Although market research buyers’ and suppliers’ optimism about the industry remains steady despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the latest GRIT report [access page] shows that the research industry is not expected to emerge from the pandemic unscathed. Indeed, the number of suppliers who are very optimistic about their company has dropped significantly since the pandemic hit.
Not only that, but the topics that were once prominent prior to the pandemic – such as AI, automation and insight research, which were also desired areas of research last year – have decreased in importance since the pandemic. Instead, topics and terms such as coronavirus, ethnography and data analysis have increased in prominence.
In order to find out which market research suppliers are the most innovative this year, respondents were asked to list up to 5 companies that they consider the most innovative, and to choose the top company overall. They were then asked to choose one of 5 categories to describe these firms: data and analytics provider; full and/or field service agency; qualitative research provider; strategic consultancy; or technology provider.
Below are the top 10 firms, ranked by the number of mentions in the interviews, along with breakouts for particular areas.
[Editor’s Note: If you’re looking for market research services for the marketing industry, or to broaden your own awareness as a market research provider, do get in touch with us. We’d be happy to help!]
Top 10 Most Innovative Market Research Suppliers
PRS IN VIVO and Dig Insights are the new entrants to the top 10 overall, with the other firms having swapped places in the table. The top 10 overall (with 2019’s rank in brackets) are listed as:
- Ipsos (no change from 2019)
- LRW (up from #4)
- Hotspex (up from #6)
- PRS IN VIVO (up from #14)
- Kantar (down from #2)
- Zappi (down from #5)
- Qualtrics (up from #8)
- Nielsen (down from #3)
- Dynata (no change)
- Dig Insights (up from #19)
Most Innovative Market Research Suppliers, By Category
Data and Analytics
The top 5 providers are:
- Nielsen (no change from 2019)
- Dynata (up from #3)
- Ipsos (up from #5)
- Hotspex (up from #10)
- Kantar (down from #2)
Full and/or Field Service
The top 5 providers are:
- Ipsos (no change from 2019)
- Kantar (no change)
- PRS IN VIVO (up from#9)
- Hotspex (no change)
- Dynata (up from #8)
Qualitative Research
The top 5 providers are:
- Voxpopme (up from #7 in 2019)
- Shapiro & Raj (up from #12)
- PRS IN VIVO (up from #17)
- Hotspex (down from #3)
- Ipsos (down from #1)
Strategic Consultancy
The top 5 providers are:
- LRW (no change from 2019)
- Hotspex (no change)
- PRS IN VIVO (up from #10)
- Ipsos (up from #6)
- Dig Insights (up from #11)
Technology Provider
The top 5 providers are:
- Zappi (no change from 2019)
- Qualtrics (no change)
- Voxpopme (no change)
- Cint (up from #30)
- Methodify (new to the list)
The full report can be accessed here.
About the Data: Rankings are based on 2,098 completed interviews with insights buyers or clients (24% share) and insights providers or suppliers (76% share).
