marketing

When Hearing the Customer is No Longer the Hard Part

Why interpretation matters more as AI gets better at listening.

For a long time, market research required a great deal of work simply to capture and make sense of what customers were saying – recruiting participants, conducting interviews and groups, transcribing conversations, coding responses and identifying patterns.

AI is making much of that faster and easier. It can capture conversations, organize large amounts of customer input, identify recurring themes and summarize what people are saying – often remarkably quickly.

Which raises the question: If AI can capture, organize and summarize customer input faster and more cheaply, how can we researchers still provide value to our clients?

I think the answer lies in interpretation. Because knowing what customers said is not the same as understanding what it means.

Interpretation can take many forms. It might mean recognizing that two seemingly contradictory findings reflect legitimate needs pulling customers in different directions. It might mean realizing that the reason customers give for a choice isn’t necessarily the factor actually distinguishing one option from another. Or it might mean seeing that a frequently mentioned issue is less important to the decision than a quieter finding that changes how we understand the whole situation.

In each case, the value isn’t simply in identifying the pattern. It’s in putting forward an explanation of what the pattern means and why it matters. What needs, values or competing priorities might explain what we’re seeing? What is the underlying story? And, perhaps most important, does that interpretation help make a decision clearer?

One simple way to make that jump is to treat an interpretation as a hypothesis rather than a conclusion. Instead of asking only “What did we hear?”, ask “What would explain why we heard this?” Then look back across the research for evidence that supports, complicates or contradicts that explanation.

  • For example, imagine customers repeatedly say that a company’s range of options feels overwhelming. The obvious conclusion might be that they want fewer choices. But perhaps, across the interviews, you also hear people worrying about missing an important feature, comparing options repeatedly, or wanting reassurance that they’ve made the right decision. That suggests a different interpretation: the problem may not be too much choice itself, but anxiety about choosing incorrectly.
  • That distinction matters because it leads to a different response. Instead of simply reducing the number of options, the company might make choosing feel safer through better guidance, recommendations or reassurance.

A useful way to think about the process is:

  • What did we hear?
  • What might explain it?
  • What else in the research supports or challenges that explanation?
  • If we’re right, what should the client do differently?

That final question is an important test. If the interpretation doesn’t change how we understand the situation or what the client might do, we may still be describing the findings rather than interpreting them.

That’s also why interpretation is difficult to automate completely. AI can contribute, but interpretation requires judgment – deciding which patterns matter, testing possible explanations against the evidence, and taking a point of view about what the findings mean.

In other words, the researcher’s role may be shifting from primarily bringing the voice of the customer into the room to helping the organization understand what that voice is actually telling them.

I’ll be exploring that idea at the ESOMAR Congress 2026 in Valencia next week in a presentation called “Beyond the Voice of the Customer: The Rise of the Insight Interpreter.” It feels like an appropriate topic for a conference whose theme this year is Metamorphosis. Research is changing quickly. The opportunity is to make sure our role changes with it.

Do you have customer input that’s easy to summarize but harder to interpret? I’d be happy to help. Contact me at info at bureauwest.com

Posted on by Jay Zaltzman

What customer contradictions can tell us

Why the gap between what customers say and what they do can be more revealing than it first appears.

Many people say that sustainability matters to them. They may worry about excess packaging, the environmental cost of shipping, and the larger consequences of a culture built around instant consumption. They may feel uneasy when a small item arrives in an oversized box, surrounded by cardboard, plastic, and air pillows.

And yet many of those same people will choose next-day delivery when it is available.

It is tempting to interpret that gap as evidence that sustainability does not really matter to them. After all, when customers are given a choice between a greener option and a faster one, the faster one often wins. But that doesn’t give us the whole story.

  • A stated value doesn’t have to determine every choice in order to be real. In many cases, it is competing with something else that is also meaningful to the customer. Next-day delivery is not simply about speed. It can make someone feel prepared, organized, or in control. It can reduce the worry that an item will not arrive in time. It can be especially appealing when life feels busy or unpredictable, or when a customer simply does not want one more thing to manage.

The customer may care about sustainability. They may also care about the reassurance that comes from knowing an item is on its way and will arrive tomorrow. That is why it can be useful to look at the choice as a tension rather than a contradiction: between a longer-term value – reducing environmental impact – and an immediate need for certainty, convenience, or control.

  • Customers may manage that tension in different ways. One person may decide that one package will not make much difference. Another may tell themselves that the truck is already making deliveries in their neighborhood. Someone else may acknowledge the environmental cost but decide that, in this instance, speed matters more.

For researchers, the point is not to excuse the choice or to conclude that what customers say is meaningless. It is to understand what the more sustainable option is asking them to give up.

