Surveys are a tried-and-true method for quantifying opinions, estimating usage patterns, or tracking brand performance. They're ideal when you need statistically significant data across a broad population. But when you're trying to understand the 'why' behind behavior – why customers switch products, why some innovations fail, or why a segment remains disengaged – Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) research often delivers more strategic value.

JTBD is a qualitative approach that explores the motivations, contexts, and challenges that people face in achieving a goal. Instead of asking customers what they want, JTBD asks what they’re trying to accomplish. This difference becomes powerful in the right scenarios.

JTBD is best when:

• You're developing or refining a product: JTBD reveals the unmet needs and pain points that can inspire truly customer-centered innovation.
• You need to uncover new growth opportunities: By mapping the underlying jobs people are trying to solve, JTBD points to needs that may not be currently addressed by the market.
• You're not sure why customers are choosing (or rejecting) your solution: Traditional surveys often define the categories and options. JTBD starts from the customer’s world, without assumptions.

This makes JTBD research a strong fit during:

Strategic business moments like:

• Product innovation or concept testing
• Entering a new market segment
• Redefining your brand’s value proposition

While quantitative surveys can tell you "what's happening" – for example, how many people prefer Brand A over Brand B – JTBD tells you why it’s happening. It surfaces the emotional drivers, trade-offs, and struggles that lead to choices, allowing you to design better solutions around real human needs.

In our work at SIVO Insights, we often help clients determine when to use Jobs to Be Done instead of surveys, or how to use both together. An effective research strategy doesn’t pit tools against each other – it aligns methods with the specific decisions leaders need to make.

So, the next time you're reviewing your market research methods, ask yourself: Are we trying to measure what we know, or are we trying to uncover something new? If the latter, JTBD may be the missing piece.

One of the biggest strengths of Jobs to Be Done research is its ability to reveal deep, often hidden motivations behind customer behavior – insights that traditional surveys can’t always capture.

Surveys typically rely on closed-ended questions and predefined answer choices. While they’re essential for benchmarking and measuring attitudes at scale, they can also limit discovery by only capturing what respondents are consciously aware of – or willing to articulate. People don’t always know why they do what they do, and they may respond based on what sounds reasonable rather than what truly reflects their behavior.

JTBD, by contrast, uses qualitative research techniques like one-on-one interviews or ethnographic studies to uncover the context of decision-making:

Here's what JTBD can uncover that surveys often don’t:

• Emotional drivers and anxieties: Instead of asking, “Do you like Feature X?”, JTBD explores what frustrations, fears, or aspirations led someone to seek out a solution.
• Hidden decision-making criteria: Customers may say they value price, but JTBD might reveal that reliability or flexibility mattered more when the decision was actually made.
• Workarounds and compromises: By studying how people currently solve a problem, you can discover where the market is underserving them – a key insight for innovation.

For example, imagine someone filling out a survey about their favorite meal delivery service. They may report choosing a service because it's fast and affordable. But in a JTBD interview, they might reveal a deeper motivation: “I just don’t want to feel guilty feeding my kids something unhealthy again after a long workday.” That’s a different job – and a much more powerful insight for product positioning.

These types of qualitative insights from Jobs to Be Done research are especially valuable for brand strategy, messaging, product design, and innovation. They go beyond surface-level preferences and uncover the real-world context of customers’ lives – what they’re trying to achieve, avoid, or reconcile.

At SIVO Insights, we believe these motivations matter because they drive action. And understanding those actions – not just measuring opinions – is core to successful consumer research. When you’re trying to deeply understand the human side of customer decisions, that’s when JTBD really shines.

While Jobs to Be Done research offers deep, qualitative insights, traditional surveys still have a vital place in your consumer research toolkit. Their structured and scalable format makes them ideal for measuring trends, evaluating satisfaction, and testing ideas at scale. In fact, in many market research scenarios, especially those involving larger data sets or performance tracking, surveys are the most efficient path forward.

