AI重塑市场研究：2026年七大趋势与行业变革

MarketResearchTrends2026

Introduction

Abillion-dollarindustry

atacrossroads

Marketresearchishavingamoment

—abigone.Theglobalinsightseconomy

justtopped$150billionUSD,accordingtoAnewchapterforinsights

Esomar’slatestGlobalMarketResearch

Report.Thebiggestdriverofgrowth?TheThiscombinationof

rapidriseofresearchsoftware,whichtechnologicalacceleration

surged11.5%yearoveryeartoexceed$62andemotionalexpectation

billionUSD.isreshapingwhat“good

research”lookslike.Some

Greenbook’s2025GRITInsightsPracticetraditionsarebeing

Reporttellsasimilarstory:full-servicereimagined.Othersareproving

firmsarefindingtheirfootingagain.Thetheirstayingpower.

realstandouts,though,aretheones

combiningtechnologyandhuman2026isnotjustaboutusing

connectiontodeliverinsightsthataremoreAIorcollectingmore

faster,richerandmorerelevant.data.It’saboutredefining

quality:howinsightsare

Meanwhile,WARC’s2025Consumergenerated,sharedandacted

TrendsReportandReach3’sTradeWindsupon.

bothshowaworldofconsumerscaught

betweencautionandfatigue.PeoplewantThefollowingseventrends

brandsthatseeandunderstandthem.highlighthowleadinginsight

teamsarebalancinginnovation

Andmarketers?They’reaskingforwithintention,movingthe

insightsthatfeelmorehuman,moreindustryforwardwhilestaying

emotionalandmoregroundedinreallife.truetowhatmakesresearch

valuableinthefirstplace.

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TREND1

AI:Fullsteamahead

(withahealthydoseofskepticism)

Fromhypetohabit

AIhasofficiallymovedfromanindustryheadlinetoaneverydayhabit.According

toGreenbook’s2025GRITInsightsPracticeReport,high-performingsuppliersnow

automateanaverageof5.1projectfunctionsusingAI.

ResearchteamsareusingAItodraftreports,transcribeinterviews,cluster

qualitativethemes,anduncoverpatternsthatwouldhavetakenweekstofind

manually.Butforothers,it’salsoastrategicthinkingpartner.

“Asinsightsleaders,weaimtotakeaholisticviewofthebusinessbecauseourwork

underpinstheorganization’skeyobjectives,”explainsTeresaCorrea-Pavlat,

Insights&AnalyticsLeadandAIAgileCapabilitiesatHaleon,inTheNextEraof

InsightsReport.“ThisiswhyAIfitssonaturally.Itallowsustoconnectthedots

acrossawidersetofdataandevenilluminatetheneedfordataecosystemstohelp

us.Withit,wecanstretchourcuriosityfurther,movefaster,andstillstaygrounded

inthesignalsandtruthsthatmatter.”

ResearchersarefindingwaystoletAIhandle

“AIhasbroughtbackthe

theheavyliftingwhiletheyfocuson

DIYculture.Anyonecan

interpretation,creativityandstorytelling.

gofromanideatoaproof

ofconceptinamatterof

KerrySette,VicePresidentandHeadof

hoursordays,withlittle

ConsumerInsights&ResearchatVoya

risk.Iftherewasevera

Financial,seesthisevolutionasan

timetodesignandbuildthe

opportunitytomakeresearchmoreaccessible

productsofthefuture,itis

andactionableacrossorganizations.She

now.AIisthecollaborator

says:“Artificialintelligenceistransforming

thatmakesitpossible.”

datagathering—acceleratingspeed,reducing

costandreshapinghowdecisionsaremade.IGraemeFord,Founder

believeit’sgoingtohelpdemocratizedataand&InnovationConsultant,

analysisandhelpunlockthatmoreholisticPunkMRX

viewofthecustomer.”

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MarketResearchTrends2026

AreresearchersactuallyusingAI?

Shortanswer:yes,andfast.InourannualMarketResearchTrendssurvey,conducted

usingRival’sconversationalresearchplatform,researchersreportedsteadyadoption

acrossteams,atrendthatalignswithresearchfromindustryexpertslikeMRII.

