20 Top Market Research Companies (2024)

Self-serve market research tools are helpful when you need answers fast. But a market research company can be a great asset when you want data on a more personalized or granular level.

The data collected by a top market research firm can help you optimize your product marketing, communications strategy, customer experience, online user experience, and more.

From completely bespoke services to expert reporting on the topics that matter most to your audience, these are 20 of the best consumer and business-to-business market research companies.

1. Ipsos

Ipsos is a market research company that connects businesses with online communities.

When you work with Ipsos, you'll be matched with a community of people that share traits with your ideal customers. These similarities help you figure out what your ideal customer or user may respond well to.

Ipsos’ wide range of services covers multiple industries, including retail, healthcare, transportation, politics, and automotive.

With Ipsos, you can do things such as:

• Assemble custom panels of consumers
• Record interviews and mystery shopper journeys that document retail experiences
• View reports about key consumer insights and demographics
• Run brand, packaging, and product testing
• Conduct message testing for public affairs projects
• Develop studies measuring the quality of healthcare and patient satisfaction
• Engage in public opinion polling

You can also work with an Ipsos strategist to get further insights about your market.

Ipsos recruits its panel and community members through a variety of advertising channels, and participants aren’t paid for their involvement. Instead, members receive points they can later redeem for prizes.

Because Ipsos services are so customizable, you’ll need to get in touch with the Ipsos team to discuss your needs and receive a price quote.

2. Edelman DXI

Edelman Data & Intelligence (DXI) provides its customers with insights related to their target markets, customer behaviors, and broader economic trends.

The company is part of the Edelman global communications firm. By working with their DXI unit, you can get help with:

• Social listening and analysis
• Competitive market analysis
• Content auditing
• Paid media planning
• Risk forecasting
• Workforce analytics

Edelman DXI has offices throughout the world, so they can provide insights across a wide variety of global markets and audiences.

Because Edelman DXI services will be unique to each client, you’ll need to get in touch with the company to learn more about how much it will cost to become a client.

3. Exploding Topics

Exploding Topics is an alternative to traditional market research firms.

Rather than relying on a small panel sample or audience group selected by a firm, you can glean insights from what might be the world’s largest repository of consumer wants, needs, and insights: the internet.

First, we use artificial intelligence (AI) to listen to conversations happening across:

• Websites
• Blogs
• News outlets
• Forums
• Social networks
• Podcasts

Next, our data analysis experts use this information to help identify the top market trends, topics, brands, and technologies that interest consumers and businesses today.

We enter these findings into our searchable database—and use it as the basis for insightful, actionable reports that break down the top trends you need to know about right now.

Our data stretches back 15 years and covers over 40 industries. Plus, it’s updated every day—so you always have fresh insights to work with.

Whether you rely on our reports or prefer to search the database yourself, you can use Exploding Topics data to support your:

• Entry into new markets
• Product development
• New marketing strategies
• Startup investing
• Competitor acquisition
• New business formation

You can access some of our trend data and reports for free right now. For complete access to every Exploding Topics data point and report—including our Meta Trends feature that shows how trends intersect—you’ll need a paid Exploding Topics Pro plan.

It’s just $1 for the first two weeks of your Exploding Topics Pro membership, and as little as $39 per month (billed annually) after that.

4. Gartner

Gartner’s market research services overlap with those offered by Ipsos, but cover a few additional industries including education, energy, and finance.

As a Gartner customer, you can:

• Review prepared reports
• Engage in personalized consulting services
• Attend industry events

The data gleaned from these reports and activities can help your company enhance its internal business operations as well as improve consumer-facing products or campaigns. Gartner’s information can be useful for:

• Understanding how to best position your brand
• Improving project strategy development and decisions
• Estimating tech lifecycles and improving corporate purchasing
• Evaluating your top market competitors
• Developing a more sustainable business strategy
• Determining how AI may impact your business
• Preparing for economic changes
• Improving your company’s market share

Some of Gartner’s reports are available for free on their website, so you can get a taste of what the company offers. If it seems like the right fit for your needs, you’ll need to get in touch with the Gartner team to get a price quote.

