Market research needs to be actionable, period. I doubt if anyone will ever refute this basic tenet. But there has always been a longstanding debate on what constitutes actionability. Let me illustrate this with a couple of examples:

Example 1: A bank branch satisfaction study identified “wait time at the teller counter” as a major dissatisfaction area amongst bank customers. This attribute also came up as a major driver of customers’ satisfaction with the branch, and hence “reducing wait time” was recommended as “action area” to the branch. The bank constituted an action group to explore increasing the number of tellers to reduce wait time.

Example 2: An airport satisfaction study identified “wait time at the luggage carousel on arrivals” as a major dissatisfaction area amongst passengers. This attribute also came up as a major driver of passengers’ satisfaction with the airport, and hence “reducing wait time at the luggage carousel” was recommended as “action area” to the airport. The airport promptly took up the issue with ground handlers to overhaul the luggage transport system.

I am sure these examples would classify as open-and-shut cases for actionable market research.

Now let’s look at some unusual “Actionability” twists to address the examples above.

Example 1 (Managing expectations): The same bank adopted a token system. Customers were given a token upon entering the bank and were directed to the lounge area. Once the token number was displayed, customers could walk directly up to the teller counter.

Example 2 (Changing perceptions): An internal time & motion study at the airport revealed that the arrivals immigration process was seen as extremely efficient (much within zone of tolerance). The airport reduced the number of arrivals immigration counters that were accessible to passengers (though within the limits of tolerance) so that time taken to clear immigration went up marginally, which in turn reduced wait time “perceptions” at baggage carousel.

As these “twists” indicate, actionability may have various layers. After all, customer feedback is perceptual in nature and a client can alter perceptions not just by doing the obvious (i.e., improving delivery) but also by managing customers’ expectations or changing customers’ perceptions.