62%%

say“most”or“some”oftheirb7elieveA1Iwillimprovetheir

teamisalreadyusingAIjobsinthecomingyears

—MarketResearchInstitute—MarketResearchInstitute

International,“AIinFocus2025”International,“AIinFocus2025”

%%

6ofresearch4erssaythenumber9ofresearch0ersareexcited

ofAItoolsthey’reusingforAI-assistedanalysis

increasedin2025andreporting

—RivalTechnologies,—RivalTechnologies,

November2025November2025

AIismovingfromside

projectto

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MarketResearchTrends2026

Thequantificationofqual

Oneareaseeingamajorleapforwardisqualitativeresearch.AIisrevolutionizinghow

wecaptureandanalyzeunstructuredfeedbackandspeedinguptasksthatoncetook

many,manyhourstocomplete.

Today,AItoolscanhelpautomaticallypromptparticipantstosharemore.Inarecent

research-on-researchstudyfromRivalTechnologies,Reach3InsightsandAngusReid

Group,qualitativefeedbackcollectedthroughconversationalmethodsproduced

open-endedresponsesthatwere2.5xlongerthanthosefromtraditionalsurveys.Add

AI-drivenprobesandvideo,andthatdepthincreasesnearlyeightfold.

Ontheanalysisfront,AIcantranscribe,summarize,anddetectpatternsinminutes.

Thosericherstoriesdon’tjustmakeinsightsmorevivid.TheygiveAIbettermaterial

tolearnfrom,leadingtoclearersummariesandstrongermodels.

Asaresultoftheseadvancements,researchersareleaningmoreonqualresearch.

“I’vefallenbackinlovewithopen-endedquestions,”MichaelViveiros,SeniorDirector

ofResearchatMyCodeMedia,says.“I'veneverseensomanyhighqualityresponses

andpeoplegoingwaybeyondthescopeofthequestionandgivingusalotmore,detail

abouttheirlivesthanweneededforthequestion.It'sreallyhelpfulforcontext.”

WhichAItoolsareresearchersstillmissing?

Inourconversationalsurvey,weaskedour

participantstotelluswhatAItoolsthey’restill

dreamingabout.Togetricherinsights,weusedRival’s

SmartProbeTextandourproprietaryThoughtfulness

Scoringtomakesureweonlyaskrelevantfollow-up

questionswhenit’sappropriateandrequired.Hereare

somecapabilitiesthatcameoutofourresearch.

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MarketResearchTrends2026

ResearchtasksthatAIcanhelpwith

Samplemanagement

“Thebiggestchallengeistheabundanceofsampleprovideroptions,

makingitimpracticaltosendRFPstoall.IwouldinventanAItooltofind

therightsampleprovidersforeachtargetaudience.”

PresentationdraftingQuantresearch

“IwouldlikeanAItool“IwouldlikeanAItoolthatcan

thatcancreatePPTdecksanalyzeadatabaseandprovide

fromcrosstabsanddataanexecutivesummary.Iwork

analysisbasedonimportantmostlywithSPSSfilesor

insights.”unstructureddata.”

KnowledgemanagementProposalwriting

“I'dloveaveryresponsive“IwouldlikeanAItoolthat

researchlibrarythatservesasasourcesinformationand

learningbasisforprojects,creatingpricingneededforproposals

valuefrompastprojects.Whilefromasimpleprompt.

sometoolsexist,I'dpreferCurrently,Ispendalotoftime

somethingmoreautomatedwithtrackingdowninformationthat

agentstoshareinformationacrossisnotorganizedorcentralized.

trends.ThebiggestchallengeisThisprocesstakesupsomuch

havingallpastresearchdigitizedtimethatIhavetodelayother

andeasilyaccessible,aswellastasksandoftenendupworking

findingthetimetogothroughthelateoronweekendstocatch

reportsmyself.”up,whichisnotideal.”

