The report, which covers the fourth quarter of 2025, said a net balance of -4% of panellists revising down their market research budgets. This equated to 13.5% reducing budgets and 9.5% recording an increase.

The results mean that every quarter in 2025 had a negative net balance for market research budget growth, according to the Bellwether, albeit the fourth quarter had the least pronounced reduction in budgets across the year.

Preliminary data for the 2026/27 financial year implied a stronger downward revision, said the IPA, with a net balance of -17.4% of respondents anticipating a contraction in market research budgets.

Bill Doris, vice-president analytics, Europe, Middle East and Africa at EssenceMediacom and chair of the IPA Media Research Advisory Group, said: “Looking ahead, the outlook for 2026/27 hints at more belt-tightening with market research expected to see the biggest budget reductions across categories.

“While not the cheeriest news, it’s clear businesses are placing extra scrutiny on their market research investment.”

The results come as UK marketing budgets saw net 0% growth in the final quarter of 2025, with PR and events being the only categories to see growth, alongside the ‘other online’ subgroup within the main media category.

The majority of panellists ( 57.4%) left their budgets unchanged in the fourth quarter of the year, with anecdotal evidence cited in the Bellwether suggesting that cost pressures, muted economic activity and budget constraints had impacted on marketing budget allocations.

Initial budget setting showed that a net balance of 1.7% of firms predicted an increase in total marketing spend across the 2026/27 financial period, which the IPA said marked one of the weakest preliminary outlooks in the history of the Bellwether survey.

Paul Bainsfair, director general at the IPA, said: “This quarter’s flatlining of marketing spend reflects a wider confidence problem. Global instability continues to unsettle markets, while domestically there appears to be limited faith in the government’s grip on the economy. Until that changes, caution is understandable. 

“What we can say with confidence, however, is that those organisations which continue to invest in advertising, especially in a quieter market, stand to gain greater visibility and, over time, increased market share. This is most effective when investment is sustained and focused on long-term brand-building channels.” 

Maryam Baluch, economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence and author of the Bellwether Report, added: “As we move into 2026, the economic climate remains challenging, with marketeers under pressure to deliver return on investment as firms scrutinise spending decisions more harshly given the competitive market landscape and subdued macroeconomic outlook.

“That said, budgetary stasis points to some resilience, with cutbacks avoided. An anticipated easing of inflationary pressures and reduced borrowing costs in 2026 could spring business investment back to life this year.”

Rachel Macey, managing director at Kantar Media TGI UK & Europe, said: “This data continues a striking trend as market research budgets fall, signalling a shift in how brands seek to understand their audiences. This is an evolution rather than a retreat as the industry seeks to balance established research capabilities with AI-enabled approaches informed by synthetic data. 
 
“The challenge remains to combine the credibility of robust research with the efficiency of new technologies, especially when consumer behaviour becomes trickier for AI to replicate accurately. Synthetic data will only ever be as good as the source data behind it and the human touch will continue to be vital. So even if the costs and scale are coming down, advertisers still need to understand what real people think in order to reach and target them effectively.”