Feb
The Travel and Tourism Industry Takes Flight in 2026
jerry9789 0 comments Brand Surveys and Testing, Brandview World
Global tourism is recovering, according to SIS International, reaching $11.7 trillion in 2025 and projected to climb 3.55% to $16.5 trillion by 2035. International visitor spending surpassed pre-pandemic levels by hitting an unprecedented $2.1 trillion globally while cultural tourism is predicted to grow from $1.2 trillion this year to $2.6 trillion by 2035. The sector makes up 10.3% of the global GDP in 2025 and provides 371 million jobs worldwide- a 14M increase from 2024.
However, the US market is behind pre-pandemic records for international arrivals. For travel and tourism companies looking to thrive and take advantage of all that projected growth, SIS lists five critical insights to consider in their strategies:
- Consumers Pay Premium for Personalization – 61% of consumers are willing to spend more with companies offering options to customize and enhance their travel experiences, with top choices like breakfast, room size, and views.
- Consumers are Seeking Wellness Tourism – 44% of high-income travelers helped drive the global growth of wellness tourism to $1 trillion in 2025 while younger customers are quickly adopting wellness trips.
- Meeting Sustainability Expectations – Travelers are now skipping properties that don’t reflect adherence to sustainability standards.
- Managing AI Implementation – From hyper-personalized itineraries to predictive pricing, AI in tourism is booming with 28.7% annual growth projected to be over $5 billion by 2034.
- Addressing Overtourism Anxiety – High tourist volumes at 14 points year-over-year and worries over insufficient amenities rising by 12 points represent growing concerns with overtourism. Formulating dynamic pricing programs, learning about traveler tolerance levels towards crowding, and identifying potential or alternative destination choices to help manage demand are just some of the approaches companies can take to potentially reduce these anxieties.
The next ten years is an exciting time of growth and innovation for the travel and tourism industry. While all that growth is not without its challenges, reaching success is best navigated not by intuition but by a roadmap drawn by actionable and data-backed insights gained from high level market research.
Recognizing psychographics and behavioral patterns to predict booking behavior, mapping and understanding the entire customer journey, creating clear and measurable connections between program initiatives and revenue outcomes: these are just some of the things forward-looking companies can do to prosper In the travel and tourism industry in 2026.
Image: Valentin Ivantsov
Featured Image: JoshuaWoroniecki
Top Image: JESHOOTS-com
Jan
Food and Beverage Sector Expects Steady Growth (But It’s Not What You Think It Is)
jerry9789 0 comments artificial intelligence, Brand Surveys and Testing, Brandview World
According to SIS International, steady consumer demand would buoy the global food and beverage market growth to $11.4 trillion by 2030, with analysts predicting the US market specifically enjoying between 2% and 4% dollar sales increase in 2026. There is a caveat to this, however; this market growth would be reflected in dollars but not in units sold. Volume growth is projected to be flat to slightly negative as consumers continue to develop selective spending and eating habits, with the market’s revenue generated mostly by price increases between 2% and 4%.
SIS further enumerates five critical trends that could form the backbone of food and beverage brand strategies for the coming years:
- What Value Means For Different Consumers – Value isn’t limited to low price anymore and effective research would help identify which product attributes customers are willing to pay a premium or look elsewhere cheaper.
- Private Label Outpacing National Brands – Understanding where brand loyalty ends and products are viewed as commodities could help national brands compete with growing private labels.
- Consumers Favoring Protein and Gut-Friendly Products – Being a health product won’t sell it alone in an era of increasingly health-conscious shoppers; you’ll also need to recognize which health benefits appeal the most to target consumers and credibly communicate these attributes.
- Food and Beverage Experiences Are Evolving Beyond Flavor – Consumer preferences are growing more meticulous and sophisticated nowadays with texture, aroma, visual appeal, and mouthfeel contributing to the lasting impressions a food and beverage product can create.
