A pace towards the evolution of insights in Market Research industry

Market Research INSIGHTS continue to evolve for any industry. But what is the pace at which this ‘evolution’ takes place? If you ask this question to any market researcher worth his salt, he’d say … “It Depends”!
Fortunately, we can define what ‘it depends’ actually means. But we’ll come to that a bit later. For now, we need to ask an even more pertinent question … “Is it really an ‘evolution’?” The term seems a bit weak in the context of the dynamism witnessed in most of the industries and markets.
Some industries have witnessed such rapid change that it becomes vital to go back to the basics repeatedly. In the MR context, ‘basics’ refers to one of the most important research considerations for designing any study – TG Definition.
For some industries, the TG remains largely similar over a longer duration. But for some others, this is in a state of constant change. For instance, the beauty products industry has been largely catering to the same TG over several years … whereas the e-commerce industry continues to redefine it with alarming regularity.
A beauty product brand (let’s call it Ageless), has been marketing itself to most women with an unwavering promise of the appearance of youth. It matters much that the industry has major entry barriers it terms of product approvals, regulations, and a significant investment in setting up the brand. So the competition for Ageless it limited and can be addressed by reacting to the market.
But e-commerce is different. Any seamstress with a niece who knows how to send emails (or for that matter, upload pics on WhatsApp) is a potential competition. With negligible entry barriers, it becomes immensely easier to cater to a demand that has as yet been unmet. Uber / Ola are examples of success in addressing an unmet demand in a market that has low entry barriers.
Coming back to define ‘it depends’ … Well! … It depends on various measures – entry barriers/competition status/product innovation – all of which stems from the rate at which the TG is changing.
If you believe that a need is unmet, it is time to seek fresh insights.