The Research Industry Trends Qualitative Research Report was recently released and it is worth a thorough read. The report is a summary of learnings from 6 focus groups conducted among research buyers (3) and research providers (3).

The report is a follow-on from the useful survey data it collects. I’ve written about this survey in the past here.

Highlights from the qualitative report:

1. Guarded optimism about the future. But, one concern raised in the vendor groups was a tendency to find smaller projects even as the project pipeline begins to stabilize and grow.
2. Tracking programs are less vulnerable to cutting in a downturn. But, those vendors relying mostly on ad hoc project pipeline struggled the most.
3. The commoditization, gravitas issues remain.
4. Moving from “research” to “insights”. The recession seems to have clarified industry thinking on this issue and driven providers to thinking more deeply about innovating and moving up the value chain.
5. Specialization. There is a sense that strong sector, niche, audience specialization will help even small firms survive and thrive.
6. Convergence. As one participant noted “From an industry perspective, in ten years I expect that maybe there’s less separation between market research firms and other marketing agencies.” And, more closely to my opinion, one participant stated that “We’re probably going to see consulting companies and analytics companies merging with research companies. And I think you’re going to see something that is much broader today than it used to be.” On this point I see a triangulation of market research, consulting firms and strategic foresight.
6. MROCs. This is no surprise, but the trend toward MROCs continues.

For a full read of the report, click here.