{{Short description|Type of business activity}} {{see also|Market analysis}} {{marketing}}
'''Market research''' is an organized effort to gather information about target markets and customers. It involves understanding who they are and what they need.<ref name="MyResearchBway.NYT">{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/01/arts/01niel.html|title=Nielsen Brings a New Marketing Strategy to Broadway|author=Campbell Robertson|date=August 1, 2006|access-date=July 23, 2020|archive-date=July 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200724061652/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/01/arts/01niel.html|url-status=live}}</ref> It is an important component of business strategy<ref name="McQuarrie">{{cite book|last=McQuarrie|first=Edward|title=The market research toolbox: a concise guide for beginners|publisher=SAGE|year=2005|edition=2nd|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qYW8vE0nx4gC|isbn=978-1-4129-1319-5|access-date=November 16, 2020|archive-date=August 28, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220828064133/https://books.google.com/books?id=qYW8vE0nx4gC|url-status=live}}</ref> and a major factor in maintaining competitiveness. Market research helps identify and analyze market needs, market size and the competition. Its techniques encompass both qualitative techniques such as focus groups, in-depth interviews, and ethnography, as well as quantitative techniques such as customer surveys, and analysis of secondary data.
It includes social and opinion research, and is the systematic gathering and interpretation of information about individuals or organizations using statistical and analytical methods and techniques of the applied social sciences to gain insight or support decision making.<ref>{{cite book |year=2008 |title=International Code on Market and Social Research|publisher=ICC/ESOMAR Amsterdam, the Netherlands|edition=4 |url=http://www.esomar.org/uploads/pdf/professional-standards/ICCESOMAR_Code_English_.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180903185324/https://www.esomar.org/uploads/public/knowledge-and-standards/codes-and-guidelines/ESOMAR_ICC-ESOMAR_Code_English.pdf|archive-date=September 3, 2018 |url-status=dead|author-link1=International Chamber of Commerce |author-link2=ESOMAR |access-date=December 29, 2009}}</ref>
Market research, marketing research, and marketing are a sequence of business activities;<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.acq.osd.mil/dpap/Docs/cihandbooks.pdf|title=Commercial Item Handbook|quote=market research is a business operation|access-date=August 2, 2020|archive-date=October 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211006064312/https://www.acq.osd.mil/dpap/Docs/cihandbooks.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|website=Hearst Newspapers|url=https://smallbusiness.chron.com/formulated-marketing-36473.html|title=What Is Formulated Marketing?|quote=Marketing is a business process that ..|author=Alex Burke|date=17 December 2011 |access-date=August 2, 2020|archive-date=September 23, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200923023231/https://smallbusiness.chron.com/formulated-marketing-36473.html|url-status=live}}</ref> sometimes these are handled informally.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/02651339410072980/full/html|journal=International Marketing Review|volume=11|issue=6|doi=10.1108/02651339410072980|title=Export Marketing Research and the Effect of Export Experience in Industrial SMEs|quote=Size of firm seems to be related to the use of informal market research|author1=Susan J. Hart|author2=John R. Webb|author3=Marian V. Jones|year=1994|page=18|citeseerx=10.1.1.461.857|access-date=August 28, 2022|archive-date=August 28, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220828064133/https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/02651339410072980/full/html|url-status=live}}</ref>
The field of ''marketing research'' is much older than that of ''market research''.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1246952|title=Notes on the History of Marketing Research|journal=Journal of Marketing|last=Lockley|first=Lawrence C.|volume=14|number=5|year=1950|pages=733–736|doi=10.2307/1246952|jstor=1246952|access-date=July 23, 2020|archive-date=August 16, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200816183101/https://www.jstor.org/stable/1246952|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Although both involve consumers, Marketing research is concerned specifically about marketing processes, such as advertising effectiveness and salesforce effectiveness, while ''market research'' is concerned specifically with markets and distribution.<ref name="McDonald">{{cite book|last=McDonald|first=Malcolm|title=Marketing Plans|place=Oxford, England|publisher=Butterworth-Heinemann|year=2007|edition=6th|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=os0K20MsepoC|isbn=978-0-7506-8386-9|access-date=November 16, 2020|archive-date=August 28, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220828064134/https://books.google.com/books?id=os0K20MsepoC|url-status=live}}</ref> Two explanations given for confusing ''Market research'' with ''Marketing research'' are the similarity of the terms and also that ''Market Research is a subset of Marketing Research''.