Open Windows: Research, Insight & EDI

04/24/24 • 25 min

‘To be a window on the world we must reflect the world.’ Jane Frost CBE, CEO of MRS

What does being an MRS Inclusion Pledge signatory mean?
Hear from Jane Frost, CEO of MRS and Mark Thorpe, Board Director at Truth on how MRS is supporting signatories to action their commitment to EDI in everyday work practices.

Previous Episode

Is consolidation good for everyone?

Welcome to Evidence Talks, the podcast that explores the latest trends in how we understand customer behaviour. In this episode we turn our attention to the UK market research industry itself which has undergone quite a shakeup in the last few years.

Barely a week passes on research-live.com without a new deal being announced. Just look at the dozens of notable sales in 2019: including Kantar to Bain Capital; Join the Dots to InSites; and Com Res to Savanta. The list goes on...

The market research industry is consolidating more rapidly than ever before. According to the Research Live Industry Report 2020, research agencies in the UK generate more than £5bn turnover every year. And over half of that comes from the top 10 agencies.

In this podcast we want to find out what the impact of this consolidation is on the people in the companies that are being bought and merged.

We’ll also hear what it’s like for buyers of research - are clients getting what they want from fewer, larger suppliers?

Ultimately, who are the winners and who are the losers in this new climate of deal making?

Host: Christian Walsh, Digital Director, Market Research Society (MRS)
Guests:
Rhea Fox – Head of Insight and Strategy at Aviva and member of MRS Delphi Group
Angela Morgans, Regional MD for Europe at Metrixlab
Jon Priest, former-ceo of Future Thinking and now Director of Capel Partners

Next Episode

Synthetic data and artificial respondents - do we need humans at all?

In this edition of Evidence Talks, we’re discussing a topic that has taken the research sector by storm - synthetic data.

But what do we mean by synthetic data? Are we just talking about filling gaps and augmenting real data based on primary research, or are we proposing to take the human out of the picture altogether, and just ask questions of ChatGPT or another similar large language model?

What are the opportunities for the industry, and what are the risks for clients? Can AI convincingly simulate a customer? What are the ethical and legal implications of doing this?
The MRS Delphi Group has published a report ‘Using synthetic participants for market research' which is referenced during this podcast.

Host:
Christian Walsh, Content & Digital Director, MRS
Guests:
Reena Sooch, Partner, Day One Strategy

Ray Poynter, Founder of The Future Place, President of ESOMAR and Fellow of MRS

Colin Strong, Head of Behavioural Science at Ipsos, Honorary professor at Nottingham University, Fellow of MRS and Chair of the MRS Delphi Group.