- Non-alcoholic Beverages Stirring Up Innovation – Understanding the sober shift with the right set of questions opens up opportunities to design and introduce new beverage offerings without struggling much to find its ideal consumer base.
With effective and high quality market research, food and beverage brands can thrive instead of merely getting by during this projected period of steady industry growth. High level market research would confidently inform and shape business decisions with timely and deep insights on today’s food and beverage consumers, borne out of relevant and flexible research methodologies and backed by real-world validation.
In this period of steady customer demand, exploring beyond these five trends and delving deeper into understanding the driving forces of consumer behavior, attitudes and values through excellent market research could mean revenue gains for food and beverage brands, not in dollar growth through price increases but actual, bonafide volume sales.
All Image Credits: Magda Ehlers
Jan
Financial Services Sector Expanding Rapidly But There Will Be Growing Pains
jerry9789 0 comments artificial intelligence, Brand Surveys and Testing, Brandview World
SIS International says the outlook for the financial services sector is one of solid and consistent growth, expected to reach $47.55 trillion in 2029, but it is not without anxieties. They shared that around three-quarters of financial services executives on a recent survey expressed concerns over their institutions’ ability to navigate economic instability, adapt to emerging technologies and shifting regulations, as well as sustain existing revenue sources in the coming decade.
SIS points to five key trends where financial institutions could focus their research priorities at as the financial services landscape continues to develop and change:
- AI implementation: Despite high technology adoption rates, a good majority of banking customers struggle to trust AI applications.
- Digital Banks: More and more customers are switching to neobanks. Learning the reasons behind this growing preference would help traditional financial organizations reposition themselves while digital banks would benefit from these insights through sustainable growth and expansion.
- Mobile Banking: Digital channels have established themselves as the primary form of interaction between customers and their banks, and fostering engagement and a more personalized experience through research could lead to improved loyalty.
- Expanding Financial Services Options: Delving into growing technology-oriented fronts open up exploring new and additional avenues to offer financial services digitally.
- Addressing Security Concerns: Adopting security measures against fraud and privacy is just the start but targeted research would help recognize which protections build confidence and trust based on the concerns expressed by different customer segments.
High-quality market research would help financial institutions understand what would cause their customers to hesitate or quickly adapt to new technology or measures, the most effective way to communicate benefits and advantages, targeting the most receptive customer segment, and identifying new opportunities and channels, just to name a few.
Overall, effective market research into these five key insights should enable financial organizations to make confident and strategic decisions aligned with business goals.
Image: Audy of Course
Featured Image: Tima Miroshnichenko
Top Image: Jakub Zerdzicki
Aug
How Excellent Market Research Benefits Manufacturing Companies
jerry9789 0 comments artificial intelligence, Brandview World, Burning Questions
More than just an invaluable asset, market research is an essential tool to any company — or industry, for that matter. From identifying and tailoring your messaging towards your ideal customer with consumer research to understanding the competition and strategically positioning your company with competitor research, great market research grants you and your firm vital and actionable insights that would prove key to the success of your marketing efforts. In addition, excellent market research helps companies manage risks effectively and efficiently, as well as aid in measuring the progress and success of projects or even your company as a whole.
The manufacturing industry not only stands to benefit from high quality market research, it’s crucial to its continued growth, innovation and evolution, especially in an industrial landscape that’s continually transforming with technological advancements along with global, cultural and attitudinal shifts. From the steam and watered-power machines of the First Industrial Revolution to the expansion of network systems and electrification of the Second Industrial Revolution to the information technology focus of the Third Industrial Revolution (the Digital Revolution), the manufacturing industry’s evolution continues on in its latest iteration with Industry 4.0, harnessing modern and emerging technologies to facilitate the merging of the physical and digital realms.
And on that note, we take a look at 10 manufacturing industry trends today that exceptional market research can help manufacturers navigate and adapt to as the Industry 4.0 era unfolds.
