What are the research methods for launching a new concept?

I have encountered a new promising concept that does emerge from a combination of previous studies and can be observed in the wild but is not yet recognized as a separate object of research by any prior studies. I'm starting to write a thesis about it but now I'm stuck because I can't find any research method that would suit my needs. Is there any?

Pure literature review is not an option because they compare and analyze pre-existing writings without creating new theories or findings, if I have understood correctly.

Exploratory research is out of the question because I already know, if roughly, what I'm going to study. Of course I could explore the combinations of the mentioned previous studies to "suprisingly" find the new concept among many others but it feels not the right way to go.

Empirical studies seem not to be an option because a conceptual framework of the new concept is needed to justify a research question, data and results. In another words, it feels cumbersome to collect qualitative or quantitative data about something that is not yet defined.

Empirical studies with a working hypothesis of a conceptual framework could be a way to go but building the hypothesized conceptual framework together with the empirical work feels much to be stuffed into one thesis.

It feels I'm left with building a working hypothesis of a conceptual framework by reviewing literature, defining the new concept within the hypothesized framework, and then listing promising hypotheses entailed by the new concept and to be explored by further research. This kind of approach feels not to provide any scientific validity until the additional research has been conducted. Any ideas?