marketing topics for research 2022

Research Topics & Ideas: Marketing

50+ Marketing Research Topic Ideas To Fast-Track Your Project

Marketing and advertising-based research topics

Finding and choosing a strong research topic is the critical first step when it comes to crafting a high-quality dissertation, thesis or research project. If you’ve landed on this post, chances are you’re looking for a marketing-related research topic , but aren’t sure where to start. If so, you’ve come to the right place.

Here, we’ll explore a variety of marketing-related research ideas and topic thought-starters, covering both traditional marketing (offline media) and digital marketing (including social media marketing, content marketing and the like). We’ll also look at actual dissertations and theses from marketing students to give you a view of what a well-defined research topic looks like.

NB – This is just the start…

The topic ideation and evaluation process has multiple steps . In this post, we’ll kickstart the process by sharing some research topic ideas within the marketing domain. This is the starting point, but to develop a well-defined research topic, you’ll need to identify a clear and convincing research gap , along with a well-justified plan of action to fill that gap.

If you’re new to the oftentimes perplexing world of research, or if this is your first time undertaking a formal academic research project, be sure to check out our free dissertation mini-course. In it, we cover the process of writing a dissertation or thesis from start to end. Be sure to also sign up for our free webinar that explores how to find a high-quality research topic.

Overview: Marketing-Related Topics

How to find a research topic (video)
Traditional (offline) marketing topics/ideas
Digital (online) marketing topics/ideas
Examples of actual dissertation topics
Free Webinar : Topic Ideation 101
Where to get extra help

How To Find A Research Topic

Before we look at specific research ideas and topics, it’s useful to first understand what the topic ideation process entails and how to go about finding and refining viable topic ideas. In the video below, we cover exactly that. So, if you’re a first-time researcher, be sure to watch this tutorial before jumping into the collection of marketing research topics we present below.

Now that you’ve got a big-picture view of the topic ideation process, we can dive into a few research ideas to get your creative juices flowing. Please note that these research topic ideas are intentionally broad and generic, so you will need to refine them a fair deal using the techniques we discussed in the video above.

To make life a little easier for you, we’ve grouped the topic ideas based on two main categories – traditional marketing and digital / online marketing . For the latter, we’ve divided it up into a few subcategories, including social media marketing, content marketing and search marketing. That said, there is naturally some overlap between topics, so keep this in mind.

Research Ideas: Traditional Marketing

The perceived effectiveness of different types of direct mail campaigns (e.g., postcards, catalogues, brochures) among small business owners in New York
The perception and use of traditional marketing in creating and nurturing customer loyalty and retention among UK Financial Firms.
The impact of demographic targeting on traditional marketing performance among green businesses
The perception of different types of sales promotion (e.g., discounts, coupons, contests) among GenZ consumers
The continued use of celebrity endorsements in traditional marketing campaigns, post-2020.
Exploring factors related to outdoor advertising recall in India
Measuring the ROI of traditional marketing efforts: a review of current methods
Comparing the effectiveness of different traditional media channels (e.g., television, radio, print) in driving engagement and conversions among established brands
The use of public relations in traditional marketing campaigns among large insurance companies
The role of event marketing in building brand awareness and engagement: perceptions among marketing professionals in the UK

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Research Ideas: Digital/Online Marketing

Social media marketing

The use of artificial intelligence in social media marketing among online fashion companies in Sweden
The impact of social media on public relations and media relations: a Case Study of Nandos
The role of Twitter in crisis communication and reputation management: a discourse analysis
The impact of social media influencer presence on brand loyalty and customer retention among Gen X.
The use of social media for market research and consumer insights among SMEs in Kenya
The impact of social media on consumer buying behaviour of fast food in Italy
The challenges and opportunities of social media in global and multicultural marketing: perceptions of marketing departments in large corporations
The relationship between social media engagement and website traffic: an analysis of fitness brands
The effectiveness of influencer marketing on social media platforms for household cleaning products in the UK
The perceptions and understanding of paid vs organic social media advertising among Gen Z consumers in San Francisco

Content marketing

The use and understanding of micro-moments in creating personalized content experiences among content creators in the USA
Comparing the effectiveness of methods of personalization of content marketing: an evaluation of best practice
The experiences and use of SEO in content marketing strategy among small online businesses
The use of social media influencers in content marketing campaigns: a Case Study of Hello Fresh
Comparing different content distribution channels for different types of content: perceptions of best practices among content marketing experts
The use of user-generated content in building brand trust and engagement among green companies in the UK
Measuring the ROI of content marketing efforts among luxury brands
The perception and use of Chat GPT in content creation among small online businesses
The perceptions of interactive and immersive content formats (e.g., virtual reality, augmented reality) in marketing among consumers: an experimental study
Comparing image and text-based content formats in driving engagement and conversions on social media: a multi-case study of NGOs

Search engine marketing

The effectiveness of different ad formats (e.g., text ads, shopping ads, video ads) in Search Engine Marketing for tourist destinations
The impact of search engine algorithm updates on Search Engine Marketing performance – who are the winners and losers?
The perception and use of AI and machine learning in Search Engine Marketing strategy and bidding optimization within a UK marketing agency
The use of voice search and its impact on Search Engine Marketing among food retailers in Switzerland
The role of local SEO in driving brick-and-mortar sales: a case study of a local fashion outlet in France
The impact of mobile optimization on Search Engine Marketing performance and conversion rates in Nigeria
Comparing analytical tools for measuring ROI of Search Engine Marketing campaigns
The effectiveness of different types of keywords and search queries in driving traffic towards restaurants in Italy
The use of remarketing and retargeting in search engine marketing campaigns among marketers
The understanding and use of schema markup and structured data in improving Search engine marketing performance among Start-Ups

Research Topic Kickstarter - Need Help Finding A Research Topic?

Email marketing

The perception and use of AI and machine learning in email marketing among NGOs: a focus on personalized content and dynamic segmentation
The effectiveness of email subject line strategies in driving open and click-through rates: an experimental study
Comparing A/B testing and multivariate testing in improving email marketing performance: a case study
The use of personalization on email marketing performance among craft bloggers
The impact of automated email marketing among local online retailers on customer loyalty and retention
The use of automation and triggered emails in increasing engagement and conversion rates for online courses
The perception and understanding of GDPR and other data privacy regulations on email marketing among SMEs
The role of mobile optimization in email marketing targeting Gen Z consumers
The challenges of measuring the ROI of email marketing campaigns: perceptions of SMEs
The effectiveness of different email formats (e.g., text-based, HTML, interactive) in driving engagement: A/B testing for a small online retailer

Marketing-Related Dissertations & Theses

While the ideas we’ve presented above are a decent starting point for finding marketing-related research topic, they are fairly generic and non-specific. So, it helps to look at actual dissertations and theses to see how this all comes together.

Below, we’ve included a selection of research projects from various marketing-related degree programs to help refine your thinking. These are actual dissertations and theses, written as part of Master’s and PhD-level programs, so they can provide some useful insight as to what a research topic looks like in practice.

The Influences of Brand Personality, Culture, and Social Media on Iconic Brand Preferences (Whelan, 2021)
Customer Success and the Transformation of Customer Relationships (Raines, 2022)
The Effects of Online Incentivized Reviews on Organic Review Ratings (Jeong, 2020)
Are You For Real? The Consumption-Driven Self-Authentication Process And Its Effects On Perceived Brand Authenticity (Kuchmaner, 2020)
You Are What You Eat: How Food Texture And Packaging Influence Consumer Well-Being (Ning, 2020)
Social Dialogic Listening: Connecting Marketing Activity To Strategy (Collins, 2020)
Millennials’ Attitudes Towards Influencer Marketing And Purchase Intentions (Yu, 2019)
Cannibalization between Two Mercedes-Benz Models and Consumer Behavior (Ma, 2020)
Selling and Buying Aspects of Used Products That Are Brand Anthropomorphized (Kim, 2019)
Global Identity: Conceptualization, Measurement, And Implications For Marketing Strategy (Yoruk, 2022)
The Intersection of Organizational Frontline Marketing and a High-Tech World (Krotz, 2021)
The Unexplored Impacts of Communication Elements in Marketing (Trinh, 2022)
Founder Social Identity As A Predictor Of Customer And Competitor Orientation In Small And Medium-Sized Enterprises (Rutherford, 2021)

Looking at these titles, you can probably pick up that the research topics here are far more specific and narrowly-focused , compared to the generic ones presented earlier. This is an important thing to keep in mind as you develop your own research topic. That is to say, to create a top-notch research topic, you must be precise and target a specific context with specific variables of interest . In other words, you need to identify a clear, well-justified research gap.

Fast-Track Your Research Topic

If you’re still feeling a bit unsure about how to find a research topic for your marketing dissertation or thesis, check out our 1-on-1 private coaching services below.

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Mapping research in marketing: trends, influential papers and agenda for future research

Spanish Journal of Marketing - ESIC

ISSN : 2444-9695

Article publication date: 5 December 2023

Issue publication date: 7 March 2024

This study aims to map the conceptual structure and evolution of the recent scientific literature published in marketing journals to identify the areas of interest and potential future research directions.

Design/methodology/approach

The 100 most influential marketing academic papers published between 2018 and 2022 were identified and scrutinized through a bibliometric analysis.

The findings further upheld the critical role of emerging technologies such as Blockchain in marketing and identified artificial intelligence and live streaming as emerging trends, reinforcing the importance of data-driven marketing in the discipline.

Research limitations/implications

The data collection included only the 100 most cited documents between 2018 and 2022, and data were limited only to Scopus database and restrained to the Scopus-indexed marketing journals. Moreover, documents were selected based on the number of citations. Nevertheless, the data set may still provide significant insight into the marketing field.

Practical implications

Influential authors, papers and journals identified in this study will facilitate future literature searches and scientific dissemination in the field. This study makes an essential contribution to the marketing literature by identifying hot topics and suggesting future research themes. Also, the important role of emerging technologies and the shift of marketing toward a more data-driven approach will have significant practical implications for marketers.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first comprehensive study offering a general overview of the leading trends and researchers in marketing state-of-the-art research.

Bibliometric analysis
Citation analysis
Research publications
Science mapping
Análisis bibliométrico
Análisis de citas
Publicaciones de investigación
Mapeo científico
市场营销; 文献计量分析; 引文分析; 研究出版物; 科学绘图。

Ramos, R. , Rita, P. and Vong, C. (2024), "Mapping research in marketing: trends, influential papers and agenda for future research", Spanish Journal of Marketing - ESIC , Vol. 28 No. 2, pp. 187-206. https://doi.org/10.1108/SJME-10-2022-0221

Emerald Publishing Limited

Published in Spanish Journal of Marketing - ESIC. Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode

1. Introduction

Marketing is vital to all businesses’ survival, long-term growth, development and success ( Czinkota et al. , 2021 ). Generally, the domain of marketing encompasses (1) the identification of marketing opportunities, (2) the creation of competitive advantages, (3) the effective utilization of resources, (4) the communication and delivery of products or services to customers, (5) the creation of value to customers and (6) the satisfaction of customers’ needs profitably ( Simkin, 2000 ).

The evaluation of academic marketing literature has progressively become relevant in recent years ( Das et al. , 2022 ; Hair and Sarstedt, 2021 ). The increasing number of academic publications in marketing varies in different contributions, which made it difficult for scholars to track new trends and find influential manuscripts to advance the body of knowledge. The primary objective of a research publication is to be known and influence others’ work. Nevertheless, the created knowledge is fragmented, and the emergence of new marketing topics is continuously changing the research map of marketing. Moreover, marketing is an applied discipline in that marketing research not only aims to generate scientific knowledge but also to provide insights and knowledge that can be practically used to inform marketing decisions ( Jedidi et al. , 2021 ). In addition, technological advancement has rapidly affected marketing practices and management ( Amado et al. , 2018 ). To address this challenge, this paper aims to map the conceptual structure and the evolution of knowledge to uncover the existing topics, trending areas of interest and future directions.

Despite considerable research efforts in the marketing field, little has been done to review prior research works systematically. Moreover, recent review articles have mainly focused on specific marketing domains or are limited to particular contexts, such as customer experience ( Chauhan et al. , 2022 ), marketing communication ( Domenico et al. , 2021 ), customer engagement ( Chen et al. , 2021 ), consumer behavior ( Oliveira et al. , 2022 ), advertising ( Jebarajakirthy et al. , 2021 ) and product or brand positioning ( Saqib, 2021 ), while context-specific reviews include marketing in emerging markets ( Paul et al. , 2016 ), sustainable marketing ( Lunde, 2018 ), business-to-business marketing ( Pandey et al. , 2020 ), luxury brand marketing ( Arrigo, 2018 ) and tourism marketing ( Han and Bai, 2022 ). The lack of a holistic review of marketing research created a gap in the existing research. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a big picture of the most recent marketing literature. The most recent review work in the same vein was conducted by Morgan et al. (2019) , who evaluated 257 marketing strategy articles published in the six most influential marketing journals during 1999–2017. Nevertheless, given its focus on marketing strategy and limited research sources, it does not provide a comprehensive framework that covers all aspects of the marketing field. To complement the work by Morgan et al. (2019) , this paper conducts a review with a more recent timeframe that focuses on recent trends, patterns and development in the field. The inclusiveness of journals will also enable identifying areas of interest beyond marketing strategy.

What is the knowledge structure of the state-of-the-art most influential academic research in marketing?

What are the current research trends?

What are possible pathways for future research in marketing?

The present work will facilitate the understanding and advancement of theories and knowledge in the field. Also, this paper provides valuable insights into the field’s most relevant and pressing issues and informs where future research efforts should be focused. This will, in turn, improve the practical relevance and usefulness of future research and ensure that research efforts are targeted toward topics that will yield impactful results. Moreover, it offers up-to-date information for marketing researchers.

2. Methodology

This study focuses on characterizing the most influential academic marketing articles published between 2018 and 2022 and discussing the marketing state of the art.

2.1 Search strategy

A search string was applied in the Scopus database to find the most relevant articles for this research ( Ramos et al. , 2019 ). The Scopus database was chosen for the literature review as it is generally considered one of the largest repositories with the most relevant indexed publications and one of the most universally acknowledged bibliographic databases ( Kumar et al. , 2020 ). It is recognized as the most well-organized and of the highest credibility and quality standards, with the most significant global impact and more comprehensive cover ( Muñoz-Leiva et al. , 2015 ; Rojas-Lamorena et al. , 2022 ) and is consistent with previous bibliometric reviews applied in the marketing research setting ( Kumar et al. , 2021 ; Paul and Bhukya, 2021 ). In addition, it follows Donthu et al. (2021) ’s recommendation to select only one database to minimize human errors during analysis. All marketing journals (212) indexed in Scopus were included in the current study. The journal selection takes a rather inclusive approach instead of the sole inclusion of marketing-specific journals, as marketing is a diverse and evolving field not strictly tied to a single-subject field ( Baumgartner and Pieters, 2003 ) but often intersects with other disciplines. For instance, given the rapid advancement of technology and its influence on marketing practices, topics such as information systems or big data are growing in importance and relevance to the marketing literature ( Amado et al. , 2018 ). Accordingly, journals such as the International Journal of Information Management have also contributed significantly to marketing recently ( Veloutsou and Ruiz Mafe, 2020 ). The search was conducted on June 9, 2023.

2.2 Selection process and final data set

The search was conducted in the Scopus database and limited to 2018 to 2022 to obtain state-of-the-art articles. Five years is a reasonable timeframe to capture a discipline’s essence and to conduct a bibliometric analysis ( Borgohain et al. , 2022 ). The collection of articles over five years reflects varied, robust, broad, inclusive and unrelated marketing research interests in the marketing field ( Bettenhausen, 1991 ). The focus on the most recent works permits uncovering the most recent trends without the influence of older topics. Only articles were selected as they represent the most advanced and up-to-date knowledge and are recognized for their academic value ( Rojas-Lamorena et al. , 2022 ). In total, 44,767 articles were collected. To select the most recent influential marketing articles, the top 100 most cited articles were selected. The citation metric acknowledges the impact of the articles ( Donthu et al. , 2021 ) and reflects the impact of scholarly work in subsequent research ( Purkayastha et al. , 2019 ).

In addition, it is recognized as one of the most relevant metrics of academic research ( Dowling, 2014 ). Although assessing the influence of an article based on citation analysis represents a significant limitation because articles may be cited for multiple reasons, citation analysis is considered an objective approach that exhibits less systematic biases for research impact evaluation ( Baumgartner and Pieters, 2003 ). Previous works have used citation metrics for bibliometric analysis. For instance, Law et al. (2009) analyzed the most influential articles published in Tourism journals using citation counts, whereas Brito et al. (2018) identified the areas of interest in football research and listed the articles based on citation frequency. From each article, the following variables were retrieved: authors’ names and keywords, document title, year, source title and citation count. The information was extracted in CSV file format.

2.3 Final data set

The final data set includes 100 articles from 28 journals. The authors’ names were reviewed for normalization purposes as they have different nomenclatures in different articles (e.g. Dwivedi YK vs Dwivedi Y) so that the software understands them as the same.

2.4 Data analysis

The CSV file with the final data set was input for the bibliometric analysis. Data were analyzed using the mapping analysis R-tool bibliometrix ( Aria and Cuccurullo, 2017 ). This package allows different types of analysis, offering an overview of the research field. A bibliometric analysis permits to analyzing the bibliographic material quantitatively, providing an objective and reliable analysis ( Broadus, 1987 ; Sepulcri et al. , 2020 ) and summarizing the existing literature and identifying emerging topics of research ( Hota et al. , 2020 ). The authors’ names and keywords, year of publication, source title and the number of citations were collected from each article. A performance analysis was performed to acknowledge the field’s citation structure, most relevant sources, authors and articles. Then, science mapping analysis through a co-occurrence analysis was performed. The co-occurrence analysis aims to overcome the descriptive nature of the bibliometric analysis, uncovering gaps and research trends ( Palmatier et al. , 2018 ; Quezado et al. , 2022 ). The gaps and research trends led to a future research agenda.

3. Results and discussion

3.1 total citations by year.

As indicated in Table 1 , the 100 articles were cited 41,888 times, an average of 418.88 citations per article. The most contributing years were 2019 and 2020, with 33 published articles yearly. The year with the highest number of citations was 2019, with 14,621 citations, corresponding to 34.90% of the total citations. This record is strongly linked to the work of Snyder (2019) , with 1,872 citations that characterized different types of literature reviews and suggested guidelines on conducting and evaluating business research literature reviews. Due to the increasing number of publications, it is challenging to keep current with state-of-the-art research ( Briner and Denyer, 2012 ). Reviewing the existing research is fundamental for understanding marketing research inconsistencies, gathering and synthesizing previous research and serving as guidance for researchers and practitioners. In addition, literature reviews contribute to identifying potential gaps, suggesting novel research lines and allowing a balanced growth of a research field ( Hulland and Houston, 2020 ).

The year with the highest mean total citations per article and year was 2021 (527.5 and 175.83, respectively). This result is highly associated with Donthu et al. (2021) ’s work, with 1,221 citations, that explained how to develop a bibliometric analysis.

The main difference between a literature review and bibliometric analysis is the focus and the methodological approach. A literature review aims to critically analyze and synthesize existing knowledge under a research topic ( Snyder, 2019 ). In turn, a bibliometric analysis is a specific approach within the field of scientometrics that uses quantitative and statistical methods to analyze the scientific production and articles’ characteristics published in a specific research domain ( Aria and Cuccurullo, 2017 ).

3.2 Most influential articles

Seminal articles in marketing assume an essential role in its development ( Berry and Parasuraman, 1993 ). The number of citations was used to define and measure the impact of the most influential articles. The most cited document (total citation = 1,872) was Snyder’s (2019) work on conducting an overview and suggesting guidelines for conducting a literature review ( Table 2 ). The normalized citation compares an article’s performance to the data set’s average performance ( Bornmann and Marx, 2015 ; Rita and Ramos, 2022 ). Snyder (2019) ’s work has the highest normalized citation index (4.13), revealing its outstanding performance compared with the remaining articles from the data set.

Among the top 10 most cited articles, three are related to PLS-SEM. The partial least squares – structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) is relevant for marketing as it allows to examine of complex relationships between latent variables and manifest variables, permitting a flexible and less restrictive analysis in terms of statistical assumptions than other modeling techniques, such as confirmatory factor analysis and principal component analysis ( Hair et al. , 2020 ). By using PLS-SEM, marketing researchers can explore complex relationships among variables, test research hypotheses, identify the relative importance of different influencers and assess the validity and reliability of the measured variables ( Sarstedt et al. , 2019 ). It is frequently used in research involving the modeling of theoretical constructs, such as customer satisfaction ( Ramos et al. , 2022 ), brand image ( Kunkel et al. , 2020 ) or perceived quality ( Ariffin et al. , 2021 ) research.

