Purchase Journey Research

An existing map is a useful starting point for identifying what is supported by customer evidence and what remains an internal assumption. We review the audience, sources, and decisions behind it, then focus on the gaps. Those might concern a poorly understood transition, a barrier whose prevalence is unknown, or a stage that has changed since the map was created. The assignment can investigate a specific problem without rebuilding the entire journey. Its scope should follow the decision you need to make.

Yes, when the question concerns lost opportunities or abandonment. Purchasers explain the paths that ended in a purchase, but cannot represent everyone who stopped, postponed, or chose a competitor. We define those outcomes and recruit the relevant groups separately where feasible. The timing matters too: someone still comparing options is different from someone who has decided not to buy. A visit that ends without a transaction should not automatically be classified as a lost sale, particularly when the decision continues in another channel.

Interviews can reconstruct a recent decision and explore the reasons behind it. Diaries can collect accounts closer to the events when a purchase unfolds over time, although recruitment and participation need to fit that timescale. A survey can assess how common the identified paths or barriers are within a defined audience. We choose the sequence against what is already known. Recalled accounts can omit or simplify events, so we distinguish what participants report from what other available records can confirm.

Follow the customer's decision across channels rather than assign each channel a separate journey in advance. We ask what happened before and after a transition, what information was needed, and why another source or conversation became useful. That can include brand sites, retailers, reviews, phone calls, and in-person discussions. Russell's published automotive study examined digital tools from consideration through ownership. The relevant scope depends on the question; purchase is not always the last stage worth examining.

Yes, where the records cover the relevant audience and period. Digital paths, service contacts, and transaction data can help locate problems for further investigation; interviews or surveys can explore the expectations and circumstances behind them. We check what each source actually measures before combining conclusions. Reviewing aggregate patterns alongside customer accounts is different from linking records for the same individual, which requires a workable matching approach and appropriate permissions. Gaps in channel coverage should remain visible in the interpretation.

Yes. We identify who initiates the need, researches options, influences selection, approves the purchase, and uses the product or service. One person's account may not explain every role or handoff. Russell's published heating-system research included both homeowners and industry professionals to understand purchase triggers and adoption barriers. For a new study, recruiting and analysis should reflect the roles that matter. We compare their perspectives without assuming that one respondent can accurately describe the entire decision process.

We assess which problems recur, whom they affect, what consequences the evidence supports, and which team can address them. Qualitative accounts can reveal an important issue without establishing how widespread it is; suitable survey or operational data can strengthen that assessment. The resulting priorities should identify a proposed change, an owner, and a way to evaluate improvement. A reported barrier is a reason to investigate or test a change, not proof that removing it will produce a particular conversion increase.

AI can help researchers organize open-ended responses or find recurring references to information sources, channels, and barriers in transcripts. Researchers check those summaries against the original accounts and retain differences that a broad summary may overlook. AI tools can also be part of the journey being studied when customers use search summaries, recommendations, or support bots. A prompted exercise with a tool and a customer's account of using it during a real decision provide different evidence; the findings should make that distinction clear.