The Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) framework is a way to understand why customers choose specific products or services – not just based on demographics, but based on the progress they’re trying to make in their lives. At its core, JTBD starts with one fundamental question: What job is the customer 'hiring' this product or service to do?

Rather than focusing only on who your customer is (like their age, gender, or location), JTBD explores what motivates their actions. It's a shift from traditional segmentation to purpose-driven insight. This approach is particularly powerful in market research because it connects product usage to a real unmet need or context – which is incredibly useful when conducting consumer behavior studies and qualitative research.

Understanding the “Job” in JTBD

A "job" in this context is the task, problem, or goal that a customer needs to solve. These jobs can be functional, emotional, or social. For instance, a parent might hire a minivan not just for transportation (functional), but also to feel like a responsible provider (emotional) and to fit in with a peer group at school pickup (social).

JTBD vs. Traditional Market Research Methods

Traditional research methods often segment customers by who they are. JTBD focuses on what they are trying to achieve. That difference leads to more precise insights during product development research and offers a clearer path to innovation.

• Traditional approach: “We need to design shoes for women aged 35-50 who live in urban areas.”
• JTBD approach: “We need to understand why someone needs comfortable, stylish shoes they can wear all day – from train commutes to meetings – without sacrificing fashion or comfort.”

How JTBD Supports Product Strategy and Innovation

By identifying consumer jobs, teams are better equipped to solve real problems with meaningful innovations. You’re not just creating a product that appeals to a persona – you’re helping someone get something important done in their life. This perspective can inform product roadmaps, marketing communications, and customer journey mapping.

Over time, organizations using JTBD tend to create products and services that stick – they focus less on fleeting trends and more on solving lasting needs. That’s why it’s frequently used as a core part of innovation strategy and business growth tools.

In market research, the JTBD framework works well alongside qualitative insights. By conducting interviews or ethnographies focused on why a customer chose – or didn’t choose – a product, teams discover patterns that drive demand across audiences and categories.

When used effectively, JTBD becomes a foundational lens for understanding customers in a way that's both deeply human and highly strategic.

When thinking about consumer behavior, the Jobs To Be Done method invites us to look at purchasing decisions through a new lens: not as random preferences or brand loyalties, but as purposeful choices aimed at achieving something meaningful. In JTBD, customers aren’t simply buying – they’re 'hiring' a product or service to solve a specific job in their lives.

So what exactly does it mean to 'hire' a product? Put simply, it's the idea that whenever someone uses a product, they are bringing it into their life to get something done. That 'something' could be solving a problem, avoiding frustration, achieving a goal, or expressing a personal value. Understanding that job helps businesses create more successful solutions that deeply resonate with customers.

Jobs Are Context-Driven, Not Just Needs-Based

People’s choices change based on their context. For example, someone may choose to hire a ride-sharing app to get to the airport when they’re in a hurry – not because they always prefer that brand, but because at that moment, speed and reliability are the most important jobs to get done.

In this way, JTBD connects tightly with real-time needs and behavior, offering more precise consumer insights than static user personas or broad demographic segments.

Types of Jobs Customers Hire Products For

• Functional: Completing a task or activity (e.g., using a blender to make a quick breakfast smoothie).
• Emotional: Feeling a certain way or avoiding negative emotion (e.g., subscribing to a fitness app to feel accomplished or reduce stress).
• Social: Building or maintaining image and relationships (e.g., wearing sustainable fashion to show eco-conscious values).

Recognizing these different job types helps businesses align their offerings with what truly matters to consumers – both practically and emotionally. This is essential when using consumer insights for product strategy or during early stages of product development research.

Fictional Example: Hiring a Meal Kit Service

Imagine a working parent chooses a meal kit subscription. On the surface, it may seem they're doing it for convenience. But the deeper job might be helping their family eat healthy meals while still having time to help with homework and unwind after work. The emotional job? Reducing guilt and feeling like a good parent. That clear connection to a real-life job supports smarter product positioning and feature design.

Why This Matters for Market Research

Understanding the 'why behind the buy' is what makes JTBD such a powerful tool in qualitative research. It doesn’t just tell you what people are doing – it uncovers the deeper purpose behind daily decisions. Knowing these motivations allows businesses to be more relevant, more human, and more effective across their strategies.

When you understand why someone is 'hiring' your product, you’re also better positioned to retain them, drive loyalty, and adapt to their changing jobs over time – strengthening your brand as a valuable partner in their life’s journey.

One of the most powerful aspects of the Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) method is its ability to unlock deeper customer insights. Instead of focusing just on demographics or product features, JTBD dives into the real motivations behind how and why people make decisions – what job they are hiring a product or service to do.

Traditional market research methods often look at surface-level preferences: what customers say they like or dislike. JTBD goes further. It focuses on what customers are trying to accomplish in their lives, and what progress they’re seeking in a specific context. This approach helps uncover unmet needs – even those customers can’t always articulate themselves.

