By: Kristen Mattheessen  Director of Customer Success at Suzy

Despite spending the last 8 years in Market Research, my husband is actually our family’s resident researcher. He researches everything. His recent search history includes anything from car seat reviews to travel blogs about the Amalfi coast, from this week’s coupons at King Soopers to 5 potential flight itineraries for Hawaii, and so on. What his search history doesn’t capture is the “why” behind all these searches. Why not just choose the car seat that’s on sale this week? Why not just stay in Positano? Why not just buy clearance toilet paper because it’s the lowest cost per roll? I’ll tell you why—my husband is a career insurance professional. Risk is his archnemesis, and behind each meticulous search is a risk avoided. 

The risk of choosing Positano over Amalfi? Wasting hours of vacation navigating thousands of stairs through crowded Italian streets.

The risk of choosing the wrong carseat? Worrying every time you strap your newborn daughter in that she might not be as safe as she possibly could be. 

The risk of buying the wrong cheap toilet paper? I think we all know the risk avoided here. 

‍Consumers are constantly making decisions, big and small, with research. It may look like optimization, but at its core, it’s risk aversion—avoiding regret, FOMO, or bad outcomes. 

From family decisions to business strategy

Just like my husband uses research to avoid regrettable purchases or underwhelming experiences, companies rely on market research to steer clear of costly missteps. However, the stakes are far higher: millions of dollars, lost time, and diminished trust.

Risk mitigation doesn’t mean playing it safe. It means making bold moves with clarity. In 2025, we’ve seen brands take headline worthy bets that were anything but cautious, yet each one reflects a smart, calculated approach to decision making:

• Dyson created viral buzz with its AirBrow April Fools’ campaign, a satirical launch that was so well-targeted, many consumers begged for the product to be real.
• e.l.f. Beauty acquired Rhode, Hailey Bieber’s skincare brand, expanding its Gen Z reach through a community-rooted label with proven momentum.
• PepsiCo snapped up Poppi, betting on functional soda as the future of wellness-driven refreshment.
• Michelob Ultra Zero debuted as a zero-alcohol beer for performance-minded drinkers, extending a core brand into a rising category and betting on the rise of health-conscious, alcohol-free lifestyles.

These weren’t shots in the dark. They were grounded in strong signals, emerging needs, and well-read audiences. In each case, what looked risky or daring was actually well-informed. Because whether you’re choosing a car seat or launching a brand, the best outcomes start with the right questions and the right data to answer them.

Big risks and how to avoid them

Risk mitigation plays a key role in every decision a business makes. Based on conversations with insights and industry professionals and years of consultations with clients, here are the most common risks teams try to avoid—and how they do it.

‍The risks

1. Building the wrong thing. As companies choose what to launch, a prevailing risk is investing time, money, and resources into a product or service that consumers don’t actually want or need. Something that doesn't solve a real problem or doesn’t resonate with the intended audience is a company's biggest nightmare. One of my interviewees told me, “We built something we were excited about, but turns out our customers didn’t care. Research could have told us that up front.” Early-stage exploratory research can help validate demand, identify pain points, and ensure you’re solving the right problem for the right people. ‍
   
   • ‍How to avoid: Build Iteratively, Not in Isolation. Products often evolve in silos. Market research software like Suzy bridges product, marketing, and consumer needs to reduce risk across the entire development funnel. Iteration outside of silos also can help avoid emotional investment overriding reality. Without research, internal politics and cognitive biases (like recency bias or sunk cost fallacy) can steer teams toward decisions that aren’t in the consumer’s best interest.

2. Messaging failure (poor positioning & communication). Another nightmare situation is when a product is good, but the message misses the mark. The confusion, disinterest, or even mistrust from poor messaging can cause major fallout across a company’s funnel. Even with a solid product, if you can't clearly communicate value, benefits, or differentiation, the launch can flop. Another interviewee described a time when “We had a winning concept, but by the time the message reached the shelf, it was watered down and confusing.”‍
   
   • ‍How to avoid: Test early and test often.  Suzy’s message testing suite includes methodologies like MaxDiff, Monadic testing, and custom surveys to put data behind your earliest stage ideas for prioritization. For later stage communications testing, Video Open Ends and Heatmapping, ensures your story is clear and compelling across consumer touchpoints.

3. Reputational & brand damage (consumer or retailer backlash) Potentially the scariest risk of all is launching a flawed product that harms your brand’s credibility and relationships with consumers, retailers, or partners. Missed expectations, confusing claims, or hopping on short-term trends (like “fad ingredients”) without proper validation can backfire. Simply put by another interviewee, “You only get so many chances with your retailer and your consumer. One bad launch can hurt both.”‍
   
   • ‍How to avoid: Run “red flag” testing. Late-stage validation helps catch risky assumptions and unsubstantiated claims before they reach consumers. Suzy’s tools help ensure your final go-to-market plans align with actual consumer needs—not just internal excitement.

4. Emotional & organizational toll of risk What research also helps avoid, but doesn’t get talked about enough, is the emotional and organizational cost of building the wrong thing. Teams spend months, sometimes years, on innovations they’re proud of, only to find out they missed the mark. That kind of loss isn’t just financial, it’s human. ‍
   
   • ‍How to avoid: Prioritize people through the process. Using research at every stage isn’t just smart—it protects your team. Suzy enables iterative validation, so teams can pivot based on data, not instinct. Tools like Suzy Signals provide built-in next-step guidance to help reduce the emotional toll of rework. Using research at every stage isn’t just smart, it protects your team.

5. Moving too slowly or without rigor: Skipping steps in a rush to market can backfire. But so can paralysis from over-analysis. Fast decisions still need to be smart ones.‍
   
   • How to avoid: Use the right research, with the right rigor: Quick surveys can inform, but may not predict. A mix of concept testing, behavioral validation, driver analysis, and third-party triangulation adds depth and reliability. You only get so many chances with your retailer and your consumer, so ensure your go-to-market strategy is grounded in consumer feedback. In fast-changing markets, future-focused research (like scenario planning or trend mapping) helps teams spot early signals of disruption—and course correct before it’s too late.

To wrap it all up, my family will never be the spontaneous-restaurant-family, the wing-it-on-vacation family, or the family that buys clearance toilet paper when other reasonably priced options are available. We will move through life knowing our decisions were grounded in thoughtful, intentional research. Can your company say the same? If not, let’s chat about where market research could help.

*Let the record show, I do minimal information gathering. This is the collective “we” my husband says I like to use when it comes to planning things.