  • That requires going beyond questions such as, “How important is sustainability to you?” We also need to ask: What would make you hesitate before choosing slower delivery? What would you lose by waiting? What would make the lower-impact option feel like a reasonable choice rather than a sacrifice?
  • Those questions can reveal whether the real issue is urgency, habit, cost, uncertainty, or a desire to feel in control. And that distinction matters for companies trying to encourage a different behavior.
  • If the barrier is uncertainty, clearer delivery windows and better tracking may matter more than an environmental message. If it is control, giving customers more options to schedule or redirect deliveries may help. If it is habit, a well-designed prompt at checkout may be enough to make people pause and reconsider.

Understanding the tension does not guarantee that customers will choose the option a company hopes to encourage. But it gives companies a more useful place to start: identifying what customers would need to gain – or no longer feel they are giving up – for that option to become genuinely attractive.

Let’s explore the tradeoffs behind your customers’ decisions and what they mean for your strategy. Contact me at info at bureauwest.com

Posted on by Jay Zaltzman

Wellness Thinking – The New Consumer Default

Marketers tend to think of “health and wellness” as a category. But for many consumers, it has become a worldview – a filter they use to evaluate nearly every part of life, from how they shop to how they work and spend time online.

Today, wellness isn’t just about smoothies and supplements. It’s about living with balance, protecting mental space, and feeling in control. And that shift is quietly redefining what people expect from every brand, not just those in the health sector.

This shift toward wellness as worldview isn’t just cultural, it’s psychological. The way people define “healthy” now overlaps with how they define “good design,” “trustworthy brand,” and “worth my time.” Below, I outline three big mindset changes driving that overlap: how people filter everyday experiences through emotional wellbeing, how they seek balance over intensity, and how they treat calm and longevity as modern status symbols.

Wellness as a lens on daily life

Recent consumer research finds that most people now see wellness as a continuous, personalized practice rather than a set of isolated activities. It’s not limited to diet, exercise, or meditation – it’s about how every choice affects energy, focus, mood, and a sense of control.

  • For many, wellness shows up in small, everyday decisions: choosing a digital service that doesn’t bombard them with notifications, preferring retailers that feel calm and organized, or seeking travel experiences that help them recharge instead of overschedule. Even outside the wellness industry, people now notice whether brands add to their equilibrium or disturb it.
  • This means that every interaction – a checkout flow, a customer-service email, a loyalty program – is being subconsciously evaluated for its emotional effect. Frustration, confusion, or overwhelm feel like costs; clarity and ease are benefits.
  • Takeaway: To resonate, brands need to feel restorative rather than draining. Streamlined design, transparent pricing, and gentle communication cues (like pauses, reassurance, or clear summaries) convey emotional intelligence. Even minor friction – a confusing menu, a manipulative pop-up – signals that a company is out of sync with modern consumer values.

Finding balance

Earlier waves of wellness culture celebrated optimization: faster, stronger, leaner, “10X better.” But as burnout and overstimulation have become part of everyday life, many consumers now define wellness as balance and boundary-setting rather than endless striving.

  • Gen Z in particular blends wellness with self-protection. Routines such as digital detoxes, mindfulness breaks, and prioritizing rest are less about peak performance and more about managing inputs and maintaining stability. People are increasingly skeptical of brands that encourage overextension or perpetual urgency.
  • Instead, they value products, services, and experiences that simplify decisions and help them manage attention, time, and mental load. A software platform that makes workflows less chaotic, a retailer that organizes choices clearly, or a financial app that reduces anxiety all meet the deeper need for self-regulation.
  • Takeaway: Marketers outside wellness can translate this by designing experiences that remove friction and return control to customers. Replace “act now” messaging with “take a moment” language. Frame tools and services as ways to protect time, not consume it. The brands that feel like partners in calm, not triggers for pressure, will win loyalty in an age of cognitive overload.

Status through mental peace

Wellness has also become a new marker of success. Where past generations signaled status through accumulation or busyness, today’s symbols of prestige are emotional composure, longevity, and mental peace.

  • Cultural conversations about longevity – from biohacking and anti-aging supplements to sleep tracking and stress reduction – show that people increasingly equate being in control of their wellbeing with intelligence, responsibility, and even moral worth. To “age well,” “stay calm,” or “future-proof yourself” communicates discernment.
  • For affluent consumers, longevity is the new luxury. For everyone else, balance is aspirational. Calm confidence signals power in a chaotic world. Brands that help people feel centered, future-ready, and emotionally steady tap into a powerful new form of aspiration – one less about status display and more about self-possession.
  • Takeaway: Marketers can align with this by showing how their offerings support agency and composure. Position products as tools for protecting future wellbeing (“set yourself up for tomorrow”), use serene visual language, and highlight clarity and trustworthiness. The emotional promise is not “we’ll energize you” but “we’ll help you stay grounded.” In a culture overwhelmed by acceleration, calm itself has become aspirational.

