Expanding evidence

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It has been four years since the value and importance of the market research industry to the UK economy has been properly quantified. But now, with PwC’s report Business of Evidence 2016, an up-to-date and comprehensive review shows that almost 73,000 people are employed in an industry now worth an annual £4.8bn.

This represents a rise of almost £2bn since 2012, with the addition of close to 14,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs.

With a growth of 62% since 2012, the UK is now the world’s second-largest market for professional research. This is massively outstripping that of the UK economy as a whole, which has grown 8.7% in the same period.

The study – carried out by Research to Insight (r2i), PwC’s global centre of excellence for market research, and commissioned by the Market Research Society – revealed that the UK research sector contributes just over 0.3% of total UK GDP. 

Its analysis is based on a data review from sources including ONS, ESRC and BIS surveys, the MRS Annual Survey and League Tables, Forbes and IDC forecasts, as well as PwC’s own analysis of UK employment and salary trends. It also did a quantitative market survey of research suppliers, private sector businesses, analytics houses, local authorities and charities. To complement the primary and secondary analysis, 10 in-depth interviews were conducted with key informants in the UK research and analytics sector.

So what is behind this phenomenal growth? Perhaps inevitably – data analytics. This has seen an uplift of 350% since 2012 and now employs 6,700 FTEs. But perhaps more surprising is that qualitative research has also been identified as a key area of growth.

Julie McClean, senior manager, PwC r2i, said: “This was a very strong finding, from both the survey and key informants; they all agreed there was a resurgence and re-emergence of qualitative. We see it as a counterbalance to the growth of big data.

“There is so much data available now in the digital age; organisations are doing their best to analyse this but, in doing so, they are missing out on the human touch. They’re not doing so many surveys and they realise they need to find a way to continue talking to human beings. We also heard a lot about enthnography and how the traditional focus group will always have a place; if anything, they are more valued than they have been in the past,” she said.

The shift towards greater emphasis on data analytics has changed the type of people the industry needs to hire. The report identified four key attributes needed by the researcher of the future: be business savvy; have strong data analysis and interpretation skills; be a good communicator and storyteller; and a flexible, agile, early adopter.

“Someone with the required skills – data analysis, commercial awareness and an ability to communicate – is a rare person. Even those with bang up-to-date analysis skills are hard to find – people who can mine the data, do predictive analytics and work out what that means for the organisation. We also heard there aren’t many courses in the UK delivering [these attributes] and that’s an area that universities need to start to think about,” said McClean.

“Fintech is seen as our biggest competitor; a number of our key informants wondered ‘how attractive is the MR industry to young talent?’. There was a feeling that Fintech is more attractive and agile, and that market research is seen as a bit boring. It will be a challenge in the future if the talent that we need isn’t widely available and Fintech is looking for the same people.”

Emerging methods identified in the report were behavioural economics, neuroscience and research involving wearables.

“Behavioural economics and neuroscience are increasing, as there is a focus on behaviour and culture. We’re seeing that from the public sector and financial services – such as a focus on culture of banks, and behaviour of employees in workplace. So behavioural economics and neuroscience are developing in response,” added McClean.

Among the other findings from the report were that 36% of UK-based agencies’ turnover, worth £1.7bn annually, is generated globally, and that around 66% of employees are in London and the South East – making the sector worth £3.2bn to the greater London economy.