Image: Livia Wong
1. Smart Factories
Perhaps the best representative of things to come with the Fourth Industrial Revolution, smart factories utilize Industry 4.0 technologies to streamline and improve operational efficiency, quality and maintenance while reducing errors and waste. Older machines are gradually giving way to newer counterparts built with onboard sensors, monitoring tools, interconnected systems and in some cases, machine learning capabilities.
With more and more manufacturing companies transitioning to automated facilities plus the decreasing costs to acquire sensors, software and equipment, manufacturers big and small are all the more incentivized to join the smart factory revolution — if they haven’t yet — to not only keep up with the competition and the changing times but also take advantage of the irresistible operational benefits.
2. Artificial Intelligence
AI has disrupted multiple industries, and manufacturing isn’t immune to it; in fact, it has openly and quickly embraced and adopted it, seeing all the tremendous advantages it brings with its data-crunching prowess and advanced decision-making insights to the core aspects of smart production, quality control, supply chain management, servicing and maintenance, along with enhancements to processes, products and services.
More and more manufacturing companies are finding success and are able to scale competitively when strategically leveraging AI in automating and streamlining their operations, especially when it’s combined with other contemporary technologies. But perhaps the best combination of them all is when AI is combined with human creativity and experience, opening doors for innovation and further advancements.
3. Digital Twins and Data-driven Predictive Maintenance
If smart factories are revolutionizing manufacturing operations, digital twin technology and data-driven predictive maintenance are transforming equipment maintenance and operational downtimes. By utilizing virtual replicas or “digital twins” of equipment and devices, manufacturers can simulate equipment performance under different scenarios and situations to gain valuable insights. These data-driven insights would help manufacturing companies anticipate or predict when an equipment would need servicing or maintenance, reducing or eliminating unexpected downtimes and equipment breakdowns. At the same time, maintenance costs are reduced, material cost savings are increased, and the usage or life cycle of the asset is optimized.
And digital twins aren’t limited to physical assets only, as they can also replicate systems or processes to test new ideas or optimize existing ones before applying any changes or updates to live production. The digital twins approach not only helps minimize resource consumption and waste, but also improves business decisions by backing them with data-driven insights.
4. Other Notable Industry 4.0 Technologies (AR/VR/Robotics)
Arising from the realms of gaming and entertainment, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) have now begun revolutionizing manufacturing. Product design, quality control, maintenance and repairs, remote collaboration and even employee training — all these are being impacted and improved by the application of AR and VR technology.
Robotics may have been around longer than AR and VR but modern robots are far more advanced than their forerunners programmed for repetitive tasks. Thanks to AI and automation software, today’s robots are autonomous, collaborative, and far more capable of performing complex tasks and operations.
These technologies in conjunction with AI make it possible for manufacturing operations to be run remotely or without any operator onsite. And as these technologies grow popular to become widely used and accepted, we might even see more fully automated manufacturing facilities called “dark factories” be developed in the near future.
5. Sustainability and Carbon Neutrality
No other industry is perhaps under greater pressure to pursue sustainable processes and carbon-neutral practices than manufacturing. Contracts with governments and institutions and eventually commercial clients require compliance with sustainability efforts while more and more consumers are supporting reputable, sustainable brands.
The manufacturing industry itself is advancing sustainability efforts by developing and employing green software to aid with carbon neutrality, waste reduction, and energy consumption optimization. Renewable energy integration in physical locations is also being embraced, while cloud infrastructure solutions and carbon capture technology are being viewed for their potential. Working toward sustainable practices and carbon neutrality isn’t without its own rewards for the business, as it’s been found that eco-conscious manufacturing companies are able to significantly reduce costs and improve efficiency with their sustainability efforts over time.
6. Reshoring
Reshoring refers to returning production operations back to the manufacturing company’s home country from overseas locations. This trend was a result of recent global events disrupting supply chains. It benefits the manufacturer with shorter supply chains, better quality control, faster market delivery, domestic economic boost, and improved sustainability efforts.