<ref name=MaResearch.SubSlideShare>{{cite web|url=https://www.slideshare.net/eminenture/market-research-38765720|title=Market Research END-TO-END Benefits|quote=Because Market Research is a subset of Marketing Research, it is easy to see why the two terms are often confused.|date=September 6, 2014|access-date=July 23, 2020|archive-date=August 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210821113847/https://www.slideshare.net/eminenture/market-research-38765720|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://marketing-insider.eu/difference-between-market-research-and-marketing-research|last=Claessens|first=Maximilian|title=Difference between Market Research and Marketing Research|date=January 9, 2018|access-date=July 23, 2020|archive-date=July 22, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200722223859/https://marketing-insider.eu/difference-between-market-research-and-marketing-research/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=MarKReSub>{{cite web|url=https://www.qualtrics.com/blog/market-research-v-marketing-research|title=Difference Between Market & Marketing Research|quote=Market Research is a subset of Marketing Research|date=September 24, 2019|access-date=July 23, 2020|archive-date=July 23, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200723132030/https://www.qualtrics.com/blog/market-research-v-marketing-research/|url-status=live}}</ref> Further confusion exists because of major companies with expertise and practices in both areas.<ref name=MaResearchCensus.both>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/eos/www/napcs/finalized/web_54191_final_reformatted_edited_US082208.pdf|title=NAPCS Product List for NAICS 54191: Marketing Research|publisher=United States Census|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 17, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120617133438/https://www.census.gov/eos/www/napcs/finalized/web_54191_final_reformatted_edited_US082208.pdf|quote=data collection services for marketing research and public opinion surveys, by methods other than ... data collection services provided as part of a market research services package that includes}}</ref>
== History == Although ''market research'' started to be conceptualized and put into formal practice during the 1930s as an offshoot of the advertising boom of the Golden Age of radio in the United States, this was based on 1920s work by Daniel Starch. Starch "developed a theory that advertising had to be seen, read, believed, remembered, and most importantly, acted upon, in order to be considered effective."<ref name="MaResearch.BriefHIST">{{cite web|url=https://www.keltonglobal.com/perspectives/a-brief-history-of-market-research|title=A Brief History of Market Research|author=Kuba Kierlanczyk|publisher=Kelton Global|date=February 4, 2016|access-date=July 23, 2020|archive-date=July 23, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200723163833/https://www.keltonglobal.com/perspectives/a-brief-history-of-market-research/|url-status=live}}</ref> Advertisers realized the significance of demographics by the patterns in which they sponsored different radio programs.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}
The Gallup Organization helped invent the public opinion poll; today, "Market research is a way of paying for it."<ref name=MaResearchGallop.NYT>{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/03/06/us/gallup-shifts-emphasis-toward-market-studies.html|title=Gallup Shifts Emphasis Toward Market Studies|author=Lisa Belkin|date=March 6, 1990|access-date=July 24, 2020|archive-date=July 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200724064337/https://www.nytimes.com/1990/03/06/us/gallup-shifts-emphasis-toward-market-studies.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
In the 1940's the first idea for qualitative research was born through the work of Paul Lazarsfeld and his Focus interviews in an effort to test reactions to anti-Nazi radio broadcasts on behalf of the Office of War Information.{{cn|date=May 2026}}
Ernest Dichter was the first in the 1950s to coin was is today viewed as motivational consumer research to uncover deep-underlying product values through in-depth consumer interviews.{{cn|date=May 2026}}
In the 1960's Predictive statistical techniques were born through the work of Marketing Professor Paul Green who invented conjoint analysis.{{cn|date=May 2026}}
In 1974, Jerry Yoram Wind launched the two-step market segmentation model, based on macro-and micro-segmentation, which is still routinely used today.{{cn|date=May 2026}}
The Dot.com boom of the 90's changed the market research methods and approaches substantially, with online surveys bypassing face-to-face interviews and phone-interviews as the dominant methodology.<ref>{{Cite web |title=how-has-market-research-been-disrupted |url=https://informaconnect.com/how-has-market-research-been-disrupted/}}</ref> The subsequent web analytics and e-Commerce era allowed businesses to begin tracking consumer behavior and transactions online.