Surprisingly, there are no articles from 2018 in the top 10 most cited articles. However, there are two articles published in 2021. One of the papers published in 2021 is the work of Verhoef et al. (2021) , which explores digital transformation and innovation in business models and suggests a research agenda for future studies. Digital transformation and innovation are highly relevant for marketing as it provokes consumer behavior change ( Lemos et al. , 2022 ). In addition, it allows companies to adapt to consumer behavior changes, seize the opportunities for segmentation and personalization, improve communication and engagement and increase operational efficiency ( Muneeb et al. , 2023 ; Zhang et al. , 2022 ).

3.3 Source impact

Table 3 depicts the top 10 most impactful sources of the 100 most influential marketing articles. The intellectual convergence is exhibited based on common sources and referencing patterns ( Donthu et al. , 2021 ), and identifying journals may facilitate future literature search and scientific dissemination.

Among the 28 journals, the International Journal of Information Management (IJIM) contributed the most papers (26 papers), followed by the Journal of Business Research (JBR) (22 papers) and the Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services (JRCS) (6 papers). These journals are all First Quartile journals based on SCImago Journal Rank (SJR) indicator, with an impact factor of 4.906, 2.895 and 2.543, respectively. The IJIM focuses on contemporary issues in information management ( Elsevier, 2023a ). Information management field of research plays a fundamental role in marketing, providing data and insights that guide marketing strategies, improve segmentation and customization, leverage automation marketing, data-driven decision-making and the performance evaluation of marketing initiatives ( Dwivedi et al. , 2020 ). The JBR aims to publish recent business research dealing with the spectrum of actual business practical settings among different business activities ( Elsevier, 2023b ), while the JRCS focuses on consumer behavior and policy and managerial decisions ( Elsevier, 2023c ). The findings indicate the contribution and importance of IJIM to the marketing field, recognizing the relevance of information management. Surprisingly, leading marketing journals listed in the Financial Times 50 ( Ormans, 2016 ), such as the Journal of Consumer Research , Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science and Journal of Marketing , only produced a small number of relevant articles in our data set. This result suggests that their papers may not be as impactful or influential as those published in other outlets. Nevertheless, the quality of the articles published in these outlets reflects the most original and well-executed research, as they have high submission rates. However, their rate of acceptance is very low.

Among the top 10 most productive journals, JBR is the one with the highest number of citations. This result confirms Table 2 ’s results as it lists six articles that were published in this journal ( Donthu et al. , 2021 ; Hair et al. , 2020 ; Sheth, 2020 ; Sigala, 2020 ; Snyder, 2019 ; Verhoef et al. , 2021 ).

3.4 Contributing authors

Key authors are essential to the field’s structure and growth ( Berry and Parasuraman, 1993 ) and positively influence the most impactful articles ( Rojas-Lamorena et al. , 2022 ). Thus, it is imperative to identify them and acknowledge their impact. Between 2018 and 2022, 100 documents were written by 312 different authors.

Table 4 characterizes the top 10 most productive authors among the most influential marketing research articles over the past five years. The authors’ indices were calculated, including h -index, g -index and m -index. The Hirsh index ( h -index) is the proposal to quantify productivity and the journal’s impact considering the number of papers and citations per publication ( Hirsch, 2005 ). The g -index aims to measure the performance of the journals ( Egghe, 2006 ), considering the citation evolution of the most cited papers over time. Furthermore, the m -index, also called the m -quotient, considers the h -index and the time since the first publication ( n ); hence, m -index = h -index/ n ( Halbach, 2011 ).

Professor Dwivedi YK is the most prolific, with seven published articles indicating more than one paper yearly. Although he is placed second as the most cited author (3,361), he has the highest h - (7), g - (7) and m -index (1.17). Professor Dwivedi’s research focuses on digital innovation and technology consumer adoption and the use of information systems and information technology for operation management and supply chain, focusing on emergent markets. Digital innovation and understanding technology consumer adoption allow companies to engage with consumers efficiently and personally ( Alalwan et al. , 2023 ). In addition, information systems and information technology applied in operation management and supply chain permit a higher efficiency and visibility in commercial activities, aiding companies to optimize processes, reduce costs and improve customer care ( Tasnim et al. , 2023 ). Professor Dwivedi is a Professor at the School of Management, Swansea University, UK ( Swansea, 2023 ). The second most productive author is Hair JF, and Hughes DL, with five articles each. Professor Hair JF is the most cited author in the list of the most productive authors. This record is highly associated with the work “Assessing measurement model quality in PLS-SEM using confirmatory composite analysis” ( Hair et al. , 2020 ), with 1,103 citations. Multiple papers gather authors from the list. For instance, the article “Artificial Intelligence (AI): Multidisciplinary perspectives on emerging challenges, opportunities, and agenda for research, practice and policy” ( Dwivedi et al. , 2021 ) was co-authored by Professors Dwivedi YK and Hughes DL. This paper has 637 citations and addresses the transformative power that artificial intelligence (AI) may have for the automation and replacement of human tasks, highlighting opportunities, challenges and impacts. AI plays a fundamental role in marketing, permitting advanced personalization, task automation, advanced data analysis, campaign optimization and improved customer experience, leading to personalized experiences and better marketing results ( Duan et al. , 2019 ; Dwivedi et al. , 2021 ).

Fractionalized frequency displays the multiauthored articles. This analysis is relevant to understand how researchers interact with each other ( Rojas-Lamorena et al. , 2022 ). A credit is attributed to each author, depending on the number of co-authors. If a paper has two authors, each receives a half-point. If a paper has three authors, each receives a third of a point, and so on ( Cuccurullo et al. , 2016 ). Professor Hughes DL has the lowest score (0.57) on the five most productive authors list, suggesting a strong relationship with colleagues through co-authorship based on shared interests.

3.5 Co-occurrence analysis

Figure 1 presents the authors’ keywords co-occurrence analysis and reflects the relationship between the keywords and the data set ( Wang et al. , 2012 ). Co-occurrence analysis aims to establish relationships and map the conceptual structure of the most influential marketing academic articles and reveal current research trends ( Eduardsen and Marinova, 2020 ). The thicker the lies among each cluster, the stronger the connection between the keywords. The size of each edge indicates the occurrence frequency. Thematic map displays the top 50 keywords and a minimum of 5 clusters. The thematic map shows six clusters, of which two are with the largest nodes, including AI (brown) and Covid-19 (blue). However, clusters with smaller nodes are bibliometric analysis (red), social media (purple), blockchain (green) and customer engagement (orange).

The brown cluster suggests a topic under AI technology. The cluster’s keywords highlight an interconnection and application of AI, machine learning and cognitive computing in the marketing research field. Deep learning, natural language processing and machine learning make part of a broader spectrum of AI ( Verma et al. , 2021 ). Cognitive computing refers to the capacity of computer systems to mimic human capacity to process information, learn and make decisions ( Duan et al. , 2019 ). These technologies handle big data efficiently, predict consumer behavior and support decision-making in actionable insights, transforming marketing strategies ( Blanco-Moreno et al. , 2023 ; Dwivedi et al. , 2021 ).

The blue cluster reflects the pandemic that affected the globe between 2020 and 2023 ( United Nations, 2023 ). This cluster reveals a close relationship between the Covid-19 pandemic and consumer behavior ( Sheth, 2020 ). The interest in understanding the attitudes and consumers’ decision-making is highly relevant for future pandemics ( Pereira et al. , 2023 ). In addition, the pandemic brought social and industry challenges that deserve academic attention ( Dwivedi et al. , 2020 ; Muneeb et al. , 2023 ). This cluster also addresses overconsumption driven by impulsive behavior promoted by the pandemic ( Islam et al. , 2021 ; Marikyan et al. , 2023 ). This cluster suggests insights on how companies can adequately develop marketing strategies to face the pandemic challenges and effectively respond to health crises.

The red cluster reveals a direct connection between bibliometric analysis and scientific assessment. The bibliometric analysis is applied to reveal research patterns and knowledge structure and access the scientific production impact ( Ramos and Rita, 2023 ). The use of bibliographic coupling, co-occurrence analysis and the Scopus database supplies the data set for the identification of relationships and patterns within the literature ( Donthu et al. , 2021 ), summarizing the existing literature and identifying emerging topics of research ( Hota et al. , 2020 ).

The purple cluster highlights the terms social media and marketing. The keyword social media highlights the role of platforms, such as Instagram or TikTok, for advertising ( Alalwan, 2018 ), understanding the role of influencers ( Lou and Yuan, 2019 ), and for co-creation in brand communities ( Kamboj et al. , 2018 ), influencer marketing. Social media platforms are fundamental for any communication strategy as they connect with the audience, create engagement and awareness and promote products and services ( Lou and Yuan, 2019 ). The strategic use of social media in marketing is fundamental for companies to establish an effective presence and build long-lasting relationships.

The orange cluster suggests a relationship between live streaming and customer engagement ( Wongkitrungrueng and Assarut, 2020 ). This interconnection suggests that live streaming can be an effective channel for developing social commerce, influencing purchase intentions ( Sun et al. , 2019 ). Real-time and direct interaction with customers promote greater involvement and improve customer experience.

The green cluster suggests a focus on applying blockchain technology in information systems. Blockchain is a decentralized and immutable technology for transaction registers studied in the supply chain context ( Min, 2019 ). It has a significant potential to transform data management ( Lemos et al. , 2022 ).

4. Conclusions and future research agenda

This study represents a map of the conceptual structure and evolution of the state-of-the-art scientific literature published in marketing journals to identify the areas of interest and potential future research directions. This review aimed to (1) acknowledge the structure of the state-of-the-art most influential academic marketing research, (2) identify current research trends and (3) suggest future research prospects.

4.1 RQ1: knowledge structure

Regarding RQ1, the most cited article among the top 100 between 2018 and 2022 was the work of Snyder (2019) , with 1,872 citations, followed by the work of Donthu et al. (2021) , with 1,221. The years 2019 and 2020 were those that most contributed to the top 100 most cited, with 33 articles each. Accordingly, these years had the most citations, 14,621 and 13,692, respectively. The IJIM was the source with the highest number of articles published from our data set ( n = 26). However, the JBR, with 22 published articles, was the journal with the highest citations ( n = 12,265). Every journal from the top 10 prolific sources is ranked in Scopus (SJR) as Q1. Professor Dwivedi YK was the most prolific author, with seven articles published, followed by Professors Hair JF and Hughes DL, with five articles each. Although placed second on the most productive authors list, the most cited author was Professor Hair JF, with 3,615 articles.

4.2 RQ2: current research trends

As for RQ2, this bibliometric analysis allowed us to identify current research trends through the co-occurrence analysis. Since a comprehensive future research agenda stimulates researchers to continue their research efforts ( Hulland and Houston, 2020 ), we suggest marketing future research questions to gain a deeper knowledge of current research trends ( Table 5 ).

Although AI has existed for over six decades ( Duan et al. , 2019 ), the development of supercomputers that analyze big data led to the exponential use of this technology. Its application in marketing varies and includes trend and prediction analysis, chatbots and marketing automation. However, particularly for data analysis, multiple research questions are yet to be answered ( Dwivedi et al. , 2021 ). Grounded on the AI (brown) cluster, it would be interesting to uncover different uses of AI to improve big data analysis.

The Covid-19 pandemic disrupted global habits ( Sheth, 2020 ). New habits emerged, changing the industry landscape in multiple dimensions, such as consumer, leisure and work behavior. Although multiple studies were published regarding the topic, much is yet to be uncovered. The effects of this pandemic are yet to be fully acknowledged, demanding future studies to comprehend the permanent changes in society ( Islam et al. , 2021 ). In addition, uncovering the best-implemented industry marketing strategies can be helpful, as it is inevitable that new pandemics occur in the future ( Pereira et al. , 2023 ).

Bibliometric analyses map and summarize existent research, extending the global understanding of a research topic and increasing the quality and success of scholarly work ( Donthu et al. , 2021 ). However, the analysis is mainly descriptive ( Ramos and Rita, 2023 ). Combining bibliometric analysis with other methods may enhance the results, leading to an advancement in using such an approach.

Social media is broadly used for marketing-related activities. Through social media platforms, it is possible to build brand image, generate leads for the company’s website, analyze and monitor data, or be an influencer marketer ( Alalwan, 2018 ; Lou and Yuan, 2019 ). Nevertheless, the implementation of gamification techniques ( Bhutani and Behl, 2023 ; Wanick and Stallwood, 2023 ), privacy concerns ( Saura et al. , 2023 ) and collective decision-making ( Dambanemuya et al. , 2023 ) are issues that deserve the attention of researchers.

Livestreaming captured the attention of digital retailing marketers in recent years and significantly changed social interaction. However, different types of live streaming exist, such as webinars, game streaming, corporate streaming, vlogs or personalized content, and can be used in different industries ( Zhang et al. , 2023 ). Investigating the influence of live streaming on consumer engagement may enhance understanding of its relevance for the industry and improve marketing effectiveness ( Wongkitrungrueng and Assarut, 2020 ).

Blockchain technology allows tracing and enhances transaction transparency, creating authenticity certificates to prevent fraud or loyalty programs to build customers’ loyalty and trust ( Lemos et al. , 2022 ). Despite several studies being conducted to understand the impact of this technology on marketing ( Marthews and Tucker, 2023 ; Tan and Salo, 2023 ), there is much to be learned and questions unanswered.

4.3 RQ3: future research agenda

Based on the comprehensive bibliometric analysis findings, potential directions for future research are presented ( Table 6 ). Topics surrounding data-driven marketing are particularly relevant ( Zhang et al. , 2022 ) due to the data abundance and technological advances, and they have the potential to be further developed. For instance, issues arising from adopting AI to uncover hidden patterns in big data or integrating data from different sectors or industries to understand consumer behavior are yet to be understood. In addition, environmental sustainability is highly relevant due to the increasing customers’ awareness of the topic and its influence on developing marketing strategies ( Jung et al. , 2020 ). However, multiple questions are yet to be answered. In particular, the influence of gamification techniques to promote positive, environmentally sustainable consumer behavior and how emerging technologies influence the customers’ perception of sustainable products. Mass personalization allows consumers to customize product features ( Qin and Lu, 2021 ). This topic is highly relevant to the industry and underexplored in marketing. For instance, how can mass personalization be efficiently implemented in highly productive industries? Or how can emerging technologies improve mass personalization programs? Finally, the wearable technologies market is exponentially growing and is increasingly essential to consumer behavior ( Ferreira et al. , 2021 ).

5. Conclusions and limitations

Through the bibliometric analysis of the 100 most influential marketing papers published between 2018 and 2022, this review presents potential directions for knowledge advancement and comprehensive information to facilitate future literature search ( Boell and Cecez-Kecmanovic, 2014 ) by identifying the current research focus, conceptual structure and trends in the marketing field. In addition, this review contributes to practice by identifying the most influential articles for the marketing scientific community interested in gaining scientific insights. Meanwhile, the important role of emerging technologies and the shift of marketing toward a more data-driven approach will have significant practical implications for marketers.

This work has limitations that need to be stated. First, data were limited to Scopus database and restrained to indexed marketing journals. However, it is essential to note that all scientific databases have limitations. Second, to select the most influential marketing documents, the only criterion was on a commonly used metric – the number of citations. Although citation metrics are commonly used, they may incorrectly demonstrate the quality of the work. There are multiple reasons for a work to be cited ( Vogel and Güttel, 2012 ), such as a journal’s prestige or factors related to the methods ( Hota et al. , 2020 ). The Mathew effect phenomenon also exists in science ( García-Lillo et al. , 2017 ). Third, articles take time to be cited. This means that the most recent articles from our data set may have fewer citations, but it does not mean that their quality is poorer. Fourth, to select the most influential marketing articles, every journal under the subject area “Business, Management and Accounting” and category “Marketing” were selected. However, there are journals listed in other subject areas and categories. Nevertheless, the data set may still provide significant insight into the marketing field.

Thematic map based on the authors’ keywords co-occurrence

Acknowledgements

Paulo Rita’s work was supported by national funds through FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia), under the project – UIDB/04152/2020 – Centro de Investigação em Gestão de Informação (MagIC)/NOVA IMS.

Since submission of this article, the following authors have updated their affiliations: Ricardo Ramos is at Technology and Management School of Oliveira do Hospital, Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra, Oliveira do Hospital, Portugal; ISTAR, Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), Lisboa, Portugal; Centre Bio R&D Unit, Association BLC3 – Tecnology and Innovation Campus, Oliveira do Hospital, Portugal; Paulo Rita is at NOVA Information Management School (NOVA IMS), Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal; and Celeste Vong is at NOVA Information Management School (NOVA IMS), Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal.

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71+ Research Paper Topics & Ideas for Marketing Students

As a marketing student, you probably have access to a plethora of resources such as your college library and of course, the internet, to come up with great research paper topics.

However, the thought of writing your research paper can be daunting, especially if you’re still brainstorming and don’t know what to write about.

Just like any other piece of writing, start by keeping your audience in mind. Then, make a list of research paper topics that are more relevant to your interests, or a new under-developed field (for example; augmented reality, or people sentiments towards Artificial Intelligence), or a unique research topic that intrigues your audience.

But if you’re still struggling to pin down one out of the many research paper topics for your program, we’ll suggest a number of them for you to either choose from; or for you to take inspiration from and come up with your own.

Table of Contents

How to Choose the Best Research Paper Topics

Before we dive into the details, you’ll have to familiarize yourself with the basics. For starters, pick up a pen and paper and brainstorm different topics that you’d like to write about.

While personal interest is definitely important, we also suggest you opt for a topic that will intrigue your readers. Here are a couple of factors you ought to keep in mind while selecting a topic:

Keeping your personal interest in mind

You probably won’t be able to write a stellar research paper if you’re not interested in the topic. Sit down with your peers and advisors to discuss possible ideas. It will be easier for you to discuss different themes once you’ve written down all your ideas in one place. If you’ve decided on a specific keyword for instance “consumer behaviour”, you can look for similar research papers on the internet.

A research paper isn’t a descriptive essay which you can drag aimlessly. Your research paper needs to be based on factual data and that’s only possible if you’ve conducted thorough research. While jotting down points for your first draft, ensure your statements are supported with references or examples citing credible academicals and research work.

Don’t leave it till the last day

A lot of students tend to undermine the writing process and leave for the last few days. Bear in mind that you can’t possibly write your entire research paper overnight. In order to succeed, you’ll have to devote sufficient amount of time to research.

Also, be prepared to schedule meetings with your advisor on a regular basis as you’re bound to require help along the way. At this point, make sure you only rely on credible sources that will support your dissertation.

Examples & List of Research Paper Topics

If you’re still unable to decide a topic of your interest, here is a list of 70 unique marketing research topics that you can use as marketing project topics for your MBA, or any other marketing course:

How do organizations use CSR ( corporate social responsibility ) to reinforce brand equity?
What manipulation tactics do brands use to get more customers?
How can brand image be communicated via social media marketing?
How can social media impact the buying choices of shoppers?
Are consumers equipped to shield themselves from direct marketing strategies?
Determine and analyze consumer buying behavior for [product name]
How does advertising impact consumer behaviour?
How does family orientation impact marketing communications?
What characteristics do buyers look for when purchasing a product online?
How does global marketing incorporate standardization?
What attributes do consumers look for when comparing products online?
How do financial institutions differentiate their goods and services on the basis of social class?
Is direct marketing really the most effective form of marketing?
What internet marketing trends can be expected for the future?
How to marketing strategies differ across different cultures?
Can brand advertising impact political campaigns?
How do brands exploit impulsive buying?
How does loyalty cards encourage sales and boost customer loyalty?
Can well-marketed brands get away with selling substandard quality products?
How is globalization having on impact on consumer behaviour?
Impact of brand image on customer loyalty
Brand attributes that lead to an increase in customer loyalty
Successful marketing approaches that helped break through strong market monopoly
Impact of cause marketing on brand affinity with young mothers
Effect of consumer promotions and discount offerings on brand equity
The outcomes of advertising in a recession
Influence on Social Media advertising on consumer behaviour
Effect of TV advertising on top of mind awareness
Understanding customer perceptions around event sponsorships
Does corporate social responsibility translate into sales?
Canadians perspective on being targeted with mobile ads based on their browser history
Is direct marketing welcomed by people?
Are customers able to differentiate between various mortgage offering by competing banks?
Does social media influence buying behaviour
Do people like being click baited into sponsored posts?
Understanding the impact of celebrity endorsements on ROI for CPG brands
Women’s sentiments around comparison advertising
How effective is comparison advertising to build brand equity?
Do consumers prefer purchasing routine grocery products online?
Is earned media perceived to be as important as it appears to be?
What makes people want to share content to their friends?
Understanding why content goes viral
Marketing challenges around the evolving family structures
Are we losing the emotional value and significance of money being in a cashless society?
Is centralized global marketing a good idea for brand health in local markets?
How is augmented reality going to enhance marketing experiences?
How will artificial intelligence support in making better marketing decisions?
Is immersion marketing through virtual reality technology going to be accepted?
What does the luxury auto buyer look for in a car?
How to instill a desire to purchase for customers in the luxury category
Harmful effects of advertising to kids
Impact of in-store branding on brand salience
Effect marketing strategies for restaurant businesses
Habit formation and ways to integrate new products in consumer lifestyles
Is display advertising going to die?
Can Snapchat help small business grow?
How do customers perceive the brand who advertise on Instagram?
The impact of humour in advertising
Do customers pay attention to nutrition labels?
What triggers impulse buying behaviour
Essentials to sky rocket a new brand to heights of awareness
The factors that lead to customer satisfaction in young adults
Elements that help build an emotional connection with your audience
How do males and females differ in their buying behaviour of mobile phones
Does language targeting help in ethnic advertising?
Customer Perceptions: Are well known brands good in quality?
Is radio still an effective method of advertising?
Rural vs Urban marketing challenges to be mindful of
Impact of internal branding on employee retention and turnover
An in-depth analysis of political marketing in Canada

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Market Research Trends to Conquer 2023

Market Research trends didn’t shift all that much over the course of the year. But, there are some that became far more prominent than others.

