Research Shows Empaths Might Have A Knack For Product Development

avatar

Having the ability to pick up on other people's emotions, and to put yourself into their shoes and imagine what they might be thinking or feeling at a certain time, is a skill that doesn't come naturally to everyone.

Empaths are fairly described as the opposite of narcissists, and are known as emotional sponges because they can easily absorb the feelings of others around them.

There are pros and cons to the empathy that one individual might possess or lack, and it isn't all that surprising to find out that researchers have discovered empaths might have the upper hand on product development and coming up with unique services and products that other people need.

Researchers from the University of Connecticut have previously discovered that those with a stronger natural leaning toward empathy, are likely to be more able to consider the end-user's feelings in the market and that enables them to be more specific in coming up with potential products that they might need and respond to.

Investigating the connection between emotion and creativity.

In their research they uncovered that the most creative product development ideas came from individuals who tasked themselves with considering how the person buying that product might feel, before they even got started on development of ideas.

They saw a clear link between that introduction of empathy, the pause for consideration of others, with an improved result in creativity.

"..it appears that subtle things, such as imagining how someone else would feel, can have a huge impact on creativity in general." - K. Herd

In their investigation into this connection, researchers asked participants to try and come up with business ideas, product development ideas, for a new kids' cereal, a child's toy, and a grocery cart for the elderly.

The group that had been told to first consider the feelings of the target market, was continually seen to be the group that produced the most creative and original result for product development. They had experts from the respective markets as the judges for those ideas, as to whether or not they might be viable.

Many companies today are getting their next ideas directly from the market, by listening to what people want, some estimates say at least 75 percent of manufacturers or more admit they will be getting their innovation capabilities directly from crowdsourcing.

Companies that are going to survive in the market need to be aggressive with their ongoing marketing efforts, in trying to develop new and exciting products that people are going to want, that will help them meet their needs.

Having an advantage in that area of creativity for business, as empaths have been shown to possibly possess, can give them an upper hand in being able to help contribute to the introduction of those new products and keep those companies competitive. They can offer great value to the market and ultimately the lives of millions, simply by being able to accurately assess and anticipate the needs of others.

Pics:
pixabay



0
0
0.000
2 comments