market research 2023

13 Market Research Tools: Best in Class for 2023

Free Website Traffic Checker

Discover your competitors' strengths and leverage them to achieve your own success

Most market research tools are designed to make it quicker and easier to find relevant data . Whatever the market, product, or purpose, the right research tools can do just that.

But, let’s be honest, some do it far better than others.

Whether you’re an enterprise firm with complex needs and a budget to suit or a smaller business needing free market research tools, read on to discover which online tools for market research are hot right now.

Note: The top market research tools list has been collated using review platforms like G2 , along with direct feedback I collected from over 500 business leaders in June, 2o22.

#1 Best overall market research tool: Similarweb Digital Research Intelligence

Most-loved feature: The Benchmarking tool

We might be a little biased, but this really is the fastest way to see how you measure up against competitors in any sector or location. Analyze market leaders and rising stars to unpack and track their digital success instantly.

Quick Explainer

Similarweb Research Intelligence is a single source of truth for the online world. Giving any business the ability to quickly analyze the online aspects of any industry or market in an instant. It displays critical insights in a way that makes it easy to view trends, competitive performance, audience insights, growth opportunities, and more. It’s the only market research analysis tool that brings together data from desktop, mobile web, and apps to provide a complete view of the digital landscape.

Key abilities

• Competitive benchmarking
• Market research
• Company research tool
• Audience analysis
• Consumer journey tracker
• Mobile app intelligence

Freemium Version: Yes, there is a lite version of the product that provides limited data for a single user, and a single location.

Free Trial: Yes, there’s a 7-day trial available. Try it out here .

Ongoing Subscription: Yes, you can pay monthly or annually for a subscription. Different levels are available, and each package is tailored. Review pricing and plans for Similarweb here.

Like what you’ve seen so far?

See our market-leading digital research tool in action in this quick 2-minute clip.

#2 Best free market research tool: Think with Google

Most-loved feature: Find my Audience

A way to discover new audiences on YouTube based on things like habits, interests, and intended plans to purchase.

Think with Google is a suite of digital research tools that curate resources from a huge pool of data across the web. It presents them as insights that aren’t typically available elsewhere. It’s a unique way to view trends, insights, and stats. Data isn’t offered in real-time but serves more as a library of figures and facts that take the form of articles, videos, interviews, case studies, and more. In addition to being a place people can go for forward-looking perspectives and data, there are several tools designed to help marketers.

Key functions

• High-level insights into most local or national markets
• Behind the scenes look at cross-platform digital campaigns
• Consumer insights
• Deck-ready stats (not in real-time)
• A range of tools to inform marketing objectives and actions

Freemium Version: The entire suite of market intelligence tools is free.

Free Trial: As a free market research tool, no trial is needed.

Ongoing Subscription: You can subscribe to a newsletter, but not the product.

#3 Best digital research tool for content and FAQ development: Answer the Public

Most-loved feature: Search listening alerts

A pro feature that sends you weekly emails that indicate how search behaviors shift over time. It takes the specific phrase or keywords you’re tracking in the platform and updates you weekly.

Quick Explainer 

Discover the questions people are asking online about key terms, products, or services. It’s designed to help content teams and website owners develop new content ideas, and relevant FAQs that are based on the types of queries people ask online.

• Track important keywords and phrases
• Get weekly emails about changes in search behavior
• Enter any keyword to uncover relevant questions or search terms
• Folders to help organize your research

Freemium Version: Yes. You get a limited number (3) of searches per day.

Free Trial: No.

Ongoing Subscription: Yes. You can pay monthly or annually for this service. Pay-monthly fees are a flat rate of $99. Discounts are offered for yearly subscriptions.

#4 Best tool for market research surveys: SurveyMonkey

Most-loved feature: Question bank

A library of hundreds of questions, pre-written by survey methodologists.

As far as market research surveys go, it’s the leading online research tool for surveys worldwide. With plans to suit the individual through to the enterprise, it’s a feature-rich, easy-to-use platform that encompasses creation, collection, and analysis under one roof. Surveys are optimized for any device and integrate with platforms like Zoom, Salesforce, Marketo, and more.

Key functions 

• Create and send unlimited surveys, quizzes, and polls
• Pop-up online surveys
• Mobile app access to create, send and analyze surveys on-the-go
• Team collaboration function (unlocked with a team plan)
• Survey builder
• Customization and branded surveys (available with advantage or premier plans only)

Freemium Version: Yes

Free Trial: Occasionally, free trials are offered for premium plans.

Ongoing Subscription: Yes, you can pay annually or monthly. There are three different plans to choose from, ranging from $25 to $129 per month.

Helpful: Check out our blog and see 18 different ways to use market research surveys .

#5 Best online research tool for marketplaces: Similarweb Shopper Intelligence

Most-loved feature: Cross-shopping analysis

Cross-shopping analysis shows you how loyal a segment of customers is to a brand, along with what other brands they browsed or bought from. Uncover competitors and discover new partnership opportunities; these are game-changing insights if you sell on any marketplace.

Similarweb Shopper Intelligence is a type of online market research tool that helps you uncover and analyze browsing and buying behavior across marketplaces. Using its data, businesses can track category, product, and brand performance with ease. It helps ecommerce organizations to detect potential threats, unearth new product or category opportunities, discover new potential partnerships, and optimize search strategy and performance.

• Monitor consumer demand for any product, brand, or category
• Retail search strategy optimization
• Consumer behavior insights
• Track cross-shopping, loyalty, and purchase frequency
• Analyze brand awareness

Note: This solution uses a unique data methodology via multiple networks and partnerships. At the time of writing, there is no other consumer behavior insights tool for market research that offers this quality of data for marketplaces.

Freemium Version: No.

Free Trial: Yes. There is usually a 7-day trial available here .

Ongoing Subscription: The price is determined by things like the number of categories and/or domains you want to access. Each quote is customized to a client’s specific needs.

Want to know a little more?

Watch this quick clip to see the best ecommerce digital market research tool in action.

#6 Best market research tool for brand tracking: Latana

Most-loved feature: MoE (margin of error) Readings

To deliver transparency on data confidence levels, Latana’s dashboard includes a feature that allows clients to toggle-on, or toggle-off, margin of error (MoE) readings on all data points. These are highlighted using a traffic-light system of confidence (red=low confidence, orange=medium confidence, and green=high confidence). This small feature makes a big impact — it helps clients to correctly interpret the data and to visibly see quality shortcomings.

Latana is a B2C brand tracking tool that provides granular insights about online audiences. It helps organizations understand how key segments of consumers feel about brands and portrays relevant standings vs. industry rivals.

• Focus on niche consumer segments that matter to your business
• Uncover rival’s audience data and identify opportunities to grow
• Understand brand perception, and track how it changes over time
• Discover the most well-known brands in your industry
• Track rival’s brand awareness across gender, age income, location, and education
• Find out the main purchase drivers for your industry
• Infrastructure gives reach to over 6 billion smartphone users globally for representative brand opinions

I caught up with Latana’s CMO, Angeley Mullens. Here’s what she has to say about their offering.

Ongoing Subscription: Pricing for Latana isn’t available online. All packages are tailored to individual brands and their specific needs.

Enjoy 360 Visibility 24/7

Get the data you need to adapt to market changes and industry trends in an instant.

#7  Best research tool for social media listening: Hootsuite

Most-loved feature: Multi-channel insights

It’s a legacy feature, but one which makes it the best online research tool for social listening and monitoring. Having the ability to easily schedule posts, ad campaigns, and handle responses for every social media channel from within a single platform is what makes this a market-leading digital research tool.

Hootsuite continues to claim the number 1 spot on G2’s list of digital research tools for social media monitoring . It’s a tool to help you manage all aspects of business social media, across multiple channels, in a single platform. As well as being able to manage your socials, it also keeps you up-to-date with the latest trends and activities of your rival’s social media channels.

• Publish and schedule social media posts
• Measure cross-platform results
• Message management
• Social media trend analysis
• Social media ad-campaign management

Freemium Version: Yes. You can get a free version that supports 2 social accounts and 1 user.

Free Trial: Yes. A 30-day free trial is available here .

Ongoing Subscription: There are four plans; professional, team, business, and enterprise; ranging from $49-$739.

#8 Best digital research tool for prospecting: Similarweb Sales Intelligence

Most-loved feature: Insights generator tool

The insights generator shows you unique facts for your prospects and accounts; with complete visibility into their digital strategy and performance. It’s ideal for refining sales and marketing efforts while staying focused on growth.

Similarweb Sales Intelligence helps organizations find viable prospects by showing you who to reach out to, when to do it, and how to capture their attention. The lead generator tool helps you find the right prospects, and key insights help create engaging outreach emails. For sales departments, ecommerce and mar-tech sectors, this type of digital research tool can take prospecting and engagement to a completely new level; along with revenue and growth.

Key functions: 

• Lead generation and enrichment
• Digital insights for 100M+ ecommerce websites, publishers, and advertisers
• Fraud detection
• Sales engagement
• SFDC integration

Free Trial: Yes, if you would like a free trial, please request that here.

Ongoing Subscription: Prices for this digital market research tool varies depending on the package and options chosen. Grab a live demo of the product and get a tailored quote here .

Insightful : If you’re looking at market research tools for the ecommerce industry, bookmark our Ecommerce Trends and Predictions for 2023 to read later.

#9 Best market research analysis tool for data visualization: Tableau

Most-loved feature : Connects to almost any data source

As a clear market leader, and a no-brainer for larger organizations with business intelligence analytics and teams. Tableau leads the way in online research tools for data visualization . It connects to a huge range of data sources and pulls information into a highly-appealing dashboard that is designed to make it easier and faster to explore and manage data . It takes data from platforms like Similarweb, then combines it with other data sources before presenting crisp, clear, insights that have the power to shape strategies and drive key transformations.

• Lightning-fast analytics
• Smart dashboards for richer insights
• Live connection to almost any data source, with automatic updates
• Drag-and-drop style UI: easy to use

Freemium Version: No. However, students and teachers get a year’s free access to the platform.

Free Trial: Yes. You can subscribe to a free 30-day trial.

Ongoing Subscription: Most plans are offered annually, with prices ranging from $15 per month upwards. The price depends on whether you use their hosted or on-premise versions, the number of users, and the inclusion of specific plugins.

#10 Best market research tool for UX testing: Loop11

Most-loved feature: Online usability testing

This feature analyzes the usability of a website with users performing live tasks on a site. It helps you understand user behavior, and shows how and why a website is used.

Loop11 is a market research tool that provides usability testing to help organizations build better websites and products. It comes with a pack of useful features that provide both moderated and unmoderated testing, helping businesses to find the right audience to test prototypes and products. It’s designed to help you see how appealing a product is to a particular audience, determine their preferences, then build these insights into a design.

• Ability to test across multiple devices, including tablet, mobile, or desktop
• User-friendly test builder that requires no coding
• Easy-to-add surveys that collect psychographic and demographic data
• Provides useful metrics like time on task, task completion rates, and NPS
• Mapping of customer journeys during a test period

Free Trial: Yes, a 14-day trial is available here .

Ongoing Subscription: All plans come with the option to pay monthly or annually. Prices range from $199-$599 per month.

#11 Best research tool for measuring customer experience: Temper

Most-loved feature: Rating stream

See real-time feedback as customers respond to questions via website or email channels. The stream provides a detailed view of ratings, comments, locations, referrers, email addresses, and more.

Temper allows any company to find out how customers feel about their product at all times. It directly provides first-party data to a business, preventing the need to design and distribute complex surveys. It can be placed as a widget on the site or in emails, and questions are asked to gain real-time feedback from visitors and customers alike.

• Easily deploy questions across website and email channels
• Quickly spot poor experiences to identify problematic areas of a business or product
• The rating graph gives you a real-time view of results for any question asked
• Public rating wall shows how you’re performing, instilling confidence and trust
• Ratings come with open text fields to give additional context to responses
• Referrer data gives you the ability to segment feedback and relative performance
• Tracking variables let you send data with ratings, such as order numbers, user IDs, etc.
• User targeting lets you determine who sees questions and how often they see them

Freemium Version: There is no freemium version. However, their hobby plan gives you a slimmed-down version of the product and costs $12 per month.

Ongoing Subscription: Four plans are available, ranging from hobbyist to enterprise. The lowest pricing tier starts at $12 monthly, and their top-tier solution costs $199 monthly. All plans are pay-monthly, with a 60-day money-back guarantee.

#12 Best online market research tool for focus groups: Remesh

Most-loved feature: Common topics

In just a few clicks, you can view the themes and topics that are most common with your focus group across an entire session. It groups similar responses, specific phrases, and interesting responses in seconds.

Remesh facilitates live, qualitative conversations with focus groups of up to 1000 people at a time. Replicating the focus group format online delivers powerful segmentation and dynamic capabilities that speed up your time to insight and let you hold a real-time conversation at scale.

• Launch a live conversation with up to 1000 people at a time
• Organize and analyze responses in an instant
• Segment your audience based on demographic and response data
• Share visuals and text-based content with the group to get instant feedback
• The algorithm analyzes open-ended responses in real-time

Freemium Version: No

Free Trial: Yes. However, you must first book a demo with a member of their team.

Ongoing Subscription: Remesh provides custom pricing plans that can only be obtained once you’ve taken a demonstration of their platform with a member of their team.

#13 Top collaboration and documentation tool for market research: BIT.AI

Most-loved feature: Content library + smart search

While it sounds quite basic; in essence, this tool for market research professionals makes it quicker and easier to keep track, share, and store key data. Forget trawling through emails, slack, and g-docs to find files; the smart search feature helps you locate files in an instant.

A dynamic platform that helps researchers collaborate, track, share, and manage research data in a single place. This is one of the best online market research tools for those who need a place to bring together resources like websites, PDFs, articles, images, infographics, blogs, reports, videos, etc. it’s low-cost and connects to some of the most widely used tools. Being able to share multidimensional data with others, or simply keeping track of secondary market research in a single place makes it a firm favorite.

• Over 100 integrations with applications like Tableau, Miro, G-docs, Onedrive, and more
• Real-time editing and live collaboration
• Content Library
• Smart search
• Supports a huge range of content and file types

Freemium Version: Yes. Available for teams of up to 5 collaborators.

Free Trial: Yes, a free trial is available here .

Ongoing Subscription: A range of packages are available, costing between $8-$20 monthly.

Best market research tools for startups

There is another often-forgotten set of tools used for market research that are ideal for startups. If you’ve got zero budget and a little time on your hands, you can do most types of desk research for free. Sources include:

• Company reports, case studies, and whitepapers
• Research and trade associations
• Media coverage
• Internal sales or usage reports
• Academic or scientific journals
• Government and non-government agencies
• Public library records
• Competitor websites
• Educational institutions

Helpful: Check out this article about how to do market research for a startup .

Wrapping up….

With cost and time key considerations for anyone looking at tools for market research, it’s vital to choose wisely. While free market research tools are all good and well, they won’t always serve you when you’re on a deadline or require key insights on a specific competitor, market, or product.

Similarweb helps companies win in the digital world. Whatever the market, goal, or business size, its solutions are designed to help organizations understand their market and compete and beat rivals.

Take it for a test run today. Trial any Similarweb solution free for the first 7-days using this link .

Need to know more about the ROI of Similarweb? 

What are the best market research tools for secondary research?

The internet is probably the best tool for market research there is. It’s a goldmine of secondary market research data. But beware of data validity and check your information is coming from a trusted source.

What are the best market research tools for surveys?

Survey monkey is considered the best online market research tool for surveys, but key players like Typeform and Zoho follow closely behind. Budget and features usually determine the right tool for your needs.

What are the best free market research tools?

The best free tools for market research include: Answer the Public, Think with Google, Similarweb lite, SurveyMonkey’s basic plan, and Hootsuite’s free plan.

What are the best market research tools for qualitative research?

Qualitative research includes things like focus groups, open-ended surveys, case studies, and observation research. As such, the best tool for online research like this would be something like BIT.ai’s documentation and collaboration tool. Another useful tool for qualitative market research would be an online survey provider, like SurveyMonkey, Typeform, or Google Forms.

What are the best market research tools for quantitative research?

As this type of research is focused more on numbers, the best quantitative market research tools include things like Similarweb Digital Research Intelligence and Tableau. Each performs a different function but works together to collect, analyze, and present data in the most useful way possible.

by Liz March

Digital Research Specialist

Liz March has 15 years of experience in content creation. She enjoys the outdoors, F1, and reading, and is pursuing a BSc in Environmental Science.

Related Posts

Importance of Market Research: 9 Reasons Why It’s Crucial for Your Business

Audience Segmentation: Definition, Importance & Types

Geographic Segmentation: Definition, Pros & Cons, Examples, and More

Demographic Segmentation: The Key To Transforming Your Marketing Strategy

Unlocking Consumer Behavior: What Makes Your Customers Tick?

Customer Segmentation: Expert Tips on Understanding Your Audience

Wondering what similarweb can do for your business.

Give it a try or talk to our insights team — don’t worry, it’s free!

6 Key Market Research Industry Trends (2024)

You may also like:

• Key Email Marketing Trends
• Key IT Trends
• Important UX Design Trends

The value of the global market research industry grew by more than $40 billion dollars between 2012 and 2022. The industry is currently worth over $82.62 billion and shows no signs of slowing down.

This valuation isn’t surprising — information is everywhere. Unprecedented volumes of data, up-to-the-minute insights, and truly global audiences mean the market research industry is constantly shifting in an effort to keep up with ever-changing consumer preferences.

In this report, read about the top six trends that we expect to drive the market research industry in 2024 and the years to come.

1. Online surveys transition to mobile-first

In recent years, the market research industry has been sticking to what they know: online surveys work.

Today, nearly 90% of market researchers say they use online surveys regularly.

Market researchers have come to rely on online surveys because they’re fast and cost-effective .

Nearly all consumers are on the internet — only 37% of the world , including people in developing countries, has never been online.

Statistics show that 5.3 billion people use the internet as of late 2023, and that number is growing by 3.7% each year.

Experts expect the popularity of the online survey market to stay high, growing 16% each year through 2026.

With the popularity of online surveys, it’s logical to expect to see similar popularity in mobile surveys.

Across the globe, 68% of website visits in 2020 came from mobile devices. That’s nearly a 5% increase over 2019.

However, only 60% of market researchers say they use mobile surveys regularly.

Experts point to poor UX and survey length as reasons why consumers don’t complete surveys on their smartphones.

Searches for "UX design" have increased by 118% in the last 5 years.

At the end of 2018, 33% of online surveys were started via mobile.

That was a substantial increase from 2013 when only 3-7% of surveys were taken on smartphones .

SurveySparrow , a company founded in 2017, aims to make mobile-first surveys the future of market research.

The company’s founder was inspired by WhatsApp, keeping the tone of the platform’s surveys convenient and conversational.

SurveySparrow says their approach gets a 40% higher completion rate than traditional online surveys.

Pollfish , another mobile-first survey company, stresses that mobile surveys are a much better option than desktop online surveys.

They say mobile surveys provide a greater reach, especially to consumers in Gen Z, and drive an increased response rate.

Experts suggest that mobile-first surveys must optimize the user experience . Doing so can lead to data differences of 10 percentage points or more.

2. Redefining the representative sample

Market researchers have always been mindful to create their groups of research participants in proportion to the population of the market as a whole.

In other words, they recruit participants that mirror their target audience in terms of gender, age, and location.

In the past few years, there’s been a push to expand what a “ representative sample ” truly means.

In one survey, 80% of market researchers said they were interested in learning best practice solutions for multicultural insights, research, and strategy.

The CEO of ThinkNow , a cultural insights agency, described it this way:

“An inclusive approach to research relies on a diverse sample of respondents and employs cultural understanding to provide psychological safety for them. This enables you to gather open and honest responses”.

The inclusion standard extends beyond ethnicities to include people with physical disabilities, those with intellectual disabilities, and people in LGBTQ+ communities.

Inclusive market research doesn’t present an entirely new way of doing things. But it does include several meaningful changes that can drastically improve the quality of the data collected.

For example, researchers are becoming more mindful of the nature of their questions. Are they offensive or dismissive to certain groups of participants? Are they stereotypical or inclusive?

Conducting market research among Millennials is one example where diversity in the audience is essential.

When it comes to Millennials in the United States, Hispanics make up more than 20% of the group . In order to get accurate data, market researchers must ensure the makeup of their sample is 20% Hispanic.

LMD, a Maryland-based communications agency, recently completed market research for a multi-year anti-litter campaign for Prince George’s County.

They were careful to draw upon a diverse group of participants that matched the County’s actual population breakdown: 61% Black, 14% Hispanic/Latinx, 12% white, and 12% other races/ethnicities.

They also completed the research in English and Spanish , further serving the diverse group of research participants.

3. Video becomes the tool of choice for qualitative research

Research from Take Note found that 93% of market researchers are using online/video focus groups more often than three years ago .

They also discovered that 90% are using consumers’ online video submissions and in-depth video interviews more than they were three years ago.

The main reason behind this transition? Consumers are now much more comfortable being “on camera”.

Thanks to the pandemic, video conferencing platforms are now part of daily life for many people. In fact, more than 300 million people used Zoom every day during its peak.

They’re also ready and willing to create user-generated content . More than 5 million videos were shared when Instagram first debuted its video feature.

Experts agree that companies can gain more market insights through video than text.

