From Longman Business Dictionarymotivational researchmotiˌvational reˈsearch MARKETING a type of market research that involves collecting information about the reasons why people decide to buy one product or brand rather than another. This helps companies to decide which new products to develop and how they should advertise their productsExpert skill is involved in motivational research because this is investigation into the psychology of why individuals behave as they do. → research