As an essential component of any business strategy, Market research is knowledge. And as we all know, knowledge is power. The right research tells you who your customers are, what they need and want, and what they expect from your business. While market research itself is extensive, knowing market research trends is almost equally important.

Surely, you can’t rely solely on in-person audience questionnaires and surveys as your entire strategy anymore. This isn’t the 60s. We’ve evolved and so has the world, so you can’t expect to use the same strategies forever.

That’s where knowledge of trends in market research can help you. Let’s cover some of the top market research trends for 2023 so you can meet your customers where they are and grow your business.

Trend 1. Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Businesses are blessed with massive amounts of data to analyze customer needs. But the vastness is a double-edged sword. How do you collect and analyze such vast amounts of information promptly while still conducting other essential business tasks?

Shocker: AI isn’t one of the most recent trends in the market research industry. Companies have used it for the past decade, but it is now more commonplace, more widely adopted, and smarter than ever.

Human capital isn’t enough to compile, organize, and analyze datasets from every possible source; that’s where AI can help. AI and machine learning do the heavy lifting, saving you both time and money in labor costs. Imagine seeing deep insights across millions of datasets laid out for you within minutes. Magic.

On top of the improved efficiency, AI offers more room for innovation in the types of data you can collect in your research. Today, Emotion AI analyzes facial expressions, eye movements, voices, and other non-verbal cues to figure out how a customer feels about something. These valuable insights can complement a customer survey – or replace it if it’s found to be more accurate.

Innovators beware, though. AI isn’t a complete replacement for human capital, it’s a supplementary tool. You still need people to brainstorm growth strategies and apply insights to business day-to-day. And yes, this even applies to the latest craze to rock the internet, ChatGPT.

Robot representing Content AI for Content Trends

Bottom line? AI is one of the most important market research industry trends to scale your business and reach your customers, but use it in tandem with strong talent.

Trend 2. Mobile app intelligence

With the average person opening a mobile app 11 times per day, and over 90% of mobile time now being spent on apps – there’s no doubt that apps can impact almost every business, in one way or another. The ability for organizations to monitor and track app intelligence is no longer a nice-to-have, but a must. The need for mobile app intelligence is rising across all industries, globally.

With the ability to see web and app traffic together, it’s easy to spot how consumer behaviors are changing: and it allows leaders and analysts to measure the impact of apps in their market. For those looking to rule in (or out) app investments, this provides the data needed to inform those decisions. With a complete view across the digital landscape, organizations can track how the new era of mobile-first consumers spend their time and money online.

With technology driving increased demand for apps and disruptive start-ups entering almost every sector, rapid market shifts are fast becoming the norm. App intelligence gives people the ability to spot emerging threats and take action when and where it’s needed. Without the complete picture, decisions around growth and strategy are only partially informed, which could impact outcomes further down the road.

Trend 3. Humanity in customer experience

Market research trends sometimes shift the type of data we collect from our customers. In 2023, it’s not enough to capture technical markers like age, location, and gender. Today’s customer expects a personalized customer experience, and you can’t give it to them without knowing psychographic data . What’s their attitude towards, well, everything? Are they introverted or extroverted? You also want to learn where their values lie and align yours with theirs.

After that, you use those deep personal insights to infuse more humanity into their experience. You might send a check-in email asking them if their last purchase helped them solve a problem. Or, you’ll refer to them by name when your chatbot addresses them online.

The result?

Bigger shopping carts, higher sales, and improved profit margins, according to 40% of executives surveyed by Forbes .

Trend 4. Social listening

Social listening tools have been around for a while. So, why is social listening one of the latest trends in the market research industry? One reason is the emergence of the Metaverse, which may plug your customers online even more.

Another key qualifier is real-time. Real-time social media competitive analysis will set you apart from the competition. You should always be aware if your customers attribute your content to a negative social issue, for example.

Find actionable insights from online conversations and monitor social engagement metrics . Keep track of brand mentions of course, but also common search terms and phrases. Reminders and alerts will help you stay on top of the ever-awake social media landscape.

Trend 5. Inclusive research

ESG (environmental, social, and governance) is becoming a must for businesses, with government provisions of ESG growing to 74%. But the important part is the return – environment, social criteria, and ethical governance considerations add up to 63% in equity returns . One way to promote stronger social consideration is through more inclusivity in hiring and research.

Market research inclusivity is one of the latest trends in the market research industry. The truth is, old ways of market research didn’t adequately capture a diverse audience. You can’t use the same panel provider every time and expect diverse results. Nor can you ask the same survey questions and use the same demographic markers to categorize your audience.

Inclusive research requires curiosity.

Who are your unique visitors ?
Which groups seem omitted from your analysis?
How can you uncover more diverse audiences with your current tactics?

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Trend 6. Monitoring adjacent markets

You might not expect new trends in market research to include consideration of an entirely new market altogether. But COVID-19 showed us the importance of a business’s quick ability to pivot, and you can’t do that if you don’t understand adjacent markets.

Pro Tip: Similarweb has the freshest data available to show you real market trends in almost real time so you can see what’s happening before your competitors.

Similarweb keyword data showing COVID-19 words trending.

Consider this: A world event destroys your business. Your target audience can’t afford your product anymore, or they don’t need it. How do you recover? Maybe you focus on a new, niche audience . Or, you figure out how you can change your product offering to better meet your current customer needs.

Uber is a great example of a business that included adjacent markets in its research. While traditional ridesharing became less common throughout the pandemic, the adjacent food delivery market boomed – and Uber took full advantage.

Lesson to learn? When you conduct your market research, squeeze in time and budget to learn about customers in adjacent markets – it could save your business

Trend 7. Market-tech audits

How many platforms do you use to conduct market research? Martech continues to emerge with new companies offering the latest innovations – but that doesn’t warrant jumping on all of them.

A market-tech audit is one of the most essential trends in market research today. The last two years have made it so easy to adopt multiple techniques and software to no avail – it’s time for an audit.

Think about which solutions overlap in function. Are you doubling the work and struggling to cut out redundancies throughout your research? Is the tech you invested in to find efficiencies actually slowing down your workflow?

Dissect every solution and focus on ones that provide robust data analytics.

Trend 8. Consumer and brand value alignment

The latest generation of customers (Gen Z) cares about your brand identity and business values.

Today, customers want to invest in businesses with values aligned with their own. If your target audience values environmental sustainability, you better demonstrate that in your brand values and policies.

How sustainability is seen in marketing.

A fancy mission statement isn’t sufficient. Customers will catch on quickly if your outward appearance doesn’t match your daily operations. One way to keep up with this market research trend is with social listening. Keep track of how your brand values are being discussed on social media – maybe there’s room for some revision, or a renewal of vows, if you will.

The result? Customer loyalty overdrive.

Trend 9. Automation and efficiency

Companies can find more efficiencies by hopping on market research trends of AI and market tech audits, of course. But there’s more to automation than those two tools. AI helps you sift through more information to find insights, sure. But where else can you find efficiency?

One way is to cater to the mobile-first generation with shorter, smarter surveys. The average person doesn’t have the capacity or interest to sit through a 30-question questionnaire. Find your mobile audience and give them the shortest, yet richest survey possible. You’ll find more efficiency if you narrow down your data to the most important.

Back to AI. Market research isn’t all exciting insights and analysis. A lot of it is tedious – collecting research, organizing and categorizing information, sending follow-up emails, and much more. The latest trends in market research demand that you automate these time-consuming tasks. Free up your time to do more meaningful work.

Market research trends: in summary

The latest trends in the market research industry echo slowly-building trends from the last couple of years as well as introduce completely new ways of conducting market research.

Here’s the truth: market research has never been so exciting! Implementing AI, inclusivity, social listening, and humanity within strategies will take your market research to new levels. But without keeping track of market research trends, you can’t use any of it to your advantage.

The solution? Leverage market research trends to propel your business forward. You’ll find new customers and show your current ones that they’re important.

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Quirk's most-viewed marketing research articles of 2022

A list of the most-viewed marketing research and insights articles published by Quirk’s in 2022. Topics include photovoice, B2B surveying, DEI research, CX trends and more.

The marketing research and insights industry dug into a variety of topics this year, from discussions on employee turnover, staffing shortages and quiet quitting, to better understanding what it really means to conduct inclusive research. Interested in checking out Quirk’s most popular magazine and e-newsletter articles published this year? We went back to our archive and compiled a few of the most-viewed articles of 2022.*

Most-viewed articles of 2022

(listed in no particular order)

How to ask race and ethnicity questions in a more inclusive way

To do our jobs as insights professionals we need to understand how human behavior is changing – and to ensure we are keeping up with these changes we must do everything we can to incorporate inclusive and diverse perspectives in market research. If we continue to rely on standard demographic collection methods, we will fall short of allowing people to express and define their diverse identities in an accurate way. In particular, allowing study participants to capture their true identity is increasingly important – this is especially true among younger generations. Read more.

The power of images in qual: Using photovoice to discover stories hiding in plain sight

When I was 10 years old, my father gave me a camera. This gift ultimately led to a career creating images of people that show them as people first – vs. a category or diagnosis.

Photovoice is a qualitative tool that puts the power of the camera in the hands of the individuals researchers are trying to understand. It allows research subjects to give voice to their own experiences through the images they create. Read more.

B2B surveying in the time of COVID-19

COVID-19 has had a profound effect on almost all phases of life. Marketing research is not exempt. B2B researchers on both the client side and the supplier side have felt the burdens of new challenges to obtaining quality research results necessary to guide sound decision-making.

High rates of employee turnover and staffing shortages, coupled with reduced discretionary time on the job to do things like complete surveys, mean that a precise focus on proven research tactics is needed to use B2B research effectively. B2B research (as well as consumer research) generally consists of five specific activities. Read more.

Qualitative research and the decline of the conversation

A client who was new in their role called me recently to say they were confused because a moderator on our team was not asking questions in the same order during each in-depth interview they conducted. They said, “You know, it feels like it’s a conversation rather than research.”

It took me a moment to process before I calmly replied, “Thank you for the feedback, it sounds like they’re doing exactly what a qualitative research consultant is supposed to be doing!” Read more.

How Microsoft marketing researchers are putting DEI priorities into motion

In some ways, inclusion – from a statistical vantage point – has been on the minds of insights professionals for decades. Representation has been a mark of quality in research of all kinds, assuring that all voices are counted in proportion.

But inclusion has now evolved into a much broader concern, one that has grown well beyond sample sizes and population counts. Brands need to recognize and meet the needs of all types of consumers – ethnically diverse, differently abled and with a strong preference for certain modes and devices for communicating. Researchers need to take on this newly expansive definition as both a mission and a mandate; if getting representation right was complex before, it has grown even more challenging – and more important. Read more.

Does the marketing research industry have a quiet quitting problem?

You’ve heard the phrase “quiet quitting,” where an employee does the bare minimum at work and effectively “clocks out.” You’ve nodded your head in agreement or you’ve rolled your eyes, but regardless of how you feel about the trend, the driver comes down to the perceived value an individual feels they are getting for their work. This is also a challenge we’ve faced in the market research industry for years. Read more.

Why feedback from customers still matters in CX research

The proliferation of customer data has made it easier than ever to create more engaging customer experiences and effective marketing tactics. But as companies become awash in customer data, some are considering eliminating traditional CX and brand-tracking survey systems in favor of purely database solutions. Why ask customers what they think when you can collect data on customer interactions and use that to predict churn, customer lifetime value, next-best actions and more?

The promise is alluring, and companies should continue to invest in predictive customer analytics to deliver personalized and micro-moment interactions with customers. However, it’s clear that traditional survey systems still play a critical role in telling the whole story by filling the empathy gaps that database solutions alone often struggle to address. Read more.

How to stop professional survey cheaters

For market researchers everywhere, tackling fraud has become a high-stakes battle to defend data integrity. Yet, even as organizations scramble to thwart increasingly sophisticated attempts to infiltrate online surveys – including the wholesale deployment of bots and click farms – determined fraudsters constantly seek out fresh ways to subvert the system, ruthlessly exploiting every vulnerability. Read more.

5 customer experience trends to watch in 2022

Customer success on a holistic level is impossible to achieve in a single day. It requires a series of events where your customers get wowed by excellent customer service and satisfaction. In the past, businesses believed they could compete on price and drive customer success with relative ease. Today customer experience has surpassed the product's worth as a key differentiator. In fact, 86% of buyers are willing to pay more for a better customer experience. Read more.

The rhythms of attention and memory in advertising

Attention and memory are the alpha and the omega of advertising effectiveness, just as rhythm and melody are essential for anyone trying to pen a memorable pop song. To connect attention-getting advertising to action, such as consumer purchasing behavior, it is necessary for advertising to work through memory.

Short-term or working memory, which integrates all the perceptions of the advertising experience streaming to the brain – pictures, words and music – does its job typically in less than 30 seconds, before passing the ball to long-term memory. Read more.

4 trends changing customer and employee experiences: Part 1

In the past few years, businesses have had to pivot more times than we can count – especially when it comes to the experiences they provide customers, employees and the greater market. We have all had to adapt our strategies in real time to meet the needs of the moment, and it’s safe to say it’s been challenging.

But as we move forward, experience-focused businesses are faced with a new challenge: there is no “back to normal.” The circumstances of the past few years have forever changed us as individuals – and our expectations as consumers. Read more.

Empathy as the foundation of a successful company

The value of empathy in business can’t be underestimated. If being good and kind isn’t incentive enough, the data show that people want businesses to demonstrate empathy for consumers and society.

64% of people think CEOs should lead change rather than waiting for the government.
81% of people say they want to be able to trust a brand to do what’s right.
78% of people say it’s important for brands to put customers before profit.
Half of people choose, switch or avoid brands based on societal issues.

Gauging the future of electric and autonomous vehicles

Two important trends within the automotive industry – the growth of electric vehicles (EVs) and the development of autonomous vehicles (AVs) – are spurring extraordinary changes in technological advances, manufacturing practices and even dealership selling and servicing approaches. In this article we examine how market researchers need to adapt their research perspectives to provide salient and cogent information to EV and AV manufacturers, their suppliers and stakeholders in the coming years. Read more.

Using behavioral biases to increase the value of segmentation

Does your segmentation measure and understand behavioral biases? Understanding bias can assist in targeting and influencing specific behaviors. Doing this increases segmentation’s value vs. traditional segmentation approaches.

Why? Because traditional segmentations rely on rational measures and rational thinking. This limits their value. Because we – humans – are irrational. Read more.

Philips Healthcare put human experiences at the heart of research into cardiology care pathways

The way in which health and health outcomes are experienced and defined is evolving. We are all very much aware of how the global pandemic is accelerating transformation within health care, subsequently impacting the design, accessibility and experience of care systems. To successfully engage with this changing landscape, we need an enhanced, holistic approach to insight development. While changes are happening at a system and regulatory level, the importance of the human or lived experiences of health care remains paramount.

In this article, we will share some of our recent learnings around motivating and inspiring a more holistic approach to exploring and understanding changing experiences within evolving health care systems. Read more.

Practical tips for increasing the influence of your marketing research insights

When I was a child, every Thanksgiving my family would prepare a huge meal that included all the usual dishes that you’d expect at most holiday tables. We had turkey, gravy, stuffing, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes. And then there was a lone bowl of cranberry sauce. That singular dish of cranberry sauce would end up sitting in the fridge for a week or so after Thanksgiving, ignored. This happened each year without fail. We’d purchase the ingredients, prepare the dish, serve it, store it and then throw it away, unused. One year I asked my mom, why do you bother to make cranberry sauce if nobody eats it? She didn’t hesitate with her answer: “Because we’re supposed to.”

Too often companies treat market research like cranberry sauce. It’s done because we’re supposed to do it, but it has no impact on our decisions. Read more.

How privacy can be a competitive advantage in digital marketing

The data privacy movement is disrupting digital marketing worldwide. But disruption leads to innovation. With the right tactics, privacy is an opportunity for competitive advantage.

Throughout the history of digital advertising, there have been many important changes that caused concern for how brands do business. In the end, marketers have learned to adapt to this fluid environment and in most cases have ended up better off than before. Data privacy is proving to be no different. While being driven by consumer apprehension on how personal information is being collected, stored and used, it’s causing marketers to rethink how they can be smarter in their approach and improve users’ online experience to encourage long-term relationships. Read more.

Marketing researchers assess the current health care landscape

Intellus Worldwide, an organization for health care insights professionals, has partnered with Trinity Life Sciences to track the ever-changing pharmaceutical marketplace and the impact those changes may have for the market research professional through the annual Trends and Futures survey. The Trends and Future survey has been developed by Intellus membership to gain a deeper insight across several categories of exploration from the perspective of manufacturers and agency suppliers. The Wave 1 (Q1 2020) survey focused on identifying broader trends influencing health care researchers, while the most recent Wave 2 (Q1 2021 survey¹) signaled broader insights across the key thematic areas of consumers, clinical trials and technology. Each wave of the survey includes a sample of health care market researchers at biopharmaceutical and health care companies as well as professionals across market research, data, technology and sample providers. Read more.

*While the list truly includes the most read articles published in 2022 on Quirk's site (data gathered from Google Analytics), we present them in random order as our calculations do not take into consideration the different modes of publication (print, digital) and audiences.

Want to Know What Your Customers Really Think? Simplify Your Satisfaction Survey! Related Categories: Qualitative Research, CX/UX-Customer/User Experience, Survey Research Qualitative Research, CX/UX-Customer/User Experience, Survey Research, Customer Satisfaction Studies, Data Analysis, Data Quality, Software-Online Surveys, Survey Design

Product development: Leveraging qualitative research to meet customer expectations Related Categories: Consumer Research, Qualitative Research, CX/UX-Customer/User Experience Consumer Research, Qualitative Research, CX/UX-Customer/User Experience, Consumers, Focus Group-Moderating, Product Development Research, Product Testing Research

Survey Monitor May/June 2024 Related Categories: Health Care (Healthcare), Consumer Research, Health Care (Healthcare) Research Health Care (Healthcare), Consumer Research, Health Care (Healthcare) Research, Research Industry, Grocery/Supermarkets, Restaurants/Food Service, Shopper Insights, Artificial Intelligence / AI, Beverage, Consumers, Entertainment, Environmental, Media Research-Digital, Physicians, Transportation, Travel

In Case You Missed It...May/June 2024 Related Categories: Employees, Survey Research Employees, Survey Research, Research Industry, The Business of Research, One-on-One (Depth) Interviews, Questionnaire Analysis

6 Market Research Industry Trends to Watch in 2022

crystal ball with city backdrop represents market research trends

Market researchers are experienced at studying trends to uncover customer preferences and needs, both current and future. But what about trends in the market research industry itself? We decided to turn the figurative camera around and ask six market research and insights leaders what trends they think will shape their industry in 2022 and beyond.

While each professional offered a different perspective, it was interesting to see several commonalities emerging. One thing that became clear across predictions was that while technology is enabling market research professionals to work more efficiently, analyze larger volumes of data, and make data-backed recommendations, the industry is still highly focused on the human –on both the employee and customer side.