Video is more interactive, more genuine, and provides “unspoken” data like body language, tone, and facial expressions.

Medallia’s LivingLens video software offers companies the opportunity to capture 6x more information with video surveys compared to open-ended text responses.

Nearly every industry is taking advantage of video-based market research , from automotive companies to the beverage industry, to healthcare organizations.

Del Taco recently launched a video feedback initiative. The company took advantage of more than 10 hours of customer video content in reaction to menu changes.

In the past, market researchers have been concerned about the scalability of video insights. Manually combing through hours of unedited video footage is nowhere near efficient.

But, in today’s market, video delivers fast results at scale.

Dozens of video analytics platforms exist.

Affectiva’s technology can “detect nuanced human emotions, complex cognitive states, activities, interactions, and objects people use”.

The company was recently acquired by Smart Eye , a Swedish technology company focused on eye-tracking systems, for $73.5 million.

Other companies, like Speak , use AI to transcribe consumer videos and analyze the text, creating a searchable database of media and insights.

4. Bringing market research in-house

Another response to the current demands placed on market researchers is bringing their efforts in-house.

Global consumer goods corporation P&G has cut its number of agency relationships by 60% over the past seven years. This has resulted in serious cash savings: $750 million.

One report by SurveyMonkey shows that more than half of market researchers estimate their use of full-service research vendors will decrease.

The same report said 70% of market researchers are very likely or somewhat likely to transition to more DIY tools in the next year.

In one example, Organic Valley adopted user-friendly tools that made it easier for coworkers outside of the research department to dive into the data and discover their own customer insights.

Companies that are investing in in-house research see it as a way to keep their efforts customer-centric and use new technologies to empower their brand.

In essence, brands want more transparency, more control, and a streamlined process for market research.

Investors are taking notice of this trend.

Research platform quantilope raised $28 million in a Series B funding round announced in July 2020.

The company commissioned the Forrester Consulting Total Economic Impact study , which found their market research platform provides an ROI of 319% over three years and $2.7 million in net benefits.

5. Faster, more cost-effective market research

Companies cannot afford to be slow in their market research.

In the post-pandemic world, businesses are acting 20-25x faster than usual when it comes to making certain changes.

As one CEO puts it, companies must have “accurate, up-to-the-minute research ” if they hope to gain useful insights about their consumers and their business.

Traditional market research methods like focus groups still have their place. But speed is not their strength.

That’s where agile market research excels.

This type of market research is defined by gathering consumer feedback, applying technology, and launching campaigns quickly . That way, companies can test and make decisions without extended periods of time being devoted to each step.

Zappi is one agile market research platform that’s showing incredible growth.

The company grew sales by more than 30% in 2021 and launched a new tool, Zappi Amplify TV .

At least part of this dedication to faster results is driven by budget constraints.

According to SurveyMonkey, 56% of companies have continued demand for market research but face limited or shrinking budgets.

Automated market research is one way to support the agile method and deliver quicker insights with fewer people on staff.

The results are pretty convincing : 60% of market researchers say automation allows them to deliver results faster, 50% say it’s allowed them to lower costs, and 80% of market researchers say they believe the trend will continue to grow.

6. Social media listening gives insights in real-time

Social media platforms are full of conversations, interactions, likes, and dislikes that are relevant to a business’ brand.

Each of these interactions is a window into the preferences and attitudes of a company’s target audience.

Social media listening involves gathering historical and real-time data from social media. Like other market research methods, this data can inform decisions and inspire new offerings.

Statistics show that 5.85 billion people worldwide will be using social media by 2027.

Better yet, 80% of what people post on social media is about themselves.

This means businesses that invest in social media research methods essentially have access to their target audience in real-time.

Those that can effectively monitor social media and make sense of the data will get a wealth of valuable information: what customers like, what they dislike, how they use products, what trends they’re interested in and much more.

With a variety of social media listening platforms and price points, this type of market research method is available to businesses of any size.

Talkwalker is one of the most comprehensive social media listening platforms and was recently featured in a Forrester report as one of the “ top 10 providers that matter most ”.

The Talkwalker platform crawls nearly 150 million websites, 30,000 podcasts, more than 10 social media platforms, and 187 different languages.

Businesses should take note, though, that one of the  drawbacks of social media market research is the incidence of skewed results caused by herd mentality.

People on social media act impulsively and are largely swayed by other users. Which means the data isn’t always 100% accurate.

The market research trends that lie ahead on the horizon show us that social media, smartphones, and DIY data research should dominate the market in the near future.

Customer needs are constantly changing and that means market research will always be key to any successful organization.

The brands that can quickly and effectively anticipate customer wants and needs are the brands that will be able to surpass the competition and never look back.

Find Thousands of Trending Topics With Our Platform

10 Top Market Research Trends in 2023

AI Generated Summary

Blog Summary The blog discusses the rapid evolution of market research influenced by technologies like AI, and the pressing need for brands to adapt to maintain consumer loyalty and capitalize on emerging market opportunities.

Key Points Overview

• Market research is crucial for adapting to fast-changing consumer expectations and market conditions.
• AI and digital tools are transforming traditional market research methods, making them faster and more effective.
• Brands need to leverage new market research trends to stay competitive and manage risks effectively.

Top Takeaways

• Embrace AI-driven tools for real-time, insightful market analysis.
• Understand and adapt to rapid market changes to maintain consumer engagement.
• Utilize innovative market research methods to identify and act on emerging opportunities.

Conclusion In today’s fast-evolving market landscape, staying ahead requires brands to adopt advanced market research tools and strategies. These allow brands to quickly respond to changes, understand consumer needs, and navigate potential risks, ensuring continued growth and consumer loyalty.

What worked yesterday in your market research strategy won’t work today. The world is evolving and speeding ahead at a frightening pace—and brands that don’t adapt fast enough could experience a decrease in consumer loyalty and love.

However, market research offers white space opportunities that provide insights into emerging trends. It also opens the door to new perceptions of the market and consumers’ fickle moods, which are changing with the wind. Tracking these market research trends over time helps brands connect with consumers in a way that resonates—nurturing long-lasting relationships.

The only constant in business is that tomorrow, the market will change. But with consumer and market intelligence, savvy brands can remain agile and able to pivot at a moment’s notice—keeping shipping lanes open to you.

Baseline metrics help you plot your course to your destination, while the ebb and flow of global trends can help you best determine when and where to put out to sea. Here, we’ll look at the top ten market research trends in 2023 that will get you from point A to point B with the least amount of frustration. And they’ll help you maneuver around and avoid any storms.

To begin, let’s look at a few market research statistics of interest:

• Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly changing how market research is done.   According to Statista , in 2022, revenues from the global artificial intelligence market were expected to reach 433 billion USD. Additionally, it’s expected that the global AI market will see exceptional growth, reaching more than half a trillion USD by 2023.
• The   global revenue of the Market Research industry   exceeded 76.4 billion USD in 2021. This growth has been twofold since 2008 and is projected to continue.
• According to   Knowledge Sourcing Intelligence , the global online survey market is expected to grow at a CAGR of more than 16% through 2026.

First, we’ll share how market research tools have changed, and then we’ll dig into the research trends!

How Market Research Tools Have Evolved

In the 1920s, the first inklings of proper market research began, and qualitative questionnaires were king. It all started with a man named Daniel Starch, a trained psychologist and mathematician, who started approaching people on the streets and asking if they remembered any particular ads from popular publications they had read. Then, he’d take this information and cross-reference it with circulation counts to determine which advertisements were the most effective.

In hindsight, it seems extraordinarily rudimentary, but it was a step in the right direction. The only tools you needed were a pair of shoes and a notepad. And while the results were by no means exhaustive, they were a vast improvement over the methods employed in the past – which were next to none. Journalists simply wrote advertisements and hoped people read them.

Quantitative surveys and focus groups remained the primary market research methods for collecting consumer intelligence into the 1960s. Then, as computers became accessible for research, focus on statistics and hard data became the aim. It had become apparent in the industry that there was a disconnect between what consumers said they did – and what they really did. Market research that captured insight into these discrepancies became attainable through processing power.

The ubiquity of the internet opened new doors to data acquisition for researchers expanding accessibility to consumers’ thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. We are now firmly rooted in the digital era, where advances in cloud computing and artificial intelligence elevate 24/7 access to consumer data with the means to store and evaluate vast data sets.

Data visualization of top ten thematic clusters in market research from top-tier US news sources. 1/1/21-1/1/23

Disruption has been the name of the game for the past few years, so it pays for brands to be on top of the latest research. So let’s dig into those research trends to see what’s on tap this year!

Trend #1:   Tracking Consumer & Market Intelligence to Keep Pace with Turbulent Times

Your brand needs an all-encompassing view that aggregates consumer and market intelligence to be in the best position to strategize and minimize risk. That means pulling data from every conceivable resource.

The more data sets you can get your hands on, the better informed you’ll be, plain and simple. But like everything in life, balance is crucial. If you lean too heavily into the social conversations surrounding your brand without understanding the market forces at work, then your knowledge of your brand positioning will be lopsided.

Conversely, a rock-solid understanding of market conditions without firm footing along social media trend lines could cause you to undershoot your messaging with vast swaths of your target audience.

If your competitors are consistently outmaneuvering you in a particular area, odds are they’re more informed than you. Agility in business isn’t built on bravado but on a holistic consumer and market intelligence approach. After the past few chaotic years brought on by the pandemic, and now with the   risk of a recession   in North America and Euro zones looming, brands across industries are in an arms race for intelligence. It’s a race to the top, and the winner is the one that can pivot first. Without good intel, brands make costly mistakes that negatively affect the bottom line.

2021 was a definitive year for brands coming out of the pandemic; consumers emerged changed as well. They became more vocal, calling out companies for any misstep—a trend that would flow into 2022. And the entire past year had its fair share of turbulence for brands trying to understand the voice of the consumer—a voice that has grown louder and more demanding.

Additionally, “two-thirds of consumers were feeling somewhat or a lot worse regarding prices for food/consumer goods, fuel/gasoline prices, cost of housing, the overall cost of living, and international relations/wars,” according to   DriveResearch.   With an expected recession on the horizon and consumer demands that brands get everything right, the importance of turning on a dime is top of mind. Brands have become tenacious about guarding against unforeseen risk, and with that has come a deep thirst for accessible and actionable intel built on a robust data network.

When examining who is generating the most conversation about data intelligence, we see Sales and Marketing, Entrepreneurs, Executive Management, and Banking and Finance over-indexing – as these groups recognize the growing importance of making data-informed decisions.

For the sake of speed, siloed data is a pent-up resource and a barrier to agile decision-making. So now more than ever, your understanding of brand position should cut across every data silo, including internal data, consumer and social intel, and strategic market intelligence.

Your consumer intelligence should be built on social media analytics, employee and product reviews, surveys, etc., in addition to your logistical purchase data to inform a deep and robust viewpoint into your voice of the customer (VoC). Likewise, your competitive intelligence should include the same insights and be as vigorously informed.

For example, look at the intel from Glassdoor reviews alone. And this is precisely the kind of data that can be uploaded into your market research tool to form a complete understanding of your organization.

Your market intelligence should be a top-down approach with a cohesive understanding of global positioning, trends, and competitive movement. Dialing down into your category, you may need access to data on the M&A and patent landscape surrounding you. Any unstructured data you can get your hands on, such as   earnings call transcripts, that informs about the competition is paramount to gaining the edge.

This year, the difference between first movers and laggards will be bountiful access to meaningful data across the consumer and market spectrum. To come out on top, your market research tools need to handle whatever you throw at them – and that should be a lot.

Trend #2: AI-driven Real-time Research Replacing Traditional Methods

Traditional research methods are going the way of the horse and buggy. Markets move too fast in our global economy for them to maintain relevancy. For instance, uploading available consumer product reviews into your data analytics tools takes moments and allows you to parse the data down to a granular level.

Achieving insight at speed is a game-changer by integrating artificial intelligence into your market research. The speed and functionality of machine learning is growing daily, leading to a rush to adopt the technology as the fastest means to overall market intelligence.

Standard methods, such as surveys, focus groups, etc., are too slow and cumbersome to compete. By the time company A has acquired and processed its survey results, company B has already informed its decision-makers, formed a strategy, and made a move. In the future, those brands and institutions that still need to implement artificial intelligence at scale will be forced to play a perpetual game of catchup. As such, this is one of the hottest research trends on the planet right now.

Artificial intelligence enables you to parse massive data sets, cut away the noise and find deep insights that traditional methods could only dream about. And it doesn’t need to take a lunch break.

AI-powered data analytics   breaks down the VoC into components to reveal trends and insight across a spectrum of indicators within the human language. The cost of human researchers using traditional methods to achieve such rich insights at scale would be so prohibitive that it’d be ludicrous to attempt. And it wouldn’t approach real-time processing rates that are standard for next-generation AI.

Agility is the future of business, and speed to insight is one of the most important aspects of being a front-runner in today’s marketplace. AI is gorging on market share at an estimated 46% CAGR through 2025, with market growth reaching   USD   by this year. And the market research industry has a big appetite for the tech. Those companies and industries that need to adapt will find themselves starved for information.

Trend #3: Adjacent Market Competition

You have enough trouble keeping up with your market, and now you need to understand adjacencies better too? Yes. We’ve mentioned the importance of turning on a dime, and you’re one pivot away from intruding on each other.

When it comes to a crisis, it’s not a matter of if … it’s a matter of when. For example, suppose you are underinformed on adjacent markets when a crisis hits. In that case, you very well may have an unwelcome guest eating from your table – especially if they were already informed about you.

What do you do then, should a natural disaster or supply disruption throw off your standard business approach? When external events, like a recession, impact consumers’ buying behaviors, brands need to have other ideas up their sleeves to pull through. If the market for your business dried up today, what strengths do you have that could get your foot in the door of an adjacent segment?

It’s hard not to mention the pandemic as an example of why brands need agility to pivot as needed. And with the following year posing financial challenges to consumers via a recession, we hope companies have learned their lesson so they can make the necessary changes before it hits their bottom line too hard. So let’s dive into an example of one company that has weathered the changes brought on by the unforeseeable

Uber Eats was the vehicle that brought Uber through the   most challenging part of the pandemic. Then, they pivoted to focus on what consumers needed most—comfort in the form of their favorite foods delivered safely to their door. And Uber hasn’t stopped innovating since.

Most recently,   Uber Technologies announced   a long-term partnership with autonomous vehicle developer Nuro: this zero-occupant, self-driving EVs will deliver food to Uber Eats customers around the US.

Uber Eats has weathered the worst and shown that they have staying power, cementing its spot at the top of the meal delivery segment. And we can tell by the most recent consumer intelligence that their audience base approves, with sentiment sitting at 53%.

Uber Eats social media conversation and net sentiment. 8/3/21-1/3/22

Pivoting to another focus area and quickly transitioning catapulted Uber to the top of the food delivery game.

Do you have a plan B for when things go south or a plan to diversify when needed? You do now, and it’s to move sideways.

You should know your adjacent markets backward and forwards, and there’s a secondary reason for doing so. What if it’s not you that has a crisis but your adjacent sector? They could potentially turn their eyes to your piece of the pie. Of course, you can’t plan for every scenario under the sun, but if you are already aware of who they are and what they do, you are better prepared to fend them off your territory than if you were starting from scratch.

Nevertheless, take a page from Uber’s playbook. That’s how it’s done.

Trend 4: Aligning Mission Statement with Consumer Values

Consumers are researching brands like never before, a trend showing no signs of slowing down. At the onset of the pandemic, we found that people were beginning to look for brands aligned with their values. Three years later, that has become standard consumer behavior – particularly with Gen Z.

Whether it’s the environment, sustainability, black-owned businesses, saving the whales, or ethical fashion, consumers are doing their homework on you. Brands that need to pay more attention here stand to lose customers to their competitors who’ve taken it to heart.

Silence isn’t a viable option here, and neither is having an archaic mission statement. Forward-thinking brands paying attention to consumer trends have already made adjustments and backed them up with action. If a customer goes on your website and your mission statement reads like a webpage from 1998, those dollars will not end up in your war chest.

Savvy consumers are looking at brands now as an extension of their personalities. They’ve done the hard work of researching where their money goes, and it’s essential to them. To them, if your mission statement has aged like milk, it’s incredibly off-putting. They want products and services from a brand that pays attention to the social and environmental concerns they’re concerned with – and acts on them in a meaningful way.

That means you need a new mission statement backed up by action. If you really want to go over the top, have your work independently verified by a third-party organization to build trust. Consumers are naturally skeptical of brands, so anything you can do to lessen that tension is a win.

Patagonia is an excellent example   of a mission statement done right. They’ve stayed true to who they are as a company and built a legion of loyal customers along the way. Additionally, they walk the walk.

Recently, Patagonia co-founder   transferred his ownership   to a trust that will combat climate change and protect undeveloped land around the globe. Patagonia recognized what was important to their target demographics, and put rubber to the road.

“One of the things that we’re really focused on … is aiding and educating civil society to be more able to make a positive environmental impact.” Alex Weller, Director of Marketing at Patagonia Europe (from   Brand The Change interview )

They’re outright aggressive with their environmental activism and great about telling the stories surrounding the brand’s actions. A look shows social media users talking about ecological issues relative to the brand. Isolating environmental keywords from the narrative on a bar chart colored by sentiment shows us whether these conversations are healthy. Sentiment plays an active role in how consumers perceive your brand and whether or not they’ll choose to purchase from you, so brands should always count sentiment.

Eight environmental keywords used by social users discussing Patagonia. Colored by sentiment. 10/3/22-1/3/23

In any case, revisiting your mission statement isn’t a pie-in-the-sky endeavor. It still represents who you are as a brand. But showing that you’re paying attention goes a long way. Putting actions behind your words is the icing on the cake in the consumer’s mind.

Use your market research to inform your efforts here, as it’s foolish – and potentially harmful – to guess. For example, armed with an understanding of global trends, Patagonia’s mission statement could practically write itself based on the top keywords alone.

Your brand’s social media conversations will indicate what trends closely resonate with your target audience. Highlight them in your mission statement. Show the customer that you have noticed and aligned with their values, and you will strengthen your brand story and the customer experience.

Trend #5: Mobile-first Smart Surveys for Targeted Insight

Smart surveys are another trend within the broader torrent of the   global digital transformation   rush that is gaining heavy adoption within the market research industry. And it makes sense as traditional methods of collecting survey data are comparatively slow and cumbersome. Not only that, but a well-implemented digital survey also captures a better response rate and does it faster than traditional methods.

Since speed to insight is the name of the game in modern market research, adding this data collection tool to your arsenal is critical to capturing targeted intel. Surveys are how market research started, and they still have a place in today’s methodology to extract insights from crucial moments in the customer journey. The goal is the same, but the tactics are better.

A traditional survey sent through the mail is a gamble. Getting a response depends on whether the consumer receives the survey, is in the mood to fill it out, and if the response choices align with their opinions. If any of these pieces are missing, then you’ll receive nothing, and it’s throwing money in the trash. Additionally, one consideration is accessibility.

A mobile-first approach is showing promise as more consumers use their cell phones for everyday tasks—in fact, mobile accounts for approximately   50% of web traffic   worldwide. Yet, only   64% of market researchers   presently use mobile surveys.

If the past few years have taught us anything, it’s that you have to meet the consumer where they are. Unfortunately, consumers are increasingly looking for scammers and nefarious motives on the digital spectrum. If surveys are poorly timed or incentivized in a way that makes the consumer feel like it’s a bait and switch, then they’ll feel taken advantage of.

It’s an unfortunate reality for consumers that brands should keep top of mind when developing their smart surveys. When you get it right, your audience will jump at the chance to provide feedback.

Once you design and implement smart surveys that capture honest feedback at an opportune moment in the   customer journey , the rewards will be well worth the effort. And your customers won’t feel imposed upon. On the contrary, if your survey properly incentivizes the consumer, they will be happy to provide feedback since you’ve given them a sense of additional value for their time.

The brand-specific consumer intelligence that smart surveys can unlock adds to your holistic consumer and market intelligence. The widening adoption of AI, chatbots and personalization at scale allows you to craft personalized surveys in-app or pre/post-checkout to humanize the interaction further when the customer is most heavily invested in your brand.

Examples of forward-thinking smart surveys can include emotion-based surveys using facial recognition cues in focus groups, or unintrusive feedback gleaned through curated communities attached to your   CX strategy. Sentiment around smart surveys is riding a wave of positivity right now, so outmaneuvering your competition here is the intelligent thing to do. Whatever way you choose to approach smart surveys, market research will inform you of your target audience’s best approaches, minimizing wasted time and maximizing response rates.

Trend #6: Real-Time Social Listening Adoption

In the future, a trend that will be the differentiator between brands that outlast their competitors is   social media listening   in real time. With the always-on manner of social media echoing social, economic, and political trends, doing business is akin to running through a minefield. Of course, some social listening is better than none, but if you’re going to make the long run, real-time monitoring is where it’s at.

Your brand’s longevity depends on avoiding social missteps and capitalizing on consumer intelligence. A   study by Innosight   found that in 1964 the average age of companies on the S&P 500 was 33 years old. By 2016 the average age had dropped to 24, and by 2027 is forecast to dwindle to just 12 years.

