[Are there customers who need this?] Hypothesis testing through quantitative research from a "customer perspective" to explore the possibilities of new businesses.

Introduction

TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION. Healthcare Business Office, New Business Planning Department, is working on "extending mobility lifespan," a crucial issue in an aging society.

This time, in order to quantitatively grasp the market needs for commercialization in a short period of time, they utilized our" Geo-Research "(hereinafter referred to as Geo-Research), which enables highly accurate questionnaire surveys in specific areas.

This article will explain how we supported the collection of customer-centric data, which is essential for promoting new businesses, through Geo-Research.

To extend the lifespan of mobile vehicles

TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION., under its philosophy of "Mobility for ALL" (making mobility possible for everyone), aims to fulfill everyone's desire to "go wherever they want." Within this framework, the Healthcare Business Office of the New Business Planning Department (hereinafter referred to as "the Office") has defined "mobility lifespan ≈ healthy lifespan" and is promoting initiatives to support mobility itself, such as driving and walking.

Initially, we started our business with walking support, such as walking rehabilitation robots for people who have suffered physical paralysis due to stroke or other conditions. Currently, we are considering commercializing a new service that focuses on the "driving lifespan" of automobiles.

The department in charge of this service said the following:

"For those who find it difficult to drive themselves due to aging or illness, we want to support them so that they can continue to drive safely and independently for as long as possible."

For several years, we have been conducting studies and pilot tests to commercialize a service that analyzes users' driving habits and provides advice and technical support to help them maintain safe driving over the long term.

*Service concept under consideration (as of November 2025) *Subject to change

The obstacle to proposing a new business: "Are there customers who need this?"

In order to move forward with commercialization, the business unit determined that quantitative data collection was essential in order to make customer-centric proposals.

Regarding the challenges of proposing new businesses, the department stated, "When we propose a new business, it is crucial to thoroughly investigate how many potential customers exist and whether they have problems they are willing to pay to solve."​

Therefore, in this survey, our top priority was to quantitatively grasp the following three points in order to increase the likelihood of success in the business.

• Understanding the market and needs: Clearly identify "how many customers truly need the service and what challenges they face."
• Understanding the initial target group: Based on the hypothesis that there is a high need among the initial target group, "families who are worried about their parents' driving who live separately," we need to obtain actual data such as the specific market size and the proportion of families living in urban areas and those living separately.
• Possibility of charging a fee: This involves investigating whether customers are willing to pay to solve the problem, and surveying their willingness to pay for the service.

Selection criteria and research content: Testing hypotheses based on "regional focus" and "speed."

They decided to use our "Geo-Research" system to collect basic data for their business feasibility study. The deciding factors were the ability to specify detailed areas and the speed of data collection.

The ability to quickly conduct niche market research in specific areas, such as urban centers where the proportion of people living separately from their parents is presumed to be high, was valued as aligning with the new business development cycle. Furthermore, the fact that user responses can be completed entirely on smartphones and information can be collected quickly was deemed effective for rapidly testing hypotheses.

As mentioned earlier, the main objective of this survey is to conduct a region-specific market research by limiting the area to urban centers where there is a high probability of people living separately from their parents.
The project office explained the background, stating, "We wanted to see if people who live separately from their parents could use this service to keep an eye on them. We hypothesized that many of these people live in urban areas, and based on that, we selected representative areas."

Ultimately, the investigation focused on the following three points:

• Quantifying the "Families Concerned About Their Parents' Driving" and Market Size: Identify the percentage of families living separately from their parents who have specific concerns about their parents' driving, and quantitatively determine the size of the initial target market.
• In-depth analysis of anxiety levels and needs based on regional characteristics: Focusing on urban areas where opportunities to observe parents driving are limited, we will delve deeper into specific anxieties in each region and identify the latent need for monitoring services.
• Verification of service adoption barriers and payment intentions: Present the service concept under development and verify the price range that customers are willing to accept to solve their problems, as well as the barriers (resistance) to service adoption.

Results that support the value of the service

We successfully tested our hypothesis regarding market size.

This survey allowed us to clearly quantify the existence of families in major cities who are concerned about their parents' driving, and the results confirmed that a customer base of the expected magnitude does indeed exist, increasing the likelihood of considering commercialization.

Furthermore, this survey allowed us to collect over 5,000 samples within a single day, enabling rapid data collection.

 

The hypothesis that "the difficulty of monitoring" is increasing the need is supported.

Regional surveys revealed a slight tendency for anxiety levels to be lower in City C compared to Cities A and B. Data analysis showed that City C had a lower percentage of residents living separately from their parents than Cities A and B, providing valuable insights that support the initial hypothesis that "people who have fewer opportunities to observe their parents driving have a higher need for services."

This discovery reaffirmed the importance of the value proposition of "monitoring family members who live far away" in service design.

* More than half of respondents felt "anxious" in all living situations, indicating significant anxiety about their parents' driving. Among these, anxiety was lowest when living with parents and highest when living separately far away, suggesting that those living apart from their parents are more anxious about their parents' driving.

Confidence in service design that extends operating life

Quantitative data obtained through Geo-Research confirmed the value of the new service, which "supports people in maintaining safe driving habits for a long time," and the existence of the target market, "people who live separately from their parents."

The department stated that, based on the data, they have deepened their confidence in the existence of customers and will continue to consider service models and work towards commercialization.

Furthermore, following this survey, they evaluated the usefulness of Geo-Research in promoting new businesses and provided the following comment:

"For companies proposing new businesses from a customer perspective, Geo-Research is an effective tool to understand how many actual users exist in a specific area and what problems they are willing to pay to solve. Because survey responses are collected quickly, it's ideal for teams that want to drive business forward with a sense of urgency."

Why not try using Geo-Research?

As this example demonstrates, "real customer feedback" is essential when launching new businesses or improving existing services.

GeoTechnologies, Inc.' "Geo-Research" service enables rapid, highly accurate surveys targeting specific areas based on "the fact that people were there." This helps clients quickly verify their business hypotheses and increase the likelihood of successful commercialization.

Why not use reliable data to answer questions like, "Do customers with problems like XX exist?" or "Is there a need in this area?"

In addition, we offer a variety of solutions that combine people flow data and geospatial data. If you are interested in our services, please feel free to contact us.