You can check out the six predictions for 2022 market research trends below.

Taking Action: Inclusivity and Sustainability

Over the past several years, many market research teams have been taking a critical look at the ways they approach diversity, equity, and inclusion (both in their research and the workplace) as well as environmental sustainability. Zontziry ‘Z’ Johnson , co-host of the podcast MRXplorer , predicts that 2022 is the year these teams start putting DE&I and sustainability plans into action:

I think–and hope–2022 is the year we see the shift from talking about how to be more inclusive in our research and how to be more environmentally friendly in the ways we do business, to taking actions to improve. This includes putting better research practices into place, such as expanding the panel providers client-side researchers work with to improve the representativeness of their research; changing the way we ask demographic questions so they are more inclusive and therefore more reflective of our world; and maybe even seeing a balance of in-person events and the far more accessible virtual events to reduce the carbon footprint we create at the industry level.

Empathy in Designing and Delivering Insights

As businesses shifted to working remotely and research teams recalibrated their priorities and methodologies in response to the covid-19 pandemic, the need to practice empathy came into sharp focus. Now, as many organizations shift to hybrid work models and in-person research slowly starts to come back, empathy must remain a priority. Danielle Todd , Head of Client Strategy at Relish , says:

Working at home blurred the line between professional and personal, and put a fresh lens on the importance of taking care of our whole selves, our families and communities, and our businesses. Whether that be through how we approach client challenges, or how we collaborate and work, or the pace we work at; the foundational driver in what we do should always be empathy. Empathy in the workplace is positively linked to employee happiness and performance , and (unsurprisingly) the associated positive impact on the bottom line is well appreciated and established. I imagine, after a particularly trying year, 2022 will focus on rebuilding businesses, brands, and teams with a well-deserved focus on empathy in how we design and deliver insight.

Social Listening Takes Center Stage

Social listening–the practice of monitoring and analyzing social media conversations about a brand or industry–is not new in the world of market research, but it may become an increasingly popular approach to understanding customers at a time when the average internet user spends almost two and a half hours on social media every day. Patrick Casey, Director of Growth Marketing at Felix Health , says:

In 2022, I forecast a greater demand in market research for social listening tools. Billions of people are creating and consuming content for social media on a daily basis. With the unveiling of the Metaverse, the lines between ‘real’ and ‘virtual’ may continue to be blurred even further. This could create a cornucopia of new, uncharted consumer insights and behavior metrics for marketers to research and discover as users explore a heavily augmented virtual reality. For the market research industry, this means that monitoring the popularity of search terms, brands, and phrases is a must if you wish to create relevant, multi-modal content for your target audience. With social listening tools, you can get an overview of these online conversations from a bird’s eye view, giving you an idea of market sentiment, short-term trends, and actionable opportunities.

User-Generated Content as a Data Source

With data privacy becoming an increasingly bigger concern for consumers, market researchers must focus on obtaining data from users who have actively opted in. Paul Sherman, CMO at Olive , believes that one of the ways market researchers will do this is by encouraging the sharing of user-generated content:

The defining trend of market research and customer insights in 2022 will be figuring out different ways to obtain customer data. Now that Google has cracked down on third-party cookies in Chrome and Apple has increased app-tracking privacy on their devices, companies have to find new and less intrusive ways to obtain web user data. I expect user-generated content to be the primary solution to this because customers give the data to you voluntarily while also having fun creating their own content (e.g. videos, written stories, etc.).

DSIGHT: Decision as Connected to Insight

It’s not just the ways that insights professionals collect data and conduct research that are evolving: it’s also the ways they share their findings with stakeholders and drive decisions. Dr. Eugene Roytburg, Co-Founder and CEO of Clearbox Decisions , believes the biggest trend we’ll see in 2022 is what he calls DSIGHT:

DSIGHT, a concatenation of D ecisions based on in SIGHT , will revolutionize how decisions will be made in the future with technology and AI to automate the bottom of the insights value chain (connecting and synthesizing data points via decision trees). This will free up and also guide insights professionals to drive insights creation, implications, recommendations and eventually, business decisions. Stronger and better conclusions and decisions will be more cost-effective and efficient by leveraging decision trees and cutting-edge AI technology.

Source: Clearbox Decisions

Balancing People and Technology

AI, technology, and automation are helping market research teams process large volumes of data, cut down on research project timelines, democratize insights across stakeholder groups, and drive decisions, but AI also provides insights professionals the ability to influence more than just marketing decisions across the business. In 2022, insights leaders will drive insights adoption across functional areas, and evolve into a truly insights- and marketing-led culture. According to Larisa Mats, Head of Consumer Insights at Brunswick (a Bloomfire customer):

In my experience, businesses are always trying to do more with the same (or fewer) people. The role of insights professionals continues to evolve with technological advances, but you still need human capital to think strategically and program machines. Developing deep consumer insights and applying them to the business in a strategic, thoughtful, carefully considered way to optimize brand growth will continue to rely on insights partners and thought leaders in the consumer research space. New tools, data streams, and technologies are a great start, but deep-rooted culture change requires work: finding insights champions on the brand/business teams, immersing them in the latest research and where to find it, brainstorming ways to build strategic action plans based on this new information, demonstrating the value of insights so it becomes embedded in their decision-making process. To maximize the utility of a knowledge platform like Bloomfire, business leaders across all levels and functional areas need to use the platform to share information and best practices, exchange ideas and collaborate–that is the power of democratizing knowledge.

Keeping an Eye on Market Research Trends in 2022

From an increasing focus on inclusivity and empathy to the adoption of insights sharing technologies that can be leveraged across teams, the trends that we’re seeing in market research now have the power to transform the industry. We’re excited to see what 2022 and the years to come bring, and we want to thank the market research professionals who shared their predictions with us.

We first published our annual blog post on market research trends in 2020. We updated it with all new trends and predictions in December 2021.

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What are the top market research challenges in 2022?

We all know that conducting market research in today’s landscape is nothing short of challenging — from the need to deliver deeper and more meaningful insights faster to developing strategic, always-on research functions.

In many ways, the pandemic amplified existing challenges while creating new ones: the role of the market researcher has evolved from just the deliverer of insight to the supporter of strategy, while organizations are gradually moving towards end-to-end research platforms to support every area of the business.

These are, of course, early days, and many organizations are still finding their footing — but those that are aware of and combating these challenges are those leading the charge.

In this blog, we analyze some of the top market research challenges from our 2022 Market Research Trends report, and provide tips and tricks on how to overcome them.

Challenge 1: Addressing market uncertainty

For market researchers, acting during times of uncertainty is nothing new. After all, much of their expertise lies in analyzing large amounts of disparate data to uncover conclusions and highlight opportunities. And it’s through this data, specifically experience data, that researchers can chart a course forward.

However, in times like these (with the pandemic and shift to digital), there’s a tendency to pause or cancel projects and initiatives — perhaps to recoup lost investments, protect employees or ensure the business can continue to run.

That said, there’s a compelling argument for organizations to weather the storm — to continue pushing through and put more faith into their research activities to understand how business and customer mindsets have shifted. By investing more time and resources into market research, organizations can get ahead of the competition and start to deliver experiences fit for the new world of work.

And most organizations have responded positively. Through our research, we discovered that while market uncertainty is one of the top challenges for market researchers — the vast majority of respondents (67%) are investing more in specialized market research technology to get a grasp of the post-COVID-19 world. As important, 77% see these technologies as critical to their organization’s success.

There’s more — these organizations are also investing heavily in product, brand and customer experience technology to close gaps across their activities. It’s through these tools that they can improve brand recognition and sentiment, customer engagement and satisfaction, and ultimately deliver more valuable products.

The reality is that uncertain times are highly dynamic. Needs, priorities, concerns and perceptions change frequently. But the only way to be successful in an ever-changing landscape is to adapt and understand the new state of play.

Challenge 2: Improving data quality and insights

For almost a third of our report’s respondents (31%), the most helpful innovation for addressing their business’ challenges in 2022 would be an automated data quality solution. Indeed, gathering and processing data, especially with a series of disconnected, disparate tools and a growing list of digital channels — often leads to inconclusive or low-quality insights.

But as well as lacking the right tools, some organizations lack the expertise and resources required to properly utilize the assets at their disposal. According to our report, 20% of respondents cite a lack of skills and training as one of the reasons their market research is being held back. Another variable affecting data quality.

Similarly, data from Forrester Consulting’s report (The State of Evidence-Based Experience Design) — commissioned by Qualtrics — highlights that limited use (by almost half of the respondents) of analytics tools and siloed processes poses major challenges to data-driven experience design and adoption.

Typically, data quality issues arise from these problems:

Therefore, to get the most value from market research in these instances, organizations must do the following things:

1. Develop and implement a repeatable, scalable and robust data gathering and collection process.

As business outcomes are built around new market research, ensuring you have a solid strategy and approach to using the data is absolutely critical. This means embedding consistency at every phase of your research project, carefully evaluating the methods you (or your market research agencies) use and asking yourself: “is there a better way of doing this?”

And in most cases, there is. You may have disconnected processes and knowledge gaps, or your approach to market research is outdated. The idea here is that you build a best-in-class research culture that’s supported by the technology you choose to use. If your strategy and approach are riddled with problems, your data will suffer the same.

At every opportunity, try to identify ways of doing things better and more efficiently to support your overall market research goals, whether that’s automating specific elements or outsourcing the data collection so you can focus on analysis. What’s key is that the process is repeatable, scalable and robust.

2. Acquire a solution that empowers everyone, across the organization, to carry out and analyze research

We’ve spoken previously about the benefits of platformification for the market research industry, but it bears repeating here. Considering the challenges facing market research projects, including the need to glean higher quality insights faster — platformification offers a solution.

By consolidating data, and combining qualitative and quantitative capabilities and datasets in a single platform, platformification enables organizations to connect the dots at every stage to surface more holistic insights efficiently. This is also incredibly important as less than half of organizations (45%) use qualitative and quantitative data to uncover new experiences.

Analytically, platformification means organizations can use modern technology to capture data from multiple sources and deliver richer insights, faster. For the expert market researcher, it enables them to use advanced statistical analysis tools to elevate findings and get significantly more from the same amount of data.

Finally, with the right choice of platform, it becomes possible for anyone in the organization to carry out data collection and research projects — all without training. It’s the natural evolution of market research, an approach that gives everyone the capabilities they need.

3. Clearly define research methods, analysis and use the right tools

Relying on a platform that offers all types of research, quantitative, qualitative and more, vastly increases your data collection and analysis capabilities while giving you the flexibility you need to carry out specific projects.

Furthermore, using the right tools and technology means that you can make sense of certain types of data, such as structured and unstructured data. For example, the ability to capture and analyze open-text responses across multiple channels to determine customer sentiment and engagement.

4. Establish collaboration across the enterprise

A core part of developing and deploying successful market research projects is collaboration across the entire enterprise. Having a singular platform helps — in that everyone is effectively working from the same location — but it’s also important to get buy-in and clearly articulate the purpose of the research in advance.

It’s also worth setting up regular meetings or sessions with teams before, during and after any market research project to understand progress, highlight opportunities or issues, and then identify ways of improving upon the process.

This kind of collaboration fosters not just good relationships with departments (enabling market researchers to become trusted advisors and strategists, rather than just analysts), it also builds a culture where market research is put at the heart of all campaigns.

Challenge 3: Getting leaders to invest

Conducting market research today is perhaps one of the most important things an organization can do. With the right data sources, market researchers get better insights, leaders can push business decisions and product developers can come up with solutions to business problems.

The challenge is getting leaders to continually invest. According to our report, 21% highlight communicating ROI and business impact as one of their top market research challenges. The same percentage highlights competing internal priorities as another.

At some organizations, market research is a means to an end — done to support new product initiatives or marketing campaigns. But the real value is in ongoing market research supported by an embedded research function.

The first step to getting leaders to invest is to clearly demonstrate, regularly, the impact of market research on business outcomes. For example, by using role-based dashboards, you can provide stakeholders and executives with high-level summaries of how market research projects have contributed to business outcomes.

As for ongoing product development, let’s say you carry out some product research, using conjoint analysis, to identify which product features customers value most. You can then compile this information for product teams and executives to see before making the necessary changes. You could also carry out market research to identify the ideal product pricing point before going to market — or do that same research to work out how to alter your product prices in the current market.

What about ongoing improvements? Well, you can apply market research to products in situ and run focus groups and surveys to uncover new customer preferences. You could even use listening tools on digital platforms to capture customer feedback and reviews and use that information to create new products or add features to existing ones. Then, communicate the results of these changes to teams, executives and stakeholders with ease.

Of course, all of the above requires the right platform — one that can listen, understand and act on market research data to empower you and your teams to create better experiences.

Discover the market research trends of 2022

At the heart of business success is market research, but overcoming the problems and capitalizing on the trends requires a well-thought strategy.

In our second annual study into the state of market research globally, we delve deeper than ever before to uncover the market research challenges and opportunities for organizations in 2022.

From the changing role of the market researcher to what you should be prioritizing, discover everything you need to know.

Just download your free copy using the button below.

Learn more about the 2022 market research trends and challenges

Qualtrics // Experience Management

Qualtrics, the leader and creator of the experience management category, is a cloud-native software platform that empowers organizations to deliver exceptional experiences and build deep relationships with their customers and employees.

With insights from Qualtrics, organizations can identify and resolve the greatest friction points in their business, retain and engage top talent, and bring the right products and services to market. Nearly 20,000 organizations around the world use Qualtrics’ advanced AI to listen, understand, and take action. Qualtrics uses its vast universe of experience data to form the largest database of human sentiment in the world. Qualtrics is co-headquartered in Provo, Utah and Seattle.

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The Top Marketing Trends of 2024 & How They've Changed Since 2023 [Data from 1400+ Global Marketers]

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Dive into more data from our study of 1000+ global B2B and B2C marketers, as well as expert insights from the pros on how to get ahead in our constantly changing landscape.

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Updated: 01/15/24

Published: 01/15/24

Every time I think I have this whole marketing thing down to a science, something changes in the blink of an eye. And if you're a marketer like myself, you've probably experienced the same feeling of whiplash as marketing trends continue to shift.

Keeping up with the latest marketing trends isn’t always easy. But, to succeed in the fast-paced marketing world — and maintain a sense of relevance with your audience — it's vital to stay ahead of them.

Download Now: Free State of Marketing Report [Updated for 2024]

Fortunately, I gathered all the information you need on the latest marketing trends — straight from industry experts and HubSpot's survey of 1,400+ global marketing professionals — and crafted this guide just for you.

Let's take a deep dive into marketing trends for 2024, shall we?

Marketing Trends to Watch in 2024 (Highlights)

Content Marketing Trends

Social media marketing trends.

SEO Marketing Trends

AI and Automation Trends

Privacy Marketing Trends

The Marketing Trends of 2024 [Highlights]

Short-form Video Content (TikTok, Reels, YouTube Shorts, etc.) will continue to rule.
Creating content reflecting the brand's values will be key to retaining your customers.
Native advertising/sponsored content is still valuable.
Influencer marketing is still crucial.
Leveraging AI will only increase into the new year.
VR and AR could be making a comeback.

1. Short-form Video Content (TikTok, Reels, YouTube Shorts, etc.) will continue to rule.

Who hasn‘t spent way too much time scrolling through TikTok? I’m not afraid to admit I‘ve bought clothes, pet supplies, and other products after watching a few too many reels, TikToks, and YouTube Shorts. And I’m not alone.

According to a recent survey, 56% of U.S. consumers said they bought something based on an ad they saw on TikTok, and 36% said they were willing to.

“Video creates a deeper connection with your potential customer base, and it is easy for brands to repurpose video content into podcasts and text-based content,” Neil Patel, CMO and Co-Founder of NP Digital says.

So, it‘s no surprise our survey found that 53% of marketers are leveraging short-form videos like TikToks, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts in 2024, and 38% are continuing to invest the same as in previous years.

Only 8% say they’ll decrease their investment.

The State of Marketing in 2024

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2. Creating content reflecting the brand's values will be key to retaining your customers.

According to Consumer Goods Technology, 82% of shoppers want a consumer brand's values to align with their own. Furthermore, 75% of shoppers say they've cut ties with a brand over a conflict in values.

To keep on the good side of their target audience, brands will make a point of showcasing their values and stances on topics that are relevant to their audience.

Our survey shows 45% of marketers will increase their investment in creating content that shows their brand's values, and 43% will invest as much as they did in 2023. Only 9% will decrease their investment.

5. Leveraging AI will only increase into the new year.

Of course, I'd be a fool to exclude the giant waves artificial intelligence made in 2023 and the changes it will bring in 2024.

In 2023, 48% of marketers we surveyed reported using AI for content creation, such as writing blog articles, website, and social media copy, as well as landing page CTAs and product descriptions.

Amazon even started using AI to summarize key points from consumer reviews, definitely saving me from a few questionable purchases.

10. Marketers will continue to leverage infographics.

If a picture paints a thousand words, infographics could paint at least double.

Infographics have the shareability and visual appeal of a nice photo and are packed with helpful data and informative information. This makes them incredibly engaging to web visitors and social media audiences alike.

88% of marketers say they will increase or maintain their investment in infographics in 2024.

The State of Social Media in 2024

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12. TikTok will continue to gain brand interest.

TikTok will experience even more growth in 2024, as 56% of marketers who currently leverage the platform plan to increase their investment this year, the highest of any social media app.

Moreover, almost a quarter of marketers in our survey (24%) say TikTok yields the highest ROI compared to other social media channels.

Brands have been trying to tap into the true power of TikTok since it first began to go viral four years ago. With well over 1 billion global users, TikTok has positioned itself as an app for various audiences and marketers.

Of course, if you think TikTok is just for younger demographics, think again. 50% of Millennials report visiting TikTok in the last three months, along with 38% of Gen X-ers, according to HubSpot's 2022 Consumers Trends Report .

We predict these numbers will continue to rise as TikTok becomes more mainstream.

13. Most marketers will focus on three to five social media platforms.

On average, marketers leverage four social media platforms in their roles. Facebook is the most used social media platform , operated by 57% of marketers, followed by Instagram (55%), YouTube (52%), X (39%), and TikTok (42%).

Managing three to five platforms is realistic.

This range allows brands of all sizes to expand their reach to different audiences while also giving social media marketers a realistic list of platforms to master without stretching their bandwidth during the workweek.

Here are a few questions that can help you determine how many platforms you should be on:

How many social media marketers are on your team?
Which social media platforms have audiences that best align with your targets?
How long will it take to master a strategy on each platform you're targeting?
Are there platforms that won't benefit your overall marketing strategy right now?
Are there any platforms you can easily repurpose engaging content between? (such as TikTok and YouTube Shorts)

By asking yourself some of the questions above, you can determine how much time your social team and brand will need to build an effective and engaging strategy on each platform and prioritize which platforms you should focus on.

How to Use Twitter for Business (+ Follower Growth Tracking Template)
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Search Engine Optimization Marketing Trends

92% of marketers plan on maintaining or increasing their investment in search engine optimization in 2024, according to our survey.

Are you one of these marketers? Have you figured out how exactly you plan to improve your SEO and organic presence? When you optimize for specific types of consumer behavior and leverage SEO tools like Ahrefs or SEMRush , you'll help your business become more discoverable online.

14. Web teams won't forget about video and image SEO.

SEO doesn't just involve changing the text on a page. It can also include choosing and optimizing suitable videos or images for a page to help it rank in Google images or search engine video carousels.

While optimizing images involves compressing files to increase page speed and adding keyword-optimized alt text to an image, video optimization strategies involve embedding a video with a similar topic or keyword into a blog post.

Currently, 53% of marketers who leverage SEO have a strategy for optimizing videos and images. Of those marketers, 49% say image and video optimization is their most effective SEO tactic.

15. Link-building will help brands grow authority — and search rankings.

When sites with solid rankings begin to link to yours, Google's crawlers note that your site might be credible and also have solid authority in your space. This can then trick your Google ranking to go up.

This, ultimately, is the goal of link-building — or getting other sites to link to yours.

Although writing highly shareable content, reaching out to share it with other websites, or ensuring that your post gets links can be time-consuming and challenging, research shows that this time and effort pays off.

Of the 48% of SEO marketers that use backlinking and link building, 63% say it‘s their brand’s most effective SEO tactic.

16. Historical optimization will help old web pages get new traffic.

Instead of developing new ideas, marketers will take what’s worked in the past and optimize it for the present.

In SEO, keeping your content up to date and full of rich, engaging content will outweigh older work that needs keyword relevancy with old statistics and links.