Couple that with the fact that 88% of companies that comprised the Fortune 500 in 1955 no longer exist, and you can see that longevity is not guaranteed. The way to hedge against going the course of the dinosaurs is by keeping tabs on the social climate as it happens with a thorough understanding of   emerging trends .

If you were to run an analysis on social listening mentions, you’d find that monitoring and managing misinformation are in the top five conversational themes. These are the issues your competitors are paying attention to. Since social never sleeps, that means the potential for market influence doesn’t either.

So, if you’re on the golf course on Sunday and your brand mentions go through the roof because one of your social media posts hits on the wrong side of a hot-button social issue, you need to know that – fast. And setting up alerts on your social media analytics tools for when activity moves outside your baseline metrics ensures

Consider real-time   social listening   like a stop-loss order against a potential crisis to safeguard your brand’s longevity. The sooner you’re informed, the better.

Trend #7: Quality of Metrics Will Make or Break Brands

Speaking of baseline metrics, accuracy is paramount. When aggregating your metrics from disparate analytics tools, you must pay extra careful attention to ensure something isn’t lost between your sources. Even if you use a dedicated social listening platform, you should ensure that your metrics are uncluttered by noise.

What does that mean exactly? If you are doing a   social media audit   on your brand to reassess your brand’s sentiment, for example, you have to know that your data is untainted by off-topic mentions, similar hashtags, or spam content. A clean dataset gives you clarity on the health of your brand. If it’s muddied by clutter, then you will not have an accurate representation of your brand to start with.

And that means your subsequent brand health analyses will be measured against faulty metrics. And this will also be the case if the data analytics tools you are using are incapable of slicing your data down to a granular level.

Quality is king when establishing your brand’s metrics. Otherwise, your measurements are an exercise in futility and of little use to your efforts. As such, your tools should be transparent enough to dig all through the mentions it pulls in. A robust set of filters and Boolean search capabilities allow you to eliminate all the excess, leaving you with a new data set relevant to your query.

For example, setting up our brand analysis on Patagonia, we knew we’d have to separate the brand from its namesake region in South America for accurate consumer insights. Knowing this, we excluded terms such as Chile, Argentina, and South America. If our analysis of Patagonia’s brand left any of those mentions included, it would skew our brand metrics.

However, you can see in the sentiment drivers below that the ‘condor repopulation drive’ and “face wind farm threat” terms don’t look like they belong. These terms come from articles about people freeing Andean condors in South America. Fortunately, it’s a quick fix to filter out this term along with any others we find along the way. And this is great for any analysis where your terms share similarities with other products, people, brands, and places.

The ability to drill down and cut away all irrelevant posts gives us a clear picture of the brand we can trust. And that’s what’s driving this research trend – a hunger for quality metrics built on unflinching accuracy.

Getting clean results in your social data sets is supremely important, and your tools have to get you there. Social media will talk about any significant event. So, as an example, if the news of condor repopulation were to trend and we’d negligently leave those mentions in our brand analysis–when we went to benchmark over time, we’d then be left wondering why our impressions and “mentions” were vastly different.

That’s a headache you don’t have to have. Clearing away the social media clutter makes your analysis actionable – and you can confidently measure against it in the future.

Patagonia brand discussion summary metrics. 10/8/22-1/8/23

That’s why top brands demand pinpoint accuracy from the start, with transparent and fine-tuned results. And you should too.

Trend #8: Extended Trend Tracking

Understanding how trends fluctuate over time provides the context for market movements. Trend tracking is not a ‘set it and forget it’ scenario for your market intelligence. Instead, ongoing trend analysis is critical in informing your brand when to pull back and when to push through.

Yes, some trends gushed last year, and others retracted due to the change in consumer behaviors born out of the events of the past few years–from the pandemic to social unrest. And while this year presents its own challenges in moving past turmoil and into the future, there is no guarantee that trends will behave logically.

Since markets are temperamentally unpredictable, trends are directly affected by the moods that influence the whole. So just because sustainability has been a growing trend for many years doesn’t mean you can base your initiatives around it and ride off into the sunset.

That kind of thinking is trouble and why many brands no longer exist. In other words, hitching your brand to a current trend may pay dividends in the short run, but it’s a giant gamble to set anything on autopilot long-term. Trends have a way of swelling, retracting, and branching off in new directions, and brands are paying attention to long-term movements to inform their strategy like never before.

Cryptocurrency and blockchain technology has been white-hot over the past few years, and it has grabbed the attention of influential people such as Elon Musk. However, it has been a   tumultuous year for cryptocurrency . In 2022, we witnessed Terra Luna being worthless, Celsius going bankrupt, and FTX’s founder getting arrested on alleged fraud charges. That being said, industry professionals are optimistic that the cryptocurrency   trend will continue into 2023 .

This optimism relies on the past performance of crypto markets, which suggests that this will be a good year for virtual currencies. And regardless, Bitcoin is in for a wild ride this year,   according to Forbes —with other industry professionals predicting more crashes even worse than in 2022, and some thinking Bitcoin will disappear forever.

Nevertheless, the decentralization properties of blockchain technology still have disruptive potential for governments and financial institutions – and they are paying attention. Others are getting in on the action, too. But companies will want to track it over time to ensure they don’t get too far in over their head if the bottom drops out of cryptocurrency as some predict. Here’s a look at a company dataset in NetBase Quid ®   showing a timeline view of investment into companies involved with Bitcoin.

Investment in companies dealing with Bitcoin. 2013-2023

If this industry could touch you, you’d want to know about the considerable spikes, or dips, in investment over the past year. A look at the patent activity in the cryptocurrency space over the last five years is also telling. For example, there have been over 1,200 patents applied for in that time, of which 345 have been granted. In 2021, that number stood at 235—something to think about and watch as the next year unfolds, particularly as it seems 2022 was light in comparison.

Longitudinal trend tracking keeps surprises to a minimum, leaving your brand in the best position to pivot no matter how the tides turn. And following the money and the innovation shows whether a trend has teeth.

Trend #9: Redefining Customer Experiences

Due to the rapid adoption of e-commerce on the back of consumers wanting more convenience and a safer way to shop during the pandemic, many brands have been rethinking their CX strategy. Our “new normal” has become “just normal,” and it’s doubtful we’ll ever return to the way things were. And e-commerce is reaping the benefits of this new era of shopping.

Brands must find new ways to create unique and memorable customer experiences in a crowded market. Your focus here should continue in the digital transformation vein and look for opportunities to make stronger connections with your consumers online.

Your market research will be invaluable to this end. And while demographic data has its place, your focus should be on collecting psychographic data. This means you’re going beyond age, race, and gender to inform your strategy into your target audience’s values, interests, attitudes, and personality type. These psychographic traits often transcend demographic markers to ensure your messaging is tailored to fit your ideal customer.

Additionally, personalization at scale is seeing tremendous interest. While many brands are still struggling to implement it on an enterprise level, those that have are reaping the benefits.

McKinsey reports , “Research shows that personalization most often drives 10 to 15 percent revenue lift (with company-specific lift spanning 5 to 25 percent, driven by sector and ability to execute). The more skillful a company becomes in applying data to grow customer knowledge and intimacy, the greater the returns.” Including the customer’s name in emails and chatbot conversations is a great place to start. Personalized recommendations or pain point suggestions based on   consumer insights   are additional ways to provide a customized consumer experience.

That little something extra adds a touch of humanity to digital interaction. It simply works.

Trend #10: Aggregating Business Intelligence for More Powerful Results

As mentioned, speed to accurate intel is mission-critical with the global economy’s non-stop activity. Unfortunately, many companies still use too many platforms to cobble together their market research. If your Martech Stack has grown unwieldy, it’s time to change.

That’s because streamlined efficiency is the name of the game. When your market research analytics tools are under one umbrella, it makes all the difference in the world. Just remember, the spoils almost always go to the first mover. Cumbersome research methods and tools are not the recipe for success in today’s fast-paced climate.

When it comes to auditing your Martech Stack, you’ve got to be honest with what you need and what you don’t. Platforms and resources change over time, leading to unnecessary overlap, incompatibility issues, bloatware, and a general slowing down of your workflow. In addition, the more tools you’re working with, you heighten your chance of running into issues between tools.

Your data analytics tools are your eyes and ears in the marketplace and, therefore, one of your best hedges against threats. They inform every single one of the trends that we’ve covered here and more. If a robust suite of data analytics tools under one roof meets your brand’s needs, then that is the direction you need to go.

The entirety of the past few years has underscored the importance of being well-informed and staying agile. Brands across the globe are taking their market research to the next level in response and recognizing the value of an   Quid Connect   that makes every bit of insight accessible via one powerful BI platform.

This year will offer its unique challenges as the world attempts to keep the ship upright and steer around any icebergs. What’s left to be seen is how consumers will react to yet another wave of changes. Brands doing their due diligence in consumer and market intelligence will be ahead of the rest. Undoubtedly, this list of research trends represents a challenging set of objectives for any brand. But much of it builds upon the other. So analyze your goals, approach your low-hanging fruit and then expand your market research horizons from there. Finally, break it down and take a systematic approach .

What matters most is that you build upon accurate insights. Once your foundation is firm, the speed will come. Be sure to   reach out for a demo , and we’ll be happy to help you kick your market research into high gear with world-class data analytics tools built on next-generation artificial intelligence .

Market Research Components | 2023 comprehensive Guide

Introduction What is Market Research? Market Research is the systematic […]

Published on

Introduction

Market size, potential growth, market trends, consumer analysis, competitor analysis, swot analysis, pestel analysis.

• Porter’s Five Forces Analysis

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is market research.

Market Research is the systematic process of gathering, analyzing, and interpreting information about a specific market. This includes understanding the target audience, identifying market trends, assessing competitors, and more.

The information collected through market research helps businesses make well-informed decisions, reduce risks, and identify new opportunities.

For a comprehensive guide on initiating and executing successful market research, be sure to explore our detailed post on Conducting Market Research 101 .

Why is Market Research Important?

In an increasingly competitive and dynamic business environment, market research has become an essential tool for success. It provides the insights needed to:

• Understand Consumers: It helps businesses know their customers’ needs, preferences, and behaviors.
• Identify Opportunities: Market research uncovers gaps in the market that can be filled with innovative products or services.
• Mitigate Risks: By understanding the external environment, businesses can avoid potential pitfalls.
• Shape Strategies: It informs decision-making processes, ensuring that strategies are aligned with market realities.

In this comprehensive guide, we will explore the many facets of market research, leveraging decades of industry experience and knowledge. Whether you’re a business owner, a marketing professional, or simply interested in the field, this article will provide you with the expertise you need.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

• Market Size: Understanding the total volume of a given market.
• Potential Growth: Forecasting market expansion and opportunities.
• Market Trends: Analyzing current and future trends affecting the market.
• Consumer Analysis: Examining consumer behaviors and preferences.
• Competitors Analysis: Assessing your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses.
• SWOT Analysis: A strategic tool for evaluating a business’s internal and external environment.
• PESTEL Analysis: Investigating macro-environmental factors affecting the market.
• Porter’s Five Forces Analysis: Analyzing the competitive forces within your industry.
• Additional Analyses: Exploring other relevant tools and frameworks.

From understanding the market size to employing advanced analytical tools like SWOT and PESTEL, this article offers a complete guide to market research. It’s built on years of professional expertise and aims to be a reliable and authoritative source for anyone seeking to navigate the complex world of market research.

Uncover the role of SWOT analysis in decoding the restaurant industry’s intricacies in our article: SWOT Analysis for Restaurant.

Market Size refers to the total number of potential buyers or the total volume of sales for a particular product or service within a given market. It’s a critical metric that offers valuable insights into the landscape of an industry and can significantly impact strategic business decisions.

Understanding market size allows businesses to:

• Identify Potential: Knowing the market size helps in assessing the potential demand and the feasibility of entering a new market or launching a new product.
• Allocate Resources Efficiently: With accurate market size data, companies can allocate their marketing and production resources more effectively.
• Benchmark Performance: It enables businesses to compare their sales and performance against the total market potential.

Calculating the market size can be complex, depending on the industry and the information available. Here are some common approaches used by experts:

• Top-Down Approach: This method starts with a broad view of the industry and narrows down to a specific segment or product. It often involves using existing research and industry reports.
• Bottom-Up Approach: A more granular method, this starts with the smallest part of the market and builds up. It often involves primary research, such as surveys and interviews.
• Demand and Supply Analysis: Examining both supply and demand factors within the market to understand the overall size and potential.

Market size isn’t just a number; it’s a vital part of strategic planning:

• Segmentation and Targeting: Understanding market size helps in segmenting the market and targeting specific customer groups effectively.
• Investment Decisions: Investors and stakeholders often use market size to gauge the potential returns and risks associated with a market.
• Competitive Positioning: It helps businesses understand where they stand in comparison to competitors and the overall market.

Potential Growth refers to the future expansion opportunities within a given market. It’s a forecast that provides insights into the possible growth of a market segment, industry, or economy. Understanding potential growth helps businesses in strategic planning, investment decisions, and resource allocation.

Identifying potential growth requires careful analysis using various methods and tools. Here are some commonly utilized techniques:

• Market Segmentation Analysis: Breaking down the market into smaller segments to identify underserved or emerging areas.
• Trend Analysis: Studying current market trends and extrapolating them to predict future growth paths.
• Competitive Landscape Analysis: Evaluating competitors’ strategies and performance to uncover opportunities for differentiation and growth.
• Economic Forecasting: Using economic indicators and models to predict the overall growth potential of a market.

Potential growth isn’t just a projection; it’s a critical component of business strategy:

• Product Development: Guides the innovation and development of new products to meet future market demands.
• Investment Planning: Assists in making investment decisions based on expected returns and growth prospects.
• Marketing Strategy: Helps in shaping marketing campaigns and channels to reach emerging market segments.
• Risk Management: Aids in understanding potential risks and uncertainties associated with market expansion.

Market Trends refer to the general direction or movement of a market or industry over time. These trends can be upward, downward, or even sideways and are typically influenced by various factors such as economic conditions, consumer behaviors, technological advancements, and more.

Understanding market trends is pivotal for businesses for several reasons:

• Strategic Alignment: Aligning products, services, and marketing strategies with current trends enhances relevance and competitiveness.
• Opportunity Identification: Recognizing emerging trends can lead to the discovery of new business opportunities or potential threats.
• Consumer Engagement: By resonating with current trends, businesses can create a stronger connection with their target audience.

Examples of Market Trends:

• E-commerce Growth: The ongoing shift towards online shopping, especially amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Sustainability Focus: Increasing consumer interest in environmentally friendly products and sustainable business practices.
• Personalization in Marketing: The use of data analytics to provide personalized experiences and offerings to consumers.

Utilizing Market Trends for Competitive Advantage

Successfully leveraging market trends can give businesses a significant competitive edge:

• Product Innovation: Developing new products that align with emerging trends.
• Marketing Adaptation: Adapting marketing messages and channels to resonate with current market sentiments.
• Strategic Partnerships: Collaborating with other businesses or influencers that align with trending topics or values.
• Investment Decisions: Allocating investments into areas that are trending upward, providing better returns.

Market trends are a vital aspect of market research, offering insights that can shape business strategies and drive success in today’s fast-paced and ever-changing business environment.

Consumer Analysis involves studying the behavior, needs, preferences, and buying patterns of consumers. It’s a crucial part of market research, allowing businesses to tailor their products, services, and marketing strategies to meet the specific needs of their target audience.

Consumer behavior encompasses the decisions and actions that consumers undertake when selecting, purchasing, using, and disposing of products or services. Here’s how businesses explore this aspect:

• Psychographics: Studying attitudes, interests, lifestyles, and values of consumers.
• Demographics: Analyzing age, gender, income, and other statistical aspects.
• Behavioral Patterns: Observing purchase history, brand loyalty, and interaction with products.

Tools and Techniques for Consumer Analysis

• Surveys and Interviews: Direct interaction with consumers to gain insights into their preferences and opinions.
• Observational Research: Studying consumers in a natural setting to understand their behavior.
• Data Analytics: Leveraging big data and analytics tools to process large amounts of consumer information.
• Social Media Monitoring: Analyzing social media activity to gauge consumer sentiments and trends.

Implementing Insights into Marketing Strategies

Consumer Analysis isn’t just about gathering data; it’s about translating those insights into actionable strategies:

• Product Development: Tailoring products to meet the specific wants and needs of the target audience.
• Personalized Marketing: Using consumer insights to create personalized marketing messages and offers.
• Distribution Decisions: Choosing the right channels and locations based on where the target consumers are most active.
• Customer Service Enhancement: Improving customer service by understanding and anticipating consumer needs.

Consumer Analysis is the heartbeat of market research, putting the consumer at the center of business decisions. By understanding who the consumers are, what they want, and how they behave, businesses can create more compelling offerings and build stronger connections with their audience.

Competitor Analysis involves evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of current and potential competitors. This essential aspect of market analysis provides insights into the competitive landscape, allowing businesses to identify opportunities, threats, and strategies to gain a competitive edge.

Understanding the types of market research required for Competitor Analysis involves recognizing the different levels of competitors:

• Direct Competitors: Businesses that offer similar products or services.
• Indirect Competitors: Those who provide alternatives that could replace your product or service.
• New Entrants: Companies that are newly entering the market and could become competitors.

In conducting the research to analyze competitors, businesses often employ both secondary and primary research methods:

• Primary Market Research: Involves collecting firsthand information directly from the market through surveys, interviews, and direct observations. This approach offers specific insights into competitors’ customer satisfaction levels, brand perception, and more.
• Secondary Market Research: Utilizes existing data and research studies, like competitors’ annual reports, websites, and industry publications. This method is more cost-effective and helps in understanding competitors’ market positioning, financial health, and product offerings.

Importance of Analyzing Competitors

• Strategic Planning: Understanding competitors’ strategies helps in shaping your own business plans and tactics.
• Benchmarking: Comparing your business performance against competitors to identify areas for improvement.
• Risk Mitigation: Identifying potential threats from competitors and developing strategies to counter them.

Research companies often employ Competitor Analysis to provide tailored solutions to their clients. For example, they might analyze competitors’ social media strategies to help a client improve its online presence or evaluate pricing strategies to support a client in positioning its products more competitively.

Competitor Analysis is an indispensable part of what market research is. It equips businesses with the intelligence they need to navigate the competitive landscape effectively. By employing both primary and secondary research methods and leveraging research tools, companies can build robust strategies that resonate with their market positioning and goals.

Looking to delve deeper into understanding your competition? Discover our 6-Step Competitor Analysis Guide that provides actionable insights for staying ahead in your industry.

SWOT Analysis is a strategic tool used to identify and analyze the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats related to business competition or project planning. It’s a crucial part of the market research analysis process, offering a comprehensive view of the internal and external factors that can impact a business.

Components of SWOT Analysis:

• Strengths: Internal attributes that give an advantage over competitors.
• Weaknesses: Internal limitations that might hinder success.
• Opportunities: External factors that the organization could potentially leverage.
• Threats: External challenges that could negatively affect the business.

Importance of SWOT Analysis

• Strategic Planning: SWOT helps in setting objectives and developing strategies to achieve them.
• Decision Making: It aids in making informed business decisions by understanding the internal capabilities and external market dynamics.

When conducting a market research using SWOT, it’s vital to follow these steps:

• Identify Objectives: Define clear goals for the analysis.
• Gather Information: Utilize both primary and secondary research to collect relevant data.
• Analyze Strengths and Weaknesses: Assess internal factors by evaluating resources, processes, and capabilities.
• Identify Opportunities and Threats: Examine external market conditions, regulations, and trends.
• Create Strategies: Develop actionable plans based on the insights gathered.

SWOT Analysis is an invaluable component of market research that provides a holistic view of an organization’s position within the marketplace. It guides strategy, informs decision-making, and fosters a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

You can also read our 10-Steps for Writing a Powerful SWOT Analysis article.

As we continue to explore the different facets of market research, we’ll delve into other analysis techniques like PESTEL Analysis and Porter’s Five Forces Analysis, which further expand our understanding of the market environment.

PESTEL Analysis is a strategic tool used to identify and evaluate the macro-environmental factors that might affect an organization. It examines the Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental, and Legal aspects that can influence the market landscape.

PESTEL Analysis helps in understanding the external environment in which a business operates. Here’s why it’s essential:

• Strategic Alignment: It allows businesses to align their strategies with the external factors that might affect them.
• Risk Identification: Identifies potential risks and uncertainties in the market, enabling proactive planning.
• Opportunity Discovery: Unveils potential opportunities that can be leveraged for growth.

Components of PESTEL Analysis

• Political Factors: Government policies, regulations, political stability, etc.
• Economic Factors: Economic growth, inflation rates, exchange rates, etc.
• Social Factors: Cultural aspects, demographics, lifestyle trends, etc.
• Technological Factors: Technological advancements, automation, innovation, etc.
• Environmental Factors: Environmental regulations, climate change, sustainability concerns, etc.
• Legal Factors: Legal frameworks, labor laws, intellectual property rights, etc.

Understanding the broader market trends requires a systematic approach to PESTEL Analysis:

• Identify the Scope: Define the industry, region, and time frame for the analysis.
• Collect Data: Utilize secondary research methods, like industry reports, government publications, and academic research.
• Analyze Factors: Evaluate each PESTEL factor and its potential impact on the business.
• Develop Strategies: Craft strategies that capitalize on opportunities and mitigate threats.