5. IMS Marketing

IMS is a full-service marketing agency—but they offer a market research arm to help B2B clients better understand how to position their brand and products.

Their customized services can help with:

• Understanding customer feedback
• Testing the feasibility of a new product or market
• Analyzing the competitor landscape
• Creating market segments
• Researching new audience groups
• Identifying and improving brand perception
• Pinpointing gaps in existing or prior research attempts

IMS Marketing is like Edelman DXI in that its services are entirely bespoke—the company doesn’t offer prepared reports like Gartner or Exploding Topics.

You can only become an IMS client after meeting with the company and allowing them to get a full understanding of your business, market, and objectives. Prospective clients can take the first step by getting in touch with IMS to set up a consultation.

6. Forrester

Forrester is a market research firm that provides insights for business, government, and technology operations.

While B2C businesses can use Forrester, a lot of the firm's data is especially valuable for B2B markets.

You can use Forrester insights to:

• Explore what business customers need and want
• Develop your tech stack to keep pace with competitors
• Prepare for supply chain and development challenges
• Review prepared sales strategy templates
• Discover competitor weaknesses

Forrester offers advisory services and access to data-rich reports, so you can choose whether you’d like to take a more self-directed approach or have hands-on help.

A single Forrester report may cost $1,000 or more, and advisory services are custom quoted based on your needs. Anyone interested in working with Forrester directly will need to get in touch with their sales team to discuss options.

7. Kantar

Kantar offers market research services for a range of B2C industries, including consumer packaged goods (CPG), fashion, hospitality, retail, and technology.

Kantar’s research solutions include:

• The collection of qualitative consumer data in over 80 global markets
• Customized research surveys with panels prepared from a network of over 150 million respondents
• The development of healthcare professional and patient panels
• Expert survey design

The company also offers Kantar Marketplace, a do-it-yourself market research platform that lets users guide their own data collection and analysis efforts.

Marketplace access is available on either a pay-per-use plan or with an annual commitment starting at $50,000.

You can’t sign up on the Kantar website, though—for access to Marketplace as well as bespoke Kantar research services, you’ll need to get in touch with their sales team.

8. Bellomy Market Intelligence

Bellomy Market Intelligence is a consulting firm that works with retail, healthcare, financial, technology, energy, and consumer goods businesses.

Like several of the other market research firms on this list, Bellomy offers its clients access to panels of consumers that meet relevant B2B or B2C audience criteria.

You can then use these panels to:

• Run quick polls with rapid response times
• Host open-ended discussions to collect feedback
• Create ongoing focus forums for asynchronous discussions
• Watch as a Bellomy moderator leads members of your panel in an online chat
• Conduct one-on-one, in-depth interviews
• Track consumer behaviors and motivations with repeated daily online surveys
• Host in-person focus groups and retail events to collect data

Bellomy then uses AI tools to help its clients glean insights from qualitative and quantitative research results.

As with many other market research groups, you’ll need to get in touch with Bellomy to learn more about its available services and prices.

9. Campos

Campos is a market research firm focused on branding, product development, and customer experience data.

Campos works with corporations and public institutions seeking a rebrand. Its services overlap with those provided by IMS and Bellomy, and include:

• Product pricing research
• Consumer segmentation and analysis
• Demand forecasting
• Focus group creation
• In-depth interviews for customer journey mapping
• In-store observations

Unlike many research firms that conduct most of their analysis online—such as through video interviews and web-based simulations—Campos specializes in face-to-face analysis.

The company maintains a research center in Pittsburgh, where they're able to:

• Assemble and interview large panels
• Host software usability testing sessions
• Create model stores and homes for interaction testing
• Run mock jury simulations

Campos clients may watch the studies in action through two-way mirrors or view a live stream of research activities. The firm can also arrange for similar in-person experiences at partner locations around the U.S.

Campos services are based on scope and need, so you'll need to get in touch with the firm if you're interested in working with them.

10. Matrix Sciences

Matrix Sciences is a research and testing firm for agriculture and food brands.