However, reshoring isn’t a decision a manufacturing company should take lightly, as one would need to factor in labor costs, skill, infrastructure, and more, as smaller-scale firms might find it more costly to operate domestically than overseas.
7. Decentralized Manufacturing
Another approach to improving supply chain resilience from disruptions is decentralized manufacturing, which is the distribution of production activities across multiple locations in the form of microfactories. Additional benefits of decentralized manufacturing include reduced logistics costs and quicker response times to local market demands.
While the coordination of multiple microfactories and achieving standardization across all sites may prove to be challenging, Industry 4.0 technologies can aid in making decentralized manufacturing more accessible and manageable through improved transparency and responsive production models.
8. Tapping into B2C
With the ever-growing popularity of e-commerce, manufacturing companies can now bypass the traditional lines of retailers and distributors and sell directly to the end consumer. Smart factories, 3d printing and additive manufacturing also make it possible to offer customized products based on a customer’s preferences. The advent of new manufacturing technology or the evolution of existing ones would only open up more opportunities for enterprising manufacturers looking to connect further with consumers.
9. Cybersecurity
The manufacturing industry’s increasing digitization has made it an irresistible target for cybercriminals, exploiting vulnerabilities with cyberthreats and attacks ranging from ransomware to industrial espionage or even supply chain and/or operational disruption. It’s no surprise then that cybersecurity has joined the elite group of paramount concerns for any manufacturing company.
Measures include multi-layered security, secure-by-design, zero-trust architecture, AI-driven threat detection, advanced encryption, and regular updates and patches, as well as employee cybersecurity training. Cybersecurity is more than just data protection or an IT concern now for manufacturing companies as it safeguards their production, finances, integrity, and reputation.
10. The Workforce of Industry 4.0
In spite of all the exciting technologies emerging in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the manufacturing industry is experiencing widening skills gaps and labor shortages. These difficulties could translate to a loss in revenue of $1 trillion if approximately 2.1 million jobs aren’t filled in by 2030.
To address these challenges, manufacturing companies could start with reviewing all of their production processes from the ground up and assessing areas that could be improved by a highly skilled and competent workforce. Yes, the manufacturing industry is moving towards automation and advanced technologies but it can’t truly innovate without human creativity and experience.
Manufacturing companies are planning to offer higher wages by at least 3%. At the same time, they’re investing in training programs to reskill or upskill existing employees for the Industry 4.0 work environment. Incorporating new manufacturing technologies like AI and AR in these training programs can help employees not only learn faster, but also give them familiarity and first-hand experience with these digital trends. The same technologies can also be deployed for improving employee health and safety at the workplace.
Other approaches that manufacturing companies can consider taking range from partnering with local educational institutions in creating curriculums tailored for manufacturing careers, diversifying the recruitment pool, and creating appealing work environments which offer flexible schedules, potential promotions, and career development.
Image: InWay
How Cascade Strategies Can Help Manufacturing Companies with Advanced Market Research
Hewlett-Packard wanted to discover what feature-price combinations in high-frequency oscilloscopes would optimize profit. We conducted an advanced conjoint study followed by AI-based modeling to evaluate sales scenarios. Out of hundreds of attributes, we found the qualities below to be most salient. Using the most salient attributes as predictive vectors, we developed an AI model to determine the unique price-feature combinations that would produce the most profit and presented the top 3 to Hewlett-Packard.
We’ve highlighted 10 manufacturing trends shaping the future of the manufacturing industry in this selection but there are actually more out there that we didn’t touch on. And as new technologies arise, existing ones improve, and other industry changes or shifts happen, more trends are sure to emerge.
Regardless of trends, you can be sure to count on market research to help you determine the best approach to leveraging new technologies or guide business decisions to ensure your manufacturing company stays competitive and relevant. Would it be beneficial or costly for your company to go with a dark factory over a smart factory? Which of your AI-driven production processes would benefit from human supervision and input? Are your sustainability efforts being seen and appreciated by your consumer base or do you need to do more?
