Emotion in Market Research

Are you confident your market insights are telling the full story? After more than a decade in market research, I’ve come to see that truly valuable insights are not only objective and actionable, but also capture the emotional context behind data. These emotional cues are often what elevate insights from informative to impactful, helping clients sharpen strategies, improve operations, and drive revenue.

After conducting thousands of these kinds of interviews, I can say with certainty that what sets qualitative research apart is the emotion behind participant feedback. A skilled researcher doesn’t just listen to what’s said, they tune into the feelings, tone, inflection, and help cut through clutter.

While quantitative studies and AI tools can identify and rank common themes, they can’t weigh emotional nuance. For example, if 20% of respondents speak with genuine delight over a specific project element, mentioning it unaided, that feedback carries more weight than a feature casually labeled “nice to have” by 50% because emotional intensity matters.

The only reliable way I know to capture emotional depth is through conducting qualitative Voice Of Customer research using both emotional intelligence (EQ) and analytical skills (IQ) to measure the importance and urgency of feedback.

If you’re interested in best practices for qualitative research or want to talk more about how to capture emotion in your insights, I’d love to connect.

– Lee Sumner, Research Director