What this means for marketers:

  • Design for emotional climate. Treat your website, store, or service flow as part of your customer’s mental landscape. Test for stress as rigorously as you test for usability.
  • Build micro-restorative moments. A clear confirmation message or a well-timed pause can have the same psychological impact as a breath in meditation.
  • Make balance the hero. Replace narratives of busyness and optimization with ones of clarity, control, and sustainable progress.
  • Connect with the “future-self” story. Help customers feel they’re investing in a version of themselves who’s calm, capable, and well.
  • Show transparency and steadiness. A composed tone and visible integrity are today’s trust signals.

Wellness is no longer a niche; it’s the emotional infrastructure of modern life. Every brand is now part of someone’s wellbeing ecosystem – whether intentionally or not. Make sure your brand contributes to your customers’ well-being rather than increasing their stress. Let’s discuss how to do that! Contact me at info at bureauwest.com .

Sources: McKinsey & Company “Future of Wellness 2025”, NielsenIQ “Global State of Health & Wellness 2025”, Euromonitor “Healthy Longevity and Embedded Wellness Lifestyles”, Vogue Business “2025’s Hottest Trend: Living Longer”

Posted on by Jay Zaltzman

Cultural pitfalls when selling to US customers

From the outside, the US can look like a wide-open market: large, affluent, and English-speaking. But many international brands have learned the hard way that what works at home doesn’t always land with American customers. Even globally sophisticated companies have stumbled by overlooking cultural cues, customer expectations, or just how different the US really is.

Some examples:

  • When UK supermarket giant Tesco launched Fresh & Easy in the Western US, it assumed American shoppers would embrace smaller stores, self-checkout, and ready-made meals, just as they had in Britain. But they didn’t. Americans tend to shop less frequently and buy in bulk. Self-checkout kiosks (a core feature of the concept) felt impersonal. And the grab-and-go prepared foods? Not what many families were looking for in a weekly grocery haul. After five years and nearly $2 billion in losses, Tesco pulled out of the US entirely.
  • Danish pharma company Novo Nordisk saw enormous opportunity in launching its weight-loss drug Wegovy in the US But it didn’t fully anticipate just how fragmented and cost-sensitive the American healthcare system is. The marketing was strong, but the product wasn’t widely available. Supply was limited. Insurance coverage was patchy. And out-of-pocket costs could exceed $1,300/month. The result was frustration from patients and physicians, negative press, and a loss of ground to US competitor Eli Lilly.

What went wrong? In both cases, the companies entered the US with strong brands, solid products, and proven models. What they lacked was a deep understanding of American customers.

Here are just a few misconceptions that frequently trip up international companies:

  • “The US is one market.” In reality, it’s a patchwork of regional, cultural, and socioeconomic submarkets.
  • “What works in Europe will work in the US” American expectations around convenience, customer service, and speed are often much higher.
  • “Subtle, nuanced messaging will be appreciated.” US marketing norms favor directness, boldness, and clarity.
  • “If we build it, they will come.” Without understanding US shopping behaviors or systems (like insurance or retail logistics), even great products can falter.

These are the kinds of missteps that deeper qualitative research can help prevent. To understand American customers – not just what they do, but why – foreign companies need research that reveals cultural nuance.

Here are some research approaches that can help:

  • In-home or remote ethnography. Observe daily routines and behaviors. This would have revealed that “quick convenience meals” don’t mean the same thing to US families as to UK shoppers. This can be done in-person or using an online platform such as Field Notes (https://www.fieldnotes.space/) or a combination of the two.
  • Storytelling and projective interviews. Ask people to talk about their earliest memories related to your product or service, their best or worst experiences, and their ideal experience. This uncovers the values and emotional drivers behind their decisions.

And don’t forget to test assumptions across American submarkets (urban vs. suburban, East vs. West Coast). What resonates in Seattle may not play the same in Houston.

It’s easy to underestimate how culturally specific customer expectations can be, especially in a country that looks, on the surface, familiar. But the gap between looks familiar and feels right is where brand traction is won or lost. That’s where qualitative research makes all the difference. If you’re entering or struggling to grow in the US market, we can help. Contact me at info at bureauwest.com and let’s discuss!

Sources: “How Novo Nordisk misread the US market for its weight loss sensation,” Reuters, July 1, 2025; “Tesco will pull out of U.S., sell Fresh & Easy,” USA Today, April 17, 2013

Posted on by Jay Zaltzman