Top Market Research Companies

Arbitron

Arbitron specializes in gathering data related to consumer usage of broadcast media. Arbitron collects data related to radio listening and television viewing habits that is used to assign ratings to particular stations and programs. When you hear that a particular news program is the top rated station in your market, the assertion is likely based on data collected, complied, and evaluated by Arbitron.

If you have ever purchased, or considered purchasing, radio or television commercials to promote your business, you have likely seen the results of Arbitron's efforts. If you're interested in learning more about whether or not broadcast advertising can have a positive impact on your business, you may want to look at the free studies and reports about media and consumer usage available on the Arbitron's website.

Gfk Group

The Gfk Group is a multinational market research corporation with more than 115 operational businesses, each of which is focused on providing top notch research services to clients in more than 90 different countries worldwide. The firm offers services in five primary business divisions, as follows:

• Consumer Tracking (data collection related to consumer behavior)
• Custom Research (strategic marketing across all sectors)
• Healthcare (focused on pharmaceutical research)
• Media Usage and Reach
• Retail and Technology (consumer goods retail sales)

Mystery Shopping Opportunity

Gfk utilizes the services of mystery shoppers to gather customer experience data for the firm's diverse clientele. If you're interested in joining the firm's panel of mystery shoppers, complete the online application form.

Maritz Market Research

Maritz Research is widely recognized as one of the top market research companies. The company's goal is to help its clients understand, enable, and motivate their customers. Maritz's approach to research focuses on helping customers understand issues related to customer choice, service experience, and loyalty.

The firm emphasizes providing data that helps clients answer the following questions:

• Choice: Why do customers choose to do business with your organization?
• Experience: What actually happens when customers interact with your organization?
• Loyalty: What factors cause your customers to return or choose to do business with your competitors instead of you?

You can benefit from the company's expertise by reading the firm's white papers or subscribing to the Maritz Research Forum newsletter.

Interested in Mystery Shopping?

Maritz also utilizes the services of mystery shoppers to collect data throughout the United States and the U.K. If you're interested in working with Maritz in this capacity, fill out the online shopper profile form.

Synovate

Synovate is a multinational market research firm, operating offices in more than 50 countries around the world. The company specializes in helping customers around the world understand the issues that impact their ability to succeed in the marketplace.

You can subscribe to Synovate's InFact newsletter, which is a valuable resource of information about consumer and market trends compiled from the firm's global surveys.

Want to Participate in Synovate's Consumer Panel?

If you are interested in sharing your opinions with the Synovate research team, you can register online by going to the company's global consumer panel.

NPD Group

The NPD Group has been involved in market research since 1967 and is today one of the top market research companies in the world. The firm specializes in helping its clients understand and capitalize on trends in consumer buying behavior. The company offers custom research services, and also provides clients with data gathered from its consumer panel and point of sale purchase tracking services.

You can benefit from the company's up-to-the-minute knowledge about consumer buying trends by subscribing to NPD Insights, the firms' free marketing research newsletter. Each issue of the newsletter includes valuable information about purchase patterns and market trends.

Learning From the Top Market Research Companies

There may be times when your company can benefit from hiring the services of a research company to help better understand factors that contribute to your company's performance. You can also obtain terrific information about consumer behavior and marketing trends by taking advantage of free newsletters and other resources provided by these firms. When you're trying to make decisions about the best way to grow your business, turning to the resources available from the leading research firms can be beneficial to the success of your company.