Not only that, but taking existing content and repurposing it for a new podcast, webinar, or blog post can be an efficient way to keep it relevant in search engines.

While one in four SEO marketers leverage historical optimization in their strategy, 29% say that those marketers use it as an effective SEO strategy.

17. Voice search optimization could become more of a priority.

41% of marketers plan to increase their investments in voice search optimization in 2024, and I predict it could become more of a priority in 2024.

Over a quarter (28%) of marketers say they will stop leveraging voice search optimization in 2023. However, that number has dropped to 14% regarding their 2024 plans.

You may be wondering, “How can I leverage voice search optimization?” The answer is simple: by framing your content around questions.

Think about it: these digital assistants answer short, informational queries such as “ Who is the actor in Mission: Impossible? ” or “ What’s the weather in Boston today? ” they’ve also started to process more local, conversational, and customized searches.

These may sound like, “ Where’s a nearby coffee shop I can work from today? ” “ How late is it open? ” and “ Do they serve iced coffee? ”

Aja Frost , Director of Global Growth at HubSpot, says:

“Businesses should look at a topic and say, ‘ What questions could users ask about this? ’ Then, they should plan sub-topics accordingly and look for opportunities to insert questions as headers.

This will allow voice assistants to easily grab questions and recognize content as solutions.”

Featured Resource

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18. Chatbots will continue to streamline conversational marketing.

As much as I am a marketer, I'm also a consumer. And, like most consumers, I hate waiting. In a report from Tidio, 53% of respondents said waiting too long for replies is the most frustrating part of interacting with a business.

That same report shows 62% would rather speak to chatbot than wait 15 minutes for a response.

So, I think it's safe to say chatbots will be leveraged more in 2024 to keep up with consumer demands. The majority of marketers in our survey (58%) say they will increase their investment in chatbots in 2024.

Bots are powered by a computer program that automates specific tasks, typically by chatting with a user through a conversational interface.

Artificial intelligence makes bots possible, which helps them understand complex requests, personalize responses, and improve interactions over time.

Bots provide the perception and dedication of a 1:1 service experience while working with hundreds of customers — something that no customer service representative or team would ever be able to do.

To the consumers who hate repeating themselves to multiple sales or service representatives, listen up — chatbots are and will continue making your lives easier.

If used correctly, they manage conversations at scale and aggregate data from multiple data sources, from calendars to knowledge bases to blog posts and videos.

Jon Dick , SVP of Marketing at HubSpot, says: “It’s on you to make things as easy as possible."

"Do your buyers want to use live chat? You should give it to them. They’ve had the same problem three times in the last month? You should already know and have a plan to fix it,” Dick concludes.

How to Stay Current on Emerging Technology Trends
10 Affordable AI Tools for Businesses (+ How to Implement Affordable AI)
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19. Brands will need to give customers more control over their data.

In the marketing world, data is highly valuable — and not just valuable to you as a marketer or business owner.

Whether it's an email address, credit card information, or smartphone location, consumers also view their data as precious and privileged — and it’s your responsibility to take care of it.

Every business operates using data, whether a software company, bank, government agency, or lemonade stand. It’s the lifeblood of marketing, sales, service, and more.

But, when precious information is misused or siphoned into the wrong hands, it leads to a strong distrust in businesses and potentially exploited consumers.

That’s why the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was enacted.

GDPR is an effort by the EU to give greater control to consumers over their data.

Under the GDPR, organizations must ensure that their data is collected legally and safely and that those who collect and manage said data will protect it and respect consumers’ rights.

Following the GDPR guidelines might seem like a burden, but being fined for non-compliance will feel much heavier; fines range from 10 million euros to 4% of a company's annual global revenue.

And — GDPR isn't the only entity enforcing privacy mandates in 2022. In fact, companies like Google and Apple are now taking stands for user data as well.

In 2021, an Apple IOS launch enabled iPhone and iPad users to determine which apps could track their third-party data, which is often used for hyper-targeted ads.

In 2022, Apple finished rolling out another IOS update with additional email privacy protection features for Apple Mail users.

Meanwhile, Google will discontinue using third-party cookies on Chrome while encouraging advertisers to leverage its Privacy Sandbox instead.

Ultimately, brands and governing bodies are increasingly aiming to give users more choices when it comes to releasing their data.

And, while it is great for the consumer, businesses who leverage personal data to run campaigns will need to create alternative strategies and pivot plans in case they lose access to crucial data points.

With all that said, is it really surprise that 87% of marketers in our survey plan to maintain or increase their investment in giving consumers greater control over their data?

Use Marketing Trends to Grow Better

You’re up to speed… for now. And, as long as you’re keeping a thumb on the pulse of marketing trends — and always remain open to change — your business won't fall behind.

But, if you‘re feeling overwhelmed by the idea of keeping up with all these insights, don’t worry.

The HubSpot Blog will be publishing regular Marketing Strategy research pieces with data from hundreds of marketing professionals in the coming months and will continue to update this post as new trends emerge.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in August 2019 and was updated in November 2024 with updated HubSpot Blog trends data.

Don't forget to share this post!

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January 5, 2022

Market Research Predictions for 2022 (Part Two)

Industry leaders’ MR predictions for the new year.

by Leonard Murphy

Chief Advisor for Insights and Development at Greenbook

Editor’s Note: The following article is the second and final installment of GreenBook’s two-part Market Research Predictions for 2022 . Market Research Predictions is an annual GreenBook Blog series that features insights and analytics leaders’ predictions for the new year. View part one here .

The democratization of research

“Research platforms will continue to grow and create pressure on traditional MRX firms to integrate them into their processes. The democratisation of research will advance, with mere respondents graduating to two-way “participants”, thereby increasing the authenticity of qualitative interpretation and accuracy of quantitative forecasts.”

– Hubertus Hofkirchner, CEO of Prediki Prediction Markets

“As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to shape virtual-first life, research is pivoting. We are seeing increased research disintermediation and democratization, with 48% of research now conducted internally at brands through DIY tools (according to the 2021 ESOMAR Buyer study ). This trend has increased by 20% since the year prior, and as such, we should expect wider adoption of agile insights tools next year and beyond. It is imperative for seasoned market research professionals to uphold data quality standards in emerging technologies and work intentionally to combat the nefarious actors looking to garner incentives at scale. Since COVID-19 first emerged, cyberfraud has increased dramatically in our industry by over 200%, so the stakes have never been higher.”

– Lisa Wilding-Brown, CEO of InnovateMR

“As the industry continues to create superior ways to curate complex research on consumers, we must focus our efforts on the democratization of research and make detailed data available in a simplified way to any business. 2022 will be the year to truly drive democratization because the technology is there to enable it. Today, you don’t need to be a research expert to do this. The most junior members of an organization’s marketing team should be informed by easily available research that they can interact with, respecting the integrity of methodology, but at scale. We’ve witnessed a democratization of consumer opinion and user-generated content online, but this has yet to be replicated in the business world. In 2022, as research continues to be technology-driven against the backdrop of constantly changing consumer sentiment, the industry must democratize research within the enterprise, giving marketing teams the ability to access automated research at a scale that can inform key decisions.”

– Frédéric-Charles Petit, CEO & Founder of Toluna

Data collection in a Web 3.0 world

“How data is collected will reflect reality more than ever before with the emergence of Web 3.0 and the metaverse. Web 3.0 makes it frictionless to include real-life financial incentives to reveal actual purchase behavior. The metaverse removes barriers to recreate realistic purchase experiences and likely will even introduce completely new purchase experiences at the same time.”

– Anouar El Haji, Founder and CEO of Veylinx

“As a cookie-less future becomes more imminent, the digital advertising world will be looking more and more to market research and market research technology firms to bolster their data and analytics. In 2021, we saw two major deals go through in the research technology space that point to the type of appetite companies have for consolidating data. Market research firms that think about how their data plays a role in a cookie-less future will have an advantage over those that don’t.”

– Mario X. Carrasco, Co-Founder & Principal of ThinkNow

“The deprecation of third-party cookies in the ad industry will likely help revive older research methods such as audience measurement panels or surveys as marketers look to find out what shoppers do and think, or who has been exposed to ads and how many times. This, in turn, might lead to increased pressure on providers to provide transparent, accountable measurement while offering affordable solutions to industry players who previously used cookies as their main measurement method and aren’t willing to pay as much as brands and agencies for panel or survey data.”

– Gilles Giudicelli, Head of Research at Criteo

“The last couple of years have demonstrated an age-old reality: how little control one actually has over daily life. It has also demonstrated to the insights world that traditional research – asking people why they do things, and what they’ll do next – is based on consumers’ flawed perception of control. So winning brands will look to more subconscious measures, and patterns over time to explain and predict behavior – versus merely asking people to narrate how they’ll react to the unsure world around them.”

– Hunter Thurman, President of Alpha-Diver: Human Truths via Neuroscience

“The digital ecosystem is moving further from the promise of digital… That media and advertising effectiveness at driving incrementality are easily inferred from user-level data that arises as exhaust of the digital process. Due to privacy concerns, walled gardens are growing higher and identifiers are being removed or made fuzzy using differential privacy approaches such as cohorts. The big challenge for 2022 will be for analytics teams to figure out how to integrate or even curate diverse signals of effectiveness coming at them from different sources and using very different protocols. Linear methods will not work so more inventive math or fully-permissioned data sources are needed.”

– Joel Rubinson, President of Rubinson Partners, Inc.

“The one area I want to call out is the increased use of consumer data. Brands have at their fingertips so much data on their consumers, this can include transitional, search, social, browsing data, etc. Due to the ease of analysis and interpretation, this is first being used to help solve a problem or identify gaps before conducting primary research. We’re seeing successful research agencies helping brands to find the consumer insights within the digital footprints left by consumers. Data delivers the “what” and primary research the ‘why’.”

– Martin Filz, CEO of Pureprofile

“Data scarcity will continue to grow, endangering the availability of high-quality data and elevating its importance. Improving the respondent experience and optimizing conversion are critical to keeping pace as demand exceeds supply.”

– Gary Laben, CEO of Dynata

“The last couple of years have given us incredibly detailed insight into widespread inequities around the world. The data and insights industry is not immune to those inequities and many of us have had to address them head-on.

As such, my prediction (and my wish) for 2022 is that we’ll see far greater demand for research that is inclusive and respectful of marginalized communities, particularly people who are Black, Indigenous, disabled, and LGBT+.

Specifically, we’ll see far more requests for sample that truly reflects the general population. Not just basic demands for more diverse sample but also for sample boosts that ensure generalizations are reliable and actionable. If sample companies don’t already have it hard enough, get ready for it to be even more difficult. And, we’ll see far more requests from clients for our reports to be truly inclusive. Ignoring a set of data points from Black or Indigenous communities because sample sizes are too small will be unacceptable.”

– Annie Pettit, Chief Research Officer, North America of E2E Research

“There’s a very strong trend that took hold in 2021 regarding long surveys. On a macro level, we saw prices increase roughly 5% year over year for surveys under 15 minutes, whereas surveys over 15 minutes saw prices increase over 25%. Surveys over 20 and 30 minutes saw steeper price increases. We predict this pressure to remain as sophisticated suppliers have learned how to choose shorter surveys programmatically.”

– Michael McCrary, CEO of PureSpectrum

“While quantitative work will continue to grow for obvious reasons, qualitative will become even more relevant as companies continue to re-shape their customer personas to align with changes wrought by the pandemic. Virtual interviewing technology will continue to be critical to facilitating access to buyers, but when Omicron fades, in-person will come roaring back.

My sincerest wish for 2022? Panel quality will get the deeper focus needed to sustain the growing demand for both business and consumer sample.”

– Jay Shutter, CEO of Iluminas

“We are going to start treating our respondent supply less as a commodity and more as a non-renewable resource we must work to protect. Pre-Covid, it almost seemed like the supply of eager research respondents was limitless, as we kept finding novel ways to open up access to the pockets of engaged respondents across the ecosystem. In many ways, Covid showed that there are real limits to the respondent supply that underpins the entire insights industry. In 2022, we will start to see providers get smarter about how they treat their first-party data access, and those with direct relationships with research respondents will start demanding higher access fees and will start pushing back on survey designs or research requests that create poor member experiences for their valuable panelists.”

– Isaac Rogers, Chief Innovation Officer of Schlesinger Group

“On the user side, people will continue to refuse to complete surveys, if the user experience is not friendly and rewarding. Brands who don’t understand the potential of building communities and collaborative market research approaches with their customers will fall behind.”

– Adriana Rocha, Global CEO of Ecglobal

“As many qualitative organizations have moved to delivering quantitative solutions, major panel providers will begin rolling out focused turn-key qualitative recruiting solutions as part of their offerings.

Practitioners looking to maximize the value of their time will abandon the trend of DIY survey programming and DIY sampling so they can focus on spending their high-value time with clients understanding the organizational issues, helping define strategy, and delivering key insights to help the client succeed.”

– James Whaley, CEO of OvationMR

Changing consumer behavior and expectations: Turning to CX

“Consumer behavior will change yet again in 2022. As savings dwindle for many (but not all) consumers and (hopefully) as more consumers start to venture out of home again and back to services, companies will see still more shifts in behavior. Those who keep ahead of their consumer – giving them what they want, when and where they want it – will be able to best succeed. Given this premium on deeply understanding the consumer of today and tomorrow, companies will continue to draw deeply on both quantitative and qualitative insights. I predict that 2022 will remain a busy year for us all.”

– Tamara Charm, Partner of McKinsey & Company

Market Research Predictions for 2022 (Part One)

“The pandemic will still be highly influential, and likely making a big change, as we realize that it is likely here to stay – albeit perhaps coming and going in waves. This might lead to changes that reflect a switch from coping to adapting, both among customers and corporations.

This is likely to lead to further changes in consumer patterns, gravitating towards mostly-digital touchpoints, and in-person touchpoints being chosen only when certain safety precautions are in place (and clearly signaled).

As a consequence, I expect digital and online solutions to grow even more than previous years. Solutions that thrive in, and depend on, this milieu are likely going to see a quicker growth than other comparable solutions.

A second type of prediction is that there will be more, not less, need for consumer insights. As consumers change their preferences and behaviors based on perceived or actual changes in society and the pandemic, it is likely that trends will switch faster.”

– Thomas Z. Ramsøy, CEO of Neurons

“Away-from-home and on-the-go consumption will continue to increase. Trends of convenience, particularly around meal solutions, will continue. Demand for on-the-go options will increase. Self-care and home care will remain priorities.”

– Joan Driggs, VP of Content and Thought Leadership of IRI

“Digital transformation is here to stay – there’s no going back to the way things were pre-COVID. By moving so much of our lives online, we’ve uncovered the fact that consumers value the convenience of this new lifestyle, whether for work or shopping. But now they have higher expectations for customization and personal experiences. As a result, CX has become a major focus – companies that have deeply understood consumers not only provide extraordinary experiences, but they’ve thrived in an increasingly crowded online marketplace.

A stronger focus on CX will bring more interest in customer closeness programs that have the power to build empathy, as organizations seek to further educate themselves on consumers’ lifestyles, wants, and needs. And as organizations become more agile to survive, consumer voices will feedback into the iteration process, influencing everything from marketing to design and innovation.”

– Jim Longo, Chief Strategy Officer of Discuss.io

“CXM, which used to be CX which used to be CEM or CRM, is claiming more and more of the traditional market research pie. Of course, market research pretends to embrace the CXM industry and wants to own it but that game seems lost to the tech companies.”

– Michalis Michael, CEO of DMR

“There are a lot of trends that I suspect will keep moving forward in the next year – the growth of platforms, focus on sample quality, democratization of research, and more. One that I believe will gain significant traction is data integration, particularly true behavioral data. Most data sets provide insights into some characteristics of the captured data. But the larger, more interesting, and impactful stories come from understanding how data sets fit together. Customer experience information provides a guide to improvement based on consumer feedback. Customer experience combined with sales data can start to prioritize those improvements with consideration to both the business and the consumer. While this is happening in marketing research today, it is the exception rather than the rule. It won’t become the rule in 2022, but will get closer.”

– Gregg Archibald, Managing Partner at Gen2 Advisors

“The Chief Customer Officer (CCO) will overtake the CMO role with respect to knowledge and decision-making power. Traditional marketing metrics will take a backseat to truly understanding the why behind customer values. There will be a new requirement for solid metrics tying customer-centric outcomes to business outcomes – Customer Performance Indicators (CPIs) will find their seat next to KPIs. As consumers expect brands to be more socially conscious, a brand’s delivery on emotional and social values will increase in importance.”

– Camille Nicita, President & CEO of Gongos, Inc.

“Brand Keys took both a look back and ahead using all 25 years of our database containing 4.3 million customer loyalty and engagement assessments for 1,624 brands in 142 categories, assessments representing the world’s largest continuous brand tracking database to ID 4 2022 trends.

Consumer foundations for brand engagement, product and service consumption, and loyalty will be almost entirely emotionally based; a decision-making ratio of 80% emotional, 20% rational for 2022.

Consumer expectations will continue to increase (+39%) faster than brands can keep up with what consumers will desire. Value Ownership will be 2022’s lock on loyalty and differentiation, a brand-state going beyond 20th-century differentiation to define category leaders.

Brand dominance and profitability will be synergistic. Adjusted for a new century and inflation, loyalty will matter more than ever. It will cost 13 to 18 times more to recruit a new customer than to keep an existing one (+60% vs. 1997).”

– Robert Passikoff, Founder and President of Brand Keys, Inc.

Reconfiguring of the MRX industry

“Large companies will accelerate the implementation of agile management and methods across all organizations. Therefore, market research will not exist anymore as a separate area or department. Market researchers will become part of multifunctional agile teams being the specialists in human insights. Agile market research platforms will be in high demand, and will have the capacity to integrate quantitative, qualitative, and big data analytics into CRM and internal data lakes.”

“Work is never going back to normal, and neither will market research. Buyers have changed how and with whom they conduct insights work. As businesses increasingly value and champion research, they will seek suppliers who can deliver on innovation and quality.

The new face of market research delivers accurate, automated verification that filters the right respondents to ensure clean data and deliver tangible ROI. As we look into the future, we envision a self-serve insights marketplace where clients can interact with the knowledge network themselves. This will give clients access to highly specific, segmented audiences for studies ranging from a single question to a three-year tracker.

Buyers are looking more closely than ever at supplier reputation and innovation, rather than just price and relationship. Research firms must demonstrate that they bring something new and quantifiable to the table to thrive in the new tomorrow.”

– Sascha Eder, CEO of NewtonX

“Organizations will increase their spend understanding and optimizing ERP and supply chain issues which will continue to drive increases in B2B research and for more diverse industrial, technical, and field operations titles. Research practitioners, whether principally focused on consumer segments or B2B, will be challenged by clients to take on B2B projects and challenged by their current networks to assist them – especially for qualitative B2B phases.”

“First, greater focus on actionable information and less on the elusive “insights”, which continue to be a buzzword misused for every finding in a research project. Second, the fact that you are not calling it the market research industry aligns with previous predictions that the industry’s name is outdated and everyone needs to accept that it will further renew itself whether market researchers like it or not.”

“Software-driven speed and efficiency will be an increasingly expected hygiene by Enterprise Customers. Additionally, expect an increasing focus on holistic human understanding in insights rather than simple stated responses.”

– Ged Parton, CEO of Maru

View Market Research Predictions for 2022 (Part One) on the GreenBook Blog here!

Leonard Murphy

100 articles

The views, opinions, data, and methodologies expressed above are those of the contributor(s) and do not necessarily reflect or represent the official policies, positions, or beliefs of Greenbook.

Comments are moderated to ensure respect towards the author and to prevent spam or self-promotion. Your comment may be edited, rejected, or approved based on these criteria. By commenting, you accept these terms and take responsibility for your contributions.

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12 Hottest Marketing Trends for 2022

The last two years have confronted us with many challenges. Businesses found themselves up against new walls, and marketers have had to rethink marketing strategies and tactics .

No one has a crystal ball to see the future, but many brands have successfully adapted to the new normal and changed how they communicate with customers and prospects.

To compete and grow revenues this year, you must understand current marketing trends and how to successfully navigate them.

Here are the 12 hottest marketing trends for 2022:

Enhanced customer experience
Privacy marketing
The rise of AR and VR
Short-form videos
Content is still king
Micro-influencer power
Audio content (including podcasting)
Native advertising
Focusing on fewer social media platforms
Socially responsible marketing
Adoption of NFTs and cryptocurrency
Get Linked…In

Let’s examine each of these 2022 marketing trends.

1. Customer experience

Customer experience is the secret sauce of both a successful marketing strategy and a successful brand strategy .

After engaging with your business, what your customers feel can make or break your marketing campaign.

