Market Research Services Industry Profile

The US market research services industry includes about 6,000 companies with combined annual revenue of about $16 billion. Major companies include Forrester Research, The Gallup Organization, Gartner, Maritz Research, Millward Brown, and the US operations of Netherlands-based Nielsen. The industry is concentrated: the top 50 companies generate about 55 percent of industry revenue.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Demand is driven primarily by the health of the US economy and corporate profits. The profitability of individual companies depends on managing costs and maintaining a steady flow of work. Large companies have advantages in providing a variety of research and ancillary services to large customers, and in achieving economies of scale in marketing and computerized operations. Small companies can compete successfully by specializing in a research methodology or in emerging niche knowledge areas. The industry is labor-intensive: annual revenue per employee is about $140,000.

PRODUCTS, OPERATIONS & TECHNOLOGY

Major services are marketing research, which accounts for over 90 percent of industry revenue, and public opinion polling. Other services include media monitoring and analytic services. Many research firms specialize in 1) a discipline, such as customer satisfaction, human resources, or advertising tracking; 2) an industry segment, such as technology or pharmaceuticals; or 3) marketing services, such as focus groups, polling, or psychographics.

Most market research firms perform primary research – they gather and analyze original data. Primary research can either be custom for a particular client, or syndicated and sold to a number ...