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Summary of our market study
The French market for opinion polls and market research is valued at €2.5 billion.
Since 2020, the global opinion survey market has been adapting and recovering from the consequences of the COVID-19 crisis. The US market, the largest consumer of surveys, faced a 9.6% contraction due to pandemic-related restrictions, but recovered after the crisis.
A significant trend is the digitization of the sector, which not only makes survey tools more accessible, but has also paved the way for new entrants who are rapidly gaining market share. Companies like Happydemics are a case in point, posting impressive growth and serving customers in many countries around the world.
The market, currently valued at around 2.5 billion euros, has a strong B2B structure, with private companies accounting for over 90% of demand for investigation and research services.
The COVID-19 crisis led to a significant contraction in demand. Major players found themselves in difficulty, leading some, like BVA, to go into receivership, and others, like Ipsos, to significantly reduce their activities.
In-house research is becoming increasingly widespread. Around 40% of research projects are now carried out in-house, particularly in the FMCG and banking sectors, due to their heavy reliance on data.
Although sales are mainly generated by marketing and advertising research (around 75%), the visibility and influence of political polling accounts for a smaller proportion of institute sales.
Some players in the opinion polling sector
- Ipsos is one of France's leading players on the world stage, having acquired Synthesio.
- BVA, acquired Doxa and the British company BDRC
- Médiamétrie, specialist par excellence in the media sector and audience measurement and analysis
- IQVIA, an expert in the healthcare sector.
- OpinionWay, survey specialists
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Summary and extracts
1 Market overview
1.1 Introduction
Opinion polls are surveys carried out on a human population to determine preferences and trends in public opinion. The results are then used to answer one or more questions based on the study of a sample of this population.the best-known opinion surveys cover a wide range of political and social issues, and are carried out by polling companies. Results may be public or private, depending on the nature of the question and the client.
Published research accounts for only a small proportion of the public opinion research produced by market research institutes. The vast majority are carried out for clients who, like marketing decision-makers, keep the results confidential, as these studies are conducted to serve as a decision-making tool. A wide variety of clients commission opinion research: the press (mainly published surveys), ministries and public institutions, local authorities, political parties and personalities, public and private companies (including communications agencies), associations, trade unions, research centers, etc.
on a global scale, the market is booming, driven by the need for information expressed by more and more individuals and companies. Like many other information-related sectors, the opinion survey market is experiencing a strong wave of digitalization.
Alongside traditional players such as Ipsos, BVA, Ifop and Harris Interractive, a number of new digital natives are jostling to make a name for themselves. Companies such as Happydemics and MadeInVote are carving out an ever-growing share of the market. Happydemics, for example, raised almost €13 million in 2020 [L'UsineDigitale] , and now has almost 1,400 customers in 145 countries
1.2 The global market
The global market for opinion surveys has grown significantly in recent years, driven by a number of factors. Firstly, there is a growing demand for consumer information, from both private individuals and companies. Secondly, the use of these surveys has been systematized as part of various commercial initiatives. Thirdly, the digitalization ...
1.3 A slow-growing French market
The French opinion survey market is a young and growing market. In fact, the explosion in opinion polling in France can be explained by the coincidence of several intertwined trends: the constant demand from central authorities (***); the transformation of studies into marketable products.
As can be seen from the graph below, ...
1.4 The impact of the COVID-19 crisis
The COVID-** crisis had a major impact on the market. Indeed, the main players in this market experienced a net downturn in their business, mainly due to a drop in activity. Demand plummeted as companies shut down their operations, and people were affected by containment measures. As a result, the main ...
2 Demand analysis
2.1 Main customer markets
The demand for opinion polls and surveys comes particularly from companies, which are keen on this kind of product to better understand the expectations of consumers (***): the end consumer is generally the target of the survey, not the institute's client.
Share of sales by customer type France, ****, in Source: ****
In ****, companies ...
2.2 Increasingly in-house research
According to an ESOMAR study published in **** on users and buyers of market research worldwide, around **% of research projects are carried out in-house. However, the results vary enormously depending on the company; some do not carry out any projects in-house, while others conduct all their projects in-house and therefore do not ...
2.3 Demand drivers in the short term
The digitization of industries, which goes hand in hand with the ever-increasing amount of data being used more rapidly , will transform customer needs for years to come. The emphasis on ethics in data collection, for example, will become increasingly important, as will the ability to collect more data more quickly. Paradoxically, ...
3 Market structure
3.1 A doubly segmented market
The major players in the market are the survey institutes.In France, there are a number of major international institutes such as Nielsen and Kantar(***). However, the market is dominated by the internationally-renowned French firms Ipsos, BVA and Médiamétrie.
The first observable market structure is a segmentation between the ...
3.2 Concentration and internationalization
The research and survey market is highly concentrated. According to Syntec Conseil, the major institutes (***) accounted for **% of market share by value.
But competition in the market is fierce, with new entrants arriving in step with technological advances. The arrival of the Internet and online surveys has enabled Opinion-Way to make ...
3.3 Impact of new technologies
As seen in the previous sections, the market is tending towards a twofold concentration through external acquisitions: in order to reach critical mass for internationalization, and in order to diversify expertise for generalist firms through the acquisition of specialists. But it's interesting to see new investments appearing for players outside the ...
4 Offer analysis
4.1 Sales driven by marketing and advertising research
Today's generalist market research institutes offer a wide range of services. Opinion poll specialists generate most of their sales from marketing and advertising research (***).
Breakdown of opinion poll sales, by type of research France, ****, in Source: ****
Opinion polls account for only a small share of research firm sales.
Share of political ...
4.2 Offer typology
The range of opinion polls and surveys on offer is extremely rich, and is often tailor-made to meet the specific needs of each client. Nevertheless, it is possible to identify a few broad categories of surveys and opinion polls
4.3 Trends expected from institutes
The ESOMAR study also indicates buyers' perceptions of research and survey institutes.
Sought-after performance of research and polling companies World, ****, in Source: ****
Based on the above responses, institutes appear to deliver quality research work, with **% of respondents having a favorable opinion on this characteristic. When it comes to the speed of ...
4.4 Increasingly connected studies
Studies can be carried out either quantitatively or qualitatively. These two methods complement each other to obtain both representative and detailed responses. [***]
Quantitative data provides the figures that validate the general points of a study by collecting raw, concrete data, mainly in numerical form. Qualitative data, on the other hand, provides ...
5 Regulations
5.1 Regulations
Aarticlefrom ENS Lyon looks back at the first law governing polling: the law of July **, ****. Its aim was to regulate the publication of opinion polls by the media, and to set up a polling commission charged with guaranteeing the free determination of the electorate. But this commission has very limited powers. ...
6 Positioning the players
6.1 Segmentation
- WPP
- IQVIA
- Ipsos
- BVA Group
- Médiametrie
- IFOP
- CSA
- Opinion way
- Odoxa
- Survey Monkey
- Yoope
- Kantar France
- Mintel Group
- Plimsoll Publishing
- YOUGOV
- Statista
- Gerson Lehrman Group GLG
- Factiva (Dow Jones) France
- Businesscoot
- Enerdata
- Emprixia
- Les Echos Études
- Xerfi Groupe
- Asteres
- Nielsen
- DMR (Launchmetrics Group)
- Augure Launchmetrics
- Altares Dun & Bradstreet
List of charts presented in this market study
- Revenues for the "market research and opinion polling" industry in the United States from 2012 to 2024
- Global market research revenues
- Breakdown of the five largest markets
- Size of the French opinion survey market
- Impact of the health crisis on IPSOS sales
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