The company's research arm conducts studies to discover consumer opinions around food products. They deliver a mix of quantitative and qualitative data through processes like:

• In-home product usage analysis
• Whole-household evaluations and interviews
• Panel discussions and interviews about food products or ideas
• Studies around how product packaging stands out in stores

Matrix Sciences also maintains a panel of expert sensory researchers who provide research and feedback around how a food item may be perceived. This process considers a product's:

• Visual appearance
• Aroma
• Taste
• Texture
• Feel

Like Campos, much of Matrix Science's research happens in-person. The firm maintains 14 testing locations in the U.S. and Canada.

Prospective customers must get in touch with the company to discuss tests, options, and pricing.

11. Knit

Knit is an AI-powered research platform that quickly delivers panel data and analysis to clients.

You can use the tool to conduct qualitative and quantitative research. Tell Knit what you need, and the platform will assemble a panel from their database of over five million consumers.

Knit panelists range from 13 to 65 years old and are verified as real through a process involving both video and AI-generated questions.

Panelists can answer questions via video or survey form, depending on how the Knit study is set up.

You won't have to watch hours and hours of video, though. Knit uses GPT-4 to analyze these recordings and create:

• Video summaries
• Reports
• Quick takeaways
• Key theme summaries
• Highlight reels

The platform also includes an AI research assistant that can answer questions about the data you get from Knit.

12. YouGov

YouGov is a public opinion polling service.

The company offers opinion polling data for free on its website. These free data sets cover public opinion on topics related to:

• Business and economy
• Digital technology and media
• Entertainment, arts, and culture
• Health and science
• International affairs
• Politics and current affairs
• Retail
• Society
• Sports
• Travel and transport

You can dig down into each area of interest to learn about people's thoughts on specific people, brands, events, and more.

YouGov also provides data about survey respondents' habits. For example, they provide data on Americans' typical hours of sleep per night:

The ability to sift through all of YouGov's collected polling data may be enough for some users. If not, the company offers self-serve surveys, prepared surveys, and even custom research solutions for paying customers.

By working with YouGov, you can survey 26 million panelists living in 55 markets.

Because the company offers several bespoke solutions in addition to its free data, you'll need to set up a call with YouGov to learn more about options and pricing.

13. Fieldwork

Fieldwork is a qualitative market research firm offering solutions for focus groups.

You can engage Fieldwork to run a consumer focus group at their facilities throughout the U.S., your office, or another location around the world. Online focus groups are also an option for Fieldwork customers.

Fieldwork's support for medical and legal testing sets them apart from some other market research firms on this list. The company maintains permanent and portable medical simulation labs, and can also support:

• Medical device testing for FDA approval
• Medical device usability testing
• Mock jury research
• Trial simulations

If you're interested in working with Fieldwork to run a focus group, you'll need to submit a request for proposal through the company's website.

14. Kadence

Kadence is an international marketing and scientific research firm.

The company offers research services that can help you:

• Better understand customer preferences
• Improve market segmentation
• Plan the best way to enter a key market
• Streamline retail shopping experiences
• Evaluate how well marketing assets resonate with customers
• Assess brand metrics
• Find new market opportunities

Kadence conducts their research in several ways, including through:

• In-person focus groups
• Phone interviews
• Online communities
• In-person testing

They even offer sensory research and testing that's guided by neuroscience. This includes measuring eye movements and brain states when evaluating the reaction to a marketing campaign.

Kadence maintains offices in 13 countries. If you're interested in working with the Kadence team, you'll need to get in touch to request a price quote.

15. Second to None

Second to None provides mystery shopping services and conducts customer experience research.

You can work with the firm to conduct primary market research campaigns. These include:

• Customer surveys
• Brand reputation research
• Online community feedback
• Online and in-person mystery shopping

Second to None offers solutions for both B2C and B2B brands in a variety of industries including:

• Foodservice
• Financial service
• Healthcare
• Consumer products and services
• Grocery
• Retail sales

Like many of its competitors, Second to None doesn't publish its pricing online. If you think the company's services are the right fit for your brand, you'll need to request an initial consultation with the firm.