== Industry Size and growth perspective == Today, the global market research industry generates $150 billion (revenue by the end of 2025), with a projected annual growth of around 8.4%. The leading revenue-generating Markets are the US with $48 billion in market research turnover, the UK with $9.1 billion and China with $2.88 billion.<ref>{{Cite web |title=market research industry size |url=https://www.statista.com/topics/1293/market-research/#statisticChapter}}</ref>
== Data collection == {{Main|Data collection}}
"Rigorous sampling methodologies combined with high-quality data collection" is what the magazine ''Advertising Age'' considers the backbone of market research.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Advertising Age Encyclopedia of Advertising|author1=John McDonough |author2=Karen Egolf |year=2015}}</ref> Data collection can be done by observing customer behavior through in-situ studies or by processing e.g. log files, by interviewing customers, potential customers, stakeholders, or a sample of the general population. The data can be quantitative in nature (counting sales, clicks, eye-tracking) or qualitative (surveys, questionnaires, interviews, feedback). Aggregating, visualizing, and turning data into actionable insights is one of the major challenges of market research and today, text analytics affords market researches methods to process large amounts of qualitative information and turn it into quantitative data, which is easier to visualize and use for formalized decision making.<ref name="openanswers">{{cite book |last1=Espinoza |first1=Fredrik |last2=Hamfors |first2=Ola |last3=Karlgren |first3=Jussi |last4=Olsson |first4=Fredrik |last5=Hamberg |first5=Lars |last6=Sahlgren |first6=Magnus |title=Proceedings of the 2018 Conference on Human Information Interaction&Retrieval - CHIIR '18 |chapter=Analysis of Open Answers to Survey Questions through Interactive Clustering and Theme Extraction |author-link3=Jussi Karlgren |author-link6=Magnus Sahlgren |date=2018 |pages=317–320 |chapter-url=http://kth.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A1185949&dswid=-9597 |doi=10.1145/3176349.3176892 |isbn=9781450349253 |s2cid=3619476 |url=https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-223645 |access-date=February 21, 2022 |archive-date=August 28, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220828065639/http://kth.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2:1185949&dswid=-9597 |url-status=live }}</ref>
Data collection can use larger audience samples than the few hundred or thousand typically used in market research.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://marketcast.com/when-data-science-and-traditional-market-research-collide/|title=When Data Science and Traditional Market Research Collide|publisher=MarketCast|date=November 24, 2020|access-date=August 28, 2022|archive-date=December 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211204125333/https://marketcast.com/when-data-science-and-traditional-market-research-collide/|url-status=live}}</ref> Also required is the (at least passive)<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/02/sunday-review/data-protection-privacy.html|quote=because Congress has never established an agency to|title=The Government Protects Our Food and Cars. Why Not Our Data?|author=Natasha Singer|date=November 2, 2019|access-date=July 26, 2020|archive-date=July 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726104845/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/02/sunday-review/data-protection-privacy.html|url-status=live}}</ref> cooperation of those being surveyed;<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/08/23/business/media-business-advertising-latest-market-research-videogenic-self-analyzing.html|title=The latest in market research: videogenic self-analyzing shoppers.|author=Stuart Elliott|date=August 23, 1993|access-date=July 26, 2020|archive-date=July 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726062824/https://www.nytimes.com/1993/08/23/business/media-business-advertising-latest-market-research-videogenic-self-analyzing.html|url-status=live}}</ref> trust<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/21/technology/us-china-technology.html|quote=it’s hard to know when to believe them.|title=Beware the 'But China' Excuses|author=Shira Ovide|date=July 21, 2020|access-date=July 26, 2020|archive-date=July 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726075034/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/21/technology/us-china-technology.html|url-status=live}}</ref> is also helpful.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/19/opinion/facebook-regulation-incentive.html|quote=prioritized data collection over user protection and regulatory compliance|title=We Can't Trust Facebook to Regulate Itself|author=Sandy Parakilas|date=November 19, 2017|access-date=July 26, 2020|archive-date=August 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200811110858/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/19/opinion/facebook-regulation-incentive.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Translation is an essential comprehension tool for global consumers and is not a simple act of replacing words in one language with words in another.<ref name=":0" />