Market research companies often incorporate PESTEL Analysis to offer a comprehensive view of the market conditions. This analysis helps in identifying opportunities, understanding risks, and crafting strategies that resonate with the current market environment.

PESTEL Analysis is an indispensable part of market research, providing insights into the macro-environmental factors that shape the market landscape. It complements other analyses like SWOT and Competitor Analysis by adding a broader perspective that informs strategic planning and decision-making.

In our next section, we’ll explore Porter’s Five Forces Analysis, further delving into the analytical frameworks that support market research.

Porter’s Five Forces Analysis

Porter’s Five Forces Analysis is a framework that helps businesses understand the competitive forces that shape an industry and impact profitability. Developed by Michael E. Porter, this analysis focuses on five key forces that determine the intensity of competition and attractiveness of an industry.

• Competitive Rivalry (Industry Competition): Analyzes the intensity of competition among existing players in the industry. A high level of rivalry may lead to price wars and reduced profitability.
• Bargaining Power of Suppliers: Evaluates the ability of suppliers to influence prices and terms. If suppliers have significant power, they may demand higher prices, impacting business costs.
• Bargaining Power of Buyers: Assesses the influence of buyers (customers) on prices and product features. If buyers have substantial bargaining power, they can pressure businesses to reduce prices or enhance quality.
• Threat of New Entrants: Examines the ease with which new competitors can enter the market. Barriers to entry, like capital requirements and regulations, affect this threat level.
• The threat of Substitute Products or Services: Analyzes the risk posed by alternative products or services that can replace the existing offerings. A high threat of substitutes can reduce demand and profitability.

Conducting a Porter’s Five Forces Analysis requires a systematic approach:

• Define the Industry: Identify the specific industry or market segment under examination.
• Analyze Each Force: Evaluate the five forces to understand their influence on the industry.
• Identify Key Players: Recognize the main competitors, suppliers, buyers, and potential entrants.
• Assess Barriers and Opportunities: Determine barriers to entry, potential threats, and opportunities for growth.
• Develop Strategies: Formulate strategies that leverage strengths, counter threats, and capitalize on opportunities.

Research companies use Porter’s Five Forces Analysis to provide in-depth insights into an industry’s competitive landscape. It aids in strategic planning, investment decisions, market entry strategies, and more.

Porter’s Five Forces Analysis is a vital component of any market research process, offering a nuanced understanding of the competitive forces that shape an industry. By comprehensively evaluating these forces, businesses can craft robust strategies that align with the market dynamics and foster growth and sustainability.

Market research is a comprehensive and multifaceted discipline that sits at the heart of successful business strategy.

The process of conducting a market research involves both primary and secondary approaches, employing various market research tools to collect, analyze, and interpret data. It helps organizations understand market size, growth potential, emerging trends, competition, and consumer preferences.

Research companies leverage these analyses and tools to offer actionable insights that guide decision-making, strategy formulation, product development, and marketing efforts. Understanding what is market research and how to effectively conduct it is essential for businesses seeking to navigate the complex and ever-changing market environment.

With the right approach to market research, organizations can uncover opportunities, mitigate risks, and craft strategies that resonate with their target audience. It’s not just about gathering information; it’s about translating that information into meaningful actions that drive growth and success.

Whether you’re an established corporation or a burgeoning startup, market research is an indispensable asset that fosters innovation, competitiveness, and sustainability. By embracing the myriad analyses and methodologies encompassed within market research, you set the stage for informed decision-making and strategic excellence.

If you find yourself in need of professional assistance in conducting market research, look no further than our expert team at Globemonitor. With a wealth of experience and specialized tools at our disposal, we provide tailored market research solutions that drive actionable insights and business growth.

Whether you’re looking to understand your target audience, analyze competitors, or explore new market opportunities, we’re here to help you every step of the way. Don’t hesitate to contact us today, and let’s embark on a successful market research journey together.

1. What is market research, and why is it important?

Market research is the process of collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data about the market, including customers, competitors, trends, and other factors. It is vital for understanding market needs, identifying opportunities, minimizing risks, and making informed business decisions.

2. What are the 7 steps in marketing research?

The seven steps in marketing research are:

• Defining the research problem
• Determining the research design
• Choosing the research method (primary or secondary)
• Collecting data
• Analyzing data
• Interpreting findings
• Reporting and presenting results

3. How is market research done?

Market research is conducted through various methods such as surveys, interviews, observations, and experiments. It includes both primary research, involving direct data collection from target audiences, and secondary research, utilizing existing data sources.

4. What is a good example of market research?

A good example of market research might be a company conducting surveys and focus groups to understand customer preferences for a new product line. The insights gained from this research can guide product development, pricing, and marketing strategies.

5. Who uses market research?

Market research is used by businesses of all sizes, government agencies, non-profit organizations, and educational institutions. It helps in understanding market dynamics, customer needs, competition, and other critical factors to make informed decisions.

6. How do you define market size?

Market size is defined as the total number of potential customers or sales volume within a specific market segment or industry. It can be measured in terms of revenue, units sold, or population, depending on the context.

7. How do you identify market segments?

Market segments are identified by dividing the market into distinct groups based on shared characteristics such as demographics, psychographics, behavior, and needs. Segmentation helps in tailoring marketing strategies to specific target audiences.

8. How to design a marketing strategy?

Designing a marketing strategy involves understanding the target audience, analyzing the competition, defining marketing goals, choosing marketing channels, developing unique selling propositions, and implementing, monitoring, and adjusting the strategy as needed.

9. What are some credible governmental sources that can be utilized for data in market research process?

• For national economic statistics and insights, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis provides valuable information that can be instrumental in market research.
• Analyzing labor market trends is made easier with data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics , a credible governmental source for employment statistics and forecasts.
• For businesses looking to explore international markets, the World Bank’s Open Data is an essential resource that offers free and open access to global development data.
• The U.S. Census Bureau provides detailed demographic and population data, essential for segmenting and understanding target audiences in market research.
• To assess industry regulations and legal considerations, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission offers comprehensive resources and guidelines that can influence market entry and compliance strategies.
• For healthcare market researchers, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides crucial data on public health trends and policies, influencing product development and marketing strategies.
• Environmental considerations in market research can be informed by data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) , especially for businesses focusing on sustainability and ecological impact.

10. How to do market research for a startup?

Conducting market research for a startup means setting clear research objectives, pinpointing the target audience, gathering data via diverse methods such as surveys, interviews, and competitor analysis, and then analyzing this information to derive actionable insights.

For a detailed guide on this process, check out our comprehensive post on how to do market research for a startup in 2023

About the Author: Loaloa Riad

Subscribe to our newsletter

Get valuable insights and business guidance sent to your email.

Related Posts

What is One of the Best Ways to Get Reliable Information About a Product? | 5 Best Sources

Market Analysis for Restaurant: A 2024 Comprehensive Guide

Business Adjectives: Mastering Business Communication in 2024

© 2024 Copyright • GlobeMonitor.co • All Rights Reserved

Don’t miss out on valuable insights

Stay up-to-date with the latest market trends and insights! Subscribe to our newsletter now and receive exclusive content and updates directly to your inbox.

Global business

2023 Guide to Market Research: Key Strategies and Best Practices

When Steve Sasson—a Kodak engineer—invented the first digital camera in 1975, a breakthrough in photography was born. However, Kodak wasn’t interested—it was a film company, and Sasson’s digital camera threatened to disrupt its core business. Despite an extensive market research effort confirming the imminent shift from film to digital, Kodak continued to double down on its film business until it filed for bankruptcy in 2012.

The moral of the story is that strategic decisions need to be based on accurate market research in order to avoid costly mistakes, especially when they entail reinvention. Kodak is just one example—another common scenario in which a company might need to reinvent itself is when it’s looking to expand into new markets . Be it a new or adapted product or service, a new target audience, or new business models—changing tack to cater to a new market can be a make-or-break moment for businesses.

That’s why, if you’re looking to take your product global, conducting market research should be a key part of your strategy. Venturing into unfamiliar markets armed with solid market intelligence can help you make the most of opportunities and avoid pitfalls. In this article, we will discuss best practices for market research as a key component of a global expansion , and how you can make the most of it.

What is market research?

Market research is the process of collecting and analyzing data about a target market to understand consumer preferences and purchasing decisions. Companies can use this information to better inform their business strategies, such as what products or services to develop, how to adapt them to different market conditions, or what factors can affect demand.

When a company operates globally or is trying to enter new markets, market research becomes even more important. This is because culture and geography can have a big impact on consumer behavior. To be successful, you need to understand the nuances of each market and tailor your products and marketing strategies accordingly.

Market research vs marketing research

It’s common to see the terms “market research” and “marketing research” used interchangeably, but they actually refer to two different things.

Market research is a broad category that includes all types of data collection and analysis related to a target market. The aim is to understand the market, including the needs of consumers and the dynamics of competition.

Marketing research, on the other hand, is more specific and refers to the process of collecting and analyzing data to assess and identify the changing elements of the marketing mix (product, price, place, and promotion).

For example, if you want to launch a new product in the Spanish market, you would first conduct market research to assess whether there is a demand for it, what the market size, what market trends are, and what the competition looks like.

Once you have this information, you can then move on to marketing research for concept testing and to determine how to market the product , what channels to use for distribution, and what kind of marketing campaigns will be most effective.

Both activities do share some similarities, though: They may use the same data sources and methods, and the line between them can sometimes be blurry. Ultimately, the goal of both is to generate insights that can be used to make better business decisions.

Why is market research important?

There are many reasons why market research is important, but perhaps the most important is that it helps you reduce risk. When you have a clear understanding of your target market and what they want, you are much less likely to make costly mistakes.

In the context of globalization , market research can help you assess the potential of new markets and make informed decisions about where to allocate resources. It can also help you develop strategies for entering new markets, such as identifying the most effective channels for marketing and distribution.

When you’re expanding your business into new markets informed by market research, you’re much more likely to:

• Develop successful products and services: By understanding your customers’ needs , you can develop products and services that they will actually want to buy.
• Increase sales: By understanding your target market’s buying habits, pain points, and motivators, you can develop marketing campaigns that are more likely to resonate and result in sales.
• Improve customer satisfaction: If you know what your customers want, you can deliver it to them, resulting in happier customers who are more likely to continue doing business with you.
• Reduce costs by avoiding duplicate effort: Market intelligence allows you to allocate resources strategically and get it right the first time. For example, you can avoid spending money on conventional translation for marketing campaigns that require more creative adaptation to be effective in a new market.
• Get localization right: A good localization strategy is a key to success in any new market. But without market intelligence, it can be difficult to know how to adapt your products and marketing materials for a new culture. For example, you might not realize that certain colors have different connotations in different cultures, or that video content gives you a higher return on investment in one market but not another.

Arming yourself with nothing but assumptions can lead to less-than-optimal results—and this is especially true when expanding into new markets. When legal systems, consumer preferences, and business practices differ from country to country, the risks are even greater, and so should your commitment to market research.

Market analytics vs market research

A common misconception is that market research and analytics mean the same. In reality, they’re two distinct ways of doing consumer investigation, and they serve different purposes.

Market analytics is the process of collecting and analyzing data to unveil patterns and trends. This data can come from a variety of sources, including surveys, social media, transactional data, and web analytics. For example, you might use market analytics to track how often certain foreign-language keywords are being searched for on Google or to understand which demographics are most likely to purchase your product outside your home market.

Market research, on the other hand, captures data to answer specific questions. For example, a company might want to know what factors influence its customers’ purchase decisions in a particular market, or what the barriers to entry are for a new product.

Market analytics can help generate hypotheses that you can then test through market research. You can think of analytics as the inward-looking “what” (What happens? What are the trends?) and market research as the outward-looking “why” (Why does it happen? Why do people want this?).

When you leverage market analytics and market research together, you can get a well-rounded view of your target market and what they want. This, in turn, helps you make better business decisions and avoid costly mistakes.

What types of market research are there?

There are several types of market research depending on the questions you want to answer, the type of data you need, the resources that you have available, and the timeline that you are working with.

Primary market research vs secondary market research

Primary research is the first-hand research that you conduct yourself. This could involve surveys, interviews, focus groups, or any other type of research method where you directly interact with consumers.

Secondary research is the intelligence that someone else has already gathered and published. This includes data from government reports, trade associations, industry journals, commercial data providers, and other published sources.

Quantitative market research vs qualitative market research

Quantitative research focuses on numbers and statistics. For example, if you want what percentage of people in a certain age group prefer your product over a competitor’s, you would use quantitative research. Polls, surveys, desk research, web statistics, and consumer panels are all quantitative research methods.

Qualitative research, on the other hand, focuses on understanding people’s opinions, motivations, and behaviors. Multilingual sentiment analysis, ethnography, and in-depth interviews are all qualitative research methods.

Exploratory market research vs conclusive market research

You use exploratory research to generate hypotheses and identify key variables. This type of research is frequent at the beginning of a project to get a better understanding of the problem. For example, if you want to know why customers are leaving your website in a foreign market, you might use exploratory research to generate hypotheses that you can then test through further market research.

Conclusive research is used to test hypotheses and measure relationships. This type of research usually comes after exploratory research. For example, if your exploratory research suggests that customers are leaving your website because the current user experience isn’t considering their cultural preferences—think things like imagery or payment methods—you could use conclusive research to measure the impact of a new user interface that takes these cultural preferences into account.

Branding research

Branding research helps you create, manage, and measure the success of your brand. This type of research can help you understand how customers perceive your brand, what associations they have with it, and how well your brand is positioned in the market.

When expanding globally, branding research can help you strike the right balance between global brand consistency and local brand relevance. It can also help you understand how to adapt your brand messaging and identity to different cultures.

Product development research

Product development research helps you establish if there is a market for your product or service and what features or benefits customers are looking for. This type of research can help you understand the viability of your product, optimize its characteristics, and ensure it performs well before taking it to market.

Most global companies adapt their product offering to local markets. Product development research can help you understand what features or benefits are most important to customers in different countries so you can out-compete local companies.

Customer research

Customer research is a type of market research that can serve different purposes, from segmenting your customer base to measuring customer satisfaction. In the context of international operations, customer research can help you understand how to appeal to different customer segments in different countries.

For example, when you know that 64% of Asian-Pacific customers are willing to share personal data for a tailored online experience, you can use this information to improve your website design and user experience in the region.

The main types of customer research are:

• Customer satisfaction research: Also known as customer experience research, this type of research helps you understand how customers feel about your product or service. This includes understanding what they like and don’t like, their unmet needs, and how likely they are to recommend your product or service to others.
• Customer segmentation research: Segmentation research helps you understand how to divide your customer base into smaller groups with shared characteristics. This type of research can help you better target your marketing efforts and create more personalized experiences for your customers.
• Consumer insights: Consumer insights are actionable, research-based observations about your customers. They go beyond demographic information to include things like customer values, preferences, and behaviors. For example, if you want to understand why customers in a certain market are choosing your competitor’s product over yours, consumer insights research could help you uncover the reasons.

Competitive market research

Competitive market research helps you understand what your competitors are doing. This can include things like their marketing strategies, product offerings, pricing, and distribution channels. Understanding your competitor’s strengths and weaknesses can help you make informed decisions about how to position your own product or service in the market.

How to do market research?

Like every complex process, you can break market research down into smaller, more manageable steps. Here’s a high-level overview of how to do market research:

Identify your target audience

The first step in any market research project is to identify your target audience. This will help you focus your research efforts and ensure that you’re gathering information that’s relevant to your business. For example, if you’re planning an expansion to the Brazilian market, an example of a target audience you might identify would be “Brazilian upper-middle-class women ages 25-40.”

Define your research objectives

Identify an issue, problem, or opportunity that you want to understand better. For example: “I want to understand what payment methods Brazilian upper-middle-class women ages 25-40 prefer when shopping online so we can optimize our checkout process.”

Select your research methods

Once you’ve identified your target audience and objectives, you’ll need to select the research methods that will help you gather the data you need. There are many different market research methods, some of which are quantitative and some of which are qualitative. In the case above, to find out the preferred payment methods of Brazilian shoppers, you might conduct a survey.

Develop your research plan

Once you’ve selected your methods, you move on to developing your research plan. This should include a detailed description of how you’ll execute your project, including timelines, budgets, and any risks or challenges you anticipate. For example, if you’re planning to conduct interviews in Brazil, you’ll need to consider things like language barriers and cultural differences.

Collect and analyze your data

Once you’ve executed your research plan, it’s time to collect and analyze your data. This can be a complex process, depending on the methods you’ve used and the type of data you’ve gathered. In the case of a survey, you might use statistical software to analyze your results.

Present your findings

After you’ve analyzed your data, you’ll need to present your findings in a way that’s easy for others to understand. The stakeholders in your business will use these findings to make decisions about things like product development, marketing, and expansion plans. How you present your findings will depend on the type of data you’ve collected and the objectives of your research. For example, if you’re presenting the results of a survey, you might create a report or presentation that includes charts and graphs.

The above steps are a high-level overview of the market research process. In practice, each project will be unique, and you’ll need to tailor your approach to fit the specific needs of your business.

What are some key market research methods? 

We’ve briefly touched on some of the most common market research methods, but let’s take a closer look at each one:

Surveys involve collecting data from a target audience through questions administered either in person, by phone, or online. They can be used to gather data about a wide range of topics, including consumer behavior, preferences, and opinions.

• Surveys are relatively easy and inexpensive to administer.
• They can provide a great deal of immediate information.
• Their extensive reach gives you insights about a large number of people.
• Analyzing survey data is typically straightforward.
• Surveys can be time-consuming to administer and analyze.
• It can be difficult to find people who are willing to participate.
• Survey results can be skewed by the way you word questions or by the order in which you ask them .

How to do it right:

• Avoid asking too many questions so as not to overwhelm respondents
• Make sure your questions are clear and concise
• Try to ask neutral questions that don’t lead respondents to a particular answer
• Include open-ended questions to encourage respondents to give more detailed answers.

Interviews are a type of market research that involve conducting in-depth conversations with individuals from a target audience. They can be used to gather data about a wide range of topics, including attitudes, beliefs, and motivations.

• Interviews can provide a great deal of rich, detailed information about a small number of people.
• You can conduct them online if needed.
• They allow you to build empathy with your audience.
• The resources required to administer interviews (e.g., time, money, personnel) can be significant.
• It can be challenging to find people who are willing to participate (incentives might be necessary to encourage participation).
• They don’t reach an audience as extensive as surveys do.
• Choose the most appropriate format for your interview—e.g., in-person, phone, video chat, etc.
• Make sure to explain to the respondent what the interview will entail and how you will use their responses.
• Build rapport by repeating back what the respondent says and showing empathy
• Leave time for follow-up questions.

Focus groups

Many companies choose to bring together a group of potential customers to discuss a product or service before it’s launched. This type of market research is called a focus group, and it can be used to gather data about things like reactions, perceptions, and opinions.

• Focus groups can provide rich, detailed information about a small number of people.
• They can provide insights into the purchase decision-making process.
• You can easily measure customer reactions to a product’s design, packaging, price and message.
• They aren’t as in-depth as interviews.
• They can be expensive to conduct.
• They can be biased by the moderator’s questions or the group dynamics—like a dominant personality in the group who steers everyone’s opinions.
• People might not give honest feedback if you’re paying them to participate.
• Ensure the recruiting process is well-designed so you end up with a diverse and representative group of participants.
• Use skilled and experienced moderators who know how to keep the discussion on track.
• Pay attention to the nonverbal cues of participants—e.g., body language.
• Establish ground rules at the beginning of the session.
• Consider and pre-empty potential intercultural communication issues.

Observational research

When you observe people, you’re looking at their behavior in a natural setting. This type of market research can be used to gather data about a wide range of topics, including shopping habits, use of public spaces, and interactions with technology. There’s both overt and covert observational research, depending on whether or not participants are aware that they’re being watched.

• Observational research is relatively easy and inexpensive to conduct.
• Natural surroundings can provide insights that would be difficult or impossible to glean from other types of market research.
• The researcher’s own biases can skew the data.
• It can be time-consuming to observe people for extended periods of time.
• People might not behave naturally if they’re aware that someone’s watching them.
• When conducting covert observational research, be sure to follow all ethical guidelines.
• When conducting overt observational research, make sure to get the consent of participants.
• Always capture context.
• Try to avoid bias by maintaining a detached and objective attitude.
• Be sure to take detailed notes or record videos of the behavior you’re observing.
• Complete debriefing notes as soon as possible after the observation so the data is fresh in your mind.

What are some best practices for market research?

For any market research project, it’s important to keep the following best practices in mind:

Define your scope and objectives clearly

Unless you know what you’re trying to learn, it will be difficult to design an effective market research project. Based on your product offering, target market, and expansion goals, you should be able to define the scope and objectives of your project. These will help guide the rest of your decisions.

Get input from stakeholders early on

People whom the results of the market research will affect—e.g., marketing, sales, leadership—should be involved from the outset to help shape the project. Their input will ensure that the objectives of the market research are aligned with the company’s goals, and it will help ensure buy-in for the project from key stakeholders.

Consider cultural differences

If you’re expanding into new markets, it’s important to be aware of cultural differences that could affect your market research. For example, some cultures might consider it impolite to ask certain types of questions, or the interpretation of body language might be different. Working with local market research partners can help you navigate these differences.