16. Civicom

Civicom is a market research services group offering online and offline options.

The company can facilitate a variety of market research projects, including:

• Online focus groups
• Recorded in-person panels
• Mock jury trials
• Online communities
• Usability testing
• Hybrid online and in-person focus groups

Civicom also offers its own AI-powered report generation tool called Quillit. Civicom's clients can use Quillit to create summaries, produce research reports, and format documents. The tool is GDPR and HIPAA compliant, too.

The company's ability to conduct hybrid focus group sessions is notable—if you aren't sure what kind of market research work you need, Civicom is a good place to start.

You'll need to call, email, or chat with Civicom team members online to learn more about options and pricing.

17. Cascade Insights

Cascade Insights is a custom market research firm for B2B technology companies.

Cascade Insights works with companies that produce a product or service related to:

• Generative AI
• Cybersecurity
• Internet of Things (IoT) devices
• Computer hardware
• IT infrastructure

You can work with Cascade Insights to learn more about your ideal B2B customer through several types of market research services including:

• Customer experience research
• Product research
• B2B marketing and sales enablement research

Unlike some of its competitors, Cascade Insights continues to support its customers beyond the handoff of research findings. Every report comes with a plan for implementing the firm's findings.

The company also provides additional optional consulting and support services including strategy mentorship, marketing audits, and done-for-you marketing content.

If you're interested in working with Cascade Insights, you'll need to get in touch with the company to request a consultation and price quote based on your market research goals.

18. C+R Research

C+R Research is a qualitative and quantitative market firm delivering customer insights.

The firm serves a variety of consumer companies, including those focused on:

• Alcohol
• Food and beverage
• Consumer packaged goods (CPG)
• Consumer equipment
• Financial services
• Healthcare
• Retail
• Media and telecom

The company provides support for their clients through qualitative, quantitative, and agile research services including:

• Advertising tests
• Package tests
• Pricing analysis
• Customer satisfaction surveys
• Research panels and focus groups
• Online discussions
• In-depth interviews

C+R Research can also provide support for audience segmentation, customer journey mapping, and workshop facilitation.

If you're part of a consumer-focused brand and are interested in C+R Research services, you'll need to contact the firm to schedule a consultation.

19. Radius

Radius is a data science company focused on consumer research.

The company conducts more than one million quantitative surveys and 3,000 qualitative research sessions every year across 60+ countries. Radius conducts different types of research, including:

• Choice-based analysis
• Targetable segmentation
• Perceptual mind mapping
• Maximum difference scaling (MaxDiff)

The company applies these different techniques to research activities like:

• Retail shopping analysis
• Virtual and augmented reality experiences
• Ideation workshops
• Consumer chats
• Immersive insight sessions

Radius also says that it develops projects using a customized mix of non-traditional approaches—so if you've found it difficult to get the right research for your brand, Radius is worth a closer look.

To learn more about the company's techniques and methods, you'll need to contact the Radius team and schedule an initial meeting.

20. Corona Insights

Corona Insights is a bespoke market research services firm.

Like Cascade Insights, Corona works with its clients to develop a complete plan of action. This may entail:

• Identification of research needs
• Development of a research plan
• Execution of market research activities
• Review of findings
• Development of action plans

The company's primary and secondary data research services are broad, and include:

• Scientific surveys
• Online and in-person focus groups
• In-depth interviews
• Statistical analysis
• Observational research
• Journey mapping
• Literature reviews
• User experience (UX) testing
• Econometrics

The company offers multilingual research, too. Coupled with the breadth of options, this makes Corona Insights a good fit for many companies across different industries and regions.

Potential clients must contact Corona Insights via their website to learn more about market research costs and services.

Conclusion

If you want a custom research solution, it's best to explore working with a market research consulting firm like Ipsos, Kantar, Corona Insights, or Radius.

For more self-directed or self-paced market analysis, tools like Exploding Topics and Knit might be a better fit.

Make sure that the tool you choose has the industry data, panelist profiles, or research approach you need to get the most accurate data for your company. With insights from the right market research agency, you'll be able to accurately and effectively improve strategy, product development, and more.