It's no secret that the world in which we live now is profit-driven, with a lot of the most successful businesses operating on models that seek to accumulate as much wealth as possible. But does this strategy have a chance at being successful when target audiences are shifting to value-based commercial interactions? Or are post-growth economic theories starting to become more relevant than ever before?
In this two-part article series for Research World, FlexMR's Content Manager Emily James takes the time to explore exactly what post-growth economies are and how they impact all industries, then she discusses what this means for market research and what preparations insight experts will need to make to help businesses adapt and survive.
The Role of Insight in the Post-Growth Economy
In this first article, Emily proposes an important question: has the post-growth economy become less of a theory for future generations to figure out and more of a reality that today’s professionals will need to understand in order to adapt and survive?
A ‘post-growth economy’ is an economy that isn’t profit-driven or focused on the accumulation of monetary wealth. Instead, it challenges organisations to rethink their business strategies so that they contribute positively to society and make a genuine difference to their customers without profiteering.
This concept of a post-growth economy provides a compelling argument against excessive growth being used as the indicator of a successful economy, industry and business, but the current state of the world is still very much focussed on this metric. But there are some brands who are now stepping more into the realm of sustainable business and, even without fully understanding it, following post-growth practices by focussing on environmental impact and social equality, while still successfully competing in the international economy.
So, now businesses know it's possible, can we encourage them to follow suit? And then how do we prepare for more businesses to make moves like this and embrace more post-growth practices/strategies? This is explored in the next article in the series.
Following on from the first article, this second article focusses on exploring how insight experts are in a position to propel businesses into post-growth success, as well as a real-life example of post-growth economy in action on a larger scale.
The world entertained post-growth principles during the COVID-19 pandemic, with businesses diverting resources to helping protect others, developing products and providing services to help everyone survive the life-threatening event, and we have seen a glimpse of how society can function, even thrive, on post-growth values.
Ultimately, market research, post-growth offers ways to help businesses achieve sustainable operations and insightful future-proof strategies based on these post-growth principles – but for this to become a reality, there needs to be a shift in business ethos, a movement away from profit-driven strategies and more towards customer-centric practices.
Want to know more? Read both articles in the two-part series here.
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Thinking from the data, research & business intelligence industry - Published by ESOMAR, the global voice of the data, research and insights community, Research World focuses on innovation and best practices in market, opinion and social research and data analytics, helping readers stay abreast of the latest developments in tools, technology and applications.