When Surveys Are the Stronger Fit

Traditional surveys tend to shine in situations where quantifying consumer preferences and behaviors is the goal. Here are a few scenarios where surveys excel:

• Tracking over time: Repeated surveys allow businesses to monitor shifts in customer sentiment, brand awareness, or product usage.
• Validating assumptions: When you have a hypothesis or early insight (possibly from qualitative research), surveys can confirm whether it holds true across a broader audience.
• Measuring attitudes at scale: If you need to understand how a specific feature or service resonates with thousands of users, surveys can efficiently collect and analyze that feedback.
• Establishing benchmarks: Surveys help define baseline metrics, whether it's Net Promoter Score (NPS), customer satisfaction (CSAT), or brand perception rates.

Benefits Surveys Bring to Market Research

Surveys are a cornerstone of quantitative market research. Their key advantages include:

Speed and efficiency: Surveys can be deployed quickly to large populations, often delivering results within days.

Standardized questions: This consistency allows for clean data comparisons, particularly helpful in KPI reporting and executive dashboards.

Statistical confidence: Large sample sizes mean businesses can make confident decisions based on representative insights.

Recognizing the Survey Limitations

Though powerful, surveys come with important limitations. For example, they can miss the “why” behind decisions, gloss over emotional motivations, or nudge respondents toward surface-level answers. That’s where Jobs to Be Done picks up – with more nuanced, open-ended conversations that uncover deeper needs.

The key in building your research strategy is understanding when to use traditional surveys and when a different lens – like qualitative research through JTBD – might reveal more meaningful insights.

The choice between Jobs to Be Done and surveys often depends on your business question. To bring this to life, let’s explore a few common use cases and how each method can serve you best.

Example 1: Launching a New Product

JTBD Approach: You're exploring a new market opportunity but don’t yet understand what customers are struggling with. In this case, JTBD research uncovers the underlying motivations and unmet needs. You’ll learn what “job” people are trying to get done and how your solution could better fit their lives.

Survey Approach: Once you've developed product concepts, a survey can help gauge which variation resonates best across a broader audience – validating appeal and potential uptake.

Example 2: Measuring Customer Satisfaction

JTBD Approach: While not typically used for metrics, a short series of JTBD-style interviews can add depth to a flat customer satisfaction score. They can reveal emotional drivers or disconnects between expectations and actual service delivery.

Survey Approach: Ideal for benchmarking and quarterly tracking, satisfaction surveys provide measurable KPIs like CSAT or NPS, helping organizations understand their performance over time.

Example 3: Understanding Declining Engagement

JTBD Approach: If users are abandoning your app or unsubscribing from a service, JTBD interviews can dig into the real-life context or frustrations that contributed to their decision.

Survey Approach: A follow-up survey may validate that these reasons are common across many users, helping you prioritize what to fix first.

Finding the Right Fit

Neither method replaces the other. JTBD is often stronger at uncovering customer needs, especially in early discovery, innovation, or foundational strategy work. Surveys are better suited to quantifying and scaling those learnings. Together, they provide a balanced way to move from “why it matters” to “how big is the opportunity.”

Absolutely. Choosing between JTBD and surveys doesn’t have to be an either/or decision. In fact, combining both methods often results in a stronger, more complete research strategy. Many businesses start with qualitative insights from Jobs to Be Done research and then layer on surveys to measure and validate those findings across broader audiences.

How the Two Approaches Complement Each Other

JTBD helps you understand why customers behave the way they do – their motivations, triggers, and frustrations. Surveys help you understand how many people feel the same way and whether the insights apply across your full market.

Think of them like a map and a compass. JTBD research gives you the map – showing the terrain, landmarks, and potential paths forward. Surveys act as the compass, telling you which direction represents the greatest need or impact.

Example of an Integrated Research Strategy

Let’s say you’re redesigning a loyalty program. You might begin by conducting JTBD interviews with different customer segments to explore what truly makes loyalty programs feel valuable to them. You discover that customers don’t want more points – they want rewards that recognize their relationship with the brand and feel personal.

From there, you design survey questions to quantify how widespread those insights are. Do 20% of customers want more personalization, or is it closer to 70%? That difference impacts your rollout plan, resource allocation, and ROI projections.

Why this Matters for Today’s Marketers

In a world where consumer expectations are always shifting, relying on a single tool often falls short. Modern research strategy calls for nuance. JTBD vs quantitative surveys in market research is not a competition – it’s a collaboration. When combined smartly, these tools help you innovate with purpose, build empathy with your audience, and back your decisions with data.