In the MRII blog, SLRG President Jon Last casts a critical look at what may lie ahead for consumer markets and the market research industry in 2024.
We asked our MRII Board Members to share their thoughts about what 2024 might bring to our industry. Undoubtedly, artificial intelligence will maintain its expanding influence during the coming year. Also, there may be an increased emphasis on improving sample quality and better ways to do research and analytics. The impending election year in 2024 will add an extra layer of complexity, drawing attention to both our successes and areas for improvement in the realm of insights. Let’s see what our experts have to say about 2024:
From Jon Last, President, Sports & Leisure Research Group
- 2024 is shaping up to be a potentially tumultuous year from a consumer behavior and attitudinal perspective. The election climate and economic instability will feed a dual consumer reaction where some continue to spend, counterintuitively, towards escape oriented actualization—while others hunker down amidst a variety of sensationalistic and apocalyptic anxiousness. Finding reliable insights to cut through these dueling forces will be critical, but also heavily scrutinized by those who don’t agree with the implications. The ability to produce “nationally projectable” results and stories will have diminished utility given segment specific and hyper-local variations in today’s world.
- In 2024, we will likely continue to see lots of MR firms rally around both the real and exaggerated immediate benefits of AI. The industry will need to see past the smoke and mirrors and find the most relevant applications. This will not be easy, and tech first solutions will continue to pose the threat of marginalizing critical elements of the MR value chain. Firms with category/vertical specific expertise will add value beyond those functions that are threatened with greater commoditization. Those that increasingly blur the lines between consulting and research will have the greatest success.
- Sampling quality will continue to be a big issue in the coming year that will push forward-thinking suppliers towards leveraging and building and actively managing specialized house files and sample sources that can fly above the exchanges. Also, as behavioral and attitudinal data continue to be merged for valuable insights, the qualitative market will remain a strong adjunct for those in search of the “why” that remains impervious to many of the tech infused shortcuts that can compromise profit margins.
- From our firm’s perspective, we are projecting a meaningful upside attributable to some significant new and already contracted, large initiatives that will scale in 2024, coupled with continued higher stakes at play in our verticals, requiring greater insights driven direction. Competition remains intense but leadership transitions at two key rivals will make these firms vulnerable to our increasing share among joint clients.
The coming year looks like it will continue to bring a good amount of change to our doorstep. So how is an insights professional to keep up? Invest in professional development and education, of course! As Benjamin Franklin once said, “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.”