortable doing work that is intellectually worthy, and less so, playing a part in encouraging more people to buy a product or service.

As a result, the motivations of the researcher and the client can be misaligned. The client needs sales growth - the researcher wants intellectual satisfaction. A great research study gives the researcher prestige and personal satisfaction. A great sales quarter gives the client survival.

A Safe Distance from the Dirty Work of Selling

The research world can be guilty of viewing sales and selling as crude, manipulative, or overly commercial.

Researchers like to think of themselves as ‘the voice of the consumer’ - above the noise of buyer persuasion.

This positioning can create a psychological dissonance from the very act they are meant to support. When your professional identity is built on neutrality, detachment, and quasi-academic rigour, it’s hard to embrace the messy, emotional, and competitive reality of sales.

In short, researchers have fallen in love with understanding people, but not with helping clients sell more stuff.

Reclaiming the Commercial Imperative

The irony is that genuine consumer understanding is most powerful when it’s positively exploited - when it informs sharper propositions, clearer messaging, and braver business decisions. But that only happens when researchers reconnect their craft to its ultimate purpose: to help with selling.

Market research must rediscover its entrepreneurial spirit. That means:

• Asking, in every project, “How will this help my client win or retain buyers?”
• Rewarding actionable outcomes, not just elegant insights.
• Getting the hiring mix right –the intellectually curious truth seekers working alongside those with an instinct for the commercial imperative.
• Getting comfortable with being advocates for sales, not neutral observers.

Brandspeak is a research agency built and run by researchers that recognise the need to join the dots between the research we deliver and the commercial imperative of the companies and organisations we work for. Our focus is on guiding our clients as to what they can and should do to win and retain buyers. It’s for this reason that we developed a suite of research tools that put the commercial reality at the heart of every project: 

Find out more about GrowthTrack, our alternative to traditional brand tracking.

Find out more about our next generation ad testing research tool GrowthTest here.