Storytelling is more important than ever. To win in 2022, you must tell engaging and consistent stories using multiple marketing channels and social networks.

Conversations and Stories

Email drip campaigns and chatbots have been popular for many years. But these are technical tactics that still require marketers to tell compelling stories.

Most businesses and marketers would benefit from spending more time improving their content to be more conversational and personal. Talk to your customers and prospects and do this at their pace, not driven by your sales timeline.

What does this mean for you as a business owner or marketer?

To successfully market in 2022, you must find ways to engage customers and prospects. Among other things:

Build marketing campaigns based on carefully planned strategies.
Create compelling, high-quality content that tells memorable stories.
Don’t be pushy or sales-y.
Give your audience accurate, actionable information they can use daily.
Create educational content that helps your target audience understand your products and services and teaches them something actionable and valuable.

It’s tempting to use automated tools like AI-based content generators to speed up your marketing efforts. But for most businesses, this is a mistake. People can tell the difference between content written by computers and content created by real people. This is partly why people rarely engage with brands on social media but prefer to talk to real people behind those brands.

Remember to empower your customer support team to engage with customers and prospects similarly. Your support team is on the frontlines, talking to customers daily, and it must complement the stories and messages you share in your marketing campaigns.

To help your support team, be sure they know about the marketing campaigns you’re currently running, have advance notice of new campaigns, and receive proper training to help you tell compelling stories at every touchpoint with your target audience.

People crave authentic interactions. If your brand fills this need earnestly and honestly, you will grow your business faster.

The Definitive Content Marketing Guide

When done right, content marketing is key to your long-game brand strategy . It is the antithesis of pop-up ads that interrupt, demand attention, and annoy people. Here is what you need to know about content marketing as a marketer or small business owner.

Take (Inter)Action

Interactive content will continue to grow in popularity.

For example, polls and quizzes remain successful hooks in marketing campaigns and essential tools you should consider in your 2022 marketing strategy. We’ve been using this strategy at crowdspring for years, and it’s been effective for us.

Our five-question logo quiz asks prospective customers to pick the better company logo from several choices. Very few people get all five questions correct. Only 24% of people answer all five questions correctly. Are you one of them?

Our five-question business name quiz asks prospective customers to pick the better business name from several choices. Very few people get all five questions correct. Only 20% of people answer all five questions correctly. Are you one of them?

Our five-question packaging design quiz asks prospective customers to pick the better product packaging from several choices. Only 15% of people answer all five questions correctly. Are you one of them?

Quizzes and polls can be light, fun, shareable, and quick. You’ll entertain customers, but also learn valuable information about them.

There are many other valuable ways to create interaction, including reports, guides, infographics, interactive eBooks , and short-form videos. You can even build interaction into your business website .

Get personal

Audience-focused marketing and advertising tailored to your target audience will become increasingly vital. This doesn’t only mean producing and sharing the right content. You must also know where, when, and how to share the content to stand out in the white noise of marketing and advertising.

2. Privacy marketing

People have become increasingly aware of privacy. Brands like Apple have made privacy marketing a considerable part of their overall marketing strategy and have successfully and compellingly differentiated their products from competitors.

You should not ignore this trend, especially if you’re just starting your business .

Many examples of unauthorized, secret data collection on the web and mobile apps have led many people to distrust technology and brands.

Collectively, consumers and regulators have demanded better privacy policies and practices. They’ve held brands accountable for how they collect and use data. Huge brands like Facebook have been put under the microscope because they have demonstrated a repeated disregard for people’s privacy.

There’s been a strong clamor for transparency for the past few years. In 2022, this call will grow stronger.

Cookies: The beginning of the end

If you want your business to succeed in 2022, you must adopt reliable tools and technologies to protect privacy.

Expect cookies to be completely phased out in the next few years.

Cookies are small pieces of data, such as a username and password, stored in a text file. They identify the device a person uses when logged into the Internet. Web browsers mainly use cookies to save, track, and personalize information about each browser’s session on a website.

Set automation in motion

Successful brands are investing in marketing automation. AI technology and advancements in data science have allowed marketers to analyze purchase behaviors , browsing history, and other information to personalize marketing and advertising campaigns.

So, rather than showing generic and intrusive ads that fatigue people and create disinterest and distrust, create more personal, unique marketing and advertising tactics tailored more closely to your customers’ interests.

AI can already analyze and predict your customer’s next move. While AI isn’t trivial to use in your campaigns, many small-business-focused products can help you build intelligent campaigns that target ads, products, or services right when a prospective customer wants or needs those products or services.

Such a personalized experience can create strong customer loyalty and a genuine benefit for your target audience.

3. The rise of AR and VR

Humans are visual beings. You’ve probably heard the phrase, “a picture is worth 60,000 words.”

And, it happens to be true. The smartphone became popular because it’s a visual tool. It drives the growth of popular social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, TikTok, and many others.

Over the past few years, we’ve seen an increasing push towards visual technologies that combine the real world with the digital world (Augmented Reality, known as AR) and optical technologies based exclusively in the digital world ( virtual reality , known as VR).

AR and VR technologies have existed for many decades, but in the last few years, when people have been more isolated, they have increasingly embraced these technologies.

People have had to find new ways to maintain social ties and increasingly rely on digital tools. For example, Snapchat and Instagram Stories have seen considerable user growth over the past few years because of their popular AR and VR filters.

Although you might not be ready to add AR or VR to your marketing strategy, you should start thinking about ways you can expand your tactics to use these tools. AR and VR tech will influence marketing strategies well into the future, and many successful businesses have embraced this trend.

A survey conducted by NielsenIQ found that two-thirds of people say they would want to try using AR in the way they shop . People say that they prefer to visualize how they fit and where they fit in their lives.

This is becoming a reality. For example, companies have developed a “virtual try-on” feature, allowing their customers to test swatches of make-up or clothing virtually before making a purchase.

All these novel features spell massive consumer convenience. And what customer doesn’t love something tailor-made and personalized?

Search with your eyes

Okay, that title is a bit overdramatic, but that’s precisely what AR/VR promises.

Visual search is already a huge industry, but it will grow even faster over the next few years. Visual recognition services and search capabilities are projected to become a 40-billion-dollar industry by 2025 .

Google Lens and similar products allow you to take a photo of any object and find that object, or similar objects, for purchase online.

If you like a piece of furniture but don’t know who makes it or where it’s offered for sale, you can take a photo, and Google Lens can help you find that piece of furniture.

Visual searches are optimal for product searches such as clothing, footwear, and home decor. Marketers can use algorithms that begin with an online image search and generate the exact product or provide recommendations and even upsell complementary items.

Gen X and Millennials have been quick to embrace these technologies. If you want to reach a broader audience , you can’t ignore this trend.

If you sell products or other consumer-focused merchandise, build visual search tactics into your marketing strategy. Pinterest and Instagram (via its Explore/Discovery feed algorithm) are powerful channels that can help you leverage and experiment with this trend.

4. Short-form videos

Over the past few years, TikTok transitioned from a Gen Z-skewed platform into a mammoth marketing machine. Last year, many businesses scrambled to get a piece of the trendy pie. But is TikTok the only way to leverage short-form videos?

Just Do It. Yourself.

TikTok is not the only platform for short-form videos.

But, savvy marketers can learn many lessons from TikTok and its viral trends .

For the past two years, the world had to get creative (or die of boredom) from the confines of our homes. We haven’t had access to many advanced tools used to generate flashy advertising and marketing campaigns. As a result, a DIY (do-it-yourself) aesthetic has become popular. While production-quality content looks great, it lacks the personable and relatable feeling of DIY content.

Why short-form?

You might wonder why short-form videos have become so popular.

You can blame science.

Our brains are conditioned to be more responsive to instant rewards. The shorter it takes to get that jolt of dopamine, the better .

That’s the secret sauce to TikTok, and it’s the same strategy used by other platforms such as Facebook My Day, Instagram Stories/Reels, and YouTube Shorts, to name a few.

5. Content is still king

It’s easy for marketers to be distracted by trends and fads. But some things are lasting and foundational.

This is especially true with content. Content has dominated marketing for years because well-produced content is lasting and engaging.

But, like everything else, content constantly evolves.

People have become meticulous and selective about the content they read and share and the platforms they use.

This shift in consumer behavior requires businesses to evolve and adapt to how they create, share, and promote content.

Video is the superstar

Video content has dominated over the past few years and will continue to dominate in 2022.

You can expect video to become even more essential in your business’ marketing toolkit.

That being said, the biggest challenge for business owners and marketers is how to optimize video content to stand out.

Fortunately, video production is not as intimidating as it was years ago. What would’ve taken weeks and a multi-person team to produce can now be done by one person in several clicks with tools like Adobe Spark Video and InVideo .

6. Micro-influencer power

Social media fatigue is real.

And it seems nearly everyone claims to be a social media influencer. This has led to a crisis of trust as people have become more cautious about influencer-led endorsements and promotions.

Nevertheless, this downside to influencer marketing also has an upside. It has opened an opportunity for businesses to leverage micro-influencers . For a richer understanding of the evolving influencer marketing landscape, consider tuning into influencer marketing podcasts featuriong industry experts. These programs provide valuable strategies and firsthand insights, helping you stay ahead in this dynamic field.

Micro-power

Unlike celebrities, who often have millions of followers, micro-influencers typically have 1,000 to 100,000 followers. However, what the micro-influencer lacks in followers is balanced by strong audience engagement.

Since 2020, social media has seen engagement rates of micro-influencers increase by an average of 130% . This success can be attributed to several factors:

Audiences are now more aware that mega influencers are insulated from street-level realities. Celebrities are often out of touch with reality. They broadcast from million-dollar mansions and often complain about first-world problems. People are increasingly finding it difficult to relate to these problems.
Micro-influencers typically are more like their followers. They are more relatable, less intimidating, and easier to understand.
Micro-influencers are instinctively aware of what to say, when to say, how to convey their message.
Because their followers are smaller, micro-influencers are more involved and engaged with their audience. That provides the genuine connection people crave.
Micro-influencers are also less expensive. Their pricing is affordable, they are easier to work with, and most can quickly produce content. This helps marketers and small businesses to deliver content to the right target audience on time.

Do your due diligence. Your company’s identity is closely tied to influencers, so pick micro-influencers who will lift your marketing campaigns and not expose you to controversy.

7. Audio content (including podcasting)

Smart business owners and marketers have embraced another marketing tactic: audio content.

Podcasting goes pop

Podcasts aren’t new but had only a niche audience for a long time.

Today, podcasts have become an effective marketing channel for many marketers and businesses.

Podcasts are attractive because they don’t typically require dedicated equipment or production time. If your brand already creates video content, you can quickly turn that content into an audio episode. And you can create short snippets of that content for distribution on Twitter , LinkedIn , Instagram , TikTok , Facebook, and other social networks.

Bonus trend: voice search is catching on

Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant are all gaining market share. Younger consumers are embracing voice search. We expect other demographic groups to do the same in 2022.

People worldwide have become comfortable talking to computers. People ask for directions, schedule calls, get food recommendations, and check the weather.

You can use this trend by adding voice search to your marketing strategy.

For example, you can create content in a question-and-answer format (FAQs). Search engines like Google have special search operators that help index such content .

Think like your target audience. Rephrase queries into question form to match what people might be asking. For example: “Hey Siri, what is the best online graphic design platform?” (crowdspring, of course!)

8. Native advertising

Native advertising looks similar to the content but is designed to promote a brand, product, or service. Savvy marketers and businesses have been using native advertising formats for years, and we’ll continue to see growth in this format in 2022.

Consumers are more internet savvy and understand that advertising is inescapable. Most prefer native advertising formats to banner ads and intrusive interstitials.

But, some people don’t love native advertising. Surveys show that approximately 20% of people cannot detect the difference between organic content and a native ad. Some of those people might be unhappy to learn they were reading an ad.

That said, native ads are preferred by 53% of people.

9. Focusing on fewer social media platforms

When developing a social media strategy , you must first identify which social media platforms are appropriate for your brand, audience, and critical messages. And while it’s tempting to be everywhere, you have to pick the social media platforms your target audience prefers.

This will save you time and money.

For example, a Gen Z clothing brand will be more successful in posting video content on Gen Z-skewed platforms such as TikTok and Snapchat and not on platforms like LinkedIn.

To find the right platforms, research and identify your customers and what social networks they prefer. This will help you build a lean, focused, and effective marketing strategy.

10. Socially-responsible marketing

The economic windfall and volatility of the past few years have significantly changed how people behave online and their relationships with brands.

People are more discerning and critical of how companies and brands react to crises and treat employees and customers. And significantly, most consumers prefer to buy products and services from socially responsible and conscious brands.

For example, some self-help and wellness brands gave free subscriptions for a limited period and made online therapy accessible to people impacted economically and psychologically by the pandemic. This built goodwill for those brands and led to rapid growth.

Even successful brands changed the way they communicate to embrace this trend. Many fashion brands stopped deifying supermodels and turned the spotlight on realness by hiring diverse and inclusive models and brand ambassadors.

Emphasis on the environment

People are increasingly concerned about the environment. And innovative brands are embracing ways to respond to those concerns.

For example, many manufacturers have switched to sustainable product packaging, publishers have eliminated paper catalogs, and most companies have digitized invoices.

11. Nifty with NFTs

NFTs (non-fungible tokens) were hot in 2021. We expect this trend to continue in 2022.

Brands like the NBA and Axie Infinity quickly adopted NFTs and saw multi-million dollar sales.

Opportunities for brand partnerships

Last year, major brands such as Coca-Cola, Dolce & Gabbana, and Charmin released branded NFT collectibles.

This year, we’ll see more companies creating branded tokens via NFTs. This opens a new channel for enhancing customer relationships through special/limited offers (rarity is significant with NFTs) and can turn a regular customer into an avid fan.

Virtual real estate

Although most NFTs have been images or audio files, people find creative applications for this technology. Bold developments such as the $2.6M sale of digital real estate last year make our marketing senses tingle. Could some investors know something we don’t?

Only if you don’t pay attention.

Consider ways you can leverage NFTs. They’re inappropriate for every company, but many could find creative ways to experiment with this technology.

12. Get Linked…In

Most companies have ignored LinkedIn and focused on other social networks.

As the world turned inwards to work from home, floodgates of remote employment opportunities have opened, and LinkedIn has become essential.

The lockdowns have made businesses dig deep to survive and thrive in the last two years. Despite the shaky economy, companies pivoted creatively to grow their businesses.

More professionals are posting and reading content on LinkedIn. Surprisingly, marketers and brands have found that using LinkedIn for lead generation often has a more significant reach than Twitter or Facebook networks.

If you’re not experimenting with LinkedIn for your business, you’re missing out on a potentially important channel.

Marketing is rapidly evolving. New trends, technologies, social networks, and tactics require new strategies.

Business owners and marketers who adapt to these changes will thrive, even if 2022 brings continued chaos.

Want a closer look at all design trends for 2022?

More About Marketing:

Building unforgettable brands: a deep dive into successful…, email automation: how to transform your business and drive…, trigger marketing: what it is, best practices, and examples, consumer behavior: how your small business can influence…, writing a strong mission statement to inspire customers [guide…, influencer marketing: proven strategies to find influencers…, what is omnichannel marketing unlocking its secrets through…, how to create effective lead magnets that boost conversions…, personalized marketing: the ultimate guide to winning customer hearts, brand positioning: strategies, insights, templates + examples…, brand pillars: what they are, why they matter, and how to create them, how to succeed as an underdog brand, how to create brand messaging for the new normal, sms marketing: the ultimate small business guide [2024], design done better.

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Market Research
[Infographic] 5 Ways Market Researc ...

[Infographic] 5 Ways Market Research Will Change in 2022

Market research is key to understanding your customers, your market, and your industry. Interpreting relevant data is key to unlocking the long-term success of your organization. However, the way data is captured and recorded is rapidly changing.

Our i nfographic below covers some of the emerging trends you should know about for 2022 and beyond. Simply tap to enlarge.

Key takeaways

The pandemic triggered a move to remote tools for qualitative research (such as Zoom). Companies are now dedicating more time to qualitative research.
Data analysis will become more automated as advances in technology continue.
Smaller companies will be able to reap the benefits of market research more easily.
Hybrid research (the use of both quantitative and qualitative research methods) will become more popular.
There will be a pressing need for laws and regulations to keep up with new forms of market research.

Survey best practices (63)
Market Research (62)
Tips & tricks (52)
Product updates (40)
Company news (22)
Customer Experience (19)
Net Promoter Score (16)
Employee Experience (16)
Survey analysis (9)

Writing custom essays & research papers since 2008

100 best marketing research topics for all.

Because of the many aspects of marketing, choosing marketing topics to write about may put one in a dicey situation. This article provides some hot topics in marketing that will help you select an area of focus and select relevant topics from that niche. From marketing research topics for college students to social issues in marketing, we have got you covered! So sit down and relax as we take you through the list of marketing research topics our professional writers prepared just for you!

Marketing Thesis Topics

Are you in need of well-thought-out marketing thesis topics and marketing dissertation topics? Then you’re in the right place! This list of marketing paper topics presented will give you a distinct thesis/dissertation.

Analysis and determination of consumer buying behavior for Coca-Cola
A study on famous well-marketed brands that got away with selling substandard quality products
A study showing the impact of advertising on consumer behavior
Brand advertising and political campaigns: a possible interwoven impact?
A review of the outcomes of advertising in a recession
Exhaustive research on how brands exploit impulsive buying
A study of how celebrity endorsements on ROI affect CPG brands
A survey of the impact of augmented reality on marketing experiences
Critical research on how AI will help make better marketing decisions
A study of the perspective and reception of Americans to targeted ads based on their browser history

Current Marketing Issues

There are numerous marketing issues around the world today. These global marketing issues threaten the survival of many businesses and the economy at large. Here is a list of current marketing issues!

A decline in organic reach on social media platforms
Difficulty in building a well-recognized brand name
Getting readers to see content
Understanding marketing results
Marketing budgets included by BREXIT
Optimizing business for voice search
Bridging the technology gap
Ensuring compliance with GDPR
Overdependence of potential customers on amazon
The effect of COVID-19 on the global economy

Marketing Research Topics

Getting marketing topics for research has been made considerably more comfortable with this list of marketing research paper topics. Ready to explore the marketing research topics we have, let’s delve right in!

Exploring how organizations use corporate social responsibility (CSR) to reinforce brand equity
The effect of social media on buying choices
Online purchasing: a study of the product characteristics buyers look for
An exploration of the differences in marketing strategies across cultures
Manipulation tactics: how brands can get more customers
A study of how customer loyalty is affected by brand image
Analyzing how TV advertising affects the top of mind awareness
Do people appreciate being click baited into sponsored posts?
A study on how to make customers purchase goods and services in the luxury category

Digital Marketing Blog Topics

Digital marketing remains a very important aspect of marketing in the world today. Here are some very juicy digital marketing topics you can write a great blog on!

10 insightful differences between paid search and organic search
Tips for promoting content on Pinterest
SEO tactics to avoid like the plague
How to increase your followers on social media
Best tips to help you grow your paid social ROAS
Why should you follow your competitors on social media?
Dos and don’ts of social media marketing
How to create content your audience will be eager to share

Marketing Essay Topics

What is the most effective form of marketing?
Internet marketing trends to expect in the future
What important brand attributes lead to an increase in customer loyalty?
A look into marketing approaches that broke through strong market monopoly
The impact of social media on consumer buying behavior
Comparison of advertising versus building brand equity
Rebuilding trust in influencer marketing
How to generate leads effectively

Content Marketing Topics

10 biggest graphic design mistakes companies make in their marketing pieces
How to create captivating e-newsletters that people will pay attention to
Repurposing marketing content for small businesses
Working more micro-content into marketing efforts
Multi-step versus one-step content marketing campaigns
The five Cs when creating content marketing copy
Creating compelling content marketing campaigns in 10 steps
Content marketing: how to generate more leads and close sales

Strategic Marketing Problems

There are many marketing problems in companies and businesses that threaten to cripple the advancement of the industry. Here is a list of some marketing problems you may be willing to proffer solutions to.

Inability to explain products or services delivered
Not clearly defining a company’s market segment
Lack of innovating commercial department
Lack of business visibility
Missing links between sales and marketing departments
Lack of marketing plan
Lack of personal branding, brand image, and professional reputation
Thinking the company or business can survive without marketing

Marketing Blog Topics

Facebook advertising: pros and cons
10 benefits of inbound marketing
The most frustrating problems faced in inbound marketing
How to generate subscribers for your blog faster than ever!
10 benefits of content marketing lead magnets
Five video content marketing myths you must discard
30 social media campaign ideas from big brands

Controversial Marketing Topics

Does google give preferential treatment to big brands?
Does social media affect SEO ranking?
Are grey SEO techniques safe?
Are YouTube videos more engaging than TV ads?
Are building e-mail lists still one of the best ways to sell?
Will immersion marketing through VR technology to be accepted?

