One of the most fascinating aspects of research is its omnipresence. The practice of gathering data, analysing it and generating insight be applied in a staggering variety of setting — from science to social studies, business to politics and beyond. As well as its multitude of applications, research can also draw on a range of subject matter to improve and better the practice.
This means there is a lot of inspiration out there for researchers, and also a broad range of ways it can be applied. It is important to remember that research does not exist in a vacuum. It is surrounded by business operations, drawing on ideas that improve insight, process, communications and more. However, it can be easy to forget this — to fall into ‘research blinkers’ that narrow our field of view. These quotes have been collated to remind us of the unique, privileged position market research occupies and provide a taste of fields it can lean on.
The Role of Market Research
- “Research is creating new knowledge.” — Neil Armstrong
- “If we knew what were doing it wouldn’t be called research.” — Albert Einstein
- “Research is formalized curiosity, it is poking and prying with a purpose.” -Zora Neale Hurston
- “Advertising people who ignore research are as dangerous as generals who ignore decodes of enemy signals.” — David Ogilvy
- “Research is what I’m doing when I don’t know what I’m doing.” — Wernher von Braun
- “Bad news sells papers. It also sells market research.” — Bryon Sharp
- “Research is to see what everybody else has seen, and to think what nobody else has thought.” — Albert Szent-Gyorgyi
- “What is research but a blind date with knowledge?” — Will Harvey
- “When research walks on the field, judgment does not walk off.” — Dick Kampe
Generating Insight from Research
- “A moment’s insight is sometimes worth a life’s experience.” — Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
- “There is a great difference between knowing and understanding: you can know a lot about something and not really understand it.” — Charles F. Kettering
- “If you want to understand today, you have to search yesterday.” — Pearl Buck
- “The best vision is insight.” — Malcolm Forbes
- “Understanding human needs is half the job of meeting them.” — Adlai E Jr Stevenson
- “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view.” — Harper Lee
- “There is nothing so terrible as activity without insight.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “The goal is to transform data into information, and information into insight.” — Carly Fiorina
- “In today’s complex and fast-moving world, what we need even more than foresight or hindsight is insight.” — Napoleon Bonaparte
Blending Research and Innovation
- “For good ideas and true innovation, you need human interaction, conflict, argument, debate.” — Margaret Hefferman
- “Innovation needs to be part of your culture. Customers are transforming faster than we are, and if we don’t catch up, we’re in trouble.” — Ian Schafer
- “It’s easy to come up with new ideas; the hard part is letting go of what worked for you two years ago, but will soon be out of date.” — Roger von Oech
- “I believe in innovation and that the way you get innovation is to fund research and learn the basic facts.” — Bill Gates
- “Innovation is the process of turning ideas into manufacturable and marketable form.” — Watts Humphrey
- “The enterprise that does not innovate ages and declines. And in a period of rapid change such as the present the decline will be fast.” — Peter Drucker
Integrating Voice of Customer Data
- “The customer’s perception is your reality.” — Kate Zabriskie
- “All of your customers are partners in your mission.” — Shep Hyken
- “More than 50% of innovation comes from the voice of the customer.” — Lou Rossi
- “Whoever understands the customer best, wins.” — Mike Gospe
- “When the customer comes first, the customer will last.” — Robert Half
- “Listening is hearing the needs of the customer, understanding those needs and making sure the company recognizes the opportunity they present.” -Frank Eliason
- “Everything starts with the customer.” — June Martin
What are your favourite market research quotes — did they make our list? Leave a comment below to let us know which research & insight quotes you think are best and join the conversation.
