1. Qualitative Consumer Research
What it’s for: Understanding the why: motivations, emotions, behaviours, and attitudes that shape consumer choices.
Why it matters for consumer brands:
In crowded markets, consumer decisions are rarely rational. People buy on emotion, habit, and subconscious cues. Qualitative research reveals what consumers truly value in a brand, why packaging makes them pick one product over another, or how advertising language resonates. This helps brands fine-tune messaging, creative, and innovation pipelines.
What you should look for:
Skilled moderation, strong recruitment, and an ability to uncover deeper meaning behind consumer statements.
What results to expect:
Narrative reports, video highlights, and thematic frameworks that connect consumer emotions to brand opportunities.
UK companies to consider:
- Brandspeak (London) – Experienced in qualitative research for FMCG and retail brands, using neuromarketing and ethnography to explore consumer emotions.
- FieldworkHub (London) – Experts in participant recruitment for focus groups and in-home testing, ensuring brands hear from the right consumers.
✅ At Vision One, our philosophy is that qualitative research is a practical way to not only understand motivations and consumers but a practical way to build better offerings and innovate in a way to gain competitive advantages. All the biggest and best companies in the world use qualitative research to become elite drivers of demand and use customers and non-customers alike to build the offerings that they consume.
2. Quantitative Consumer Research
What it’s for: Measuring attitudes, behaviours, and preferences at scale. Provides statistical confidence in decisions.
Why it matters for consumer brands:
Consumer brands need to know how many people feel a certain way, not just why. Quantitative market research validates whether an idea has broad appeal, which price points will work, or which demographics to target. This is vital for retail and FMCG brands making decisions on distribution, media spend, or nationwide launches.
What you should look for:
Rigorous sampling, clean survey design, and outputs that show both topline numbers and underlying drivers.
What results to expect:
Dashboards showing brand usage, attitudinal splits, segmentation insights, and clear, decision-focused summaries.
UK companies to consider:
- Savanta (London) – Offers large-scale consumer polling and omnibus surveys, with strong experience in FMCG and retail sectors.
- Relative Insight (Lancaster & London) Specialises in language analytics, showing how different consumer groups talk about brands, products, or categories, invaluable for messaging and campaign tone.
✅ At Vision One, we see quantitative research as more than collecting large datasets. For us, the value lies in structuring surveys and models so that every number has meaning. Rather than drowning stakeholders in metrics, our philosophy is to translate patterns into stories to be used in building offerings, practical marketing material and business foundations.
3. Brand Tracking & Brand Health
What it’s for: Measuring awareness, perception, loyalty, and equity over time.
Why it matters for consumer brands:
Consumer loyalty is fragile. Tracking research shows how advertising, PR, competitors, or pricing shifts affect your brand image. It helps you answer: Are we gaining relevance? Do people trust us? Are we the first choice on the shelf? For consumer-facing brands, this intelligence is vital to protect and grow equity.
What you should look for:
Systems that provide consistent KPIs but also adapt to market realities, with commentary that goes beyond “scores” to explain why changes happen.
What results to expect:
Dashboards with brand KPIs (awareness, consideration, NPS), supplemented by reports or workshops explaining shifts and competitive benchmarks.
UK companies to consider:
- YouGov (London) – Offers always-on tracking via its BrandIndex platform, giving brands daily insights into perception shifts.
- Mintel (London) – Known for syndicated reports and brand intelligence, with consumer-focused trend analysis across sectors like food, drink, fashion, and beauty.
✅ At Vision One, we approach brand tracking as an ongoing conversation with consumers. Our philosophy is that strong brand health work should adapt with the market and offer explanations for change, not just measurements of it. We see brand tracking as a tool to accurately anticipate the future and help brands pivot before small perception shifts become bigger business challenges. Our bespoke BrandVision™ model goes beyond metrics, showing the drivers of consumer loyalty and advocacy.
4. Customer Experience (CX) Research
What it’s for: Measuring satisfaction, loyalty, and performance across the consumer journey.
Why it matters for consumer brands:
For consumer businesses (retail, services, leisure), experience often drives repeat purchase and advocacy. CX research highlights friction points (e.g. checkout, delivery, customer service) that can undermine loyalty. It ensures that consumer expectations are being met at every touchpoint.
What you should look for:
Research that captures feedback at key “moments of truth,” links satisfaction to behaviour (e.g. churn, repeat purchase), and provides actionable guidance.
What results to expect:
NPS dashboards, journey maps, pulse reports, and clear action frameworks.
UK companies to consider:
- Attest (London) – A platform offering agile brand and CX research with global reach, ideal for consumer-facing brands wanting fast, reliable feedback.
- Brandspeak (London) – Combines qualitative, quantitative, and neuromarketing to assess customer and shopper experiences.
✅ At Vision One, we emphasise capturing feedback at the moments that matter, then turning those insights into practical changes that make brands easier to buy from, interact with, and recommend.
5. Concept, Product & Packaging Testing
What it’s for: Identifying winning ideas and reducing risk before launch.
Why it matters for consumer brands:
Launching new products or packaging is costly. Consumer testing helps brands avoid expensive mistakes by showing which ideas resonate, which confuse, and which stand out on the shelf. In CPG and FMCG market research especially, packaging can make or break a purchase decision.
What you should look for:
Simulations that mimic real-world conditions, predictive models, and insights that explain why an idea succeeds or fails.
What results to expect:
Ranked performance, go/no-go recommendations, and narratives linking consumer response to future sales potential.
Other UK firms to consider:
- Basis Research (London) – Specialises in shopper and user experience testing, concept evaluation, and packaging research.
- MMR Research Worldwide (Oxfordshire) – Experts in sensory and product testing, especially for FMCG, with labs and global facilities.
✅ At Vision One, we view product and concept testing as a balance between creative freedom and consumer reality. Testing is proven to be the fastest way to innovate and reach more customers, and ultimately grow business.
6. Consumer Segmentation & Profiling
What it’s for: Grouping consumers into meaningful segments for better targeting, communication, and product development.
Why it matters for consumer brands:
Consumers are diverse, and one-size-fits-all messaging rarely works. Customer segmentation research allows brands to tailor offers and campaigns to different groups, ensuring relevance. For FMCG, retail, and lifestyle brands, this can mean the difference between mass-market confusion and sharp positioning.
What you should look for:
Segmentation that is statistically robust but also easy to activate, brought to life through personas, visuals, and team workshops.
What results to expect:
Segment profiles, activation workshops, personas, and dashboards for everyday use.
UK companies to consider:
- Basis Research (London) – Develops bespoke segmentations tied to shopper behaviour and activation strategies.
- YouGov (London) – Offers deep profiling via its “YouGov Profiles” platform, using panel data to define consumer groups.
✅ Segmentation must be more than hypothetical attributes because it drives all your marketing material. Personas need distinct voices, needs, and behaviours. Our approach ensures segmentation becomes part of the everyday vocabulary of marketing and innovation teams, not just filed away in a report.
Finding the best consumer research companies
Finally, finding the best UK and International consumer research companies means giving brands more than data, they deliver insights that you can truly use.
- Brandspeak & FieldworkHub: deep qualitative access to consumers.
- Savanta & Relative Insight: scalable quant and language-based insights.
- YouGov & Mintel: brand tracking and consumer trend intelligence.
- Attest: fast, agile feedback for brand and CX.
- Basis & MMR: robust product and packaging testing.
At Vision One, we blend methodological rigour with interpretive clarity. Our bespoke, insight-driven frameworks help consumer brands decode behaviour, innovate confidently, and grow with clarity.