Some data collection is incentivized: a simple form is when those on the road contribute to traffic reporting of which they are consumers. More complex is the relationship of consumer-to-business (C2B), which sometimes introduces reliability problems.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/28/business/online-reviews-fake.html|quote=Customer reviews are incredibly important in e-commerce, but they can be unreliable or downright dishonest.|title=When Is a Star Not Always a Star? When It's an Online Review|author=Sapna Maheshwari|date=November 28, 2019|access-date=July 26, 2020|archive-date=July 17, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200717014019/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/28/business/online-reviews-fake.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Other data collection is to know more about the market,<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/04/02/technology/uber-drivers-psychological-tricks.html|quote=Faster pickup times mean more idle drivers ... armies of underemployed people looking for extra hours|title=How Uber Uses Psychological Tricks to Push Its Drivers' Buttons|date=April 2, 2017|access-date=July 26, 2020|archive-date=August 9, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809224305/https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/04/02/technology/uber-drivers-psychological-tricks.html|url-status=live}}</ref> which is the purpose of market research.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/19/technology/amazon-sellers.html|title=Prime Power: How Amazon Squeezes the Businesses Behind Its Store|author=Karen Weise|date=December 19, 2019|access-date=July 26, 2020|archive-date=December 19, 2019|archive-url=https://archive.today/20191219195205/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/19/technology/amazon-sellers.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
== Market research methods and approaches == Market Research generally breaks down into '''8 core specializations''' <ref>{{Cite web |title=what is market research |url=https://www.hanoverresearch.com/insights-blog/corporate/what-is-market-research/}}</ref>, subdivided into quantitative and qualitative methods to help drive strategic decision-making:
# '''Consumer research''' explores behaviours, motivations, pain points and consumption habits. They are traditionally covered through qualitative methods such as in-depth-interviews, focus groups or ethnographic observations or quantitative methods such as survey, A/B-testing or coinjoint analysis.<ref>{{Cite book |last=L. Stephens |first=Debra |title=Essentials of Consumer Behavior - An Applied Approach}}</ref> # '''Market segmentation''' divides broad markets into subset of consumers that share similar characteristics, such as demographics, psychographics, locations. It allows to personalized marketing campaigns and do precise audience targeting.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Weinstein |first=Art |title=Market Segmentation}}</ref> # '''Competitor research''' investigates the strengths, weaknesses, strategies and positioning of main competitors. It helps identify blue oceans and finesse positioning and USP.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hague |first=Paul |title=Market Research in Practice}}</ref> # '''Product research''', such as product, concept or pack-testing, to ensure that the planned products meets consumer's needs and functionalities. # '''Brand research''', such as large and ongoing Brand equity trackers help measure Brand perception, awarness and recall (aided or unaided) <ref>{{Cite book |last=Kall |first=Jacek |title=Brand Metrics - Measuring Brand Efficacy along the Customer Journey}}</ref> # '''Pricing Research''' methods help evaluate price elasticity, willingness of the consumer to pay more and ideal price points versus competitive product. It is used to maximize business gains while still maintaining consumer satisfaction.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Paczkowski |first=Walter R. |title=Pricing Analytics: Models and Advanced Quantitative Techniques for Product Pricing}}</ref> # Advertising research is used to test Campaign copy, visual and messaging prior to launch a campaign <ref>{{Cite web |title=Journal of advertising research |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-advertising-research}}</ref> # Customer satisfaction/ experience research interrogates customers on their experience, loyalty and future purchase intent with the aim to identify areas for upselling and increase retention. The NPS score is a widely used metric.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Prior |first=Daniel D. |title=Customer Relationship Management: Concepts, Applications and Technologies}}</ref>
== The Impact of AI on the Market Research industry ==
Artificial intelligence and machine learning are fundamentally shifting the industry from slow, manual process data-processing and reactive reporting to real-time, deeper insights, faster analysis and more accurate predictions. According to Dr Alka Singh Bhatt ''"Artificial Intelligence in Marketing is a rapidly emerging field that is transforming the way businesses approach their marketing strategies. With the explosion of data and the increasing complexity of customer behavior, businesses need to leverage these tools to stay competitive"''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Singh Bhatt |first=Dr Alka |title=Impact of Artificial Intelligence in Market Research |publisher=International Journal of Business and Management Invention (IJBMI) ISSN (Online): 2319 – 8028, ISSN (Print): 2319 – 801X}}</ref>. The University of Leeds has stated that Artificial Intelligence can improve business efficiency by reducing costs by 30% by 2035 and that AI-powered chatbots cut response times by 60% and customer service costs by 50%.
