Lyndall Spooner, Founder and CEO of 5D and Chair of the upcoming ESOMAR Congress 2025, recently posed a challenging question to consumer insights and market researchers: “If you had to rebuild your industry from scratch, how much would you keep, and how much would you change?” This provocative inquiry reflects the current state of the insights industry, which is at a critical juncture.
The research sector, like many others, is grappling with three significant tensions: dedicated researchers committed to their craft, businesses that face mounting pressure to produce insights more rapidly and cost-effectively, and a world undergoing dramatic cultural, geopolitical, technological, and psychological transformations.
Now is the opportune moment to rethink the operations and outcomes of the industry. Rethinking entails moving away from traditional methods, embracing innovative perspectives, questioning established norms, and daring to explore new and emerging ideas.
However, it is essential to recognize that while progress is synonymous with change, not all change constitutes genuine progress. Innovations that compromise trust, diminish accuracy, or dilute comprehension should not be accepted. Should the industry embrace new research methodologies that yield only 70% of the current accuracy merely for the sake of speed or cost-effectiveness? Every individual in this space must ensure that advancements propel the industry forward rather than backward.
The aim of rethinking must be to enhance understanding rather than diminish it. In a world characterized by increasing complexity, efforts should focus on reinvention that clarifies insights rather than creates confusion or, worse, leads to misleading conclusions. The core principles of effective research—sound hypotheses, insightful questioning, innovative problem-solving, and rigorous analysis—remain critical for producing robust and actionable insights.
During this year”s Congress, numerous inspiring talks delved into the “why” behind human behavior through creative and human-centered approaches, welcoming complexity rather than oversimplifying it. These presentations guided participants on journeys of self-discovery, uncovering the deeper motivations and emotions that shape contemporary experiences.
In market research, the “why” has always served as the guiding principle. Among the five Ws—who, what, when, where, and why—the “why” stands out as both the most critical and the most challenging to address. To grasp why individuals make certain choices or hold specific beliefs, researchers must go beyond superficial answers. As experienced researchers recognize, respondents often struggle to articulate their true motivations without being prompted to engage in deep reflection.
The modern “why” is intricate and layered, making the reimagining of the industry all the more exhilarating. Researchers embody strategic thinking, creative exploration, and empathetic listening. They are disruptors and visionaries, viewing complexity not as a barrier but as a vital resource. Understanding today”s consumers involves acknowledging that there is no average, no straightforward path, and no simplistic model. The intricate nature of the world makes the researcher”s role profoundly significant.
Advancements in technology, particularly artificial intelligence, present remarkable new tools for the industry. Yet, tools alone cannot foster understanding. Much of the excitement surrounding AI stems from fear of missing out. The solution lies not in AI itself, but in leveraging imagination and empathy to pose questions that technology cannot answer—questions that reveal insights previously unseen.
To maintain an edge over technology in generating insights, researchers must delve deeper into the “why,” exploring lived experiences, human intuition, emotions, and cultural contexts. This journey involves innovating with integrity, experimenting purposefully, and embracing discomfort, as that is where true growth occurs.
Rethinking the industry does not mean abandoning established practices; rather, it aims to elevate them. Although the world will always be complex, the role of research has never been more crucial: to shed light on human complexity in ways that foster understanding and inspire action.