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MarketResearchTrends2026

TREND2

Measuringwhat

peoplecan’texplain

Implicitresearch:

EmmaWoodley,founderof

Findingthe“why”behavioralsciencefirmTruthBe

Gold,summeditupperfectly:

beneaththewords“Measuringsubconsciousattitudes

—ratherthanconsciousopinions—

canrevealwhichmenuitems,

Seeingwhatpeopleimages,ormessagestrulyresonate.

reallymeanInoneproject,implicittesting

predictedsalesmixmoreaccurately

Researchersknowitwell:peopledon’tthananysurvey.”

alwayssaywhattheythink.Orthink

whattheysay.That’sthepoweroftappinginto

instinct.Implicittechniqueshelp

That’swhyimplicitresearchishavingaresearcherscapturethosegut-level

moment.Withemotionsandreactionsthattraditionalsurveys

polarizationshapingsomanychoices,oftenmiss.

teamsareturningtomethodsthatdig

belowsurface-levelanswers.The

ImplicitAssociationTest(IAT),created

byGreenwaldandBanajidecadesago,EngagingbothSystem1

provedthatmanydecisionscomefromandSystem2

subconsciousassociations,not

deliberatethought.Whatwe’retalkingabouthereisn’t

necessarilyaboutabandoning

In2026,thattruthfeelsmorerelevantquestions,butinsteadit’saboutasking

thanever.insmarter,moreintuitiveways.

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MarketResearchTrends2026

AtReach3Insights,amethodology

calledemotionalelicitation

demonstrateshowtobringSystem1“Tounderstandwhat

andSystem2thinkingtogetherinpeopleactuallythink,feel

practice.Insteadofaskingconsumersanddo,weneedtogo

directlyhowtheyfeel,participantsarebeyondtraditionalresearch

firstshownacuratedsetofimagesthatapproaches.In2026,we’ll

mightcapturetheiremotionalresponse.seefasteradoptionofAI-

Onlythenaretheyaskedwhytheyaccelerated,mobile

choseaspecificimage.techniques.Bydelivering

immersiveandimmediate

Thatsmallshift—startingwithemotion,feedback,these

,

thenmovingtoreflection—createsaconversationalapproaches

bridgebetweeninstinctandreasoning.helprevealtheunderlying

Ithelpsparticipantsarticulatefeelingsdynamicsdrivingdecision-

theymaynothaverecognizedmaking.“

consciously,andtheresulting

explanationsareconsistentlyricher,MattKleinschmit,CEOand

morenuanced,andmoreauthenticFounder,Reach3Insights

insightsthanwegetfromtraditional

“howdoyoufeel”questions.

Istheinsights

industrymaking

apositiveimpact?%

Inourconversationalsurvey,

weaskedresearcherstoanswera

o7fresearc2hersagreedthe

somewhatphilosophicalquestion:is

insightsindustryismaking

ourindustrymakingapositiveimpact

theworldabetterplace.

intheworldtoday?

Source:RivalTechnologies

“Wearethevoiceofreasoninmany

conversations,”onerespondentsaid.

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MarketResearchTrends2026

Anotheradded:

“WiththepervasivenessofAIacrossallbusinesses,it'ssoimportanttostillstayin

touchwithyourconsumerandunderstandhowheorsheisreactingtotheworldto

categoriesandtoproductssothatanycompanycanmoveforwardsuccessfullyand

deliveringvalueforhimorher.”

Anothersimplysaid:“Weguidebrandsandstrategicdecisionmaking.”

Butothersholdamorebalancedview.“Researchisunderpressurefacingalotof

economicandfoundationalchange,”oneparticipantnoted.“Theimpactofinsights

atboardlevelhasnotbeensufficienttoprotectitfromtheseheadwinds.”

TREND3

Thereturnoftheclassics:Whenold-school

methodsgetamodernupgrade

Everythingoldisnewagain

Infashion,what’soldisnewagain—cargopants,wide-leggedjeans,evenlow-rise

denimaremakingacomeback.Thesamethingishappeninginresearch.

Methodslikesegmentation,ethnography,andpath-to-purchasestudiesneverreally

wentaway.Butin2026,they’rebackinstyle—refreshedbymobiletools,AI-

acceleratedtechniques,andfaster,moreflexibleworkflows.

Segmentationgetsitsgrooveback

Segmentationhasalwaysbeenaboutmakingsenseofthemessyrealityof

consumers.Thedifferencenow?Teamsaredoingitfaster,lighter,andmoreoften.