Choose the right method

While it’s tempting to assume that any research method will eventually get you the information you need, that’s often not the case. For example, if you’re trying to learn about the associations that your content is getting in a foreign market to spot and fix any cultural missteps, a multiple-choice survey with predefined answers might not be the most optimal method.

Pilot-test your methods

Before you launch a full-scale market research project, it’s important to pilot-test your methods to make sure they’re effective. This will help you identify any potential problems so that you can fix them before they impact your data.

Analyze your results carefully

All the data in the world won’t be of any use if you don’t take the time to analyze it carefully. When reviewing your results, look for both quantitative and qualitative trends, and try to identify any potential sources of bias. Moreover, if you’ve conducted the research in a language other than your own, it’s a good idea to enlist the help of professional localizers who can help you interpret the results—they’ll be familiar with the nuances of the language and culture that you might not be.

Communicate your findings effectively

Communication can be a challenge when dealing with market research since you’re often dealing with complex data sets. However, presenting your findings in a way that’s clear and actionable for stakeholders is crucial if you want your research to have an impact.

Follow up with respondents

If you’ve collected data from respondents, it’s important to follow up with them after the fact. This shows that you value their input. Moreover, if you’ve acted on any of their feedback, be sure to let them know the results—e.g., a feature they suggested was added to the product, their feedback helped shape a new marketing campaign, etc. This can make a big impression and solidify your relationship with respondents.

Effective market research must be systematic

When done right, market research is a powerful tool that can help companies make informed decisions about their expansion strategies. However, a lack of planning and foresight can lead to wasted effort and resources.

By following a systematic process and keeping best practices in mind, you can ensure that your market research is effective and informative. The result is a stronger market expansion strategy and a better chance of success in new markets.

Last updated on August 11, 2023.

Stay one step ahead

Global business Localization strategy

Think Global, Speak Local: The Power of Personalized Localization in Building a Customer-Centric Brand

Crafting Exceptional Customer Experiences: How a Finnish Gaming Giant Won Over The Indian Market

Software localization

Mastering Qwik Localization: A Comprehensive Guide

Keep exploring.

Unlocking Global Growth with Effective Website Translation: Key Insights and Strategies

You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience.

Trusted market research and industry insights

For your toughest business questions., media mentions, the boston globe: snow blower prices are piling up. do you need one, forbes: new jersey bag ban followed by increased use of plastic, wall street journal: new jersey plastic bag ban goes bust, smartbrief: how consumers are keeping their furry friends fed, forbes: the smallest pieces matter, market research by category, featured market research reports, on the market research blog.

E-Scrap Recycling Market Set for Rapid Growth at a CAGR of More than 11%

Latest Trends in the $55.25 Billion Surface Computing Industry

The Digital Health Transformation: AR, VR, AI, Telemedicine, and Telehealth Revolutionizing Care

Helpful tools, research assistance, resource center.

Economies in 2023

Euromonitor International forecasts global economic growth to slow significantly to 2.3% in 2023, as demand weakens amid uncertainties, inflation and tightened financial conditions. Unemployment could rise, but the labour market will remain tight. Commodities prices are expected to soften and supply chain issues to ease, while energy-intensive industries still face challenges and will see slower growth. Consumer spending in cities will be curbed by economic slowdown and a higher cost of living.

• Table of Contents
• Download Samples

Delivery This report comes in PPT. Key Findings

Economy, finance and trade.

Global economic growth will slow down significantly in 2023, though emerging markets will provide some relatively bright spots. Inflation is expected to moderate, but will remain high. Coupled with tightening financial conditions, these factors are set to undermine business and consumer confidence.

Business Dynamics

Companies will face a volatile and challenging business environment in 2023, given the various economic headwinds. After a record low level in 2022, the unemployment rate is expected to rise again in advanced economies in 2023, owing to economic slowdown. Labour markets will remain tight, as structural changes will continue to drive labour and skills shortages.

High inflation and economic instability will curb urban consumer spending in 2023, as people will continue directing more of their incomes to cover necessities, such as food and utilities. This will challenge those cities where the local economy heavily depends on leisure, recreation and accommodation services.

Commodities

Prices of most commodities are forecast to continue retreating from the highs reached in the aftermath of the post-pandemic demand spike and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, these forecasts are subject to numerous risks, including an escalation of the war in Ukraine, supply and demand imbalances, adverse weather conditions and potential energy price shocks.

A worsened economic outlook and energy price shocks are forecast to weigh on the global industrial sector in 2023, with energy-intensive industries witnessing slower growth. However, global supply chain problems are expected to ease in 2023, providing relief to the global manufacturing sector.

Key findings

Economies landscape in 2023, economy, finance and trade in 2023, economy, finance and trade 2023 snapshot, the global economy faces a new reality amid conflict, high inflation and rising interest rates, business dynamics in 2023, business dynamics 2023 snapshot, labour market remains tight, keeping pressure on wages, supply chain and inflation, cities in 2023, cities 2023 snapshot, high inflation to subdue urban spending in 2023, despite resilience in emerging markets, commodities in 2023, commodities 2023 snapshot, commodity price pressure to ease, yet risks of higher volatility and supply disruptions persist, industrial in 2023, industrial 2023 snapshot, global supply chains expected to recover in 2023 despite the existing risks, new report guarantee.

If you purchase a report that is  updated in the next 60 days , we will send you the  new edition and data extraction Free !

Global Market Research 2023

What can i find inside.

The Global Market Research report shows nuanced global growth of the industry after high inflation. Globally, 2022 saw the industry expand 12% from US$118 billion to almost US$130 billion. The data analytics sector is the fastest-growing one of the global Insights Industry in absolute terms, at +16.9% and overtook market research as the largest one. At a global level, the established market research sector represents 36% of the total industry, the data analytics sector climbs up to 39%, while the reporting sector remains relatively flat at 24% compared to last year. The output of the industry will exceed USD $140 billion by 2024 after an expected growth rate of 4% in 2023.

More about this report

The Global Market Research 2023 report reviews the size and performance of the data, analytics and market research industry using data collected by national research associations, leading companies, independent analysts, and ESOMAR representatives from more than 105 countries and regions covering 83% of the global industry, and is complemented with ESOMAR’s own independent size estimations. This report is widely used as a point of reference for business investment plans, growth opportunities, merger and acquisition preparation, research projects, academic theses, market studies and reports, as well as advertisements.  

Table of contents

1.     Highlights This chapter offers insight on the behaviour of the industry for 2022, looking at global, regional and local results and trends, and invites local associations to provide their commentary on the state of their industry.

1.1.        The top line 1.2.        Regional profiles 1.2.1.    Europe Commentary by the UK, Germany and Spain

1.2.2.    North America Commentary by the US and Canada

1.2.3.    Asia Pacific Commentary by India, China and Japan

1.2.4.    Latin America Commentary by Mexico, Argentina and Peru

1.2.5.    Middle East and Africa Commentary on each individual region

 2.    Global Trends This chapter explores the trends in global data, and looks at the main markets for the Insights Industry, looks at changes in methodologies, and offers a view on the destination of international projects

2.1.        Five largest markets 2.1.1.         Five largest markets – Established Market Research sector 2.1.2.         Five largest markets – Data Analytics (Tech-enabled) sector 2.1.3.         Five largest markets – Reporting sector

2.3.        Global segmentation of the industry Overview of the main segments that compose the insights industry

2.4.        Destination of multi-country projects

3.     AI, the Biggest Transformation yet? ChatGPT and similar artificial intelligence (AI) applications are making headlines. Some say it’s as revolutionary and disruptive as the introduction of the internet itself. The implications leave no industry unaffected. In this article, we explore the impact of AI on market research at various levels.

4.     The Respondent Experience The experts agree: research agencies have been treating respondents poorly for decades. The result is that many (young) adults no longer want to respond, complicating the quest for true insights and answers. What can be done to turn this tide?

5.     ESOMAR's Global Top-50 Insights Companies Explore ESOMAR’s ranking of Insights Companies, discover the underlying factors that keep the industry moving forward, and the key players who were spotted surfing the wave.

5.1.1.         Deceleration of the giants 5.1.2.         Consolidation of players 5.1.3.         Investment in the industry

5.2.        The ranking in perspective

5.2.1.         Share of turnover globally 5.2.2.         Share per industrial sector 5.2.3.         Xrates, and fastest growing firms 5.2.4.         Changes in the ranking

6.     The lattice of research methods Companies and methods rarely go hand in hand. The data required to tackle each research “problem” may be gathered through very diverse methods, and companies were never limited in their usage of them!

6.1.        Quantitative/qualitative methods 6.2.        Established/tech-enabled methods 6.3.        Active/passive methods

7.     Project goals and design An overview of the trend of two areas of the insights business cycle: project types around the world, showing how the purpose of research projects has changed over time, and study design, showing how the different contractual arrangement between parties.

7.1.        Project types – purpose of research 7.2.        Study design – contractual scope

8.     The sources of turnover Clients decide the success and the fate of their providers. Their requests and requirements dictate which tools will be utilised for a given task. And their available budgets become the industry’s turnover.

8.1.        Domestic/international clients 8.2.        Type of client 8.2.1.         Breakdown of consumer non-durables 8.3.        Pro bono research

9.     Survey data Global, regional and national figures until 2022 - including 2023 projections - growth rates, subcontracting levels, comparison with advertising spend, number of employees in the sector and spend by the components that make up data gathering - methodologies, project types, research designs - as well as origin and types of clients - including pro bono research -, ending with the macroeconomic data used in the model.

Methodology 9.1.        Turnover, Growth and Historical Data 9.2.        Regional and Country Data 9.3.        Data Gathering 9.4.        Origin and Types of Clients 9.5.        Macroeconomic Data

< Continue shopping

• Services ›

Business Services

Industry-specific and extensively researched technical data (partially from exclusive partnerships). A paid subscription is required for full access.

• Revenue of the market research industry worldwide 2008-2023

Revenue of the market research industry worldwide from 2008 to 2023 with a forecast for 2024 (in billion U.S. dollars)

To access all Premium Statistics, you need a paid Statista Account

• Immediate access to all statistics
• Incl. source references
• Download as PDF, XLS, PNG and PPT

Additional Information

Show sources information Show publisher information Use Ask Statista Research Service

February 2024

2008 to 2023

Figures have been rounded. Values up to 2023 were taken from previous reports. Some figures have been updated since last year's publication. *forecast.

Other statistics on the topic Market research industry

• Leading market research companies worldwide by global research revenue 2016-2022
• Revenue of Kantar worldwide 2006-2023

Number of employees at Salesforce worldwide from 2015-2023

• Research and development expenditure of Salesforce worldwide from 2015-2024

To download this statistic in XLS format you need a Statista Account

To download this statistic in PNG format you need a Statista Account

To download this statistic in PDF format you need a Statista Account

To download this statistic in PPT format you need a Statista Account

As a Premium user you get access to the detailed source references and background information about this statistic.

As a Premium user you get access to background information and details about the release of this statistic.

As soon as this statistic is updated, you will immediately be notified via e-mail.

… to incorporate the statistic into your presentation at any time.

You need at least a Starter Account to use this feature.

• Immediate access to statistics, forecasts & reports
• Usage and publication rights
• Download in various formats

* For commercial use only

Basic Account

• Free Statistics

Starter Account

• Premium Statistics

The statistic on this page is a Premium Statistic and is included in this account.

Professional Account

• Free + Premium Statistics
• Market Insights

1 All prices do not include sales tax. The account requires an annual contract and will renew after one year to the regular list price.

Statistics on " Market research industry "

• Revenue of the market research industry worldwide by country or region 2009-2022
• Distribution of global market research revenue by region 2022
• Market research revenue worldwide by client sector 2022
• Annual growth in market research revenue worldwide by region 2022
• Market share of the market research industry worldwide by country 2022
• Countries with the largest established research revenue worldwide 2022
• Research revenue of IQVIA worldwide 2013-2023
• Number of IQVIA employees worldwide 2014-2023
• Revenue of Ipsos worldwide 2000-2023
• Number of Ipsos employees worldwide 2000-2023
• Annual revenue of Gartner 2012-2023 by segment
• Number of employees in Gartner worldwide 2010-2023
• Market research: research services contributing the most to revenues 2022, by type
• Sectors concentrating the most spending on market research 2022, by client's sector
• Global spending on market research services in 2022, by survey type
• Most used qualitative methods used in the market research industry worldwide 2022
• Emerging market research approaches used worldwide 2022
• Distribution of global market research spend by project type 2022

Other statistics that may interest you Market research industry

Industry overview

• Premium Statistic Revenue of the market research industry worldwide 2008-2023
• Premium Statistic Revenue of the market research industry worldwide by country or region 2009-2022
• Premium Statistic Distribution of global market research revenue by region 2022
• Premium Statistic Market research revenue worldwide by client sector 2022
• Premium Statistic Annual growth in market research revenue worldwide by region 2022
• Premium Statistic Market share of the market research industry worldwide by country 2022
• Premium Statistic Countries with the largest established research revenue worldwide 2022
• Premium Statistic Leading market research companies worldwide by global research revenue 2016-2022

Global leaders

• Premium Statistic Revenue of Kantar worldwide 2006-2023
• Premium Statistic Research revenue of IQVIA worldwide 2013-2023
• Premium Statistic Number of IQVIA employees worldwide 2014-2023
• Premium Statistic Revenue of Ipsos worldwide 2000-2023
• Basic Statistic Number of Ipsos employees worldwide 2000-2023
• Premium Statistic Annual revenue of Gartner 2012-2023 by segment
• Premium Statistic Number of employees in Gartner worldwide 2010-2023
• Premium Statistic Research and development expenditure of Salesforce worldwide from 2015-2024

Research methods

• Premium Statistic Market research: research services contributing the most to revenues 2022, by type
• Premium Statistic Sectors concentrating the most spending on market research 2022, by client's sector
• Premium Statistic Global spending on market research services in 2022, by survey type
• Premium Statistic Most used qualitative methods used in the market research industry worldwide 2022
• Premium Statistic Emerging market research approaches used worldwide 2022
• Premium Statistic Distribution of global market research spend by project type 2022

Further related statistics

• Premium Statistic Global revenue of traditional market research 2014-2018
• Premium Statistic Market research revenue growth worldwide 2009-2022
• Premium Statistic Countries with the largest market research revenue worldwide 2022
• Premium Statistic Share of employees in the research area in Romania 2022, by sector of activity
• Premium Statistic Industry revenue of “market research and public opinion polling“ in Croatia 2012-2025
• Premium Statistic Industry revenue of “market research and public opinion polling“ in Sweden 2012-2025
• Premium Statistic Market research revenue in the UK 2009-2022, with 2023 forecast
• Premium Statistic Industry revenue of “market research and public opinion polling“ in Germany 2012-2025
• Premium Statistic Industry revenue of “market research and public opinion polling“ in Denmark 2012-2025
• Premium Statistic Industry revenue of “market research and public opinion polling“ in the United Kingdom 2012-2025
• Premium Statistic Forecast: revenue market research Turkey 2009-2020
• Premium Statistic Forecast: revenue market research France 2008-2020
• Basic Statistic Forecast: revenue market research Germany 2008-2020
• Premium Statistic Industry revenue of “market research and public opinion polling“ in Italy 2012-2025
• Premium Statistic Industry revenue of “market research and public opinion polling“ in the Netherlands 2012-2025
• Premium Statistic Time spent on research tasks in the market research industry worldwide 2020
• Premium Statistic Number of women working in the R&D sector in Romania 2017-2022
• Premium Statistic Use of social media for professional research in 2014, by institutional investors

Further Content: You might find this interesting as well

• Global revenue of traditional market research 2014-2018
• Market research revenue growth worldwide 2009-2022
• Countries with the largest market research revenue worldwide 2022
• Share of employees in the research area in Romania 2022, by sector of activity
• Industry revenue of “market research and public opinion polling“ in Croatia 2012-2025
• Industry revenue of “market research and public opinion polling“ in Sweden 2012-2025
• Market research revenue in the UK 2009-2022, with 2023 forecast
• Industry revenue of “market research and public opinion polling“ in Germany 2012-2025
• Industry revenue of “market research and public opinion polling“ in Denmark 2012-2025
• Industry revenue of “market research and public opinion polling“ in the United Kingdom 201...
• Forecast: revenue market research Turkey 2009-2020
• Forecast: revenue market research France 2008-2020
• Forecast: revenue market research Germany 2008-2020
• Industry revenue of “market research and public opinion polling“ in Italy 2012-2025
• Industry revenue of “market research and public opinion polling“ in the Netherlands 2012-2...
• Time spent on research tasks in the market research industry worldwide 2020
• Number of women working in the R&D sector in Romania 2017-2022
• Use of social media for professional research in 2014, by institutional investors

Industry research with unrivaled coverage.

The industry analysis and forecasts you need to make strategic decisions, backed by data..

Every sector of the economy, at your fingertips

No more scrambling for credible information. Fill knowledge gaps instantly with the largest collection of industry research reports.

Manufacturing

Construction, finance & insurance, real estate, healthcare & social assistance services, administration & business support services, information, retail trade, transportation & warehousing, professional, scientific & technical services, agriculture, forestry, fishing & hunting, accommodation & food services, educational services, industry analysis with an eye on the future.

Learn what’s behind today’s industry trends and where your market is headed next so you can future-proof your business decisions.

Mitigate risk with Industry research

Assess the industry from all sides to avoid blind spots and make smarter strategic decisions.

• check_circle_outline Leverage industry reports and risk ratings to mitigate the threats you can control and plan for the ones you can’t.
• check_circle_outline Compare industry financial ratios and benchmarks to help quantify the risk of doing business.
• check_circle_outline Identify opportunities and threats present in any industry to bolster your risk management frameworks.

Find your competitive edge

Discover the forces working for or against you in any industry to help you rise above the competition.

• check_circle_outline Understand which companies compete in the industry and the barriers to entry new businesses face.
• check_circle_outline Uncover geographic nuances and opportunities using business concentration and global trade data.
• check_circle_outline Ready your talking points with accessible key takeaways and call prep questions.

Understand market dynamics

Turn days of research into hours or minutes using actionable industry insights that paint a holistic picture of the market. 

• check_circle_outline Discover the driving forces behind supply, demand, market size, risks and revenue trends.
• check_circle_outline Understand the growth trajectory of any industry with five-year data forecasts.
• check_circle_outline Present industry statistics, pain points and key success factors to help you gain credibility with your audience.

Need a closer look? Download a sample report?

Global coverage written by local analysts.

Streamline your research process with industry reports covering everything from established sectors to emerging markets across four continents.

Trusted by 7,000+ companies around the world

Independent, accurate and written by experienced analysts. Our industry analysis, company database and economic insights support businesses of all sizes, across all markets.

“IBISWorld delivers the crisp business knowledge we need to drive our business. Whether it be serving up our major clients, winning new business or educating people on industry issues, IBISWorld brings real value.”

“IBISWorld has revolutionised business information - which has proved commercially invaluable to exporters, investors and public policy professionals in Australia and overseas.”

“You could spend hours researching for the information that IBISWorld has at your fingertips. IBISWorld gives you far more than most resources do.”

Want industry statistics and news delivered to your inbox monthly?

Market Research: A How-To Guide and Template

Discover the different types of market research, how to conduct your own market research, and use a free template to help you along the way.

MARKET RESEARCH KIT

5 Research and Planning Templates + a Free Guide on How to Use Them in Your Market Research

Published: 02/21/24

Today's consumers have a lot of power. As a business, you must have a deep understanding of who your buyers are and what influences their purchase decisions.

Enter: Market Research.

Whether you're new to market research or not, I created this guide to help you conduct a thorough study of your market, target audience, competition, and more. Let’s dive in.

Table of Contents

What is market research?

Primary vs. secondary research, types of market research, how to do market research, market research report template, market research examples.

Market research is the process of gathering information about your target market and customers to verify the success of a new product, help your team iterate on an existing product, or understand brand perception to ensure your team is effectively communicating your company's value effectively.

Market research can answer various questions about the state of an industry. But if you ask me, it's hardly a crystal ball that marketers can rely on for insights on their customers.

Market researchers investigate several areas of the market, and it can take weeks or even months to paint an accurate picture of the business landscape.

However, researching just one of those areas can make you more intuitive to who your buyers are and how to deliver value that no other business is offering them right now.

How? Consider these two things:

• Your competitors also have experienced individuals in the industry and a customer base. It‘s very possible that your immediate resources are, in many ways, equal to those of your competition’s immediate resources. Seeking a larger sample size for answers can provide a better edge.
• Your customers don't represent the attitudes of an entire market. They represent the attitudes of the part of the market that is already drawn to your brand.

The market research services market is growing rapidly, which signifies a strong interest in market research as we enter 2024. The market is expected to grow from roughly $75 billion in 2021 to $90.79 billion in 2025 .

Free Market Research Kit

• SWOT Analysis Template
• Survey Template
• Focus Group Template

Download Free

All fields are required.

You're all set!

Click this link to access this resource at any time.

Why do market research?

Market research allows you to meet your buyer where they are.

As our world becomes louder and demands more of our attention, this proves invaluable.

By understanding your buyer's problems, pain points, and desired solutions, you can aptly craft your product or service to naturally appeal to them.

