The Application of Behavioral Insights into B2B Market Research

Behavioral sciences have made significant contributions to informing us about human decision making. In this study, we recount our experience from incorporating these insights into business-to-business market research. We share the insights gained from this endeavor, particularly how we deal with the obstacles encountered. The most significant obstacles are the overwhelming quantity of behavioral insights into the literature, the lack of practical guidelines for their use, and the problem of communicating their added value to clients. Our solution is to simplify the overall process. First, we merge individual insights into broader behavioral mechanisms. Second, instead of testing for the existence of these mechanisms, we focus on identifying conditions that enable them to influence decision making. This approach allows us to provide actionable recommendations for clients while avoiding great expense and excessive complexity. We believe that our experience will be helpful to others who aim to translate behavioral insights into practice.