AI (artificial intelligence) and ML (Machine Learning) have the ability to process the 2.5 quintillion bytes of data produced daily <ref>{{Cite web |title=AI and Machine Learning: Revolutionising Data Collection and Analysis |url=https://researchworld.com/articles/the-future-of-market-research-how-ai-and-machine-learning-are-shaping-the-industry}}</ref> analysing it 100 times faster than traditional methods with a precision that would be impossible with traditional research methods.
Experts warn that data quality needs to be prioritized and that AI should never be a replacement but an additional layer on top of a rigorous survey-design.<ref>{{Cite web |title=AI Won’t Replace Research. It Will Elevate The Good, Expose The Bad |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/willjohnson/2026/02/20/ai-wont-replace-research-it-will-elevate-the-good-expose-the-bad/?ctpv=searchpage}}</ref>
'''Different use cases for ML and AI in market research:'''
* ML algorithm can analyse historical data to '''forecast sales, anticipate market trends and understand evolving consumer preferences'''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=sales forecasting |url=https://www.oracle.com/scm/ai-demand-forecasting/}}</ref>
* Advanced sentiment analysis use natural language processing (NLP) techniques to understand the '''feeling, tone, and emotion of online conversations.''' '''<ref>{{Cite web |title=advanced sentiment analysis |url=https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8402961/}}</ref>'''
* Data-science powered capabilities like '''image analysis''', '''scene recognition''', and '''logo detection''' provide critical context about visual content.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Power of Data Science: Revolutionizing Image Recognition |url=https://iabac.org/blog/the-power-of-data-science-revolutionizing-image-recognition}}</ref> * Digital Twins or synthetic audiences simulate real respondents to help predict how they would react to a specific concept, price or campaign.
==Research and market sectors== Regarding details for worldwide corporate market research, "most of them are never written about because they are the consumer research done by the country's manufacturers."<ref name=MaResearchUnpublished.NYT>{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/11/16/archives/market-research-is-now-a-national-pastime.html|title=Market Research Is Now a National Pastime|author=Philip H. Dougherty|date=November 16, 1975|access-date=July 23, 2020|archive-date=July 23, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200723150811/https://www.nytimes.com/1975/11/16/archives/market-research-is-now-a-national-pastime.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Also less written about is tailored translation approaches based on the expertise or resources available in the local country.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Sha |first1=Mandy |last2=Lai |first2=Jennie |date=April 7, 2016 |title=A case study of improving and evaluating consumer survey translation |url=https://www.trans-int.org/index.php/transint/article/view/438 |journal=Translation & Interpreting |language=en |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=86–100 |doi=10.12807/ti.108201.2016.a06 |issn=1836-9324 |doi-access=free}}</ref> To mitigate implicit and unconscious bias in market research design, researchers have suggested conducting bias testing via interviewer-moderated technology-aided, unmoderated methods.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last1=Geisen |first1=Emily |url=https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CRGN8RNT |title=Bias testing in market research: A framework to enable inclusive research design |last2=Sha |first2=Mandy |last3=Roper |first3=Farren |year=2024 |isbn=979-8862902785 |publication-date=January 3, 2024}}</ref>
Market research data has loss prevention aspects; that less than 60 percent of all proposed modifications and new products are deemed failures.<ref name=MaResearchUnpublished.NYT/> When information about the market is difficult to acquire, and the cost of "going ahead with the decision" to offer the product or service is affordable, the research cost may be more profitably used "to ensure that the new line got the advertising send-off it needed to have the best chances of succeeding."<ref name=MaResearchCostCon.HBR>{{cite magazine|magazine=Harvard Business Review|url=https://hbr.org/1983/07/cost-conscious-marketing-research|title=Cost-Conscious Marketing Research|author=Alan R. Andreasen |date=July 1983}}</ref>