Sport Marketing Research Topics

Sports marketing continues to remain a significant source of revenue. Hence, research in this area will continue to stay relevant. Here are some sport marketing topics you could consider working on.

How the extraordinary content offered by intelligent chatbots can help sports teams strengthen fan loyalty
Emerging opportunities in sports marketing and how to capitalize on them
How to effectively capitalize on the wearables market
Should more women and children get into sports?
Should seniors be allowed to participate in some games?

Marketing Presentation Topics

Mastering in-house SEO
The path to gaining and building customers trust
Brand awareness versus ROI
Effectively personalizing customer communications
The best SEO strategies that increase site traffic

International Marketing Topics

Marketing connects the global world, and this is why it is essential to marketing development. Here are some international marketing topics to consider!

The effect of globalization on consumer behavior
How do international brands compare to local brands?
Do international brands always have advantages over a local brand?
Creating brand awareness by utilizing global event marketing
How to market products on an international level

Marketing Plan Topics

The importance of a marketing plan to the success of a business or product launch
Building a tactical marketing plan
How is a marketing strategy different from a marketing plan?
Indispensable parts in writing a marketing plan

Ethical Issues In Marketing

Targeted Ads based on browser history
Immersion marketing through virtual reality
The exploitation of impulsive buying
Click baiting into sponsored posts

Affiliate Marketing Topics

How to find profitable niches in affiliate marketing
How to get readers interested in what you market
How to build a personal website: the ultimate guide

Congratulations! We hope you have been able to guide you in choosing your desired topic in marketing successfully. Alo, you can check out our business topics. We wish you the best in your research!

From admission to dissertation. Tips on making the PhD journey happy, productive and successful

PhD Research Topics In Marketing

New PhD aspirants are anxious about researching the best topics for their PhD program in Marketing. Here I am sharing with you Top 25 PhD Research Topics in Marketing. With one of the topics, you can confidently go ahead into your doctoral program in Marketing

Thesis of Client Profitability in marketing.
The Effectiveness of Distribution.
Customer Retention and Retrieval in the Retail Sector.
Modern Trends embracing marketing sector
Fare Marketing analysis and Entry Strategy
Organized Retailing and Demographic Effects.
Reliance Services in view of telecom application.
Cellular Companies and its Future Arena.
Retail Marketing Analysis in terms of Consumer.
Impact of Confectionary Products on Kids.
Reliance Money Structure in Brokerage.
Marketing Project of famous company Bisleri.
Consumer Buying Behavioral levels of satisfaction.
The Impact of Customer Relationship Management(CRM)
Loan Search Burdens in the present generation.
Worldwide Marketing Implementation Strategies.
E-Marketing Rules to improvise Marketing Economy.
Marketing (Your Country) Worldwide.
Publicizing Critical Problems in the current Economy
Convenience Stores and Loyalty Programs.
Channel Development through marketing.
Nonconventional tactics of Distribution.
Survey of Advertising Channel.
Packaging drawbacks and effects on Consumer.
Effects of Branding and Quality on Consumer.

After bachelors, you think of higher study and want to be at the professional level, a professor and a doctoral title. For this, you should apply for the Ph.D. This is a great challenge for every master’s level student. You must need to write a research paper. If you have excellent research skill and writing skill, then you can proceed with it. One of the most widely recognized issues when composing a Ph.D. research paper is picking the phd research topics in marketing. Luckily, there are Ph.D. pape- composing services and methodologies that will make point determination simpler on your part. To guarantee quality subjects, ensure that you characterize the reason for your paper; this will enable you to create Ph.D. look into topics in promoting that will induce your group of spectators and clarify the significance of your writing reagarding topics of research in marketing. Your preferred research topic ought not just to present a great extent of your field yet additionally give a chance to further research.

For your business development and improvement, marketing is fundamental. Therefore marketing/advertising task compositions can help you in building up a dependable and powerful limited-time plan for your organization that can bolster your business objectives. Subsequently, an understudy must pick an intriguing research paper topic that can develop their advantage while doing the research paperwork and make your project look proficient and fantastic. To release all your pressure and surpass in your scholastic profession, you have to get help from a specialist writer and an informative site from where you can get an idea about phd research topics in marketing.

What Makes Good phd research topic in marketing ?

Commit an error toward the beginning of your doctoral research by picking the wrong Ph.D. to look into topics in marketing, and you could do a lot of diligent work and worry for yourself. You should invest enough energy and exertion to choose the correct research topics in marketing/advertising for Ph.D. papers with the goal that you can make sure you will almost certainly get your paper finished effectively. This implies you should completely comprehend what is average from your examination thoughts. They should be:

Attainable: Searching for research topics is attainable. While you may have a couple of years to embrace your exploration in marketing, you should even now have the option to finish it on schedule and with the majority of different assets that you have accessible to you.

One of a kind: for your Ph.D., you should most likely demonstrate that the task you have picked has not as of now been investigated entirely by another.

Significant: If the primary individual that will need to have a solution to your exploration questions is you, then you might not have chosen something that will bear some significance with your field. It must positively affect your region to be appropriate.

Fascinating: you likewise need to think about your enthusiasm for your exploration. If you are probably not going to have the option to keep up that plan, at that point you are going to battle to finish the work.

Method for choosing Research Topics in Marketing?

Finding those ideal research subjects in promoting for Ph.D. searches for some is a battle. Coming up next are a portion of the manners in which that you can locate the perfect topic for your exploration:

Proceed with past research: various understudies will need to keep on taking a shot at something that they have begun to explore some research topics in marketing already in their scholarly profession.

Peruse papers in the regions of promoting that intrigue you: most papers will feature zones for further research in marketing or even feature where research is powerless. These can be phenomenal wellsprings of motivation.

Glance back at work involvement: are there specific issues that you experienced that would make for a decent venture?

Think about your future profession: what would you like to be known for, and what would you like to have the option to do in your next job? What openings does this feature for research?

Hope so; the above PhD topics in marketing will help you to take off your stress about your professional career. So read these topics and choose the best one suited you.

Step by step instructions to write an Effective Marketing Ph.D. Research Paper

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Plan your Ph.D. arranging: a great arrangement that subtleties out the achievements that you should meet to finish your composition will assist you in keeping things on track. Guarantee that you leave time in your arrangement for making modifications and checking your work.

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30+ Google Search Engine Statistics & Trends [2024 Update]

May 8, 2024

in Research

When you need an answer to a question, where do you go? To Google, of course! Its absolute dominance has made it the largest search engine, answering billions of queries every day. Here’s what you should know about the latest Google Search Engine statistics for 2024 ⇣ .

Let’s kick off with a summary of some of the most interesting Google search engine statistics and trends:

Google controls over 91.6% of the global search engine market.
Google’s revenue was 76.3 billion dollars (as of Q3 2023).
Google processes over 3.5 billion searches every single day.

The top search result on Google receives a 39.8% click-through rate.

Almost nine out of ten users worldwide use Google to search the Internet.

In 2023, 59.21% of Google users accessed Google through a mobile phone.

Advertisers make an average of $2 in revenue for every $1 spent on google ads..

Customers are 2.7 times more likely to consider your business more reputable if you have a complete Google My Business Profile.
20% of the top-ranked websites are still not in a mobile-friendly format, and Google will not prioritize them in search results

Since Google’s launch in 1998, the search engine has dominated its industry like few others in modern history. Almost nine out of ten Internet users worldwide rely on Google to access important information.

The impressive feat is backed by advanced technology. Each user query uses 1000 computers in 0.2 seconds, and the data query travels approximately 1,500 miles to present useful information to the user.

2024 Google Search Engine Statistics & Trends

Here is a collection of the most up-to-date Google search engine statistics to give you the current state of what’s happening in 2024 and beyond.

As of Q3 2023, Google’s revenue was 76.3 billion US dollars.

Source: Alphabet ^

As of the third quarter of 2023, Google’s revenue was 76.3 billion US dollars , which is up 6% year on year.

In 2022, its full-year annual revenue was 279.8 billion U.S. dollars, which was its highest value to date, with most of its earnings being powered by advertising through Google sites and its network.

Google processes 3.5 billion searches per day.

Source: Internet Live Stats ^

Google processes over 3.5 billion searches every single day . If you break this incredible statistic down, it means that Google processes, on average, over 40,000 search queries every second or 1.2 trillion searches per year.

In comparison, back in 1998, when Google launched, it was processing over 10,000 search queries per day. In just over 20 years, Google has gone from becoming barely known to an integral part of the everyday life of searchers all around the world.

As of January 2024, Google occupies an 91.6% share of the global search engine market.

Source: Statcounter ^

Nine out of ten users worldwide use Google as their search engine to search the Internet. Its three closest competitors, Bing, Yahoo, and Yandex, represent about 8.4% of the total search engine landscape , dwarfed by Google’s colossal 91.6% market share.

However, Google’s dominance is weakening as Microsoft has added ChatGPT to Bing .

Source: FirstPageSage ^

Gaining the top spot on Google is worth the effort since it attracts a 39.8% click-through rate . Search position two enjoys an 18.7% click-through rate, whereas the number nine spot is only 2.4%.

If you manage to get the featured snippet (the bold text answer paragraph that appears in search results), the click-through rate is increased to 42.9% for the top spot and 27.4% for the second spot.

Semrush conducted a zero-click survey and found that 25.6% of all Google searches resulted in no click-through.

Source: SEMrush ^

A high-ranking search result listing on Google may not guarantee a click. Google’s search results increasingly show more and more instant answers, featured snippets, knowledge boxes, etc.

As a result, ¼ of all searches made on Google on desktop computers ended without a click to any web property in the search results. For mobile users, this figure was 17.3%.

Thanks to Google’s Multitask Unified Model (MUM) update, nailing user intent has been a key focus for Google SEO experts.

Source: SearchEngineJournal ^

Google updated its AI algorithm to help its ranking systems better understand language. As a result, getting the user intent right has become vital for getting web pages to rank.

This means you must consider what users find useful when viewing content and take a holistic approach to create it. In terms of marketing, you need to consider the specific consumer stage during the buyer’s journey.

An image is 12 times more likely to appear on a Google mobile search.

Create a mobile-friendly website if you want your product or the image to appear on the Google search engine results page. Compared to desktop users, a picture is 12.5x times more likely to appear in front of the user using a mobile. Similarly, a video will appear 3x times more often on mobile.

In contrast, getting better results for videos on a desktop may be more cost-effective. Videos appear 2.5x times more often on Google desktop results than mobile searches.

Desktop search is also better in utilizing featured snippets, which are likely to occur twice as often on a desktop.

Source: Similarweb ^

In 2023, 59.4% of all web traffic came from mobile devices, and 59.21% of those individuals are using Chrome to browse online. Safari is the second most popular browser at 33.78%.

In 2013, the mobile phone only contributed 16.2% of traffic, gradually increasing to 59.4% in 2023 – a whopping 75.84% increase.

It costs 38% less to advertise on Google search engine than Google display network.

Source: WordStream ^

The average cost per conversion on the Google search network is $56.11. The conversion rate is much better than the Google display network, which costs advertisers $90.80 per conversion. The automobile and travel industry converts at a much lower rate at $26.17 and $27.04, respectively.

Research suggests that the Google search network offers much better rates across all sectors except leisure and finance. Advertisers in the leisure and financial industries often get better results through the Googe display network.

The average conversion rate across Google Ads is 4.40% on the search network and 0.57% on the display network.

The average cost per conversion on the Google search network is $56.11. The conversion rate is much better than the Google display network, which costs advertisers $90.80 per conversion.

Furthermore, the conversion rates are much better for Google Search Network at 4.40%. This is compared with 0.57% for Google Display Network.

Source: Google Economic Impact ^

Google’s chief economist, Hal Varian, says that if search clicks brought in as much business as ad clicks, it will generate $11 for every $1 spent on Google Ads rather than the $2 revenue gained from ad clicks .

In theory, this makes s earch clicks 70% more valuable than ad clicks.

46% of users on Google search engines seek local information.

Source: SocialMediaToday ^

Nearly half of Google users seek local information on the Internet . More importantly, almost 30% of Google mobile users start their search inquiries looking for a product near their homes. Two-thirds of consumers who search for local businesses end up visiting stores within five miles of their homes.

For local businesses, it is essential to share their locations because 86% of people use Google Maps to locate a business address. Almost 76% of people will visit the store within one day, and 28% will purchase the desired product.

Improving the online Google star rating from 3 to 5 stars will generate 25% more clicks.

Source: Bright Local ^

Consumer reviews and Google star rating plays a critical role in the success of a business. The latest trends indicate that you will get approximately 13,000 more leads by increasing the star rating by 1.5 .

The star rating on Google is also critical because only 53% of Google users consider using a business with fewer than 4-stars. Only 5% of companies on Google have a rating less than 3-stars.

15% of all searches on Google are unique (never searched for before).

Source: BroadBandSearch ^

Every day, Google processes 15% unique, never-searched for before keywords. On average, a user will perform four to five searches per day. Google Image makes up 20% of all search inquiries, which shows that people are getting more educated about search engine usage.

For advertisers, the increase in Google Image search means they can create content around images and visual data to gain top ranking on Google.

URLs that contain a keyword gets a 45% higher click-through-rate in Google.

Source: Backlinko ^

According to recent research covering more than 5 million search queries and 874,929 pages on Google, a keyword in the title will encourage users to click on a page. The high CTR rate is based on the entire search query. It means that website owners should try to include the entire keyword in the URL.

Google search engine algorithm considers high CTR a reflection of web page’s quality. Using a keyword in the title will likely generate more traffic and help a website rank higher.

Backlinks are among the most critical ranking factor to get a high position on the Google search engine.

Source: Ahrefs ^

Experts from Google revealed that backlinks are among the three most essential factors in achieving a higher rank . Therefore, if you want to gain maximum visibility and get a higher position in Google, try to incorporate as many high-quality backlinks as possible.

Generally, the more backlinks the page has, the more organic traffic it gets from Google . Website owners should also do link building because it allows websites to get traffic from other high-ranking websites.

2023’s most popular (family-friendly) keywords was “Facebook,” with an average of 213 million searches per month.

Source: SiegeMedia ^

Despite having ultra-simple URLs, people still take to Google when they want to find their favorite websites. “Facebook” is the most searched term on Google, with 213 million monthly searches.

“YouTube” is next on the list (143.8 million monthly searches), then “Amazon” (119.7 million monthly searches). “Weather” commands 95.3 million monthly searches, and Walmart takes the 5th spot with 74.4 million .

According to Ahrefs, these were the top 10 searches on Google globally:

This data is slightly skewed as this is the family-friendly version. There are adult-rated words that command much higher search volumes, but we won’t disclose them here.

Customers are 2.7 times more likely to consider your business reputable if you have a complete Google My Business Profile.

Source: Hootsuite ^

Having a complete Google My Business profile is vital for local businesses to thrive. Customers are 2.7 times more likely to consider you if you have everything complete and up to date.

Furthermore, 64% of consumers have used Google My Business to get contact details for a business and are 70% more likely to visit your location. Additionally, your Google My Business listing can gain up to 35% more clicks to your website .

Displaying your Google star rating on the results page can improve your CTR by up to 35%.

Source: Bidnamic ^

Consumer reviews and Google star rating plays a critical role in the success of a business, as consumers see star ratings as a seal of quality and reliability. For best results, your rating must be 3.5 stars or above.

79% of shoppers state that they trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations, so it’s definitely worth asking your customers for them.

Title tags between 40 to 60 characters have the highest CTR at 33.3%.

To increase the chance of someone clicking on your website, you should have a title of between 40 – 60 characters. This equates to a CTR rate of 33.3% and an 8.9% better average CTR than other title lengths.

Titles with six to nine words are also well received and have a CTR of 33.5%. Short titles of three words or less fare the worst, with a CTR of just 18.8%, whereas titles with over 80 characters also have a low CTR of 21.9%.

Backlinks used to be the most important factor for ranking in Google searches. Now, quality content reigns supreme, and on average, posts with 1,890 words get the top spot.

Source: MonsterInsights ^

Backlinks are still important (the second most essential ranking factor). However, internet users demand high-quality, relevant, and up-to-date content, and Google now places this as the most important thing to get right.

The average post length for top-ranking articles is 1,890 words and will be neatly organized into H1, H2, H3, etc. headings. This ties in with the third most crucial ranking element – user intent. However, as we demonstrated earlier in the article, user intent is fast-rising to become even more vital.

27% of internet users use voice search for general search queries on their mobile devices.

Source: BloggingWizard ^

Currently, 27% of the global online population uses voice search on mobile devices. In the US, this figure rises to 41% of US adults and 55% of teens.

Despite these figures, using voice to search is currently ranked as the sixth most-used voice-based activity after making a call, texting, getting directions, playing music, and setting a reminder. However, voice search is the second most popular method of performing searches after browser search.

20% of the top-ranked websites are still not in a mobile-friendly format, and Google will not prioritize them in search results.

Source: ClearTech ^

70% of searches made on mobile phones lead to online engagement; however, 61% of users will not return to a website if it is not mobile-optimized. Moreover, Google recognizes the frustration non-optimized websites cause its users and prioritizes mobile-friendly websites in search results.

This is bad news for the remaining 20% of top-ranked websites that still need to optimize their sites for mobile browsing.

https://abc.xyz/investor/static/pdf/2023Q3_alphabet_earnings_release.pdf
https://www.statista.com/statistics
https://www.internetlivestats.com/google-search-statistics/
https://www.statista.com/statistics/216573/worldwide-market-share-of-search-engines/
https://firstpagesage.com/seo-blog/google-click-through-rates-ctrs-by-ranking-position/
https://www.semrush.com/blog/zero-clicks-study/
https://www.searchenginejournal.com/2022-seo-trends-podcast-2/432620/
https://bloggingwizard.com/voice-search-statistics/
https://www.monsterinsights.com/google-ranking-factors/
https://www.cleart.com/will-i-lose-my-google-rankings-non-mobile-website.html
https://economicimpact.google.com/methodology/
https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2019/08/19/conversion-rate-benchmarks
https://www.siegemedia.com/seo/most-popular-keywords
https://blog.hootsuite.com/google-my-business/
https://localiq.com/blog/google-my-business-benefits
https://backlinko.com/google-ctr-stats
https://www.bidnamic.com/blog/resources/adding-star-ratings-to-your-google-ads
https://www.oberlo.com/statistics/mobile-internet-traffic
https://www.similarweb.com/browsers/worldwide/mobile-phone/

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McKinsey Global Private Markets Review 2024: Private markets in a slower era

At a glance, macroeconomic challenges continued.

McKinsey Global Private Markets Review 2024: Private markets: A slower era

If 2022 was a tale of two halves, with robust fundraising and deal activity in the first six months followed by a slowdown in the second half, then 2023 might be considered a tale of one whole. Macroeconomic headwinds persisted throughout the year, with rising financing costs, and an uncertain growth outlook taking a toll on private markets. Full-year fundraising continued to decline from 2021’s lofty peak, weighed down by the “denominator effect” that persisted in part due to a less active deal market. Managers largely held onto assets to avoid selling in a lower-multiple environment, fueling an activity-dampening cycle in which distribution-starved limited partners (LPs) reined in new commitments.

About the authors

This article is a summary of a larger report, available as a PDF, that is a collaborative effort by Fredrik Dahlqvist , Alastair Green , Paul Maia, Alexandra Nee , David Quigley , Aditya Sanghvi , Connor Mangan, John Spivey, Rahel Schneider, and Brian Vickery , representing views from McKinsey’s Private Equity & Principal Investors Practice.

Performance in most private asset classes remained below historical averages for a second consecutive year. Decade-long tailwinds from low and falling interest rates and consistently expanding multiples seem to be things of the past. As private market managers look to boost performance in this new era of investing, a deeper focus on revenue growth and margin expansion will be needed now more than ever.

Perspectives on a slower era in private markets

Global fundraising contracted.

Fundraising fell 22 percent across private market asset classes globally to just over $1 trillion, as of year-end reported data—the lowest total since 2017. Fundraising in North America, a rare bright spot in 2022, declined in line with global totals, while in Europe, fundraising proved most resilient, falling just 3 percent. In Asia, fundraising fell precipitously and now sits 72 percent below the region’s 2018 peak.