Understanding the 'Job' Behind a Choice

When a customer chooses a product, they’re not just buying an object or service – they’re hiring a tool to solve a problem or fulfill a goal. For example, someone might “hire” a smoothie not just for taste, but to feel healthier during a hectic morning routine. A business traveler might “hire” an airport lounge for a moment of calm and control before boarding a flight. These examples demonstrate how JTBD helps move beyond what the product is to what it does in a customer’s life.

Why This Perspective Matters

By shifting the lens from “Who is my customer?” to “What outcome are they seeking?”, JTBD enables businesses to:

• Identify new innovation opportunities based on unmet needs
• Design more targeted marketing campaigns that reflect real-life use cases
• Improve customer experience by aligning offerings with desired progress
• Develop products customers are more likely to adopt – and keep using

This makes JTBD an invaluable tool for businesses looking to enhance their market research toolkit and generate more meaningful, actionable insights across the customer journey.

Ultimately, JTBD is not just about understanding consumer behavior – it’s about understanding why behavior happens and how to respond to it wisely. It transforms customer insights from data points into levers for growth and innovation.

Let’s bring the JTBD method to life with some real-world-inspired, fictional examples. These simplified scenarios help demonstrate how organizations across industries have used Jobs To Be Done thinking to drive smarter product strategies, more effective marketing, and ultimately business growth.

Example: A Food Delivery App Seeking Deeper Engagement

A mobile food delivery company noticed that while subscriptions were growing, repeat usage was low. Traditional satisfaction surveys indicated users were “happy,” but retention didn’t improve. A JTBD-based qualitative research study revealed the core job users were hiring the service for was not just convenience – it was avoiding mental fatigue after a long day.

Armed with this insight, the company repositioned their messaging around taking care of dinner so customers didn’t have to think. They also revamped app flows to minimize decision-making friction. The result? Higher repeat orders and stronger customer loyalty.

Example: A Financial Services Firm Looking to Innovate

A financial company wanted to design a new product for millennials and Gen Z. Instead of assuming their needs, the team used the JTBD framework for product development research. Interviews revealed that younger customers weren’t looking for just another app – they were hiring financial tools to help them feel more in control and less anxious about money.

This led to a new offering combining budgeting tools and real-time feedback messages to reinforce smart money behaviors. The product saw high engagement from first-time banking customers – a key growth segment.

Example: A Home Appliance Brand Innovating in a Saturated Market

A major home appliance brand used the JTBD method to understand declining interest in a new high-tech refrigerator. Research uncovered that consumers weren’t overwhelmed by features – they weren’t looking for features. Their job was to make family routines less chaotic, and the touch screen fridge didn’t contribute meaningfully to that job.

This insight shifted product development priorities toward features like inventory tracking and easy meal planning – redesigning the user experience to match what the consumer job truly was.

Why These Examples Matter

These real-life-inspired examples show that when companies take time to uncover and understand the job behind the purchase, they unlock insights that drive real business outcomes. Whether you're refining an innovation strategy, launching in new markets, or improving the customer journey, JTBD can be a valuable piece of your market research toolkit.

At SIVO, we believe the most powerful business decisions start with a deep understanding of people – their needs, motivations, and context. That’s why the Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) framework plays such a vital role in our approach to consumer intelligence and product development research.

Qualitative Research That Goes Beyond Words

When we apply JTBD, we listen for much more than what people say. Using techniques grounded in qualitative research and observation, we surface the unspoken goals and challenges customers face in real moments of decision-making. This allows us to identify the specific “jobs” a product or service is hired to fulfill – not in theory, but in the real world.

We often partner with clients to embed JTBD within custom research studies, combining it with behavioral, attitudinal, and contextual insights. This layered approach produces a rich understanding of customer intent – which leads to clearer strategic direction.

Where JTBD Shows Up in Our Work

At SIVO, we use the JTBD method to help clients:

• Explore unmet consumer needs to guide innovation strategy
• Generate product ideas grounded in real-life behaviors
• Refine messaging and positioning that aligns with customer logic
• Understand how customers make choices in specific use cases

Whether you're trying to understand shifting buying behavior, increase adoption of a new offering, or uncover new market opportunities, JTBD equips you with the clarity to act.

Tailored to Your Business – Not Off-the-Shelf

Because no two businesses – or jobs – are the same, all of our JTBD research is customized. From early-stage idea development through post-launch optimization, we build flexible research plans around your needs. And we don’t just hand you data – we deliver human-centered, actionable insights that inspire cross-functional alignment and forward momentum.

By combining the JTBD framework with SIVO's expert research design and storytelling, we help businesses translate complexity into clarity – and customer insight into meaningful growth.