Entertheriseofthe“mini-segmentation.”Thesesmaller,focusedprojectsgive

researchersaquick,actionablereadonaudienceneedsandattitudes,without

waitingmonthsforafullrebuild.Alightfactorpasshere,aquickprofilingexercise

there,andsuddenlyteamshaveacurrentpictureofwhomattersmostbefore

jumpingintomessagetestingorvalue-propdevelopment.

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AsLeighAdmirand,ExecutiveVice

PresidentatReach3Insights,wrotein

herAmericanMarketingAssociation

piece:“Segmentationtodayisn’tabout

sortingpeopleintoneatlittleboxes.It’s

abouttrulyunderstandingwhatmakes

themtick—andbeingabletoadapt

whenthingsshift.”

Modernsegmentationblends

conversationalinputs,open-ended

responses,andevenvideo,soAIcan

handletheheavyliftingwhile

researchersfocusonwhatreally

counts:interpretationanddirection.

Ethnographyforthemobileage

Ethnographyisalsogettingaglow-up.Whatusedtorequireflights,transcripts,and

longobservationcyclesnowhappensinrealtime.

Mobile-firstinsightcommunitiesandvideodiariesletresearcherscapturecontext

aslifehappens:wherepeopleshop,scroll,orsnack.Insteadofwaitingforfieldwork

towrap,teamscanreviewclipsonthefly,spotemergingpatterns,andfollowup

whilethemomentisstillfresh.

AIlendsahandbyhandlingtranscriptionandpatterndetection,freeingresearchers

tofocusonwhatreallymatters:thehumanstory.

“Shopperjourney/pathtopurchaseisamethodologythatseemstobeback

indemand,drivenbytheconfluenceofmostexistingstudiesonthistopic

beingdated–manyconductedpre-pandemic–andAI’sincreasingrolein

thedecision-makingprocessforawidevarietyofcategories.AsIthink

aboutnextyear,Iexpecttodoalotofworkinthisrealmandamexcited

aboutapplyingourconversational-basedapproaches(andbenefits)tothe

clientswhochoosetoworkwithus!”

JonDore,ExecutiveVicePresident,Reach3Insights

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“RethinkingjourneymappingisaMUSTDOforcompanies.AsAIbecomesa

partofeverything,andSearchfadesaway,whatarethechannels,infosources

anddecision-makingpathways?Brandsneedtoknowandthatwillbecritical.

Also,I’mexcitedforMOREresearcherstobemorenimbleandbeopentoall

thetoolsthatareavailable.Asresearchers,weareabletospendtimeon

whereit’sneeded,andusetoolstotackletherest.AIiscertainlyapartofthat,

butyoucandevelopyourowntoolsandcreateyourownprocesses.It’s

possiblenow.”

ChiPaler,HeadofCustomerInsights,10xGenomics

TREND4

Syntheticrespondents:Promise,

debate,andarealitycheck

Syntheticrespondentsareoneofthemosttalked-about(anddivisive)innovations

inresearchrightnow.Andthisshowedupinourownresearch.

Howdoyoufeelaboutsyntheticrespondents?

%%%

2EXC7ITED營3MEH0衾4NOTE3XCITED粤

Source:RivalTechnologies

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MarketResearchTrends2026

Intherightcontext,syntheticdatacan

reflectrealbehavior—notreplaceit,but

complementit.Supportersseesynthetic

dataasawaytomove

Still,it’simportanttorecognizewhat’sat

faster,testearlyideas,and

stake.BenLeffofVerisightrecently

fillingapsbeforefieldwork

comparedrealandsyntheticdataonU.S.begins.

coffeeconsumptionandfoundthatthese

modelscanmissthefinerdetails.SyntheticTheMarketResearch

dataperformedwellforwell-knownbrands,Society’sDelphiGroup

butmisreadregionalnuances,nichecalledit“auseful

categoriesorunfamiliarproducts.

additiontothetoolkit.”

AColgate-Palmoliveand

Thetakeawayfrombothstudiesissimilar:PyMCLabsstudyfound

syntheticdataisonlyasgoodastheinputthatlargelanguage

andcontextitistrainedon.

modelscouldreplicate

humanpurchaseintent

InanarticleforMarketingWeek,JaneFrost

withupto90%ofreal

CBE,ChiefExecutiveoftheMarketResearchtest-retestreliability.

