An ontological approach is necessary to research the functionality of the real world, whereas empirical approaches are sufficient for addressing operationality. Unicist Ontological Market Research addresses the causality of buying processes to provide the information needed to develop solutions for growth and market expansion. It includes the development of market labs, unicist semiotic groups, and pilot testing processes to develop strategies and marketing objects that accelerate these processes.

Unicist ontology defines things based on their functionality. It views the real world as an adaptive system where functionality determines the nature of entities. It involves envisioning the real world as an adaptive system, which in business is self-evident.

The unicist ontological market research is based on the discovery of the intelligence that underlies nature and the development of the unicist logic. This allowed defining the structure of concepts and the fundamentals that regulate the functionality of living beings and drive the functionality of any adaptive system or environment.

This drove to the discovery that human actions are driven by the concepts people have in their long-term memory and that there is a related conceptual short-term memory that triggers instantaneous responses from people when they receive external stimuli.

This allowed defining the structure of concepts and the fundamentals that regulate the functionality of living beings and drive the functionality of any adaptive system or environment.

Unicist ontological market research is based on researching the concepts of things and the mental concepts people hold in their minds. Unicist ontological market research is one of the four types of research that are needed to have a complete picture of marketing processes.

1. Big data Segmentation using artificial intelligence
2. Quantitative Market Research that measures the consequences of any kind of market behavior.
3. Qualitative Market Research that measures the cultural and behavioral drivers of the market, behavioral segmentation and perceptions of stimuli.
4. Unicist Ontological Market Research measures, on the one hand, the root drivers of buying processes, marketing strategies, and conceptual market segments and, on the other hand, marketing actions of any kind.

The Design of Binary Actions is the Recommended Initial Stage

It is recommended to begin with unicist ontological market research to design marketing communications and validate their functionality in the market. This approach enables the development of the structure and content of the binary actions that drive the marketing communication process and the objects that make them effective.

The design of unicist binary actions in marketing communication ensures the success of marketing efforts. Binary actions are a set of two synchronized actions that avoid dysfunctional reactions by addressing both the empathetic aspects that align with the recipients’ comfort zones and the sympathetic aspects that match the concepts people have in their minds. The use of binary actions significantly enhances marketing effectiveness.

The Role of Binary Actions

Communication fundamentally relies on binary actions:

1. Empathetic action: Generates reactions and opens possibilities.
2. Sympathetic action: Complements the reaction and ensures results.

While every action generates a reaction, a complete set of binary actions avoids negative reactions. The first action elicits a reaction, and the second complements it, producing results without further reactions. These actions are autonomous yet interrelated through their consequences.

This approach is applied only to markets whose structure is known. The structural knowledge of markets is available in the research library of The Unicist Research Institute.

Application Fields of Unicist Ontological Market Research

1. Unicist Binary Action Building
2. Establishing comfort-zone segmentation
3. New products / service development
4. Product positioning and marketing strategy building
5. Developing differentiation and innovation strategies
6. Analyzing strengths and weaknesses of products and services
7. Defining the dynamics of buying and selling processes
8. Developing marketing objects
9. Establishing conceptual segmentation to deal with the root causes of buying processes
10. Establishing the comfort zone segmentation that catalyzes buying decisions
11. Developing marketing catalysts
12. Defining the price elasticity of demand

Unicist Ontological Market Research Includes:

1. Market Research Labs to search for the root causes of buying decisions to accelerate marketing processes. The research is conducted through real actions.
2. Unicist Semiotic Groups allow for discovering and measuring the root drivers of behavior.
3. Pilot Tests to validate the limits of the functionality of marketing objects and catalyzing objects and to confirm the functionality of specific marketing actions.

1) Unicist Market Research Labs

The Unicist Market Research Labs search for the root causes of buying decisions to accelerate marketing processes. The research is conducted through real actions.

This research process is developed through the design, implementation, and destructive testing of commercial binary actions, the development of pilot markets to test marketing objects and catalysts, and the installation and monitoring of adaptive automation using unicist AI.

The unicist market research labs utilize both conceptual segmentation and comfort zone segmentation to research B2B and B2C markets. They are based on the discovery that human actions are driven by the concepts people have in their long-term memory and that there is a related conceptual short-term memory that triggers instantaneous responses from people when they receive external stimuli.

