What core skills should researchers build in order to excel? How can researchers stay relevant and impactful long into the future, as technologies continue to evolve?

A variety of thought leaders in the marketing and research sectors shed light on these questions in the new report Towards an Insights Driven Organisation from the MRS Delphi Group.  

According to the report, a passion for the customer and rigorous objectivity are just baseline skill sets. Researchers of the future must also develop the following attributes and abilities.

In October 2016, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that provinces must develop a plan to reduce carbon emissions by 2018 or face a C$10 tax per ton of emissions. This figure would increase by C$10 per ton each year until 2022, when emissions would be priced at C$50 per ton. This tax will only be imposed if provincial leaders fail to come up with a plan to limit emissions of their own.

The new carbon pricing scheme is part of the government’s effort to comply with the Paris agreement. Signed earlier this year, the agreement aims to limit the global temperature increase this century to less than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. While further reductions will be needed for Canada to fully comply with its international commitment, the proposed carbon pricing scheme is seen as an important first step.

This month’s passing of the Kigali Accord marks a significant milestone in the development of the global HVAC/R industry. Signed by nearly 200 Montreal Protocol countries, the Kigali Accord represents a global commitment to combat climate change and, if successful, will result in the reduction of the equivalent of 70 billion tons of carbon dioxide between 2020 and 2050.

By singling out one type of refrigerant, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), the Kigali Accord also presents a substantial challenge to both HVAC/R equipment manufacturers and users. 

Among the various hose types, demand for fluid power hose stood out as a star performer due to robust growth in US oil and gas production. Over the 2010-2015 period, sales of fluid power hose increased at an impressive average annual rate of 21%, largely attributable to rising sales in the US oil and gas industry. US oil and gas output (in terms of British thermal units) saw average annual gains of 7.6% over the 2010-2015 period, nearly three times the 2.6% average yearly growth from 2005 to 2010.

The market research landscape is evolving. Customer needs are changing. As a company, we are constantly working to anticipate these shifts and deliver the right mix of platforms and services to our global customer base.

MarketResearch.com’s leadership team recently wrapped up its annual strategy meeting. Department heads from content, operations, marketing, and sales gathered from across the U.S. and Great Britain to identify key issues affecting our customers. We caught up with CEO and Founder Rob Granader to hear his thoughts on current trends and developments and where the market research industry is headed.

Design trends in nonresidential buildings are increasingly making energy efficiency and environmental friendliness a priority. In few markets is this more evident than in the commercial window and door market. 

How is the commercial market different from the residential market?

The residential market is more directly impacted by energy standards, such as those of the ENERGY STAR program. These are regularly updated and often come with federal tax breaks for homeowners. Additionally, homeowners immediately benefit from the energy bill savings and more comfortable indoor environments associated with efficient windows and doors. 

Grocery retailers in the U.S. face fierce competition. There’s no shortage of retail channels vying for business — including supermarkets and discount stores, wholesale clubs, drug stores, natural food stores, farmers markets, and online delivery services.

How do these different retail channels measure up in the eyes of consumers? And with so many options available, how can retailers stand out from the competition and keep customers coming back? 

The research firm Packaged Facts addresses these questions in the new report Natural and Organic Foods and Beverages in the U.S., Fifth Edition, which includes data from a proprietary Packaged Facts National Consumer Survey conducted in July-August 2016. 

The recent announcement from Shaw Industries that it intends to acquire USFloors demonstrates the increasing demand for wood-plastic composite (WPC) flooring in the US.

WPC flooring — which consists of luxury vinyl tile (LVT) with a WPC core that serves as a backing — was introduced to the US by USFloors in 2013. This flooring’s attractive appearance and durability caused it to quickly gain acceptance among interior designers and homeowners. Seeking to capitalize on its popularity, several other hard surface flooring manufacturers developed their own lines of WPC flooring. 

Baseball managers have long kept tabs on their star players to make sure they stayed ready and rested for the big series.

Back in 1892, for example, when the Cleveland Spiders played the Boston Beaneaters in what was then called the World’s Championship Series, their star pitcher was Cy Young. Young was generally clean living, but he would occasionally get up early to go hunting for wild turkey in nearby woods, a potentially troublesome activity his manager had to watch out for.

Unsanctioned hunting is less of an issue in the Major Leagues now. Today, however, a manager has to make sure his starters don’t injure themselves by fiddling with a drone.

Facial and body language analysis are hot right now. Major companies are offering software that can record and analyze emotional expressions. And they can do it real time. Market researchers now have an incredible amount of data at their fingertips about how people react to stimuli such as advertisements and product ideas.

Many providers of these services are suggesting that emotional expressions and other body language are giving the real picture of what people are actually feeling and that we can uncover more insights when we delve into this reality. But is that true? Are we actually just adding a lot more data to analyze, or are we truly finding something new and different in our research? Using current theories and research on emotions from the field of psychology can help us to make sense of all this information.