Corporate professionals and entrepreneurs aren’t immune to unconscious biases and cognitive distortions. After all, the same thinking patterns that drive our everyday behaviors also carry over into our work and influence our decision-making. 

As Andrew Campbell, co-author of Strategy at the Corporate Level, wrote in the Harvard Business Review, “The daunting reality is that enormously important decisions made by intelligent, responsible people with the best information and intentions are sometimes hopelessly flawed.”

Fortunately, there are systematic ways you can reduce the risk of mistakes. The first step is learning to recognize thinking errors in the first place. Here, we highlight three cognitive distortions that can damage your business strategy and explain how to circumvent them.

Today it seems like every brand is doing it: content marketing. Gone are the days of simply taking out an ad with a product as the hero image and some expressively, and expensively, crafted benefits copy to sell. Now brands need to tell stories about their products and what unique differences they offer to the customer. So content marketing has become the medium to deliver the message.

There’s been a lot of coverage in the popular press in recent years about how thinking comprises two different modes — one mode that is very conscious and slow, and another one that occurs quickly, without conscious attention (Kahneman, 2011). The idea of “two modes of thinking” is not really a new idea,[1] but it may actually be of critical importance for market researchers.

Why? Because if there are two modes of thinking, which one are consumers using when they participate in market research? And which ones are they using when they shop and purchase? And does it vary by category? If these modes really do affect how people think, market researchers who pay attention to them will be able to generate even more powerful insights into consumer behavior. 

Back in 1954 in the classic business book The Practice of Management, Peter Drucker wrote:

"Because the purpose of business is to create a customer, the business enterprise has two — and only two — basic functions: marketing and innovation. Marketing and innovation produce results; all the rest are costs. Marketing is the distinguishing, unique function of the business."

Yet how many businesses manage, staff, and budget their marketing departments as their ultimate competitive weapon? Are businesses failing to thrive because their marketing departments lack the proper “nutrition” in the form of market research to use to create innovative marketing strategies and tactics?

There’s a sentiment in some quarters that applying technology to market research, particularly automation, is either out of scope, or introduces sampling or methodological variability. As a result, an amazing amount of mundane survey setup, and data integration, and reporting remains manually done. This is rather silly given the rich complement of technology available to take that off of market researchers’ hands, and frankly, assure greater accuracy.  

Corporations are hungry to know more and more about consumers, but gathering the right blend of data and analysis — in a time-efficient manner while also managing costs — is becoming ever more complex.

When asked to identify the biggest challenges in her day-to-day work, Tracy Paukstys, Senior Director of Client Development at Insights in Marketing, replied that “Clients are tasked with getting richer and more impactful consumer insights despite often more restrictive budgets and timing.” She noted that this “seems to be the norm more than the exception.”

Where would Wheaties be without Michael Jordan? Taco Bell without Gidget, the talking Chihuahua? Or even the “Can you hear me now?” guy from Verizon Wireless? These spokespeople are iconic. They have helped brands personify themselves, leaving lasting and memorable impressions on their target consumers. So, what do a sports legend, a Spanish speaking dog and a tech nerd with glasses have in common? Likeability.

Once you have found that great idea for your business, it’s crucial to determine whether your product or service can meet the needs of your target customers and achieve sustained growth. Big brand companies have the resources to spend millions of dollars on research and development every year, but start-ups and small businesses have much tighter budgets.

Fortunately, with a strategic approach and the right tools and resources, you can obtain the market research you need to minimize risk and increase your chances of financial success. Follow these tips to make the most of your start-up research budget.

Prior to launching in 2000, JetBlue identified a variety of unmet consumer needs. Its market analysis showed that airline passengers were willing to pass on hot meals and first-class cabins in favor of in-flight entertainment and upgraded leather seating.

JetBlue understood that its target customers were looking for more than cheap tickets — they also wanted a relaxing in-flight experience and a few unique amenities. With a mission to “bring humanity back to air travel,” JetBlue soon drew a loyal following of customers. Less than two years after it opened for business, JetBlue was one of the few U.S. airlines to make a profit during the steep drop in air travel following the September 11 attacks.

A Director of Marketing at a major consumer-goods company calls a research supplier and explains that she needs to do a project on potential customers. She wants to conduct several focus groups with people within a specific age range who spend a certain dollar amount on competitor’s products. She says she wants these groups done in three major cities in the U.S., and, after asking if the research supplier has any questions, ends the call. The supplier hangs up the phone and starts to get together costs for the study. The research that is then conducted conforms exactly to these specifications, and the final report is delivered on time. Nice story, right?