This article is extracted from the 2020 Global Market Research report, where you can find detailed information on the insights industry for the world’s countries. Considered a must-have in the professional’s toolbox, this year’s edition of the Global Market Research report explores a more complete picture of the insights industry beyond the established market research and includes the tech-enabled side of data and analytics. Get the full report here (free to ESOMAR members)
Finding a way to map the industry
It was mentioned in the 2019 Global Market Research report that the purpose of our industry is ultimately, to analyse data in order to deliver insights and support/assist decision-making. This definition, however, does not “define” the boundaries of our sector as well as it could, given that the insights industry remains an ever-evolving creature subject to permanent scrutiny.
Back when the industry was still perceived as a stable activity with set players and, therefore, was clearly defined, ESOMAR embarked on a quest to assess the size of an emerging set of companies that appeared to, unknowingly, exhibit an overlapping purpose – that of analysing data in order to facilitate the extraction of insights. Now that this technology-enabled industry has grown up to represent a multibillion-dollar titan, it is time to reconsider whether those segments initially reported on remained valid, and whether new emerging sub-sectors should be added to the classification.
The resulting exercise concluded that the technology-enabled industry, for now, could be summarised in seven segments, one of which is entirely new: enterprise feedback monitoring. In order of their magnitude, these segments are: Digital Data Analytics, Vertical Reports and Research, Consulting Firms, Social Listening and Communities, Enterprise Feedback Monitoring, DIY Research Platforms, and Sample Panel Providers (considered part of the established industry).
These segments sit alongside an eighth one, the largest of all, which completes the picture and rounds the circle of the insights industry: Established Research (also referred to as the full-service agencies).
Estimating the total revenue of the global insights industry
For more than 30 years, ESOMAR has been undertaking the yearly exercise of mapping the market research industry by asking its global network of associations, representatives and market experts on the size and characteristics of the industry. 32 years on, global coverage has been successfully accomplished – for the most part – and now we can confidently present the size and characteristics of the industry for each country. There is one caveat, though.
While some of the luckiest countries count with a national association that follows up on the evolution of the domestic market and carries out yearly national surveys, some countries may only cover a subsegment of the industry. More importantly, while some countries can remain at the leading edge of the developments within the industry, others are not able, for multiple reasons, to provide an equivalently advanced and evolving measure
So, even though many countries do include the technology-enabled industry in their estimates, the Global Market Research report opts for identifying this partial result from all of them, and removing it, when performing the calculations for regional and global turnovers.
As presented in table 1, the level of turnover dedicated to established research was valued at US$ 42.5 billion, while that of technology-enabled methodologies as reported by the countries was, globally, US$ 31.1 billion.
Knowing that the turnover of the tech-enabled industry is an incomplete measure, the only step left is estimating the global turnover for the technology-enabled industry, a task ESOMAR has been carrying out for over a decade. Thanks to this information, we can now claim that the estimated global turnover for the technology-enabled industry in 2019 was US$ 47.4 billion, and can identify the “unreported” turnover that exists in each region.
The resulting global turnover for the Insights industry, is US$ 89.9 billion.
Table 1.
| Region | Total Turnover 2019 | Established Research | Tech-enabled (as reported by the countries) |
Tech-enabled (estimated by ESOMAR, unreported) |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US$bn | % | US$bn | % | US$bn | % | US$bn | |
| Europe | 23.8 | 46 | 13.0 | 12 | 2.8 | 42 | 8.0 |
| North America | 48.3 | 42 | 20.7 | 57 | 27.7 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Asia Pacific | 13.1 | 52 | 7.0 | 4 | 0.5 | 44 | 5.6 |
| Latin America | 2.0 | 42 | 1.0 | 20 | 0.4 | 38 | 0.6 |
| Africa / M. East | 2.7 | 29 | 0.8 | 4 | 0.1 | 67 | 1.8 |
| Total | 89.9 | 47 | 42.5 | 35 | 31.1 | 18 | 16.3 |
Source: ESOMAR’s Global Market Research 2020
The largest segments
Table 2 shows the estimated growth of the Insights industry and its components, displaying an overall healthy pace of around +8.0% (although, as mentioned in the table footer, caution is required when drawing conclusions from this growth rate). However, neither all segments grew at the same rate, and nor did they all surpass 2019’s global GDP growth rate of +2.9%.
Table 2.
| (in US$ billion) | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2018/19 Growth (%) |
Share of the total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Established Research | 39.7 | 40.7 | 42.5* | 4.3% | 47.3% |
| (Sample Panel Providers) | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 2.2% | 1.3% |
| Digital Data Analytics | 12.4 | 13.4 | 15.5 | 15.5% | 17.2% |
| Vertical Reports and Research | 11.0 | 12.4 | 13.4 | 7.7% | 14.9% |
| Consulting Firms | 9.0 | 9.6 | 10.4 | 8.3% | 11.6% |
| Social Listening and Communities | 4.1 | 4.6 | 5.3 | 15.5% | 5.9% |
| Enterprise Feedback Monitoring | 1.1 | 1.3 | 1.6 | 23.1% | 1.7% |
| DIY Research Platforms | 1.0 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 3.7% | 1.4% |
| Technology-enabled Research | 38.6 | 42.5 | 47.4 | 11.5% | 52.7% |
| Total | 78.3 | 83.3 | 89.9 | 8.0% | – |
*The estimated turnover for established research in 2019 includes as well the one dedicated to reporting. The reason for this is that, until this year, no clear attempt was made at extracting this data, so global established turnover for 2017 and 2018, in fact, included it as well. However, given the change in methodology presented in the current report, it should be noted that the estimated growth for 2018/19 is not a like-for-like comparison and so, caution is required when interpreting the results.
Source: ESOMAR’s Global Market Research 2020
Digital Data Analytics remains the largest segment of the technology-enabled industry and is as well, with +15.5%, one of the fastest-growing sub-sectors. Its lead from the second largest segment, Vertical Reports and Research, though narrow, is assured in the near future judging from its growth rate.
On the opposite side, and struggling to yield substantial growth, are the Sample Panel Provider companies, a segment which already reported negative growth in 2018, and that has not managed to completely reverse the trend to drop its title of slowest-growing segment.
Lastly, the fastest growing segment is the newest addition to the global estimation of the industry, Enterprise Feedback Monitoring, with a positive growth rate of +23%. This segment is led by companies such as Medallia, Verint Systems, MaritzCX, Clarabridge Analytics or Fuel Cycle. While still one of the smallest segments, this promising performance will surely invite investors to remain attentive to its next moves.
The insights industry has turned into a complex and exciting landscape of constantly evolving trends. This becomes very apparent when looking at the companies that make it up. For a complete view on the 25 largest companies globally, you can read Research World’s article ESOMAR’s Global Top-25 companies. The ranking does not only present the company´s turnover dedicated to the well-known business of analysing data in order to bring insights, but also explains to which of the segments it belongs.
