102 Kellogg Insight have a major disadvantage. Specifically, “there is a lot of research suggesting that online reviews are skewed toward extremely positive or extremely nega - tive,” says Timoshenko. “So we might be missing some of the customer needs that are usually expressed in more neutral language.” For instance, the fact that a toothbrush actually cleans teeth—an important but by no means thrilling use—might not be the kind of thing that a customer would bother mentioning. That was a major concern, as articulating the entire set of customer needs can help prod - uct-management teams to identify new product opportunities, even when some of the customer needs are not surprising ex post . So what did the researchers find? First, almost all—97 percent—of the customer needs identified in the interviews and focus groups were also found in the Amazon reviews. “That immediately suggests that, at least for some categories, we are able to fully eliminate the need to conduct interviews At least for some categories, we are able to fully eliminate the need to conduct interviews and focus groups. And that is the most time- consuming part of market research for customer needs. ARTEM TIMOSHENKO Based on research from Artem Timoshenko