Traditional market research often fails to uncover the true motivations behind customer buying decisions because customers unknowingly provide inaccurate information. This episode reveals how to move beyond surface-level insights from surveys and focus groups by employing deeper qualitative research methods like one-on-one digital research and curated communities to understand the full customer journey, emotional context, and unconscious biases that drive purchasing behavior. Ecommerce brands can leverage these insights for better creative, messaging, and growth strategies.
Malinda Sanna is the Founder and CEO of LookLook, a consumer insights platform that helps brands uncover customer insights through curated communities and intimate, one-on-one digital research. She leads the company's methodology, recruitment, and client work, translating human behavior, culture, and customer journeys into actionable insights for global brands across luxury, beauty, CPG, tech, and e-commerce. Malinda moves beyond surveys and focus groups to reveal the motivations that drive buying decisions. In this episode… Customers rarely make decisions in the neat, logical way brands expect. They may say an ad, review, or recommendation influenced them, but the real motivation often starts earlier and runs deeper. So how can brands uncover what people actually think, feel, and do before they buy? The answer is to get closer to the customer's real life, and Malinda Sanna, a consumer insights expert, explains how deeper research can reveal what surveys and focus groups often miss. Instead of relying on surface-level answers, brands need to understand the full path to purchase, the emotional context behind decisions, and the moments when customers feel seen or unheard. One-on-one conversations, thoughtful recruitment, and in-the-moment observation can uncover more useful insights than traditional research methods. For e-commerce brands, better creative, stronger messaging, and smarter growth all start with more human understanding. In this episode of the Up Arrow Podcast, William Harris talks with Malinda Sanna, Founder and CEO of LookLook, about why brands need to move beyond shallow customer research. Malinda explains how to uncover buying motivations, why focus groups fall short, and what e-commerce brands should learn from the full customer journey. She also touches on luxury psychology, community, and analog connections.