The Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) framework is a modern approach to market research that helps businesses understand the underlying reasons why customers buy, use, or switch products. Rather than focusing on demographic details like age or geography, JTBD zeroes in on the real "job" a customer is trying to accomplish in their life or work. This provides powerful context for product development and innovation.

Think of JTBD like this: People don’t want a drill – they want a hole in the wall. The drill is just a means to get the job done. JTBD research focuses on that end goal (the job), not just the product being purchased. It pushes beyond surface-level data to uncover what motivates people, what problems they face, and what specific outcomes they’re looking to achieve.

How the JTBD framework works

Jobs To Be Done research typically involves deep qualitative techniques like interviews and observational studies. Researchers look for patterns in language and decision-making, asking questions like:

• What was going on in the customer’s life when they chose this product or service?
• What pushed them to try something new?
• What outcome were they hoping to achieve?
• What alternatives did they consider?

These insights are then grouped into "job statements" that clearly define the customer’s task and emotional or practical drivers. For example, an online grocery service might uncover its primary job as "Help me save time on shopping so I can spend more time with my family."

Benefits of the JTBD method

This approach is especially useful for teams focused on innovation, customer experience, and product strategy. By understanding the full context behind purchasing decisions, companies can:

• Create offerings that solve real customer problems
• Identify unmet customer needs and opportunities
• Develop messaging that speaks to what actually matters
• Design solutions that customers truly value

In short, JTBD helps you understand not just your customer’s actions, but their intent – a valuable insight that can guide more effective business decisions. Especially in industries where customer behavior is shifting rapidly, this method can help uncover the "why" behind the choice, which is often where the opportunity for breakthrough innovation lies.

Traditional market research is a foundational tool for understanding customer behavior. It has been relied on by businesses for decades to help answer key questions like: Who are our customers? What are they buying? How satisfied are they? And where are there gaps in the competitive landscape?

Unlike Jobs To Be Done, which homes in on the motivation behind behavior, traditional research methods tend to focus on categorizing consumer behavior by segment or showcasing trends through numerical data. These methods are still incredibly useful – especially when you want to understand market size, demographics, brand perception, and how consumers make choices across defined groups.

Core techniques used in traditional market research

Traditional market research spans a wide range of quantitative and qualitative methods, including:

• Surveys: Measure preferences, satisfaction, awareness, and more across a statistically significant sample of your target audience.
• Focus groups: Gather opinions and reactions from participants in a guided group setting.
• In-depth interviews: Explore consumer motivations in greater detail, often one-on-one with a moderator.
• Segmentation studies: Divide your market into groups based on shared characteristics (e.g., age, income, lifestyle, attitudes).
• Usage and attitude studies: Learn how and why consumers use products, and how they feel about brands.

These traditional tools are designed to provide reliable data for market analysis, helping companies track patterns over time and evaluate performance benchmarks. They excel at identifying "what's happening" in the market – such as which features are most used, which customer segments are growing, or how satisfaction scores change over time.

When traditional research is most helpful

If you're launching a product into a broad consumer market or need to size an opportunity, traditional research is especially effective. It allows for scalable insights and statistically valid conclusions that can guide strategic planning, advertising, pricing models, or competitive positioning.

In addition, when used alongside modern approaches like the JTBD framework, traditional research can add valuable scale and context. For example, JTBD might tell you why customers are choosing your product, while traditional surveys reveal how many people fit that specific need.

In today’s evolving landscape, blending these methodologies is often the best route. Traditional research methods provide the structured, measurable perspective companies rely on, while newer methods like JTBD bring emotional clarity and behavioral context that can fuel better innovation.

Jobs To Be Done vs. Traditional Market Research: Key Differences

Understanding the difference between Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) and traditional market research can help businesses select the right tool for gathering meaningful customer insights. While both approaches aim to uncover consumer behavior and guide smarter decisions, their core focuses, methods, and outcomes vary.

Focus: Why vs. Who/What

The JTBD framework centers around understanding the motivations behind customer actions. It reveals the underlying “why” – the progress customers seek in specific situations. For example, when someone buys a blender, traditional research might focus on demographics and purchase frequency. JTBD, however, asks: What job were they trying to get done – make healthier lifestyle choices, save time during breakfast, or entertain guests?

Traditional research tends to focus on the “who” (demographics, psychographics) and the “what” (usage patterns, preferences). While valuable, this information sometimes stops short of getting to the deeper drivers of behavior.

