2026 Trends: Four Forces Reshaping Market Research - What Every Insights Leader Needs to Know

Four Forces Reshaping Market Research | What Every Insights Leader Needs to Know (2026 Trends Webinar) Is market research at a tipping point? In this webinar, ROI Rocket's Brian Lamar and Andrew DeCilles break down the four interconnected forces that are fundamentally changing how research gets done, and what insights leaders need to know right now. 🔍 What we cover: 00:00 – Intro & industry context 04:00 – Force 1: Capital Influx — PE and VC money is flooding market research, driving consolidation and a wave of AI-powered new entrants 17:00 – Force 2: The Data Quality Crisis — nearly 60% of B2B survey responses are getting thrown out; why fraud and low trust are a structural problem 33:00 – Force 3: AI Disruption — what's signal vs. noise, synthetic data risks, and how AI is changing how researchers see themselves 45:00 – Force 4: The Methodology Reframe — the qual/quant line has effectively disappeared; what hybrid research looks like in practice 54:00 – Q&A: paying for quality, where NOT to use AI yet, and how to sell in this moment 📌 Key takeaways: • Sample quality is the last defensible moat — verified human respondents matter more, not less, as AI speeds up everything else • Synthetic data solves a reach problem, not a replacement problem — don't deploy it where verified human sample is available • Every research firm needs an AI strategy now — the question isn't whether to adopt it, but where and how • The firms piloting hybrid qual/quant approaches today are setting the new standard 🎙️ Featuring: Brian Lamar, Managing Director, ROI Rocket Research (co-host, Signal & Noise podcast) Andrew DeCilles, VP of Business Development, ROI Rocket Research (co-host, Signal & Noise podcast) 📬 Questions? Reach us at roirocket.com or connect with Brian and Andrew on LinkedIn. 🔗 Learn more about ROI Rocket: https://www.roirocket.com #MarketResearch #InsightsIndustry #AIinResearch #DataQuality #MRX #SyntheticData #ResearchTrends #B2BResearch #MarketInsights #Methodology