A perfect example is the SMS text message, which was originally conceived as a clever way for staff of mobile operators to contact each other, rather than as a consumer product. However, SMS messaging answered the “hidden need” for people to be able to contact each other using a short message when making a phone call was deemed inappropriate—and by 2010 some 6.1 trillion messages were being sent every year.³

Hidden needs excite; spread the word

Hidden needs have been described by Goffin, Lemke and Koners⁴ as “issues and problems that customers face but have not yet realized.” When hidden needs are addressed by new products and services, customers are both surprised and delighted. Uncovering a hidden need also helps you to increase the effectiveness of your content marketing strategy by better aligning your content with the customer’s buying cycle.

Where solutions to those needs are being implemented, highlighting them to customers as a key part of a marketing program is likely to cause a visceral and emotional response that will be far more effective than merely quoting performance characteristics.

These ideas are perhaps easiest to understand using the Kano model,⁵ which describes 3 main types of need: basic, performance, and excitement (Figure 1)

Figure 1. The Kano satisfaction model

Known needs tend to fall within the basic and performance needs, and many basic needs may not turn up in surveys because they are taken for granted. Five years ago, if you had asked most people what they wanted from a new computer, it’s likely that they would have listed performance needs such as a faster processor, more memory, etc. Very few people would have said they wanted a portable, touch-screen device like a tablet that incorporated a number of hidden, excitement needs.
This leads to the question, if customers struggle to articulate hidden needs, how can they be identified?

In their book Identifying Hidden Needs, Goffin et al⁴ describe a number of ways to conduct hidden needs analysis. These techniques derive from anthropology and psychology—two sciences that aim to uncover people’s views and beliefs.

Uncovering what’s hidden—ethnographic market research

One of the most effective approaches described by Goffin is ethnographic market research, which combines the systematic observation of how people interact with products and services with contextual interviewing. These studies need to be conducted in the field where the customer actually encounters the issues that the new product or service is being designed to overcome.

There is more to professional observation than merely watching and recording what is being done. Body language, spatial signals, and other subtle gestures can be easily missed, yet these are the clues that provide a window into the customer’s desires. A key advantage of observation is that it is direct and does not rely on customers’ reported perceptions and the observations can be contrasted with what the customer says. Particular note should be taken of those areas where there are differences between the observed and reported behaviors.

In the majority of business-to-business cases, ethnographic research will involve visiting a customer site and taking up some of their valuable time, so when and how often a procedure/process can be observed will be dictated by the time the customer can afford to give you. In an ideal world, the use of photography and video would be used to support the written notes taken on site, but oftentimes this is not possible.
 
Context is critical

The first part of any ethnographic research involves understanding the context by taking a grand tour. The aim of the grand tour is to gain insights into the wider context and culture of the organization and the people who work within it.