5 Market Research Techniques to Identify Consumers' Unmet Needs

In fierce market competition, businesses need to stay on their toes to identify opportunities for growth. The need to outgrow competitors has aggravated the demand for market research to identify customers’ unmet requirements. These are problems faced by customers that are not yet solved by a business. Basically, the challenge lies in ideating ways to meet such needs and gain the market share of unsatisfied and untapped audiences. Of course, researching such customer needs is not a simple task, and so many rely on leading market research companies in India. If you too are wondering about the kinds of market research techniques these market research agencies use, you are in the right place. In this blog, we will discuss five market research techniques for identifying the unmet needs of consumers.

Identifying Consumers' Unmet Needs

The unmet needs are a result of varied sources identified as product feature issues, inappropriate user experiences, pricing problems, or unresolved complaints. These matters are areas of potential for growth for any company serious about offering the best to their consumers. It helps companies stay competitive in the business and establish brand identity. To discover such consumer needs, marketing research agencies employ techniques such as:

Check Industry Trends

Staying updated with industry trends is crucial for understanding consumers’ desires. The top marketing research companies in India conduct trend analysis in business research. It not only helps companies understand historical trends but also make informed estimates about the future. It helps unearth solutions to customers’ unmet needs. 

Direct Surveys

The purpose of direct surveys among the target audience is to get a deeper insight into their needs. It allows the flexibility of asking open-ended or close-ended questions, which helps businesses learn about consumer’s issues in their own words and helps serve as validation of assumptions. By doing these surveys, you will get closer to the actual needs of the customers and use the data to offer solutions. 

Online Diaries and Mobile Ethnography

By stepping into the shoes of their customers, market research firms can identify with the issues of their audiences. They can learn how consumers are using their products and services in great detail and uncover areas for improvement.

Mining the Data

Data mining is considered an excellent source of customers’ opinions. By analyzing the data on various platforms, companies can extract meaningful insights about dissatisfaction and then devise business strategies.

In home Product Usage Testing 

Another way to enumerate the solutions to unmet needs is by understanding how customers are using their products and services in real life. It will help the companies to identify loopholes and redefine their product features for the customers’ benefit. 

Final Word

If explored properly, customers’ unmet needs can be a valuable source for expanding market share for a business. For companies interested in uncovering this critical data point, partnering with reliable marketing research companies in India just makes sense. With skilled market researchers and advanced research tools, they help in analysing valuable market data for companies to pivot and grow.