Despite difficult fundraising conditions, headwinds did not affect all strategies or managers equally. Private equity (PE) buyout strategies posted their best fundraising year ever, and larger managers and vehicles also fared well, continuing the prior year’s trend toward greater fundraising concentration.

The numerator effect persisted

Despite a marked recovery in the denominator—the 1,000 largest US retirement funds grew 7 percent in the year ending September 2023, after falling 14 percent the prior year, for example 1 “U.S. retirement plans recover half of 2022 losses amid no-show recession,” Pensions and Investments , February 12, 2024. —many LPs remain overexposed to private markets relative to their target allocations. LPs started 2023 overweight: according to analysis from CEM Benchmarking, average allocations across PE, infrastructure, and real estate were at or above target allocations as of the beginning of the year. And the numerator grew throughout the year, as a lack of exits and rebounding valuations drove net asset values (NAVs) higher. While not all LPs strictly follow asset allocation targets, our analysis in partnership with global private markets firm StepStone Group suggests that an overallocation of just one percentage point can reduce planned commitments by as much as 10 to 12 percent per year for five years or more.

Despite these headwinds, recent surveys indicate that LPs remain broadly committed to private markets. In fact, the majority plan to maintain or increase allocations over the medium to long term.

Investors fled to known names and larger funds

Fundraising concentration reached its highest level in over a decade, as investors continued to shift new commitments in favor of the largest fund managers. The 25 most successful fundraisers collected 41 percent of aggregate commitments to closed-end funds (with the top five managers accounting for nearly half that total). Closed-end fundraising totals may understate the extent of concentration in the industry overall, as the largest managers also tend to be more successful in raising non-institutional capital.

While the largest funds grew even larger—the largest vehicles on record were raised in buyout, real estate, infrastructure, and private debt in 2023—smaller and newer funds struggled. Fewer than 1,700 funds of less than $1 billion were closed during the year, half as many as closed in 2022 and the fewest of any year since 2012. New manager formation also fell to the lowest level since 2012, with just 651 new firms launched in 2023.

Whether recent fundraising concentration and a spate of M&A activity signals the beginning of oft-rumored consolidation in the private markets remains uncertain, as a similar pattern developed in each of the last two fundraising downturns before giving way to renewed entrepreneurialism among general partners (GPs) and commitment diversification among LPs. Compared with how things played out in the last two downturns, perhaps this movie really is different, or perhaps we’re watching a trilogy reusing a familiar plotline.

Dry powder inventory spiked (again)

Private markets assets under management totaled $13.1 trillion as of June 30, 2023, and have grown nearly 20 percent per annum since 2018. Dry powder reserves—the amount of capital committed but not yet deployed—increased to $3.7 trillion, marking the ninth consecutive year of growth. Dry powder inventory—the amount of capital available to GPs expressed as a multiple of annual deployment—increased for the second consecutive year in PE, as new commitments continued to outpace deal activity. Inventory sat at 1.6 years in 2023, up markedly from the 0.9 years recorded at the end of 2021 but still within the historical range. NAV grew as well, largely driven by the reluctance of managers to exit positions and crystallize returns in a depressed multiple environment.

Private equity strategies diverged

Buyout and venture capital, the two largest PE sub-asset classes, charted wildly different courses over the past 18 months. Buyout notched its highest fundraising year ever in 2023, and its performance improved, with funds posting a (still paltry) 5 percent net internal rate of return through September 30. And although buyout deal volumes declined by 19 percent, 2023 was still the third-most-active year on record. In contrast, venture capital (VC) fundraising declined by nearly 60 percent, equaling its lowest total since 2015, and deal volume fell by 36 percent to the lowest level since 2019. VC funds returned –3 percent through September, posting negative returns for seven consecutive quarters. VC was the fastest-growing—as well as the highest-performing—PE strategy by a significant margin from 2010 to 2022, but investors appear to be reevaluating their approach in the current environment.

Private equity entry multiples contracted

PE buyout entry multiples declined by roughly one turn from 11.9 to 11.0 times EBITDA, slightly outpacing the decline in public market multiples (down from 12.1 to 11.3 times EBITDA), through the first nine months of 2023. For nearly a decade leading up to 2022, managers consistently sold assets into a higher-multiple environment than that in which they had bought those assets, providing a substantial performance tailwind for the industry. Nowhere has this been truer than in technology. After experiencing more than eight turns of multiple expansion from 2009 to 2021 (the most of any sector), technology multiples have declined by nearly three turns in the past two years, 50 percent more than in any other sector. Overall, roughly two-thirds of the total return for buyout deals that were entered in 2010 or later and exited in 2021 or before can be attributed to market multiple expansion and leverage. Now, with falling multiples and higher financing costs, revenue growth and margin expansion are taking center stage for GPs.

Real estate receded

Demand uncertainty, slowing rent growth, and elevated financing costs drove cap rates higher and made price discovery challenging, all of which weighed on deal volume, fundraising, and investment performance. Global closed-end fundraising declined 34 percent year over year, and funds returned −4 percent in the first nine months of the year, losing money for the first time since the 2007–08 global financial crisis. Capital shifted away from core and core-plus strategies as investors sought liquidity via redemptions in open-end vehicles, from which net outflows reached their highest level in at least two decades. Opportunistic strategies benefited from this shift, with investors focusing on capital appreciation over income generation in a market where alternative sources of yield have grown more attractive. Rising interest rates widened bid–ask spreads and impaired deal volume across food groups, including in what were formerly hot sectors: multifamily and industrial.

Private debt pays dividends

Debt again proved to be the most resilient private asset class against a turbulent market backdrop. Fundraising declined just 13 percent, largely driven by lower commitments to direct lending strategies, for which a slower PE deal environment has made capital deployment challenging. The asset class also posted the highest returns among all private asset classes through September 30. Many private debt securities are tied to floating rates, which enhance returns in a rising-rate environment. Thus far, managers appear to have successfully navigated the rising incidence of default and distress exhibited across the broader leveraged-lending market. Although direct lending deal volume declined from 2022, private lenders financed an all-time high 59 percent of leveraged buyout transactions last year and are now expanding into additional strategies to drive the next era of growth.

Infrastructure took a detour

After several years of robust growth and strong performance, infrastructure and natural resources fundraising declined by 53 percent to the lowest total since 2013. Supply-side timing is partially to blame: five of the seven largest infrastructure managers closed a flagship vehicle in 2021 or 2022, and none of those five held a final close last year. As in real estate, investors shied away from core and core-plus investments in a higher-yield environment. Yet there are reasons to believe infrastructure’s growth will bounce back. Limited partners (LPs) surveyed by McKinsey remain bullish on their deployment to the asset class, and at least a dozen vehicles targeting more than $10 billion were actively fundraising as of the end of 2023. Multiple recent acquisitions of large infrastructure GPs by global multi-asset-class managers also indicate marketwide conviction in the asset class’s potential.

Private markets still have work to do on diversity

Private markets firms are slowly improving their representation of females (up two percentage points over the prior year) and ethnic and racial minorities (up one percentage point). On some diversity metrics, including entry-level representation of women, private markets now compare favorably with corporate America. Yet broad-based parity remains elusive and too slow in the making. Ethnic, racial, and gender imbalances are particularly stark across more influential investing roles and senior positions. In fact, McKinsey’s research reveals that at the current pace, it would take several decades for private markets firms to reach gender parity at senior levels. Increasing representation across all levels will require managers to take fresh approaches to hiring, retention, and promotion.

Artificial intelligence generating excitement

The transformative potential of generative AI was perhaps 2023’s hottest topic (beyond Taylor Swift). Private markets players are excited about the potential for the technology to optimize their approach to thesis generation, deal sourcing, investment due diligence, and portfolio performance, among other areas. While the technology is still nascent and few GPs can boast scaled implementations, pilot programs are already in flight across the industry, particularly within portfolio companies. Adoption seems nearly certain to accelerate throughout 2024.

Private markets in a slower era

If private markets investors entered 2023 hoping for a return to the heady days of 2021, they likely left the year disappointed. Many of the headwinds that emerged in the latter half of 2022 persisted throughout the year, pressuring fundraising, dealmaking, and performance. Inflation moderated somewhat over the course of the year but remained stubbornly elevated by recent historical standards. Interest rates started high and rose higher, increasing the cost of financing. A reinvigorated public equity market recovered most of 2022’s losses but did little to resolve the valuation uncertainty private market investors have faced for the past 18 months.

Within private markets, the denominator effect remained in play, despite the public market recovery, as the numerator continued to expand. An activity-dampening cycle emerged: higher cost of capital and lower multiples limited the ability or willingness of general partners (GPs) to exit positions; fewer exits, coupled with continuing capital calls, pushed LP allocations higher, thereby limiting their ability or willingness to make new commitments. These conditions weighed on managers’ ability to fundraise. Based on data reported as of year-end 2023, private markets fundraising fell 22 percent from the prior year to just over $1 trillion, the largest such drop since 2009 (Exhibit 1).

The impact of the fundraising environment was not felt equally among GPs. Continuing a trend that emerged in 2022, and consistent with prior downturns in fundraising, LPs favored larger vehicles and the scaled GPs that typically manage them. Smaller and newer managers struggled, and the number of sub–$1 billion vehicles and new firm launches each declined to its lowest level in more than a decade.

Despite the decline in fundraising, private markets assets under management (AUM) continued to grow, increasing 12 percent to $13.1 trillion as of June 30, 2023. 2023 fundraising was still the sixth-highest annual haul on record, pushing dry powder higher, while the slowdown in deal making limited distributions.

Investment performance across private market asset classes fell short of historical averages. Private equity (PE) got back in the black but generated the lowest annual performance in the past 15 years, excluding 2022. Closed-end real estate produced negative returns for the first time since 2009, as capitalization (cap) rates expanded across sectors and rent growth dissipated in formerly hot sectors, including multifamily and industrial. The performance of infrastructure funds was less than half of its long-term average and even further below the double-digit returns generated in 2021 and 2022. Private debt was the standout performer (if there was one), outperforming all other private asset classes and illustrating the asset class’s countercyclical appeal.

Private equity down but not out

Higher financing costs, lower multiples, and an uncertain macroeconomic environment created a challenging backdrop for private equity managers in 2023. Fundraising declined for the second year in a row, falling 15 percent to $649 billion, as LPs grappled with the denominator effect and a slowdown in distributions. Managers were on the fundraising trail longer to raise this capital: funds that closed in 2023 were open for a record-high average of 20.1 months, notably longer than 18.7 months in 2022 and 14.1 months in 2018. VC and growth equity strategies led the decline, dropping to their lowest level of cumulative capital raised since 2015. Fundraising in Asia fell for the fourth year of the last five, with the greatest decline in China.

Despite the difficult fundraising context, a subset of strategies and managers prevailed. Buyout managers collectively had their best fundraising year on record, raising more than $400 billion. Fundraising in Europe surged by more than 50 percent, resulting in the region’s biggest haul ever. The largest managers raised an outsized share of the total for a second consecutive year, making 2023 the most concentrated fundraising year of the last decade (Exhibit 2).

Despite the drop in aggregate fundraising, PE assets under management increased 8 percent to $8.2 trillion. Only a small part of this growth was performance driven: PE funds produced a net IRR of just 2.5 percent through September 30, 2023. Buyouts and growth equity generated positive returns, while VC lost money. PE performance, dating back to the beginning of 2022, remains negative, highlighting the difficulty of generating attractive investment returns in a higher interest rate and lower multiple environment. As PE managers devise value creation strategies to improve performance, their focus includes ensuring operating efficiency and profitability of their portfolio companies.

Deal activity volume and count fell sharply, by 21 percent and 24 percent, respectively, which continued the slower pace set in the second half of 2022. Sponsors largely opted to hold assets longer rather than lock in underwhelming returns. While higher financing costs and valuation mismatches weighed on overall deal activity, certain types of M&A gained share. Add-on deals, for example, accounted for a record 46 percent of total buyout deal volume last year.

Real estate recedes

For real estate, 2023 was a year of transition, characterized by a litany of new and familiar challenges. Pandemic-driven demand issues continued, while elevated financing costs, expanding cap rates, and valuation uncertainty weighed on commercial real estate deal volumes, fundraising, and investment performance.

Managers faced one of the toughest fundraising environments in many years. Global closed-end fundraising declined 34 percent to $125 billion. While fundraising challenges were widespread, they were not ubiquitous across strategies. Dollars continued to shift to large, multi-asset class platforms, with the top five managers accounting for 37 percent of aggregate closed-end real estate fundraising. In April, the largest real estate fund ever raised closed on a record $30 billion.

Capital shifted away from core and core-plus strategies as investors sought liquidity through redemptions in open-end vehicles and reduced gross contributions to the lowest level since 2009. Opportunistic strategies benefited from this shift, as investors turned their attention toward capital appreciation over income generation in a market where alternative sources of yield have grown more attractive.

In the United States, for instance, open-end funds, as represented by the National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries Fund Index—Open-End Equity (NFI-OE), recorded $13 billion in net outflows in 2023, reversing the trend of positive net inflows throughout the 2010s. The negative flows mainly reflected $9 billion in core outflows, with core-plus funds accounting for the remaining outflows, which reversed a 20-year run of net inflows.

As a result, the NAV in US open-end funds fell roughly 16 percent year over year. Meanwhile, global assets under management in closed-end funds reached a new peak of $1.7 trillion as of June 2023, growing 14 percent between June 2022 and June 2023.

Real estate underperformed historical averages in 2023, as previously high-performing multifamily and industrial sectors joined office in producing negative returns caused by slowing demand growth and cap rate expansion. Closed-end funds generated a pooled net IRR of −3.5 percent in the first nine months of 2023, losing money for the first time since the global financial crisis. The lone bright spot among major sectors was hospitality, which—thanks to a rush of postpandemic travel—returned 10.3 percent in 2023. 2 Based on NCREIFs NPI index. Hotels represent 1 percent of total properties in the index. As a whole, the average pooled lifetime net IRRs for closed-end real estate funds from 2011–20 vintages remained around historical levels (9.8 percent).

Global deal volume declined 47 percent in 2023 to reach a ten-year low of $650 billion, driven by widening bid–ask spreads amid valuation uncertainty and higher costs of financing (Exhibit 3). 3 CBRE, Real Capital Analytics Deal flow in the office sector remained depressed, partly as a result of continued uncertainty in the demand for space in a hybrid working world.

During a turbulent year for private markets, private debt was a relative bright spot, topping private markets asset classes in terms of fundraising growth, AUM growth, and performance.

Fundraising for private debt declined just 13 percent year over year, nearly ten percentage points less than the private markets overall. Despite the decline in fundraising, AUM surged 27 percent to $1.7 trillion. And private debt posted the highest investment returns of any private asset class through the first three quarters of 2023.

Private debt’s risk/return characteristics are well suited to the current environment. With interest rates at their highest in more than a decade, current yields in the asset class have grown more attractive on both an absolute and relative basis, particularly if higher rates sustain and put downward pressure on equity returns (Exhibit 4). The built-in security derived from debt’s privileged position in the capital structure, moreover, appeals to investors that are wary of market volatility and valuation uncertainty.

Direct lending continued to be the largest strategy in 2023, with fundraising for the mostly-senior-debt strategy accounting for almost half of the asset class’s total haul (despite declining from the previous year). Separately, mezzanine debt fundraising hit a new high, thanks to the closings of three of the largest funds ever raised in the strategy.

Over the longer term, growth in private debt has largely been driven by institutional investors rotating out of traditional fixed income in favor of private alternatives. Despite this growth in commitments, LPs remain underweight in this asset class relative to their targets. In fact, the allocation gap has only grown wider in recent years, a sharp contrast to other private asset classes, for which LPs’ current allocations exceed their targets on average. According to data from CEM Benchmarking, the private debt allocation gap now stands at 1.4 percent, which means that, in aggregate, investors must commit hundreds of billions in net new capital to the asset class just to reach current targets.

Private debt was not completely immune to the macroeconomic conditions last year, however. Fundraising declined for the second consecutive year and now sits 23 percent below 2021’s peak. Furthermore, though private lenders took share in 2023 from other capital sources, overall deal volumes also declined for the second year in a row. The drop was largely driven by a less active PE deal environment: private debt is predominantly used to finance PE-backed companies, though managers are increasingly diversifying their origination capabilities to include a broad new range of companies and asset types.

Infrastructure and natural resources take a detour

For infrastructure and natural resources fundraising, 2023 was an exceptionally challenging year. Aggregate capital raised declined 53 percent year over year to $82 billion, the lowest annual total since 2013. The size of the drop is particularly surprising in light of infrastructure’s recent momentum. The asset class had set fundraising records in four of the previous five years, and infrastructure is often considered an attractive investment in uncertain markets.

While there is little doubt that the broader fundraising headwinds discussed elsewhere in this report affected infrastructure and natural resources fundraising last year, dynamics specific to the asset class were at play as well. One issue was supply-side timing: nine of the ten largest infrastructure GPs did not close a flagship fund in 2023. Second was the migration of investor dollars away from core and core-plus investments, which have historically accounted for the bulk of infrastructure fundraising, in a higher rate environment.

The asset class had some notable bright spots last year. Fundraising for higher-returning opportunistic strategies more than doubled the prior year’s total (Exhibit 5). AUM grew 18 percent, reaching a new high of $1.5 trillion. Infrastructure funds returned a net IRR of 3.4 percent in 2023; this was below historical averages but still the second-best return among private asset classes. And as was the case in other asset classes, investors concentrated commitments in larger funds and managers in 2023, including in the largest infrastructure fund ever raised.

The outlook for the asset class, moreover, remains positive. Funds targeting a record amount of capital were in the market at year-end, providing a robust foundation for fundraising in 2024 and 2025. A recent spate of infrastructure GP acquisitions signal multi-asset managers’ long-term conviction in the asset class, despite short-term headwinds. Global megatrends like decarbonization and digitization, as well as revolutions in energy and mobility, have spurred new infrastructure investment opportunities around the world, particularly for value-oriented investors that are willing to take on more risk.

Private markets make measured progress in DEI

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) has become an important part of the fundraising, talent, and investing landscape for private market participants. Encouragingly, incremental progress has been made in recent years, including more diverse talent being brought to entry-level positions, investing roles, and investment committees. The scope of DEI metrics provided to institutional investors during fundraising has also increased in recent years: more than half of PE firms now provide data across investing teams, portfolio company boards, and portfolio company management (versus investment team data only). 4 “ The state of diversity in global private markets: 2023 ,” McKinsey, August 22, 2023.

In 2023, McKinsey surveyed 66 global private markets firms that collectively employ more than 60,000 people for the second annual State of diversity in global private markets report. 5 “ The state of diversity in global private markets: 2023 ,” McKinsey, August 22, 2023. The research offers insight into the representation of women and ethnic and racial minorities in private investing as of year-end 2022. In this chapter, we discuss where the numbers stand and how firms can bring a more diverse set of perspectives to the table.

The statistics indicate signs of modest advancement. Overall representation of women in private markets increased two percentage points to 35 percent, and ethnic and racial minorities increased one percentage point to 30 percent (Exhibit 6). Entry-level positions have nearly reached gender parity, with female representation at 48 percent. The share of women holding C-suite roles globally increased 3 percentage points, while the share of people from ethnic and racial minorities in investment committees increased 9 percentage points. There is growing evidence that external hiring is gradually helping close the diversity gap, especially at senior levels. For example, 33 percent of external hires at the managing director level were ethnic or racial minorities, higher than their existing representation level (19 percent).

Yet, the scope of the challenge remains substantial. Women and minorities continue to be underrepresented in senior positions and investing roles. They also experience uneven rates of progress due to lower promotion and higher attrition rates, particularly at smaller firms. Firms are also navigating an increasingly polarized workplace today, with additional scrutiny and a growing number of lawsuits against corporate diversity and inclusion programs, particularly in the US, which threatens to impact the industry’s pace of progress.

Fredrik Dahlqvist is a senior partner in McKinsey’s Stockholm office; Alastair Green is a senior partner in the Washington, DC, office, where Paul Maia and Alexandra Nee are partners; David Quigley is a senior partner in the New York office, where Connor Mangan is an associate partner and Aditya Sanghvi is a senior partner; Rahel Schneider is an associate partner in the Bay Area office; John Spivey is a partner in the Charlotte office; and Brian Vickery is a partner in the Boston office.

The authors wish to thank Jonathan Christy, Louis Dufau, Vaibhav Gujral, Graham Healy-Day, Laura Johnson, Ryan Luby, Tripp Norton, Alastair Rami, Henri Torbey, and Alex Wolkomir for their contributions

The authors would also like to thank CEM Benchmarking and the StepStone Group for their partnership in this year's report.

This article was edited by Arshiya Khullar, an editor in the Gurugram office.

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