Insee Première · January 2022 · n° 1890

Market research and public opinion polling in the age of big data

Since 2010, market research and public opinion polling production has grown at a modest rate, far below market services average (+1.0% per year between 2010 and 2019 in volume terms, compared with +2.9% for all market services).

The sector is characterised by a high concentration of activity, a strong presence in Île-de-France and a predominance of major international groups. The workforce is qualified (38% of employees are executives).

The production process has heavily relied on subcontracting (60% of intermediate consumption).

Since 2010, due to the emergence of big data, the sector has employed fewer but more qualified staff, which has led to an increase in personnel costs and a drop in the margin rate (-4 points).

In 2020, market research and public opinion polling sector was affected by the health crisis, research purchases being one of the first adjustment variables for companies in times of crisis (-11% of turnover). The situation recovered from the fourth quarter of 2020 onwards: in June 2021, the sector returned to the 2019 June’s turnover level.