Between reshoring and decentralized manufacturing, which one would work best for your company? Are you able to expand into B2C? Are your training programs effective in making your employees understand and uphold cybersecurity commitments?
As with any AI-powered or data-driven Industry 4.0 technology, the high quality market research Cascade Strategies provides grants valuable and actionable insights into the operations, perception, and potential of your manufacturing company. If you would like to find out more about how Cascade Strategies can help your manufacturing company thrive in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, please contact us here.
Featured Image: Hyundai Motor Group
Top Image: Foto-Rabe
Jan
Curious About AI in Marketing? 7 Critical Questions
jerry9789 0 comments artificial intelligence, Burning Questions
Artificial Intelligence(AI) has recently been integrated into marketing and is still in its early stages. It makes automated decisions based on available data and audience observations or economic trends that impact marketing. By doing so, it enables marketers to gain more insight and understanding of their target audiences.
However, a business must comprehend how AI Marketing works and its effects before adopting it. Here are seven questions every company interested in AI Marketing should ask themselves.
Jun
Nowadays, it’s growing increasingly common for businesses to turn to neuroscience to address their marketing needs, especially since it seems that business has
challenges only neuroscience can solve. Behaviorists will tell us that humans are irrational creatures—we often make decisions based on information that is incomplete. We also take mental shortcuts.
Why we err in the first place, however, is not completely explained by behavioral science or economics. However, neuroscience can really help us gain a foothold in understanding why and how consumers make certain decisions. Neuroscience adds value to business; it provides us with long sought after causal explanations for behavior. It also provides several methods that we can use to assess our unconscious mental processes.
May
The massive growth of big data, while heralding its success, can also be a bit of a hindrance to our industry. Simply put, there are too many posts, videos, and other data that do not fit the model of query we need. As a result, it’s time to do some big data market research and really think about new ways to store and analyze data.
What is “Big Data” anyway?
In the event you’re unfamiliar with the term, big data is, in short, business data and the technology required to uphold it. Currently, the amount of existing data grows hugely each day. All of this data, including social media networking data, is relevant to business, but as of right now, only a fraction of what’s out there is being effectively analyzed. Really, though, one of the best ways to conduct research and return relevant advertising to the market is through such analysis.
May
In the search to better understand emotional reactions to stimuli and the workings of the subconscious, marketing researchers have turned toward the use of numerous technologies. Here we discuss one of them, facial electromyography, also known as fEMG.
Facial electromyography is a technology that enables researchers and medical professionals to measure muscular activity in the eyes. The process quantifies the tiny electrical impulses that are generated by actively contracting muscle fibers. Because fEMG monitors movement in the facial area, researchers can gain a greater understanding of the subtle emotional responses participants feel towards a particular stimulus. In particular, fEMG studies two types of muscles: Certain activity of the corrugator muscle is usually associated with negative feelings, and activity of the zygomatic muscle is usually correlated with positive emotions.
May
For a long time, corporations have been working to understand how to affect consumer behavior and influence more people to purchase their products. Market research has made some headway in this arena recently, explaining how the impulses that drive consumers to purchase are produced. Now, you may not realize it, but it turns out that what makes you feel good is a part of the brain dubbed “the pleasure center.” It’s this center that makes us feel happy when kissed, that drives us to eat our favorite foods or play our favorite games, that makes us want to relax on the beach.
Laboratory tests have shown that rats who can control their pleasure centers with a switch will literally jump at the opportunity to do so. Scientists set up electrical pulses that control the pleasure centers of rats’ brains and found that the rats would sacrifice anything to continuously pounce towards the levers and experience electrical bursts of happiness. Disturbingly, rather than eat or sleep, these rats flipped their switches without end, stopping only when they died of sheer exhaustion…
Apr
When you first think of market research methods, the image of surveys and focus groups may come to mind. However, market research has evolved, to the point that you may be unaware what methodologies are being used today. While methods have grown more complex, they’ve also gotten a lot more interesting. Here are some examples of how much the game has changed.
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