Approach: Situation-Based vs. Segment-Based

Jobs To Be Done reframes customer behavior based on context rather than categories. Instead of grouping people by age or income, it looks at the situation they’re in and the problem they’re solving. It’s less about “this consumer is a 35-year-old parent” and more about “this person needs a quick weekday meal solution to get dinner on the table in 20 minutes.”

Traditional research typically groups consumers into segments based on shared characteristics. These segment-based strategies can be useful in large-scale market analysis but might miss insight into the real motivators behind a purchase or decision.

Output: Inspiration vs. Validation

Another key difference is how businesses use the results. JTBD tools are often exploratory – helping teams spark innovation and design solutions customers truly need. In contrast, traditional research methods are often used to validate ideas or measure market trends at scale.

• JTBD: Focus on discovering unmet customer needs and unlocking new product innovation.
• Traditional research: Ideal for testing concepts, sizing markets, or understanding customer satisfaction.

The difference between Jobs To Be Done and traditional market research isn’t about which one is better – it's about which one answers the right question for your business challenge. Often, combining both offers the most complete view of customer behavior and opportunity.

When Should You Use Jobs To Be Done vs. Traditional Research?

Choosing between Jobs To Be Done and traditional research depends on your specific goals. Each method brings its own strengths, and when used at the right time, both can guide smarter decisions and business growth.

Use Jobs To Be Done When:

JTBD is ideal when you want to innovate based on deep human needs. If you’re asking questions like, “What do our customers really want to achieve?” or “What’s driving them to switch products?”, JTBD is a great fit. It helps you uncover unmet needs and identify opportunities that may not show up in traditional data.

Consider using JTBD for:

• Product development: Discover the root problems customers are trying to solve to design better offerings.
• Brand strategy: Position your brand around the jobs your customers are hiring it to do.
• Customer journey mapping: Understand the emotional and functional triggers at different stages of customer decision-making.

Use Traditional Research When:

Traditional market research methods work best when you need to measure, compare, or validate. If your goal is to understand how many people are experiencing a challenge, which demographics prefer which features, or how satisfied customers are, traditional approaches like surveys and focus groups deliver strong results.

Common scenarios include:

• Market analysis: Measure market size, share, or brand awareness.
• Target audience definition: Segment your customers by age, location, behavior, etc.
• Concept testing: Identify which product ideas or ads resonate best across demographics.

Blending the Two for Greater Impact

While some business questions may clearly point to one approach over the other, many benefit from both. JTBD inspires new ideas by revealing motivations and unmet needs. Traditional market research validates and refines those ideas by showing scale and feasibility.

For example, a team might use Jobs To Be Done research to explore why people are dissatisfied with current meal kit services. Then, they could use traditional surveys to gauge how widespread those frustrations are across various customer groups. The blend creates a fuller picture, helping businesses confidently move from insight to action.

How SIVO Uses Both Approaches to Fuel Business Growth

At SIVO Insights, we believe that understanding people is the key to unlocking business growth. That’s why we don't choose between the Jobs To Be Done framework and traditional market research – we use a custom approach, thoughtfully tailored to your business goals.

Custom Research Built Around Your Needs

Every organization is different, which is why we start by understanding your specific challenges, opportunities, and decision-making needs. Whether you're launching a new product, repositioning a brand, or fine-tuning your marketing strategy, we shape the research around the questions that matter most to you.

When a business is exploring whitespace – new markets, categories, or unmet consumer needs – we often recommend integrating Jobs To Be Done methods into the approach. These uncover powerful emotional and functional drivers behind behavior that might otherwise be missed, helping teams shape bold ideas rooted in real-life context.

Making the Complex Simple – and Actionable

Our team combines a wide range of research tools. Together, they allow us to zoom in on individual motivations and zoom out to see the broader patterns. The result? Clear, actionable insights that help your team move forward with confidence.

Here’s what you can expect when working with SIVO:

• Growth frameworks: Strategic combination of tools like JTBD and quantitative data to map market potential.
• Innovation support: Pinpoint where your brand can deliver more meaningful solutions.
• Organizational intelligence: Communicate insights across teams in ways that drive real business shifts.

And with access to our On-Demand Talent solutions, you can bring in seasoned research experts to extend your team – flexibly and efficiently. Whether you're early in your journey or scaling a mature insights function, we're here to plug in where we can add the most value.

Ultimately, our goal is simple: help you understand people – their beliefs, needs, and behavior – so you can solve the right problems and grow your business with confidence. Whether it’s through discovering a new job your product can do or validating how well a recent launch is performing, we match the right methods to each moment.