10 excuses for not conducting market research

Many people love excuses, and a fair few of us love lists too. So, here are 10 excuses that I have heard of over the years for why you would not want to conduct market research. Along with some thoughts about maybe why you actually should.

In the current Coronavirus pandemic, it is easier than ever to get side-tracked and forget about some of the fundamentals of marketing. Market research is one of those building blocks for your business, arguably one of the foundations on which your business should be based. So, perhaps not something to overlook even at this strange time.

Anyway, here then, are 10 reasons given by businesses or by individuals to not to carry out market research.

1. We don’t have the money: This is a common argument, and many businesses do work to tighter and tighter budgets it is true. It seems to make sense that you’d rather spend your money on advertising or sales resources. However, without good insights you really don’t know how best to spend that advertising money do you, nor if it is actually the best thing to do in the first place? With your ￡100,000 marketing budget, would it be sensible to spend just a small percentage of that checking that the rest of your money was actually being spent wisely?

2. We don’t have the time: A graphic designer friend of mine used to say “There is never enough time to check the proof, but there’ll always be enough time to reprint the leaflet.” What he meant here was that errors made earlier in the process, especially due to lack of time, are even more costly further down the line. And although you never think you have the time, later, when it’s all gone horribly wrong, you realise you’ll have to find the time after all. So, maybe it is better find the time to start with?

3. Our competitors don’t do it: A great excuse this one, but surely it gives you a chance to get ahead of those somewhat lethargic competitors of yours? That is, of course, if they are still in business. And how do you know that they don't do it, is that what they told you? And you believed them? It's not like you are competing with them is it... wait a minute.

4. My boss hasn’t asked me to do it: Why make yourself even busier? If no one has asked you to do something then why would you create more work for yourself? That would be pretty stupid, right? Of course, your boss hasn’t asked you to conduct any market research recently because either he/she is not actually that customer-focused (Hint: that's your job!) or else more likely he/she thinks it’s the sort of thing you should be able to figure out for yourself. This is chance to prove you can actually work out the really important stuff all on your own.

5. I’ll have to think about a brief and everything else besides: A variation on the ‘no time’ argument (see above). This might require you to think more holistically, or more strategically about your business. Is that really such a bad thing? Clearly not. So really this is a win-win. Even if you never actually go ahead with the research, you will have spent time thinking about your most critical issues. That has to be a very good thing.

6. There’ll be so much to do: Of course there will. Like digesting a whole lot of valuable information about what prospects think about your brand, product, services or business; why they choose someone else; and what you can do to ensure you are still trading successfully in another 12 months time. Of course, if you are working with a competent market research consultancy they will take away an awful lot of the hard graft from you anyway. So, is that still a reasonable excuse?

7. I know my market/customers/prospects anyway: This is also known as the ‘Don’t research anything you don’t already know the answer to’ argument. It’s an interesting approach, but many a business has adopted this only to be blindsided by something that was happening in their sector that they had completely missed. They may have been talking to only a very small group of their own customers, who were not at all representative of the market as a whole. Or perhaps talking to a group of people who just didn't fully understand the current product offer. Or even talking to customers who didn't want to upset them by telling them a few home truths. Sometimes therefore it is beneficial to get a totally independent and objective view of your market situation.

8. It will give me bad news: The good thing about market research is it is likely to tell you things you already know, in other words it may confirm your hunches. The even better thing about market research is that it will tell you things you probably didn’t know. Some would say it will give out bad news. Of course, no one wants to get bad news, right? The thing is, it is probably better to find out the bad news now, yourself, rather than later on via your line manager, director or VP. Unless you already have a plan for that…

9. I’ve run out of room on my window sill: Yes admit it, you really do know people who only ever put their market research reports on their office window sill. They never actually read the things. They are there to prove they did it, like another little annoyance they have ‘ticked off' their to-do list this month. If you are one of them you may indeed have no more room on your window sill. But remember, there are likely to be some clear action points arising from that last piece of market research. Are you sure you have considered them all? And what exactly might have changed in your industry sector since you last glanced at that dusty document?

10. We didn’t do any last year, so why do any this year: Finally, we’ve reached number ten, good old inertia. Some might say "We’ve never done it, so why start now", but others would at least acknowledge that getting away with it last year means we can’t really get away with it again this year, can we? Again, this argument makes sense if you are planning to exit your particular role or business very soon. Markets and sectors change and even more so in a time of a global pandemic. What held true a year ago may not be relevant anymore. Technology change means that what was impossible 5 years ago is the accepted normal way of doing things today. So, if you do see a future for yourself in your current role, then you may feel that running your company, products or brand “blind” for another 12 months does have some considerable risks to it.

So there we have them, 10 excuses not do any market research, but also some things to consider as to why that may not be such a good idea after all.

About the Author

Paul Latimer is an experienced market researcher, having held a number of marketing roles in a wide variety of industries he moved over to focus on market research from the agency side in 2004, before setting up his own market research consultancy, Latimer Appleby, in 2012. He is a graduate of the University of Birmingham, and holds several diplomas including those from the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), the Market Research Society (MRS) and the Institute of Data & Marketing. He is a Certified Member of the MRS, and a Fellow of the CIM.