Unicist market labs are based on the use of unicist ontological reverse engineering. The unicist ontological reverse engineering approach was developed to discover the concepts and functionalist principles underlying entities. It is used to build the conceptual structures that define the functionalist principles of the functions and processes involved and uses conceptual engineering to build the commercial binary actions needed.

The research of buying arguments of people is conducted using unicist ontological reverse engineering to discover the underlying concepts and conceptual engineering to model the buying arguments.

Ontological reverse engineering relies on backward chaining thinking. This method starts with known outcomes or effects and traces back to discover the causes and underlying processes. It contrasts with forward chaining, which begins with causes and moves towards effects.

Backward chaining is crucial in reverse engineering because it allows for the systematic deconstruction of adaptive systems.

These labs are used to develop binary actions, marketing objects, and catalyzing objects to increase marketing effectiveness by more than 30%. The Market Lab might be outsourced or insourced. Destructive pilot tests provide feedback from the market and are the core learning input for the unicist AI modules.

2) Unicist Semiotic Groups in Market Research

Unicist Semiotic Groups are a way to evaluate the functionality of marketing objects and communications of any kind. They allow managing the denotations and connotations of marketing and selling processes to ensure the generation of results.

The objective of the Unicist Semiotic Groups method is to confirm marketing and selling processes to ensure and improve their functionality. These groups work on the cloud and allow accessing the root drivers of human behavior.

People’s actions are driven by the concepts they have in their minds. Thus, their buying processes are driven by the concepts they have.

It has to be considered that spontaneous reactions are produced when people are being actively influenced. These reactions are produced by the conceptual short-term memory, that generates instantaneous responses, which are based on the concepts people have stored in their long-term memory.

The semiotic groups work based on the comfort zone segments of a product or service and allow confirming segmented actions and multi-segmented actions that are necessary in marketing and selling processes.

This technology was developed to evaluate marketing and selling processes.

Specifically, semiotic groups deal with the research of concepts, value propositions, buying arguments, selling arguments, marketing objects, marketing catalysts, virtual objects and the functionality of websites, documents, proposals, advertising and any other communication where people are being influenced.

Semiotic groups have been applied to other fields, such as social applications, the development of future scenarios and the design of educational processes.

3) Pilot Testing in Market Research

The pilot testing methodology of marketing objects, catalysts and proposals is complementary to any design method a company uses.

The pilot testing process of the marketing solutions includes the participation of a group that is integrated by a coordinator, a fallacy-shooter and an ombudsman.

There are two type of tests:

a) Pilot tests of the design of marketing solutions to confirm their functionality
b) Destructive pilot tests to confirm the limits of the solutions

a) The Pilot Testing Process

The pilot testing process of the design follows these steps to ensure results:

1. Development of the first functional prototype
2. 1st Test group
3. Development of the 2nd prototype
4. 2nd Test group
5. Development of the 3rd prototype
6. 3rd Test in real application
7. Destructive pilot testing

Until the 2nd pilot test, what is being tested is the functionality of the value propositions using Semiotic Groups. It allows defining the aspects of the value propositions that need to be changed in order to fit into the needs that are being covered. The final confirmation is given by the use of destructive tests.

b) Destructive Pilot Testing

The methodology for destructive pilot tests aims at measuring the achievement of the objectives of a process or function and the limits of the functionality of the knowledge that sustains the actions.

Destructive tests are based on having a confirmed functionality. When they do not work, they are not destructive tests, they are pilot tests that confirm the functionality of a solution.

The destructive pilot testing of a value proposition for a predefined conceptual segment confirms that the results have been achieved while the boundaries are being extended, beyond the predefined limits of the segment, in order to find the limits of the functionality of the proposition.

There are four steps to develop destructive tests:

1) Developing Substitute Clinics

This approach implies using a real value proposition and comparing this solution with its substitutes.

2) Expanding the limits

The expansion of the limits of applications occurs after the comparison with substitutes has been generated and it has been demonstrated that the value proposition is functional and generates buying intentions.

3) Succedaneum Clinics

It implies developing the same process of comparing with substitutes but in this case the comparison is with succedanea. (See Step 1) This stage is the end of the destructive pilot testing process. The success of the marketing strategy has been ensured when this stage has been successfully achieved.

4) Ontological Reverse Engineering

The feedback from the pilot tests allows discovering latent needs that are not being covered by the proposals and developing a new value proposition.

Real Operation

The real operation is what defines the final limits of the knowledge that is being researched.