Society,saysthepotentialforbigmistakes

fromdecisionsdrivenbysynthetic

Whendesignedcarefully,AI-

respondentsisstillsignificant.

generatedrespondentscan

producesurprisingly

“Whileundoubtedlybeingcheaperinthe

realisticpatternsacross

shortterm,usingsyntheticdataasthesoledemographics.

basisformarketingcampaignsisfraught

withlong-termreputationalandfinancial

risk,”sheexplains.

Let’sgetonethingclearthough:Theriseofsyntheticdatawon’tkillprimary

research.Ifanything,ithighlightswhyhumanengagementmattersmorethanever.

“AIneedstoberegularlyrefreshedwithprimaryresearch,orthedatabecomes

outdated,outofcontextandpollutedbythebiasesandproblemswithhistoric

information,”Frostcontinues.“Withoutengagingrealpeople,yousimplycan’t

predictwithanycertaintyhowtheywillreacttoyourcontent.”

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Ibelievesyntheticdatahasitsuseandapplications.Butleveragingsynthetic

datatocreateartificialrespondentsto‘boost’thesampleislikelyaweaker

application.

Justbecausethealgorithmiscleverenoughtocreatesyntheticresponsesof

realhumansdoesn’tmeanitcanhelpuncoverdeeperinsights.Youmightbe

betteroffworkingwiththesamplelimitations,leveraginginsightsqualitatively,

insteadofpretendingyouhavearobustsampletointerrogatedeeper.

Askyourself,areyoucreatinganillusionofstatisticalrobustness?Isn’tthis

risky?Wouldn’tyoubebetterservedknowingtherealsamplelimitationsand

workingwiththem?

Leveragingitforvalidationmightbeabetterapplication.Eventhere,onecould

makeanargumenttorelyonadvanced&predictiveanalyticsinstead.

Nexttimeyoucomeacrossaclever‘persona’basedsolutionthat’sbasically

builtonthefoundationofsyntheticdata,askthequestion:willthistrulysolve

theproblem?Ordoesitriskcreatingabiggerone?

PaviGupta,VPofInsights&Analytics,Chobani

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TREND5

Consumercloseness:Using

conversationsandcommunities

tocreateconnection

Thehumanantidotetoautomationfatigue

DespiteallthebuzzaroundAIandsyntheticdata,onetruthremains:connectionwith

realpeoplestillmattersmost.

Inaworldwherealgorithmscanpredictbehaviorbutnotemotion,smartinsight

leadersareleaningonthepowerofgenuinehumanconnectiontounderstand

customers.

“Communityhasbeenalifelineforusinthelastyear,”MaryAnneFitzgerald,Director

ofConsumerInsightsatBalsamBrands,sharedinarecentwebinar.“Itwassojoyful

tohearhowconnectedourcommunitymembersfeeltous.”

Whenparticipantsfeelheard,theyopenup.

“I’mreallydrawntoTheysharemorefreely.Insightsgetdeeper

participatoryandandmorenuanced.Feedbackstopsfeelinglike

community-drivenataskandstartsfeelinglikecollaboration.

research.There’sashift

happeningwherepeopleThere’sanotherbenefit:whenyou’retalkingto

don’tjustwanttobeyourownconsumers,thedataitselfbecomes

“subjects”,theywanttomorereliable.It’sharderforfraudorfatigueto

co-createthesolutions.sneakinwhenthere’sarealrelationship

I’malsoexcitedabouthowbehindtheresponses.

insightsarebeingtiedto

socialimpacti.eusingForRival,Reach3andAngusReidGroup

datatodrivechange,notclients,we’veseenthismodelworkacross

justdecisions.”industrieswherecommunitymembersaren’t

justrespondentsbutongoingpartnersin

StellaIgweamaka,Seniorshapingstrategyandcreativity.Eachshare-

Consultant,NewMarketsback,thank-youvideo,orquickfollow-uppoll

&Opportunities,Servusbuildsmomentumandmutualtrust.

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