extracting public opinion, not forming it

What Do Women Want? Just Ask - New York Times: There's a huge change going on in the way we interact and transact all sorts of business. This article talks about extracting opinions in a very efficient way. This is part and parcel of the type of dynamic we have in the blogoshpere (is it one "g" or two?) and in enterprises like MTB. Here's an excerpt--
"The overhaul began at a real estate conference in 2003, when Shane Wenzel, the builder’s namesake and its head of sales and marketing, heard a speech about the tremendous buying power of women. That moment, Mr. Wenzel recalled, was an “epiphany.” He set up small “listening groups” of women to tap into the needs of people who actually lived in his company’s homes. What Mr. Wenzel heard wasn’t pretty. “The ladies never held back once,” he said. “They were brutally honest.”"