Transcription companies have been boosted by the latest ESOMAR annual industry study, which showed market research industry growth of 5.2% in 2010 as emerging markets began to compensate for developed countries who are struggling to overcome economic instability. ESOMAR annual industry study What are more interesting for transcription companies in the global market are the top-line findings that were discovered in ESOMAR’s annual industry study: • Market research turnover increased in 54 countries or sub-regions in total, including 12 out of the top 15 markets.• Research in North America recorded its first period of growth after two years of consecutive decline, showing a year-to-year increase of 4.8%.• The fastest growing region in 2010 is Latin America, with growth of 20.4%. On its own, Brazil recorded 26.5% growth.• The biggest region for research, Europe, rose 3.3% year-on-year, fuelled by investments in central and eastern European markets.• In the Asia-Pacific region, growth of 5.6% was led by China, Singapore, India and Vietnam, but was hampered by declines in Japan and Australia. Like Brazil, Vietnam stood out as one of the most attractive emerging markets with growth of 24.6% alone.• The smallest region for research, the Middle East and Africa, recovered from economic crisis with growth of 10.1%, led by South Africa and Nigeria. Transcription companies can take away from these findings the clear conclusion that global markets are the place to be, and as confidence and subsequent investment in these markets increases, more and more market research organisations will look to transcription companies to match pace. Transcription companies in the market research industry Another clear outcome from this study was the huge growth in online research, which now accounts for just under $7.5 billion of global spending. Online research provides a quicker and more cost-effective way for clients to gauge consumer sentiment. As the move to online research accelerates over the next two years, market research companies will also have to balance the speed at which they are transcribing data with the speed at which they are collecting it. By outsourcing market research transcription to dedicated transcription companies, the market research industry can improve the speed at which research is transcribed, analysed and ultimately presented.
