Greenbook recently released a quick look into the top 20 emerging methods in the industry. This list acts as a reference for the type of research methods you should look into adopting this year if you’re invested in the future of research.
You’ll notice this list is divided into three sections. The first column shows what percentage of market researchers are using the listed method, the second column shows what percentage of marketer researchers are considering using the listed method, and finally, Greenbook combined both previous metrics to indicate interest.
The research methods are listed from highest in terms of interest to lowest. This gives market researchers a good idea of what research methods are the most popular and ordered from most popular to least.
Table: The GRIT Sneak Peek of Top 20 Emerging Research Methods (Greenbook)
| Rank | Labels | In use | Under Consideration | Interest |
| 1 | Online Communities | 60% | 22% | 82% |
| 2 | Text Analytics | 46% | 30% | 76% |
| 3 | Mobile First Surveys | 50% | 24% | 74% |
| 4 | Social Media Analytics | 43% | 28% | 72% |
| 5 | Big Data Analytics | 38% | 32% | 70% |
| 6 | Mobile Qualitative | 44% | 25% | 69% |
| 7 | Webcam-Based Interviews | 47% | 22% | 69% |
| 8 | Mobile Ethnography | 35% | 26% | 61% |
| 9 | Micro-surveys | 34% | 25% | 58% |
| 10 | Behavioral Economics Models | 29% | 29% | 58% |
| 11 | Eye Tracking | 34% | 21% | 55% |
| 12 | Research Gamification | 25% | 28% | 53% |
| 13 | Facial analysis | 20% | 25% | 45% |
| 14 | Applied Neuroscience | 21% | 22% | 44% |
| 15 | Prediction Markets | 19% | 24% | 43% |
| 16 | Internet of Things | 12% | 27% | 40% |
| 17 | Virtual Environments/Virtual Reality | 11% | 27% | 38% |
| 18 | Crowdsourcing | 15% | 22% | 38% |
| 19 | Wearables Based Research | 9% | 27% | 36% |
| 20 | Biometric Response | 12% | 20% | 33% |
| 21 | Sensor/Usage/Telemetry Data | 11% | 19% | 30% |
| Base 1533 | ||||
What does the table mean?
Now that we’ve seen the statistics, let’s talk about the key points from the data and what they actually mean in terms of your research. Here are the top takeaways from Greenbook’s research:
Online communities: Online communities take the lead in terms of interest as the only mainstream method examined. Online communities can help you glean vital information from your most trusted customers to make better data-driven decisions.
Analytics on the rise: You’ll notice 3 of the 5 top methods are focused on analytics. There is an increased interest in using analytics to gather data. Using analytics is a popular way to gather information and make your marketing efforts highly-relevant and personalized.
Qualitative options: Qualitative methods score between 61% and 69% indicating a strong interest in qualitative research in a data-centric world. What does this mean? Perhaps market researchers are becoming more and more interested in the Voice of the Customer.
Wrap Up
There you have it! A sneak peek into the top 20 emerging research methods and what they mean for you. What research methods are you interested in using this coming year?
To read the full report, download the PDF here!