Market research also provides insight into the following:

• Where your target audience and current customers conduct their product or service research
• Which of your competitors your target audience looks to for information, options, or purchases
• What's trending in your industry and in the eyes of your buyer
• Who makes up your market and what their challenges are
• What influences purchases and conversions among your target audience
• Consumer attitudes about a particular topic, pain, product, or brand
• Whether there‘s demand for the business initiatives you’re investing in
• Unaddressed or underserved customer needs that can be flipped into selling opportunity
• Attitudes about pricing for a particular product or service

Ultimately, market research allows you to get information from a larger sample size of your target audience, eliminating bias and assumptions so that you can get to the heart of consumer attitudes.

As a result, you can make better business decisions.

To give you an idea of how extensive market research can get , consider that it can either be qualitative or quantitative in nature — depending on the studies you conduct and what you're trying to learn about your industry.

Qualitative research is concerned with public opinion, and explores how the market feels about the products currently available in that market.

Quantitative research is concerned with data, and looks for relevant trends in the information that's gathered from public records.

That said, there are two main types of market research that your business can conduct to collect actionable information on your products: primary research and secondary research.

Primary Research

Primary research is the pursuit of first-hand information about your market and the customers within your market.

It's useful when segmenting your market and establishing your buyer personas.

Primary market research tends to fall into one of two buckets:

• Exploratory Primary Research: This kind of primary market research normally takes place as a first step — before any specific research has been performed — and may involve open-ended interviews or surveys with small numbers of people.
• Specific Primary Research: This type of research often follows exploratory research. In specific research, you take a smaller or more precise segment of your audience and ask questions aimed at solving a suspected problem.

Secondary Research

Secondary research is all the data and public records you have at your disposal to draw conclusions from (e.g. trend reports, market statistics, industry content, and sales data you already have on your business).

Secondary research is particularly useful for analyzing your competitors . The main buckets your secondary market research will fall into include:

• Public Sources: These sources are your first and most-accessible layer of material when conducting secondary market research. They're often free to find and review — like government statistics (e.g., from the U.S. Census Bureau ).
• Commercial Sources: These sources often come in the form of pay-to-access market reports, consisting of industry insight compiled by a research agency like Pew , Gartner , or Forrester .
• Internal Sources: This is the market data your organization already has like average revenue per sale, customer retention rates, and other historical data that can help you draw conclusions on buyer needs.
• Focus Groups
• Product/ Service Use Research
• Observation-Based Research
• Buyer Persona Research
• Market Segmentation Research
• Pricing Research
• Competitive Analysis Research
• Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty Research
• Brand Awareness Research
• Campaign Research

1. Interviews

Interviews allow for face-to-face discussions so you can allow for a natural flow of conversation. Your interviewees can answer questions about themselves to help you design your buyer personas and shape your entire marketing strategy.

2. Focus Groups

Focus groups provide you with a handful of carefully-selected people that can test out your product and provide feedback. This type of market research can give you ideas for product differentiation.

3. Product/Service Use Research

Product or service use research offers insight into how and why your audience uses your product or service. This type of market research also gives you an idea of the product or service's usability for your target audience.

4. Observation-Based Research

Observation-based research allows you to sit back and watch the ways in which your target audience members go about using your product or service, what works well in terms of UX , and which aspects of it could be improved.

5. Buyer Persona Research

Buyer persona research gives you a realistic look at who makes up your target audience, what their challenges are, why they want your product or service, and what they need from your business or brand.

6. Market Segmentation Research

Market segmentation research allows you to categorize your target audience into different groups (or segments) based on specific and defining characteristics. This way, you can determine effective ways to meet their needs.

7. Pricing Research

Pricing research helps you define your pricing strategy . It gives you an idea of what similar products or services in your market sell for and what your target audience is willing to pay.

8. Competitive Analysis

Competitive analyses give you a deep understanding of the competition in your market and industry. You can learn about what's doing well in your industry and how you can separate yourself from the competition .

9. Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty Research

Customer satisfaction and loyalty research gives you a look into how you can get current customers to return for more business and what will motivate them to do so (e.g., loyalty programs , rewards, remarkable customer service).

10. Brand Awareness Research

Brand awareness research tells you what your target audience knows about and recognizes from your brand. It tells you about the associations people make when they think about your business.

11. Campaign Research

Campaign research entails looking into your past campaigns and analyzing their success among your target audience and current customers. The goal is to use these learnings to inform future campaigns.

• Define your buyer persona.
• Identify a persona group to engage.
• Prepare research questions for your market research participants.
• List your primary competitors.
• Summarize your findings.

1. Define your buyer persona.

You have to understand who your customers are and how customers in your industry make buying decisions.

This is where your buyer personas come in handy. Buyer personas — sometimes referred to as marketing personas — are fictional, generalized representations of your ideal customers.

Use a free tool to create a buyer persona that your entire company can use to market, sell, and serve better.

What is a Competitive Analysis — and How Do You Conduct One?

9 Best Marketing Research Methods to Know Your Buyer Better [+ Examples]

SWOT Analysis: How To Do One [With Template & Examples]

28 Tools & Resources for Conducting Market Research

TAM, SAM & SOM: What Do They Mean & How Do You Calculate Them?

How to Run a Competitor Analysis [Free Guide]

5 Challenges Marketers Face in Understanding Audiences [New Data + Market Researcher Tips]

Causal Research: The Complete Guide

Total Addressable Market (TAM): What It Is & How You Can Calculate It

Free Guide & Templates to Help Your Market Research

Marketing software that helps you drive revenue, save time and resources, and measure and optimize your investments — all on one easy-to-use platform

Hi, I'm Celine

africa and pandemic africa digital market reseearch Africa market research ba insightz behavioural market research borderless access brand marketing consumer attitude consumer behaviour consumer habit study consumer insights consumer media research consumer preference consumer research covid-19 digital consumer behaviour digital consumer insights digital market research digital online research digital research electric vehicles electric vehicles in emerging markets europe market research EV consumer sentiments healthcare market research healthcare MR healthcare research healthsight Impact of Covid-19 and the lockdown marketing marketing research market research middle east consumer research middle east market research new appointment online research pandemic market research panel solutions press release quantitative research research panels shopping behaviour shopping habits smartsight south africa market research

Explore New Idea/Opportunity Strategic Insights

Market Sizing And Forecast

Market Synthesis

Social Media Performance

Customized Ad-hoc Strategic Studies

futuriZm - A Peek Into The Future

Customized Ad-hoc Strategic studies

A peek into the future

Develop Marketing 6Ps Mix Insights

Qualitative Deep-Dive Solution

Speed Testing For Go/No-go

Idea And Concept Testing

Product Mix Testing

Target Product Profile (TPP)

Advertisement And Communication

Activate Your Brand Strategy Performance Insights

Brand Tracking And Brand Equity Measure

Awareness, Trial And Usage (ATU)

KOL Mapping

Customer Experience And Satisfaction

Audience And Data Management Solutions and Services

First Party Consumer, B2B And Healthcare Panels & Communities

SmartSight™ – Online Community Platform And Loyalty Management

Market Research Data Reporting: Multivariate Data Analytics

Competitive Intelligence And Voice Of Customer Platforms

Business Intelligence And Dashboards & Data Visualization

Industries/sectors we focus on ?

We have a strong lineage and proven capabilities across a range of industry verticals.

Advertising And Media

Automotive And Mobility

CPG And Retail

Travel And Tourism

Banking, Financial Services And Insurance

Food And Beverages & QSR

Healthcare And Life Science

Blog Fresh trends and insights

Case Studies Unveiling Success Stories

B2B Panel book Fresh trends and insights

B2C Panel book Fresh trends and insights

Healthcare Panel book Fresh trends and insights

B2B Panel book

B2C Panel book

Healthcare Panel book

About Borderless Access Our story, values & more

Leadership The faces behind Borderless Access

Awards & Affiliations Celebrating our commitment to excellence

Press Corner Our media coverage & events attended

CSR Corporate Social Responsibilty

Careers Build your career with us

Life at Borderless Access What sets us apart ?

The Way Forward For Market Research In 2023, Trends That Will Shape The Industry

• January 13, 2023

Defining consumer preferences is always a demanding yet stimulating task. In a post-pandemic world where enormous data, advanced technology and a global audience pose a staggering challenge for  digital market research , the industry has smartly moved beyond all these challenges in 2022 with a hybrid approach. The shift from offline to online offered a new outlook on evolving consumer behaviours.

Creating an engaging customer experience will be a major highlight in 2023. Artificial intelligence and intuitive dashboard designs will seamlessly enable it. In-store shopping is also set to transform as businesses are creating a novel retail experience. 2023 will also witness a harmonious sync of integrated online-offline customer activity. 

Here’s A Quick Look Into The Prominent Trends Featured In This Blog: 

• Empathy-driven customer insights –  Market research helps bridge customer insights to brand experience. Empathy is what connects brands to customers. And positive research results are an outcome of positive participant experience.
• AI-ML Driven Research Solutions –  Innovations help brands to sustain and perform in challenging markets. Artificial Intelligence is opening many doors to generate superior-quality insights. This evolving field offers fantastic opportunities to improve customer experience and business processes.
• Tech-enabled Market Research with Wearables –  Wearables and smart devices are conventional consumer gadgets with remarkable research potential. They non-intrusively collect metrics that form critical consumer attributes. They carry advanced features that help to enhance the customer experience.
• Observational Market Research via Consumer Neuroscience –  Applying consumer neuroscience principles to market research opens up a brilliant new dimension of understanding behaviour patterns and consumer choices. This interdisciplinary field forms a fascinating and transformative market research approach.

1. New – Empathy – Driven Market Research

Empathy is a central pillar on which the brand-consumer relationship builds. It also gives researchers an understanding of developing products that resonate with customers. From a broader perspective, this powerful emotion streamlines processes and drives marketing.

Awareness of routine consumer problems is a starting point for developing empathy. Divergent thinking is a great tool that assists teams in figuring out potential solutions. It allows you to be creative and come up with varied alternatives. Further, convergent thinking will help them in narrowing down the best solution.

With the latest innovations, researchers now gather insights using online community platforms similar to social media. It helps them capture consumer choices through rich data sources like photos and videos. The convenience of smart devices makes interaction efficient. Empathy evoked during in-person interaction replicates in online environments.

As more  market research companies  embrace agile qualitative research in 2023, there will be more reliance on tech-enabled solutions that build empathy for gaining consumer insights. They’ll aim to gain a deeper context behind consumer choices that aren’t answerable on questionnaires.

Borderless Access  also aims to blend empathy with innovation to generate insights that clearly convey customer aspirations.

Empathy research helps brands craft messages relatable to their consumers. In the coming years, more market research solutions will emphasise  consumer empathy with agile research.

2. The Next Phase of AI-ML Powered Market Research

AI Building Consumer Personas

Consumer cohorts are created based on purchase and behaviour patterns. Now, we can use AI to build customer personas and transform operational data into experience data. The consumer attributes derived from the customer personas define the consumers’ aspirations and brand preferences.

AI-ML modules help brands know the drivers behind repeat purchases. They also convey at what stage the consumers are in the life cycle. The data from these techniques give a holistic business perspective to make better decisions. In 2023, we will see an advancement of AI and ML to gain such insights.

AI Integrating Offline-Online Buyer Experience

AI-based solutions are bridging the broken journeys of customers by creating an integrated online-offline buying experience. Such solutions help physical stores compete with E-commerce giants and also help retailers become more efficient. With footfall and demographic analytics, AI helps stores plan richer customer experiences.

Retail chains are also using AI to generate engaging customer experiences. They’re studying consumer behaviour with advanced methodologies to offer the most preferred products and experiences. Based on customer profiles having behavioural data and purchase history, the store aims to create an optimal shopping environment. 

AI Leading Transformation in Market Research and Data Analytics

AI driven community management has become the new norm to engage with respondents participating in quantitative research. The insights obtained by the AI-ML programs allow for optimising response and engagement rates.

AI-ML can also strengthen the trust between research firms and businesses. The programs can accurately predict future trends from historical behaviour, thus allowing for optimization with demand-supply equations.

3. Wearables and Their Market Research Potential – Food for Thought

With evolving technological innovations, the market research potential associated with those innovations also evolves in parallel. One such intriguing phenomenon driving the researchers is the widely adopted wearable technology. These devices are getting prominently featured in the current health-conscious urban society.

Wearables overly appear like consumer products but carry untapped potential for businesses. There is a lukewarm fascination among researchers now but going forward it is predicted to pick up.

Tracking health metrics is the top feature of these devices. It provides a layer of understanding of consumer lifestyle. These metrics can also be monitored to test the response displayed by the consumer to a particular variety of marketing messaging. The collective responses can later be analysed to create appealing marketing and brand content.

The passive data collected by wearables can also inform us of the probability of consumers watching ads, by tracking their sleep patterns. This also gives us a glimpse into the possible time they’re consuming media or surfing the web. Location data is also incredibly critical for new-age market research. GPS tracking and its analysis give essential insights into consumer behaviour for brands.

Wearables enrich observational research. If they’re embedded with advanced features they also give an accurate assessment of the customer experience.

This research trend will be adopted by more researchers in the coming years for its convenience factor. Automated data collection generates a positive experience for researchers by eliminating rigorous observation and management. The whole setup enables early analysis for course corrections or shifting the strategies for brands.

4. Consumer Neuroscience – A Giant Leap In Digital Transformation

The post-pandemic world redefined market research with unique transformations with an innovative blend of technologies. The obvious emphasis on technological alternatives drove the research projects.

One emerging area carrying fascinating possibilities for businesses in 2023 is consumer neuroscience. Digital transformation in research has powered this niche area to exceptionally deliver rare insights into consumer behaviours.

Consumer neuroscience is a remarkable milestone in observational market research. It relies on an interdisciplinary approach of applying neuroscience principles to marketing and behavioural studies. The amalgamation of all these aspects converges to form neuromarketing.

Consumer neuroscience aims to tap into unconscious elements behind consumer decision-making. It provides a detailed explanation of consumer behaviour after careful analysis of physiological and psychological brain processes. Such brain activity is monitored and tracked using advanced tools. It is achieved by non-invasive brain imaging and magnetic resonance.

The outcomes of such research extend beyond consumer behaviour insights and customer segmentation. It can also contribute to improving product design, product development and branding. The benefits of consumer neuroscience widen the scope of research normally restricted to quantitative methods and data analysis. It transforms inputs into applicable and market-oriented recommendations.

Concluding Thoughts

Market Research trends evolve to be in sync with the changing business, socio-economic and geo-political priorities. Every New Year, research platforms up their game to ensure a seamless research experience by integrating various research attributes in a single place.

The implementation of agile processes to ensure more speed and efficiency will be adopted by many marketers in 2023. The reliability and authenticity of insights will be enhanced by advanced and automated tools.

The research trends are also increasingly leaning towards smartphones, social media and AI powered DIY research platforms. It will be a fascinating year to see what research techniques will best anticipate the consumer’s wants and help brands reign high in the market.

About Author / Borderless Access

A renowned insights solutions company, pioneers digital-first products and agile research solutions. With a relentless focus on technology and consumer analytics, we enable access to consumers' diverse experiences and life moments worldwide. Our innovative approach empowers market research endeavors with unparalleled insights.

You Might Also Like

Why Voice-enabled Surveys are the Need of the Hour in Market Research

Mobile Market Research: Shaping the Future of Consumer Insights

How The Hunger For Innovations In The Demand Side Is Reshaping The Market Research And Insights Industry

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS

Quick links.

Case Studies

Press Corner

Awards and Affiliations

Privacy Policy

© 2024 Borderless Access Pvt Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Start typing and press Enter to search

The World’s Largest Market Research Store

Trusted by the world’s leading brands.

The Most Respected Publications Cite Research and Markets

As a trusted source of market data & statistics, Research and Markets is regularly featured in some of the world’s most trusted business news publications read by millions around the world.

Accurate market data is crucial to a successful business strategy. We’re dedicated to delivering you the information you need.

See what our clients say about us

Research and Markets supports UNICEF in Ukraine

Root out friction in every digital experience, super-charge conversion rates, and optimise digital self-service

Uncover insights from any interaction, deliver AI-powered agent coaching, and reduce cost to serve

Increase revenue and loyalty with real-time insights and recommendations delivered straight to teams on the ground

Know how your people feel and empower managers to improve employee engagement, productivity, and retention

Take action in the moments that matter most along the employee journey and drive bottom line growth

Whatever they’re are saying, wherever they’re saying it, know exactly what’s going on with your people

Get faster, richer insights with qual and quant tools that make powerful market research available to everyone

Run concept tests, pricing studies, prototyping + more with fast, powerful studies designed by UX research experts

Track your brand performance 24/7 and act quickly to respond to opportunities and challenges in your market

Meet the operating system for experience management

• Free Account
• Product Demos
• For Digital
• For Customer Care
• For Human Resources
• For Researchers
• Financial Services
• All Industries

Popular Use Cases

• Customer Experience
• Employee Experience
• Employee Exit Interviews
• Net Promoter Score
• Voice of Customer
• Customer Success Hub
• Product Documentation
• Training & Certification
• XM Institute
• Popular Resources
• Customer Stories
• Artificial Intelligence

Market Research

• Partnerships
• Marketplace

The annual gathering of the experience leaders at the world’s iconic brands building breakthrough business results.

• English/AU & NZ
• Español/Europa
• Español/América Latina
• Português Brasileiro
• REQUEST DEMO
• Experience Management
• Ultimate Guide to Market Research

Market research definition

Market research – in-house or outsourced, market research in the age of data, when to use market research, types of market research, different types of primary research, how to do market research (primary data), how to do secondary market research, communicating your market research findings, choose the right platform for your market research, try qualtrics for free, your ultimate guide to market research and how to conduct it like a pro.

26 min read Wondering how to do market research? Or even where to start learning about it? Use our ultimate guide to understand the basics and discover how you can use market research to help your business.

Market research is the action or activity of gathering information about market needs and preferences. This affects every aspect of the business – including  brand ,  product ,  customer service , marketing and sales. By understanding how your audience feels and behaves, you can then take steps to meet those needs and mitigate the risk of an experience gap – which is what your audience expects you deliver versus what you actually deliver.

Market research helps marketers look like rock stars by helping them avoid mistakes, stay on message, and predict customer needs . It’s marketing’s job to leverage research to reach the best possible solution based on the research available. Then, they must implement the solution, modify the solution, and successfully deliver that solution to the market.

Market research often focuses on understanding:

• The consumer  (current customers, past customers, non-customers, influencers))
• The company  (product or service design, promotion, pricing, placement, service, sales)
• The competitors  (and how their market offerings interact in the market environment)
• The industry overall  (whether it’s growing or moving in a certain direction)

Why is market research important?

A successful business relies on understanding what like, what they dislike, what they need and what messaging they will respond to. Businesses also need to understand their competition to identify opportunities to differentiate their products and services from other companies.

Today’s business leaders face an endless stream of decisions around target markets, pricing, promotion, distribution channels, and  product features and benefits . They must account for all the factors involved, and there are market research studies and methodologies strategically designed to capture meaningful data to inform every choice. It can be a daunting task.

Market research allows companies to make data-driven decisions to drive growth and innovation.

What happens when you don’t do market research?

Without market research, business decisions are based at best on past consumer behavior, economic indicators, or at worst, on gut feel. Decisions are made in a bubble without thought to what the competition is doing. An important aim of market research is to remove subjective opinions when making business decisions. As a brand you are there to serve your customers, not personal preferences within the company. You are far more likely to be successful if you know the difference, and market research will help make sure your decisions are insight-driven.

eBook: Guide to unlocking research efficiency with AI and automation

Traditionally there have been specialist market researchers who are very good at what they do, and businesses have been reliant on their ability to do it. Market research specialists will always be an important part of the industry, as most brands are limited by their internal capacity, expertise and budgets and need to outsource at least some aspects of the work.

However, the market research external agency model has meant that brands struggled to keep up with the pace of change. Their customers would suffer because their needs were not being wholly met with point-in-time market research.

Businesses looking to conduct market research have to tackle many questions –

• Who are my consumers, and how should I  segment and prioritize  them?
• What are they looking for within my category?
• How much are they buying, and what are their purchase triggers, barriers, and buying habits?
• Will my marketing and communications efforts resonate?
• Is my  brand healthy ?
• What  product features  matter most?
• Is my product or service ready for launch?
• Are my  pricing  and  packaging plans  optimized?

They all need to be answered, but many businesses have found the process of data collection daunting, time-consuming and expensive. The hardest battle is often knowing where to begin and short-term demands have often taken priority over longer-term projects that require patience to offer return on investment.

Today however, the industry is making huge strides, driven by quickening product cycles, tighter competition and business imperatives around more data-driven decision making. With the emergence of simple,  easy to use tools , some degree of in-house market research is now seen as essential, with fewer excuses not to use data to inform your decisions. With greater accessibility to such software, everyone can be an expert regardless of level or experience.

How is this possible?

The art of research hasn’t gone away. It is still a complex job and the volume of data that needs to be analyzed is huge. However with the right tools and support,  sophisticated research can look very simple  – allowing you to focus on taking action on what matters.

If you’re not yet using technology to augment your in-house market research, now is the time to start.

The most successful brands rely on multiple sources of data to inform their strategy and decision making, from their  marketing segmentation  to the  product features  they develop to comments on social media. In fact, there’s  tools out there  that use machine learning and AI to automate the tracking of what’s people are saying about your brand across all sites.

