One of the biggest challenges in market research is making sure people are telling us the truth. Beyond intentional lying, people frequently don’t realize they’re not telling the truth. For example, people think they always make decisions based on logic only (and they don’t). And they over-estimate how “virtuous” they will be, whether it comes to eating or saving or variety of other activities.
We have a variety of ways to get around that problem. One favorite: asking people what other people think or say or do – not them. Another is ethnographic research: observing
people’s behavior in real life, whether at home or at work or while shopping. This type of research helps us learn more about customers and prospects: we get to see what they really do, including the things that contradict what they say they do. And we can more fully understand the context of how our product or service fits into their lives.