Reaching through the crystal ball
Paul StamperQualitative Research, TNS, United Kingdom
David PalmerAffinion International, United Kingdom
INTRODUCTION
Throughout history mankind has longed to know what the future holds. Our desire for information about the greatest uncertainty in all our lives has led to seers peering at the entrails of animals, kings and rulers consulting oracles on Greek mountainsides and be-tented fairground fortune tellers interpreting patterns in cards and the lines on our hands. In business too this desire to look into the future is strong. After all, the company which anticipated the trend and was ready with a...