Updated October 2026. October 2026: Jamaica's income group updated from the World Bank July 2026 list; the unnamed Quora answer is no longer treated as current fact about older adults.
The February 2013 post asked how to approach market research in an emerging market, and it named Jamaica as the example. It then quoted a Quora answer and did not give the writer's name. The points below are that answer, with the claims that no longer hold rewritten.
What the 2013 answer said
Market research matters more, not less, when you are entering a market you do not already know.
Secondary data can come from the internet, periodicals, research papers, trade associations, and similar published material, often at low cost.
Primary data is where the money goes. The cost depends on the customer segment, where those people are, and whether the business sells to firms or to consumers. The answer gave older people as the example of a segment you should not try to reach with an online form, on the view that they were not used to filling in surveys on the internet, so the interviews had to be done in person and would cost more. It also said business-to-business research usually takes less money and effort than research with consumers.
Its last point was to stop once you have enough to enter. More research can become a way of missing the moment.
What to change in that advice
Jamaica is not classified as a low-income economy. In the World Bank's income groups for July 2026 to June 2027, Jamaica is an upper-middle-income economy. "Emerging market" was a loose label in the 2013 headline. It is not the official income group.
The mode of interview still depends on who you need. An online form is the wrong tool when the people who matter are not online, or will not complete one. That is a design choice, not a standing fact that older Jamaicans cannot use a survey. The 2013 answer stated the second version. Use the first.
Business-to-business work is often a shorter interview with fewer people. It is not automatically cheaper once the respondents are hard to reach or the questionnaire has to be technical. Cost follows the design.
The warning against researching past the decision is still sound. Define the decision, then stop when you can make it.
Updated October 2026
- Jamaica's income group is updated to upper-middle-income in the World Bank country classification effective July 2026.
- The claim that older people are not familiar with online surveys is removed as a current fact. The underlying point, that the mode has to match the segment, is kept.
- The Quora writer was unnamed in the original post and is still unnamed. No name was added.