As Forrester’s consumer behavior analyst, I’m going to say something controversial: The consumer does not need to be a part of every business decision.
There’s no shortage of supply or demand for consumer insights. In fact, the pandemic supercharged market research capabilities to create more efficient and cost-effective platforms and tools to gather those insights. Understanding the latest consumer behavior trends remains essential for companies — and US B2C marketing executives agree: Just 1% of them indicated this as a low priority according to Forrester’s Q2 2023 B2C Marketing CMO Pulse Survey.
While this is a good thing, overreliance on consumer insights can be bad for business:
- Business decisions will end up mired by analysis paralysis, creating a myopic view of the consumer.
- Business actions will lack vision, as much of consumer data looks backward, not forward.
That’s not to say that consumer insights aren’t important. They’re essential. But companies must consider the role they play in their businesses to make consumer insights matter. To learn more about this and how to apply insights to your decision-making, read my report When To Gather Consumer Insights and schedule a guidance session with me.