The emergence of newer and more sophisticated tools and platforms gives brands access to more data sources than ever and how the data is analyzed and used to make decisions. This also increases the speed at which they operate, with minimal lead time allowing brands to be responsive to business conditions and take an agile approach to improvements and opportunities.

Expert partners have an important role in getting the best data, particularly giving access to additional market research know-how, helping you  find respondents , fielding  surveys  and reporting on results.

How do you measure success?

Business activities are usually measured on how well they deliver return on investment (ROI). Since market research doesn’t generate any revenue directly, its success has to be measured by looking at the positive outcomes it drives – happier customers, a healthier brand, and so on.

When changes to your products or your marketing strategy are made as a result of your market research findings, you can compare on a before-and-after basis to see if the knowledge you acted on has delivered value.

Regardless of the function you work within, understanding the consumer is the goal of any market research. To do this, we have to  understand what their needs are  in order to effectively meet them. If we do that, we are more likely to drive  customer satisfaction , and in turn, increase  customer retention .

Several metrics and KPIs are used to gauge the success of decisions made from market research results, including

• Brand awareness within the target market
• Share of wallet
• CSAT (customer satisfaction)
• NPS (Net Promoter Score)

You can use market research for almost anything related to your current customers, potential customer base or target market. If you want to find something out from your target audience, it’s likely market research is the answer.

Here are a few of the most common uses:

Buyer segmentation and profiling

Segmentation is a popular technique that separates your target market according to key characteristics, such as behavior, demographic information and social attitudes. Segmentation allows you to create relevant content for your different segments, ideally helping you to better connect with all of them.

Buyer personas are profiles of fictional customers – with real attributes. Buyer personas help you develop products and communications that are right for your different audiences, and can also guide your decision-making process. Buyer personas capture the key characteristics of your customer segments, along with meaningful insights about what they want or need from you. They provide a powerful reminder of consumer attitudes when developing a product or service, a marketing campaign or a new brand direction.

By understanding your buyers and potential customers, including their motivations, needs, and pain points, you can optimize everything from your marketing communications to your products to make sure the right people get the relevant content, at the right time, and  via the right channel .

Attitudes and Usage surveys

Attitude & Usage research helps you to grow your brand by providing a detailed understanding of consumers. It helps you understand how consumers use certain products and why, what their needs are, what their preferences are, and what their pain points are. It helps you to find gaps in the market, anticipate future category needs, identify barriers to entry and build accurate go-to-market strategies and business plans.

Marketing strategy

Effective market research is a crucial tool for developing an effective marketing strategy – a company’s plan for how they will promote their products.

It helps marketers look like rock stars by helping them understand the target market to avoid mistakes, stay on message, and predict  customer needs . It’s marketing’s job to leverage relevant data to reach the best possible solution  based on the research available. Then, they can implement the solution, modify the solution, and successfully deliver that solution to the market.

Product development

You can conduct market research into how a select group of consumers use and perceive your product – from how they use it through to what they like and dislike about it. Evaluating your strengths and weaknesses early on allows you to focus resources on ideas with the most potential and to gear your product or service design to a specific market.

Chobani’s yogurt pouches are a product optimized through great market research . Using product concept testing – a form of market research – Chobani identified that packaging could negatively impact consumer purchase decisions. The brand made a subtle change, ensuring the item satisfied the needs of consumers. This ability to constantly refine its products for customer needs and preferences has helped Chobani become Australia’s #1 yogurt brand and increase market share.

Pricing decisions

Market research provides businesses with insights to guide pricing decisions too. One of the most powerful tools available to market researchers is conjoint analysis, a form of market research study that uses choice modeling to help brands identify the perfect set of features and price for customers. Another useful tool is the Gabor-Granger method, which helps you identify the highest price consumers are willing to pay for a given product or service.

Brand tracking studies

A company’s brand is one of its most important assets. But unlike other metrics like product sales, it’s not a tangible measure you can simply pull from your system. Regular market research that  tracks consumer perceptions of your brand  allows you to monitor and optimize your brand strategy in real time, then respond to consumer feedback to help maintain or build your brand with your target customers.

Advertising and communications testing

Advertising campaigns can be expensive, and without pre-testing, they carry risk of falling flat with your target audience. By testing your campaigns, whether it’s the message or the creative, you can understand how consumers respond to your communications before you deploy them so you can make changes in response to consumer feedback before you go live.

Finder, which is one of the world’s fastest-growing online comparison websites, is  an example of a brand using market research to inject some analytical rigor into the business . Fueled by great market research, the business lifted  brand awareness  by 23 percent, boosted  NPS  by 8 points, and scored record profits – all within 10 weeks.

Competitive analysis

Another key part of developing the right product and communications is understanding your main competitors and how consumers perceive them. You may have looked at their websites and tried out their product or service, but unless you know how consumers perceive them, you won’t have an accurate view of where you stack up in comparison. Understanding their position in the market allows you to identify the strengths you can exploit, as well as any weaknesses you can address to help you compete better.

Customer Story

See How Yamaha Does Product Research

Although there are many types market research, all methods can be sorted into one of two categories: primary and secondary.

Primary research

Primary research  is market research data that you collect yourself. This is raw data collected through a range of different means –  surveys , focus groups,  , observation and interviews being among the most popular.

Primary information is fresh, unused data, giving you a perspective that is current or perhaps extra confidence when confirming hypotheses you already had. It can also be very targeted to your exact needs. Primary information can be extremely valuable. Tools for collecting primary information are increasingly sophisticated and the market is growing rapidly.

Historically, conducting market research in-house has been a daunting concept for brands because they don’t quite know where to begin, or how to handle vast volumes of data. Now, the emergence of technology has meant that brands have access to simple, easy to use tools to help with exactly that problem. As a result, brands are more confident about their own projects and data with the added benefit of seeing the insights emerge in real-time.

Secondary research

Secondary research  is the use of data that has already been collected, analyzed and published – typically it’s data you don’t own and that hasn’t been conducted with your business specifically in mind, although there are forms of internal secondary data like old reports or figures from past financial years that come from within your business. Secondary research can be used to support the use of primary research.

Secondary research can be beneficial to small businesses because it is sometimes easier to obtain, often through research companies. Although the rise of primary research tools are challenging this trend by allowing businesses to conduct their own market research more cheaply, secondary research is often a cheaper alternative for businesses who need to spend money carefully. Some forms of secondary research have been described as ‘lean market research’ because they are fast and pragmatic, building on what’s already there.

Because it’s not specific to your business, secondary research may be less relevant, and you’ll need to be careful to make sure it applies to your exact research question. It may also not be owned, which means your competitors and other parties also have access to it.

Primary or secondary research – which to choose?

Both primary and secondary research have their advantages, but they are often best used when paired together, giving you the confidence to act knowing that the hypothesis you have is robust.

Secondary research is sometimes preferred because there is a misunderstanding of the feasibility of primary research. Thanks to advances in technology, brands have far greater accessibility to primary research, but this isn’t always known.

If you’ve decided to gather your own primary information, there are many different data collection methods that you may consider. For example:

• Customer surveys
• Focus groups
• Observation

Think carefully about what you’re trying to accomplish before picking the data collection method(s) you’re going to use. Each one has its pros and cons. Asking someone a simple, multiple-choice survey question will generate a different type of data than you might obtain with an in-depth interview. Determine if your primary research is exploratory or specific, and if you’ll need qualitative research, quantitative research, or both.

Qualitative vs quantitative

Another way of categorizing different types of market research is according to whether they are qualitative or quantitative.

Qualitative research

Qualitative research  is the collection of data that is non-numerical in nature. It summarizes and infers, rather than pin-points an exact truth. It is exploratory and can lead to the generation of a hypothesis.

Market research techniques that would gather qualitative data include:

• Interviews (face to face / telephone)
• Open-ended survey questions

Researchers use these types of market research technique because they can add more depth to the data. So for example, in focus groups or interviews, rather than being limited to ‘yes’ or ‘no’ for a certain question, you can start to understand why someone might feel a certain way.

Quantitative research

Quantitative research  is the collection of data that is numerical in nature. It is much more black and white in comparison to qualitative data, although you need to make sure there is a representative sample if you want the results to be reflective of reality.

Quantitative researchers often start with a hypothesis and then collect data which can be used to determine whether empirical evidence to support that hypothesis exists.

Quantitative research methods include:

• Questionnaires
• Review scores

Exploratory and specific research

Exploratory research is the approach to take if you don’t know what you don’t know. It can give you broad insights about your customers, product, brand, and market. If you want to answer a specific question, then you’ll be conducting specific research.

• Exploratory . This research is general and open-ended, and typically involves lengthy interviews with an individual or small focus group.
• Specific . This research is often used to solve a problem identified in exploratory research. It involves more structured, formal interviews.

Exploratory primary research is generally conducted by collecting qualitative data. Specific research usually finds its insights through quantitative data.

Primary research can be qualitative or quantitative, large-scale or focused and specific. You’ll carry it out using methods like surveys – which can be used for both qualitative and quantitative studies – focus groups, observation of consumer behavior, interviews, or online tools.

Step 1: Identify your research topic

Research topics could include:

• Product features
• Product or service launch
• Understanding a new target audience (or updating an existing audience)
• Brand identity
• Marketing campaign concepts
• Customer experience

Step 2: Draft a research hypothesis

A hypothesis is the assumption you’re starting out with. Since you can disprove a negative much more easily than prove a positive, a hypothesis is a negative statement such as ‘price has no effect on brand perception’.

Step 3: Determine which research methods are most effective

Your choice of methods depends on budget, time constraints, and the type of question you’re trying to answer. You could combine surveys, interviews and focus groups to get a mix of qualitative and quantitative data.

Step 4: Determine how you will collect and analyze your data.

Primary research can generate a huge amount of data, and when the goal is to uncover actionable insight, it can be difficult to know where to begin or what to pay attention to.

The rise in brands taking their market research and data analysis in-house has coincided with the rise of technology simplifying the process. These tools pull through large volumes of data and outline significant information that will help you make the most important decisions.

Step 5: Conduct your research!

This is how you can run your research using Qualtrics CoreXM

• Pre-launch  – Here you want to ensure that the survey/ other research methods conform to the project specifications (what you want to achieve/research)
• Soft launch  – Collect a small fraction of the total data before you fully launch. This means you can  check that everything is working  as it should and you can correct any data quality issues.
• Full launch  – You’ve done the hard work to get to this point. If you’re using a tool, you can sit back and relax, or if you get curious you can check on the data in your account.
• Review  – review your data for any issues or low-quality responses. You may need to remove this in order not to impact the analysis of the data.

A helping hand

If you are missing the skills, capacity or inclination to manage your research internally,  Qualtrics Research Services  can help. From design, to writing the survey based on your needs, to help with survey programming, to handling the reporting, Research Services acts as an extension of the team and can help wherever necessary.

Secondary market research can be taken from a variety of places. Some data is completely free to access – other information could end up costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. There are three broad categories of secondary research sources:

• Public sources  – these sources are accessible to anyone who asks for them. They include census data, market statistics, library catalogs, university libraries and more. Other organizations may also put out free data from time to time with the goal of advancing a cause, or catching people’s attention.
• Internal sources  – sometimes the most valuable sources of data already exist somewhere within your organization. Internal sources can be preferable for secondary research on account of their price (free) and unique findings. Since internal sources are not accessible by competitors, using them can provide a distinct competitive advantage.
• Commercial sources  – if you have money for it, the easiest way to acquire secondary market research is to simply buy it from private companies. Many organizations exist for the sole purpose of doing market research and can provide reliable, in-depth, industry-specific reports.

No matter where your research is coming from, it is important to ensure that the source is reputable and reliable so you can be confident in the conclusions you draw from it.

How do you know if a source is reliable?

Use established and well-known research publishers, such as  the XM Institute ,  Forrester  and  McKinsey . Government websites also publish research and this is free of charge. By taking the information directly from the source (rather than a third party) you are minimizing the risk of the data being misinterpreted and the message or insights being acted on out of context.

How to apply secondary research

The purpose and application of secondary research will vary depending on your circumstances. Often, secondary research is used to support primary research and therefore give you greater confidence in your conclusions. However, there may be circumstances that prevent this – such as the timeframe and budget of the project.

Keep an open mind when collecting all the relevant research so that there isn’t any collection bias. Then begin analyzing the conclusions formed to see if any trends start to appear. This will help you to draw a consensus from the secondary research overall.

Market research success is defined by the impact it has on your business’s success. Make sure it’s not discarded or ignored by communicating your findings effectively. Here are some tips on how to do it.

• Less is more  – Preface your market research report with executive summaries that highlight your key discoveries and their implications
• Lead with the basic information  – Share the top 4-5 recommendations in bullet-point form, rather than requiring your readers to go through pages of analysis and data
• Model the impact  – Provide examples and model the impact of any changes you put in place based on your findings
• Show, don’t tell  – Add illustrative examples that relate directly to the research findings and emphasize specific points
• Speed is of the essence  – Make data available in real-time so it can be rapidly incorporated into strategies and acted upon to maximize value
• Work with experts  – Make sure you’ve access to a dedicated team of experts ready to help you design and launch successful projects

Trusted by 8,500 brands for everything from product testing to competitor analysis,  DesignXM  is the world’s most powerful and flexible  research platform . With over 100 question types and advanced logic, you can build out your  surveys  and see real-time data you can share across the organization. Plus, you’ll be able to turn data into insights with iQ, our  predictive intelligence engine  that runs complicated analysis at the click of a button.

Get started with our free survey software

Related resources

Market intelligence 9 min read, qualitative research questions 11 min read, ethnographic research 11 min read, business research methods 12 min read, qualitative research design 12 min read, business research 10 min read, qualitative research interviews 11 min read, request demo.

Ready to learn more about Qualtrics?

We Are Certified

Why Are We Different?

Tailored solutions.

While many take a one-size-fits-all approach, Market Research Future provides custom solutions based on each clients needs and objectives. We appreciate your business goals plus other challenges in readiness for relevant insights that have an effect.

Collaborative Partnerships

At Market Research Future , our clients are considered partners for success. We achieve this by promoting trust, openness, and mutual respect, ensuring we work closely together from beginning to end to exceed our clients' expectations.

Innovative Insights

Our company is a pioneer in the market, and we keep discovering new analysis methods. It could be drawing upon big data or using artificial intelligence tools to offer cutting-edge insights to help them gain a competitive edge.

Uncompromising Quality

Market Research Future stands for quality. Rigidity in quality control systems and strict adherence to quality standards are some ways we ensure our findings are accurate, reliable and can be acted upon. Regarding research that can be trusted as being of top-notch quality, it is only with MRFR.

Long-Term Value

Market Research Future focus is different; it lies in the enduring value realization process. We present information and empower customers with the knowledge required for survival within changing business landscapes. This way, we help identify growth opportunities, mitigate risks, and get ahead of the competition Market Research Future is your partner towards sustainable prosperity.

Media Citation

The Rise Of Startups Innovating In The Fertility Space

Read Media Reviews

How machine learning is allowing thousands of students to sit exams at home

Acceptance is innovation: Cloud-based point-of-sale tech can unleash value for small businesses

How to excel in markets with dominant players

Masimo (MASI) Strengthens Global Footprint With New Launch

Verizon Teams Up with McAfee to Secure Today’s Connected Home

Budget PC Gaming War Heats Up With New AMD, Nvidia GPUs, But Good Luck Buying Them

27 PETA-Approved Unilever brands join the fight to save cruelty free cosmetics in Europe

What is the difference between ERP and CRM?

Testimonials.

© 2024 Market Research Future ® (Part of WantStats Reasearch And Media Pvt. Ltd.)

• Today's news
• Reviews and deals
• Climate change
• 2024 election
• Fall allergies
• Health news
• Mental health
• Sexual health
• Family health
• So mini ways
• Unapologetically
• Buying guides

Entertainment

• How to Watch
• My Portfolio
• Latest News
• Stock Market
• Biden Economy
• Stocks: Most Actives
• Stocks: Gainers
• Stocks: Losers
• Trending Tickers
• World Indices
• US Treasury Bonds Rates
• Top Mutual Funds
• Options: Highest Open Interest
• Options: Highest Implied Volatility
• Basic Materials
• Communication Services
• Consumer Cyclical
• Consumer Defensive
• Financial Services
• Industrials
• Real Estate
• Stock Comparison
• Advanced Chart
• Currency Converter
• Credit Cards
• Balance Transfer Cards
• Cash-back Cards
• Rewards Cards
• Travel Cards
• Credit Card Offers
• Best Free Checking
• Student Loans
• Personal Loans
• Car insurance
• Mortgage Refinancing
• Mortgage Calculator
• Morning Brief
• Market Domination
• Market Domination Overtime
• Asking for a Trend
• Opening Bid
• Stocks in Translation
• Lead This Way
• Good Buy or Goodbye?
• Financial Freestyle
• Capitol Gains
• Living Not So Fabulously
• Fantasy football
• Pro Pick 'Em
• College Pick 'Em
• Fantasy baseball
• Fantasy hockey
• Fantasy basketball
• Download the app
• Daily fantasy
• Scores and schedules
• GameChannel
• World Baseball Classic
• Premier League
• CONCACAF League
• Champions League
• Motorsports
• Horse racing
• Newsletters

New on Yahoo

• Privacy Dashboard

Yahoo Finance

Ready to drink tea & coffee market to reach usd 216.40 billion by 2032, driven by 7.4% cagr | polaris market research.

Increasing demand for convenient beverages and rising innovations by the food and beverage industry in easy-to-access beverages fuels the growth of the ready-to-drink tea and coffee market.

New York, USA, Aug. 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Market Overview:

The global ready to drink tea and coffee market size is expected to upsurge from USD 114.49 billion in 2023 to USD 216.40 billion by 2032. The market is likely to exhibit a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.4% during the forecast period from 2024 - 2032.

Market Introduction:

What is Ready-to-Drink Tea and Coffee?

Today’s hectic modern lifestyle has led consumers to search for convenient foods and beverages. Ready-drink beverages such as tea, coffee, and juices are gaining popularity among consumers due to their easier accessibility and availability. Along with consumers, these ready-to-drink teas and coffee are also creating growth opportunities for the food industry, with many companies constantly experimenting with unique flavors and ingredients.

However, there is still a need to incorporate functional benefits into ready-to-drink (RTD) coffee and tea, such as immunity-boosting ingredients without the added sugars and calories, as well as added protein. As consumers become more health-conscious, they are seeking healthy on-the-go beverages.

Download Free Sample PDF Copy of the Report: https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/global-ready-to-drink-tea-and-coffee-market/request-for-sample

Market Report Attributes:

Key Highlights of Report:

The market is significantly driven by factors including growing demand for convenient and portable beverages, increasing consumption of RTD tea and coffee among the urban population, and increasing products launched by market players.

The market is primarily segmented on the basis of packaging, distribution channel, product, price, and region.

Based on region, the market in North America accounted for the largest revenue share in 2023.

Ready-to-Drink Tea and Coffee Market Key Players:

AriZona Beverages USA

ASAHI GROUP HOLDINGS, LTD.

Coca-Cola HBC

Monster Energy Company

Pretty Tasty Tea

Starbucks Corporation

SUNTORY HOLDINGS LIMITED

Request for a Discount on this Report Before Purchase: https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/global-ready-to-drink-tea-and-coffee-market/request-for-discount-pricing

Growth Drivers and Trends:

Demand for Convenience and Portable Options: Consumers find ready-to-drink tea and coffee convenient because they are easily accessible without the need for brewing or steeping. These beverages can be enjoyed during work hours or while performing activities such as traveling. Thus, the growing demand for convenient options like RTD coffee and tea drives the ready-to-drink tea and coffee market demand.

Increasing Product Launches: Companies operating in the market are constantly introducing products with new flavors, formulations, and packaging to cater to the rising consumer demand, which is accelerating the ready-to-drink tea and coffee market growth. For instance, in July 2024, DAVIDsTEA unveiled ready-to-drink (RTD) sparkling cold-brewed iced tea, which contains natural ingredients with an Organic Earl Grey blend.

Variety of Flavors Attracting Consumers: Ready-to-drink tea and coffee come in various flavors, including ginseng and honey, fruit juice cocktails, mint, lemon, peach, strawberry, and fruity cereal. This diverse range of flavors attracts consumers, encourages repeat purchases, and fuels market sales.

Which Region Dominates Ready-to-Drink Tea and Coffee Market Globally?

The market in North America held the largest share owing to the rising consumption of tea across the region. For instance, in 2022, the US-led North American countries in per capita consumption of ready-to-drink (RTD) tea, averaging 18.90 liters per year. Additionally, busy lifestyles and increasing urbanization are driving market growth in the region.

