Market Research - Netratings Inc., Gartner, Inc., Forrester Research Inc., Yankee Group

Market research is a tool used by businesses of all kinds to assist with decisions regarding things like product development, marketing campaigns, expansion efforts, pricing, and even overall strategy. The world's largest market researcher, AC Nielsen Corp., is best known for its Nielsen ratings, which provide information regarding a television show's viewers. Advertisers quite often use this information to target a particular demographic group with a television commercial. In the e-commerce world, online advertisers use market research to determine the efficacy of their online campaigns. Technology firms might use market research when deciding what new features to include in the newest version of a product. Many firms looking to move into e-commerce for the first time rely on market research when developing an online strategy. In fact, the Internet revolution of the late 1990s spawned a new niche for market researchers. As a result, established market researchers found themselves competing with upstarts as they jostled for position in the burgeoning Internet-related market research industries.