One of the challenges that the market research industry faces is the lack of integration into the strategic decisionmaking function.

Historically, the industry has been tasked with execution of research that delivers data, but it has generally been shut out of the strategic role that it deserves. For example, market research is typically tasked with understanding the consumer mindset, testing consumer awareness and interest in a product, testing tactical marketing executions and reporting back into the decision chain. This tactical project focus, along with several other factors including the name “market research”, has placed insights into a corporate cul-de-sac and added to the commoditization trend.

Unfortunately, market research’s role does not span the breadth of the institusional decision chain. Instead, market research plays a limited role somewhere in the middle, after basic assumptions have been established, after key initial deicisons have been made, and generally before a final strategic directions has been chosen.

Instead of accepting this limited role, market researchers must work to expand their role with their clients and within the companies that employ them.

How?

One key is to examine and test the unstated initial assumptions made at the beginning of the decision chain. All too often the market research professional is brought in to test a series of tactical options based on questionable assumptions.

Market researchers are experts in formulating questions to analyze a topic. they focus this skill externally on target audiences. But, in order to gain a stronger footing within the corporate decision chain, they should also leverage their questioning skills internally by creating a process that examines the often unstated assumptions upon which their research is commissioned.