A FRAMEWORK FOR CONJECTURING ENTREPRENEURIAL OPPORTUNITIES: AN APPLICATION TO INDIVIDUALIZATION OF DEMAND IN THE UNDERTAKING BUSINESS

Abstract

In the last few decades, the manner in which western society deals with death has changed under the influence of individualization processes. In this paper, directions of emerging opportunities for new products or services are pointed out that respond to this development. For this purpose, five types of heuristic information are provided and analyzed. First, background information about the market. Second, an analysis of consumer wants, problems, and behavior. Third, an analysis of the change factor that explains how wants of consumer are becoming different. Fourth, a description of innovations that already try to meet these changed wants. Fifth, conceptualizations of the market that define the market in a reframed manner. The paper concludes that the centrality of the self (and its cessation by death), the importance of expression of one's authentic personality, the diminished authority of traditional frameworks that explain death, and a want for self-esteem in response to mortality salience all give rise to opportunities for new products and services in response to individualizing manners of dealing with death.