According to a poll from YouGov on December 2—
64% of adults surveyed said the next decade began on January 1, 2020
17% agreed with most experts who believe that January 1, 2021, will start the next decade
19% are unsure when the next decade begins
Whether you side with Team 0, Team 1, or fall into the undecided category, there’s no denying 2020 finds us living in a time of unprecedented technological advancement. What will the next decade of innovation mean for market research? What trends will emerge in methodologies? What factors will shape this growing industry?
Consider these five predicted game-changers for 2020 and beyond.

Mobile or bust

Considering an estimated 30-50% of surveys are being completed on mobile devices, survey programs and software will have to make peace with mobile compatibility. Period. Folks are over sites that don’t resize, fonts that are too big, and all the other issues that scream mobile non-compatibility and elevate the consumers’ frustration levels.

Insights Democratization + Research Automation

“The demand for data delivery straight into the laptops of high-level decision-makers will continue to rise, and with that, increased demand for automated research,” suggests Fuel Cycle. “Instead of spending precious resources on designing and conducting one-off research studies, market researchers will need to reallocate their time and energy to deciphering the data and posing actionable insights into leadership. The new challenge for market researchers will be to sharpen points of exploration in a way so that the resulting insights can carry a decision-maker from the data to the decision with greater clarity and confidence.”

Think greater speed and efficiency with less expended time and effort.

NPS will evolve into RAP

Sure, folks say they would/will 100% recommend a company, a service, a product. Awesome. But the not knowing if they follow through on that promise, well, that’s not so awesome. Rather than measure intention as the NPS (Net Promoter Score) does, the new Forbes-developed term RAP (Referrals and Purchases) will track whether people follow through with promoting to family and friends.

Gen Z influence will continue to grow

The market is ever-changing, pushing aside old-school methods of gathering market research in favor of new techniques, processes, and trends.
“This shift is partly influenced by the behavior and the habits of new generations. Just a few years ago, brands and businesses were focusing their attention mainly on the Millennials. However, Gen Z’s purchasing power is increasing,” notes True Public.
Who is Gen Z?
born roughly from 1995 to 2010
hard core true digital natives
who value individual expression, avoid labels, and champion causes
who are on a mission to better the world
and approach everything from an analytical mindset

In addition to grasping all the above, what market research cannot afford to ignore is the substantial influence Gen Zers have on people of all ages and income levels. That and the very real challenge to reach this mega demographic in ways that will garner their participation in survey data should keep the midnight oil burning.

“Millennials and Gen Z are currently flooding the market with trillions of dollars in spending power, and it’s just the right time for brands to start digging deep into the driving factors of Gen Z behavior in particular,” surmises True Public.

The Research Rule of Thirds

From Leonard Murphy’s compilation of top insights and analytic predictions for 2020, where a senior client-side researcher in financial services shared:
“I predict this year will be a year of big changes. As researchers, we will be compressing research turn-around times from 3 months to 3 weeks and 3 weeks to 3 days. This will happen by making changes in vendor line ups, methodologies, and (by) providing one-page key findings 24 hours out of the field. Companies will lower the threshold for accuracy and make less important decisions faster.”
With our collective fingers on the pulse of market research, analytics, and data engineering, RomAnalytics is poised to zero in on our clients’ staffing needs and hiring requirements. Our deep, vast pool of individual candidates who specialize in these areas allows us to make quicker, more precise job placements. Let our team of staffing specialists do the heavy lifting, so you can focus on managing the business.