===Market research for the film industry=== The film industry is an example where the importance of testing film content and marketing material involves: # Concept testing, which evaluates reactions to a film idea and is fairly rare; # Positioning studios, which analyze a script for marketing opportunities; # Focus groups, which probe viewers' opinions about a film in small groups prior to release; # Test screenings, which involve the previewing of films prior to theatrical release; # Tracking studies, which gauge (often by telephone polling) an audience's awareness of a film on a weekly basis prior to and during theatrical release; # Advertising testing, which measures responses to marketing materials such as trailers and television advertisements; # Exit surveys, that measure audience reactions after seeing the film in the cinema.<ref>{{cite book |last=Drake |first=Philip |title=Distribution and Marketing in Contemporary Hollywood |year=2008 |publisher=Blackwell Publishing |location=Malden, MA |isbn=978-1-4051-3388-3 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/contemporaryholl0000unse/page/63 63–82] |editor=McDonald & Wasko |url=https://archive.org/details/contemporaryholl0000unse/page/63 }}</ref>
==Insights industry== Market research is an industry that overlaps with and is often referred to as the "insights" industry.<ref name="sagepub">{{Cite journal|url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/14707853211039191|title=The Insights Industry: Towards a Performativity Turn in Market Research|first=Carlos A.|last=Diaz Ruiz|date=March 20, 2022|journal=International Journal of Market Research|volume=64|issue=2|pages=169–186|doi=10.1177/14707853211039191|s2cid=238711288|access-date=June 20, 2022|archive-date=June 20, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220620064504/https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/14707853211039191|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref> However, the distinctive methods and techniques of market research not always correspond to the digital-first approach of insights vendors. The emergence of insights focusing on data analytics rather than fieldwork is competing with market research for managerial attention and funding. Current research with market research practitioners shows two pressing concerns for the industry: online data commoditization and the increasing distance between market researchers and top management within client organizations. Both concerns boil down to the risk they perceived of market research becoming a legacy activity of the marketing department rather than the cornerstone of business strategy.<ref name="sagepub"/>
Market research aims to produce so-called "actionable knowledge" that firms find useful in their operations:<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Diaz Ruiz |first1=Carlos |last2=Holmlund |first2=Maria |title=Actionable marketing knowledge: A close reading of representation, knowledge and action in market research |journal=Industrial Marketing Management |date=October 2017 |volume=66 |pages=172–180 |doi=10.1016/j.indmarman.2017.08.005 }}</ref> # Framing managerial anomalies: an anomaly is a puzzle or a perplexing situation that the market research report is meant to solve. # Loading instruments with meanings: translate observations of commonplace social practices into the marketing ontology. # Signposting prescriptions: guide an intended reading to reduce interpretive flexibility.
== Academic journals == * International Journal of Market Research * Qualitative Market Research * Marketing Theory
== See also == * ESOMAR - European Society for Opinion and Marketing Research * [https://www.quirks.com/ Quirks media] * Marketing Research Institute International * [https://wearewire.org/ Women in Research] * Insights Association * Mystery shopping * Nielsen ratings
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == {{Commons category}} * Small Business Administration: [https://www.sba.gov/business-guide/plan-your-business/market-research-competitive-analysis Market research and competitive analysis]
{{Social surveys}} {{Media manipulation}} {{Include-SBA}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Market research Category:Business processes
zh:市場調查 Category:Marketing Category:Analytical standards