Inquire more about this report before purchase: https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/global-ready-to-drink-tea-and-coffee-market/inquire-before-buying

Segmental Overview:

Ready-to-Drink Tea and Coffee Market – Product Based Outlook:

Flavored coffee

Cold brew coffee

Iced coffee

Ready-to-Drink Tea and Coffee Market – Packaging Based Outlook:

Glass Bottle

Ready-to-Drink Tea and Coffee Market – Price-Based Outlook:

Ready-to-Drink Tea and Coffee Market – Distribution Channel Based Outlook:

Food Service

Supermarkets/Hypermarkets

Convenience Stores

Ready-to-Drink Tea and Coffee Market – Regional Outlook:

North America

Netherlands

Rest of Europe

Asia-Pacific

South Korea

Rest of Asia-Pacific

Middle East & Africa

Saudi Arabia

South Africa

Rest of Middle East & Africa

Latin America

Rest of Latin America

Browse More Research Reports: L-citrulline Market Tea Extracts Market Instant Noodles Market Acerola Extracts Market Aquaponics Market

About Polaris Market Research:

Polaris Market Research  is a global market research and consulting company. The company specializes in providing exceptional market intelligence and in-depth business research services for PMR’s clientele spread across different enterprises. We at Polaris are obliged to serve PMR’s diverse customer base present across the industries of healthcare, technology, semiconductors, and chemicals among various other industries present around the world. We strive to provide PMR’s customers with updated information on innovative technologies, high-growth markets, emerging business environments, and the latest business-centric applications, thereby helping them always to make informed decisions and leverage new opportunities. Adept with a highly competent, experienced, and extremely qualified team of experts comprising SMEs, analysts, and consultants, we at Polaris endeavor to deliver value-added business solutions to PMR’s customers.

Contact: Likhil G 30 Wall Street 8th Floor, New York City, NY 10005, United States Phone: +1-929 297-9727 Email:  [email protected] Web:  https://www.polarismarketresearch.com Follow Us:   LinkedIn  |  Twitter

Related Travel Research

Middle east travel market data sheet 2023-2027.

FREE for Open Access Subscribers

The Middle East travel market is experiencing resurgence, with gross bookings growing by 13% year-over-year in 2023, outpacing regional GDP growth. Online bookings continue to grow in absolute numbers and importance. Overall, the Middle East is poised for continued, steady growth as it takes full advantage of its strategic global position and the offerings it can permit.

The Middle East travel market includes several key country markets: the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt. This market data sheet provides market sizing, projections and key segment analysis for the Middle East travel industry through 2027. 

What is Open Access

An Open Access subscription provides company-wide access to the whole library of Phocuswright’s travel research and data visualization.

Curious? Contact our team to learn more:

What is open access+.

With Open Access+, your company gets access to Phocuswright's full travel research library and data visualization PLUS Special Project deliverables.

Global Biopolymers Market – Industry Trends and Forecast to 2030

• Chemical and Materials
• Upcoming Report
• No of Tables: 220
• No of Figures: 60

Global Biopolymers Market

Market Size in USD Billion

CAGR :  4.10 %

Global Biopolymers Market, By Type (Bio-PE, Bio-PET, Polyactic Acid (PLA), Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), Biodegradable Polyesters, Others), Application (Films, Bottles, Fibers, Seed Coating, Vehicle Components, Medical Implants, and Others), End-Use (Packaging, Agriculture, Automotive, Pharmaceutical, Construction, Others) – Industry Trends and Forecast to 2030.

Biopolymers Market Analysis and Size

Warm solidity, flexibility, resistance to gases, water, protection against synthetic materials, biocompatibility, and biodegradability are characteristics of biopolymers that are mostly required in the consumer products sector. Furniture made of biopolymers includes chairs, tables, racks, pantries, and other pieces, as well as personal care products like lipsticks, fresh napkins, pressed powder, and lotions.

Data Bridge Market Research analyses that the global biopolymers market which was USD 7.76 billion in 2022, would rocket up to USD 10.70 billion by 2030, and is expected to undergo a CAGR of 4.1% during the forecast period. “Biodegradable polyesters” is expected to dominate the type segment of the biopolymers market due to they often have low melting points, low glass transition temperatures, and poor hydrolytic stability, which means that when exposed to moisture, they will absorb moderate to high amount of water.

In addition to the insights on market scenarios such as market value, growth rate, segmentation, geographical coverage, and major players, the market reports curated by the Data Bridge Market Research also include in-depth expert analysis, geographically represented company-wise production and capacity, network layouts of distributors and partners, detailed and updated price trend analysis and deficit analysis of supply chain and demand.

Biopolymers Market Scope and Segmentation

Market Definition

Biopolymers are synthetic materials that are made from feedstocks like corn, sugar cane, standing lumber, and leftover wood. In contrast to conventional polymers or plastics, which contribute to pollution and global warming, biopolymers are biodegradable in nature. It is anticipated that the utilization of bio-based polymers would become more popular. Traditional plastics made from petroleum are viewed as less sustainable than biopolymers since they cannot harm the environment and can be broken down by natural processes. Food, pharmaceutical, and biomedical sectors are just a few of the ones that use biopolymers. In the biomedical industry, biopolymers are highly sought-after due to their exceptional healing properties. All types of wounds benefit from the use of biopolymers in their healing process.

Biopolymers Market Dynamics

• The growing understanding of the harm caused by traditional plastics

A movement toward biopolymers has occurred as a result of growing awareness of the damaging effects of traditional plastics on the environment. Traditional plastics made of petrochemicals contain dangerous compounds that can seep into food and beverages and cause a variety of health issues.  Contrarily, because biopolymers are created using natural and secure components, there is no chance of being exposed to hazardous substances. The market for biopolymers is expanding as a result of consumer and commercial demand for safer and healthier goods in place of conventional plastics.

Customers are expecting more ecologically friendly items as they become more aware of their carbon footprints. Governments all across the globe are working to decrease plastic waste by outlawing single-use plastics and pushing the use of environmentally friendly packaging alternatives. Future predictions predict that this trend will continue as businesses and consumers become increasingly conscious of the negative environmental effects of conventional plastics derived from petrochemicals .

• A shift in consumers' preference toward biodegradable plastics

Along with efforts to cut back on the use of conventional, non-biodegradable plastics and increase awareness of sustainable plastic alternatives, the market for bioplastics is growing. Since conventional plastics are mostly composed of petroleum and take decades to decompose, they can spend a lot of time in landfills. Microorganisms break down biodegradable polymers at a far quicker pace than they do traditional plastics. Biodegradable plastics may be absorbed back into the natural system and degrade more quickly when they are disposed of. As a consequence of increased consumer awareness, more people are moving to biopolymers.

Opportunities

• Newer applications are being developed in the packaging and agriculture sectors.

Similar to conventional polymers, bio-based polymers have a wide range of uses. The market for bio-based polymers is anticipated to see tremendous development prospects in applications for consumer products due to the government's increased focus on sustainability and supportive green procurement rules.  It is also anticipated that the packaging application would expand significantly. There are several uses for biodegradable mulch films in the agricultural sector. Trays, cutlery, and cups are only a few examples of the significant and highly demanding applications of bio-based polymer in the food packaging industry.

Restraints/Challenges

• Biopolymers are more expensive than conventional polymers.

The expansion of the market in various application segments is constrained by the higher cost of bioplastics compared to conventional polymers. The cost of producing bio-based polymers is typically 20–100% more expensive than that of conventional polymers. The main reason for this is that bio-based polymers have high polymerization costs since the vast majority of their cycles are still in their infancy and have not yet reached economies of scale. PHAs, for example, have high production costs, poor yields, and limited availability while having several uses in fasteners, made papers, therapeutic devices, electronic components , food packaging, and agribusiness. Even while PLAs are more expensive than PE and PP made from oil, they have a lower cost of production than PHAs. Generally speaking, bio-based products are still in the development stage and have not yet reached the same level of marketing as their petrochemical counterparts, which have been expanding swiftly for more than 50 years.

This biopolymers market report provides details of new recent developments, trade regulations, import-export analysis, production analysis, value chain optimization, market share, the impact of domestic and localized market players, analyses opportunities in terms of emerging revenue pockets, changes in market regulations, strategic market growth analysis, market size, category market growths, application niches and dominance, product approvals, product launches, geographic expansions, technological innovations in the market. To gain more info on the biopolymers market contact Data Bridge Market Research for an Analyst Brief, our team will help you take an informed market decision to achieve market growth.

Recent Developments

• In October 2022, I'm Green TM biopolymers, which are plastics made from sugarcane, are now being produced by Braskem, the world's largest producer of biopolymers and America's largest resin maker. Braskem is investing over USD 60 million to boost its I'm Green TM biopolymer production capacity by 30%. This demonstrates Braskem's commitment to the circular economy and its objective of becoming carbon neutral by 2050, and it is a crucial step toward a global change in the industry as a whole. The company is also investigating the possibility of setting up a new I'm Green TM biopolymer factory in Thailand
• In July 2022, A novel rice-derived biopolymer for mattifying skin care products has been introduced by BASF SE. According to BASF SE's care creation business, Verdessence RiceTouch is a natural sensory powder made from non-GMO rice farmed in the European Union. The newly developed cosmetic ingredient was developed to absorb various oils, hence eliminating greasy flavors in products and skin greasiness

Global Biopolymers Market Scope

The biopolymers market is segmented on the basis of type, application and end-use. The growth amongst these segments will help you analyze meagre growth segments in the industries and provide the users with a valuable market overview and market insights to help them make strategic decisions for identifying core market applications.

• Polyactic Acid (PLA)
• Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA)
• Biodegradable Polyesters

Application

• Seed Coating
• Vehicle Components
• Medical Implants
• Agriculture
• Pharmaceuticals
• Construction

Biopolymers Market Regional Analysis/Insights

The biopolymers market is analysed and market size insights and trends are provided by country, type, application, and end-use as referenced above.

The countries covered in the biopolymers market report are U.S., Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Rest of South America, Germany, France, Italy, U.K., Belgium, Spain, Russia, Turkey, Netherlands, Switzerland, Rest of Europe, Japan, China, India, South Korea, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Rest of Asia-Pacific, U.A.E, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, South Africa, Israel, Rest of Middle East and Africa

Asia-Pacific is expected to dominate the market in terms of market share and market revenue and will continue to flourish its dominance during the forecast period of 2023-2030. This is a result of rising environmental concerns, a desire for sustainable resources, and favourable government policies and laws that encourage the use of bio-based goods in this region.

The country section of the report also provides individual market impacting factors and changes in regulation in the market domestically that impacts the current and future trends of the market. Data points like down-stream and upstream value chain analysis, technical trends, and porter's five forces analysis, case studies are some of the pointers used to forecast the market scenario for individual countries. Also, the presence and availability of global brands and their challenges faced due to large or scarce competition from local and domestic brands, the impact of domestic tariffs, and trade routes are considered while providing forecast analysis of the country data.   

Competitive Landscape and Global Biopolymers Market Share Analysis

The biopolymers market competitive landscape provides details by competitor. Details included are company overview, company financials, revenue generated, market potential, investment in research and development, new market initiatives, global presence, production sites and facilities, production capacities, company strengths and weaknesses, product launch, product width and breadth, application dominance. The above data points provided are only related to the companies' focus related to biopolymers market.

Some of the major players operating in the biopolymers market are:

• NatureWorks (US)
• Braskem (Brazil)
• BASF SE (Germany)
• Total Corbion (Netherlands)
• Novamont (Italy)
• Biome Bioplastics (UK)
• Mitsubishi Chemical Holding Corporation (Japan)
• Biotec (Germany)
• Toray Industries (Japan)
• Plantic Technologies (Australia)

Get online access to the report on the World's First Market Intelligence Cloud

• Interactive Data Analysis Dashboard
• Company Analysis Dashboard for high growth potential opportunities
• Research Analyst Access for customization & queries
• Competitor Analysis with Interactive dashboard
• Latest News, Updates & Trend analysis
• Harness the Power of Benchmark Analysis for Comprehensive Competitor Tracking

Research Methodology

Data collection and base year analysis are done using data collection modules with large sample sizes. The stage includes obtaining market information or related data through various sources and strategies. It includes examining and planning all the data acquired from the past in advance. It likewise envelops the examination of information inconsistencies seen across different information sources. The market data is analysed and estimated using market statistical and coherent models. Also, market share analysis and key trend analysis are the major success factors in the market report. To know more, please request an analyst call or drop down your inquiry.

The key research methodology used by DBMR research team is data triangulation which involves data mining, analysis of the impact of data variables on the market and primary (industry expert) validation. Data models include Vendor Positioning Grid, Market Time Line Analysis, Market Overview and Guide, Company Positioning Grid, Patent Analysis, Pricing Analysis, Company Market Share Analysis, Standards of Measurement, Global versus Regional and Vendor Share Analysis. To know more about the research methodology, drop in an inquiry to speak to our industry experts.

Customization Available

Data Bridge Market Research is a leader in advanced formative research. We take pride in servicing our existing and new customers with data and analysis that match and suits their goal. The report can be customized to include price trend analysis of target brands understanding the market for additional countries (ask for the list of countries), clinical trial results data, literature review, refurbished market and product base analysis. Market analysis of target competitors can be analyzed from technology-based analysis to market portfolio strategies. We can add as many competitors that you require data about in the format and data style you are looking for. Our team of analysts can also provide you data in crude raw excel files pivot tables (Fact book) or can assist you in creating presentations from the data sets available in the report.

Frequently Asked Questions

Browse related pages.

• Global Biopolymers Market Companies

Avail PDF Sample Reports

By clicking the "Submit" button, you are agreeing to the Data Bridge Market Research Privacy Policy. and Terms and Conditions

Corporate Email ID Only (Avoid Using Generic mail ID such as Gmail)

Consent preferences.

We use cookies to improve your experience We use cookies to deliver the best possible experience on our website. To learn more, visit our Privacy Policy. By continuing to use this site, or closing this box, you consent to our use of cookies. Cookie Notice.

Help wanted: The long-term labor tightening trend by country

Explore the full report

Help wanted: Charting the challenge of tight labor markets in advanced economies zooms out to explore the trends, drivers, and implications of tightening labor markets across advanced economies.

We examined changes in aggregate labor supply and labor demand across eight of the largest advanced economies, using data on employment, unemployment, and job openings from 2010 to 2023. We also analyzed labor demand at the sector level in seven of these countries—data for Japan wasn’t available—to understand the impact of labor tightening on different industries.

Notwithstanding some recent softening, we found a long-term trend of labor market tightening in all economies. From 2010 to 2023, vacancies rose in all sectors, with the share of vacancies in healthcare and construction rising the most. Elevated labor market tightness resulted in unrealized output of 0.5 percent to 1.5 percent of GDP across economies in 2023, as businesses shortened hours of operation or turned down orders that they couldn’t fulfill due to a shortage of workers.

To achieve recent levels of economic growth, countries will need to increase productivity or expand labor force participation—and, in some cases, do both. While these overall trends hold across economies, there are important nuances at both the country and sector levels, so we offer a deeper look here.

Findings by country

Anu Madgavkar is an MGI partner based in New Jersey; Olivia White is a McKinsey senior partner and director of MGI based in San Francisco; Sven Smit is a McKinsey senior partner and chair of MGI based in Amsterdam; Chris Bradley is a McKinsey senior partner and director of MGI based in Sydney; Ryan Luby is a senior knowledge expert and associate partner based in New York; and Michael Neary is an engagement manager based in San Francisco.

The report was edited by Stephanie Strom, an MGI senior editor based in New York. The exhibits were designed by Chuck Burke, a senior editor of data visualization based in Chicago, and Richard Johnson, an executive editor of data visualization based in London.

Explore a career with us

Related articles.

Help wanted: Charting the challenge of tight labor markets in advanced economies

A new future of work: The race to deploy AI and raise skills in Europe and beyond

Investing in productivity growth

Foreign smartphone sales in China edge up 2.7% in July, according to research data

• Medium Text

Sign up here.

Reporting by Liam Mo and Casey Hall; Editing by Tom Hogue

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. , opens new tab

SpaceX's Falcon 9 grounded after failing landing attempt

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday said SpaceX's workhorse Falcon 9 rocket has been grounded after failing an attempt to land back on Earth during a routine Starlink mission, forcing the company's second grounding this year.

Marketing Trends 2024

Our Marketing Trends 2024 have been sourced from across Kantar. We look at macro and micro trends for marketers to consider as part of their brand growth journey, and how they might suit their own objectives. From insights to behaviour, from culture to data, we cover some of the key trends that we see emerging and growing over the next year.

Jane Ostler – EVP Global Thought Leadership

According to Kantar’s Media Reactions 2023 , 67% of marketers feel positive about the possibilities of Gen AI. This optimism indicates a rapid and exciting adoption of the new technology. The industry is exploring opportunities to use Gen AI to create efficiencies in the way we develop and personalise creative and innovate at scale.

We have already seen marketers and agencies experiment with Gen AI by creating more visual concepts to benefit discussions, infusing new impulses into the ideation stage, as well as aiding in crafting storylines. There might even be space for synthetic media planning in our future.

In 2024, as AI brings more opportunities for scale, efficiency and creativity, there will be even more content competing for eyeballs. In this landscape, the need to understand the effectiveness of creative content will grow further, and those who use AI measurement approaches that match the pace and scale will be better prepared.

Kerry Benson

Culture comes first: marketers follow culture to connect with consumers in an accessible language of characters, fashion, music, lingo, norms and aspirations. Success comes when marketing aligns with culture, and is lost when marketing offends it.

Kantar MONITOR tracking in the U.S. finds that nearly two-thirds of people agree that they want brands that “align with” their personal values. Globally, 80% say they “make an effort” to buy from companies that support causes important to them. However, consumers don’t always do what they say. This is known as the purchasing value-action gap. But purchasing is not the only way consumers express their cultural preferences.

Consumers are increasingly ‘acting out’ when brands fall out of alignment with culture. The futures practice of Kantar finds that this new terrain of more demanding consumers is increasingly confrontational, as higher expectations about brands come together with changing norms about conversations and disagreements. As we look ahead to 2024, confrontational risk must be embedded in marketing planning. Not at the expense of product mission, just more in sync with culture.

J.Walker Smith

There is increasing publicity about brands who take an activist stance. Meanwhile, social media creates a global stage and democratises opinions, which intensifies the risk and scale of consumer backlash.

Alongside this, we have high growth formats where marketers may have less control. Influencer content is consumers’ preferred online channel for advertising ( Media Reactions 2023 ). Half of marketers globally say they invested in influencer content in 2023, and 59% say they will increase spend on influencers in 2024.

Like celebrities, influencers’ actions have an impact on the brand they are working with, so they need to be given clear parameters, while remaining authentic.

So is brand control waning?

If brands decide to take a stand, they need to take care not to be cancelled for being inappropriate (whether on purpose or not). Marketers will need to become more culturally connected and learn how to navigate any possible backlash to their content, or influencer content, on social media. Brands who speak out in a way that’s consistent with their DNA and stand up for what they believe, can make their way into consumers’ hearts, despite possible short-term controversies.

Gonca Bubani

The importance of Attention for both creative and media effectiveness is now becoming established among marketers, who can optimise ROI by developing ads and media plans which maximise their attention per dollar spent.

Marketers are now recognising that attention is layered, with audience measurement needs evolving beyond viewability. So it’s surprising that behavioural viewing measures (like time viewed) are still the dominant attention measurement approach (62% of marketers prefer this, according to Kantar Media Reactions 2023 ). Marketers clearly feel these measures are an acceptable proxy for understanding how an ad has worked after launch.

But we also see a trend towards gaining a deeper understanding of the quality of consumers’ creative attention, and this is where we see facial coding and eyetracking techniques are gaining prominence. These techniques seem increasingly likely to merge, as some facial coding suppliers now include a gaze measurement component.

AI-based creative and media predictions of attention are being used less than observational techniques. However, it is no surprise that the use of AI-based attention predictions is now rising. They are destined to play a greater role in 2024, allowing marketers to measure attention at scale for digital ads.

Vera Sidlova

Corporate metrics increasingly highlight the importance of long-term value creation, inclusivity, positive community, and environmental impact.

According to the WFA and Kantar's Sustainable Marketing 2030 report , the presence of sustainability metrics on marketing dashboards has surged. In 2023, 42% of companies incorporate these metrics, compared to just 26% in 2021. Where companies are further advanced in translating their sustainability agenda into their marketing function, the number rises to 62%. When integrating sustainability into P&L incentives, this adoption drops (44% advanced, 10% starters).

In 2024, we see a shift towards sustainable innovation, inclusive communication, and strategic PR to foster trust. It involves balancing long term brand development with product marketing and short-term metrics. Consumers increasingly seek companies that contribute to environmental and social solutions, as reflected in the 31% growth of Kantar BrandZ top-rated Sustainability brands in 2021 —compared to 23% for the top 100 brands. So balancing profit, planet, and people need not be a compromise, but can be a valid business strategy.

Carol Horsley

Brands perceived as innovative afford 3x more growth than brands that aren’t, according to Kantar’s BrandZ 2023 data.

So why do we see such low levels of innovation in post-Covid times? In the UK, new launches are at their lowest for a decade, according to Kantar's Worldpanel division. The innovation we are seeing is, at best, just small renovations ( Europanel BG20, 2023 ).

The good news is marketers recognise the need to step up to do more in innovation, in particular sustainable innovation. Over half of marketers (57%) agree that they need to innovate for competitive advantage in this space ( Kantar sustainable marketing 2030 ).

At the Kantar Outstanding Innovation Awards 2023 , we identified five characteristics in common in brands that achieved a competitive advantage through innovation: they are consumer-centric; they build their innovations from strong brand foundations; they shape the future of their category, and are typically ahead on sustainability. They do this by being brave and via testing and learning.

Innovation, particularly radical innovation, should and will be a strong trend in 2024 for brands who want to find the best path to incremental growth.

Nicki Morley

Download Marketing Trends 2024