What’s behind the rising cost of online quantitative studies?

In this article from Esomar’s Global Prices Study 2025, industry expert and the report’s sounding board member, John Smurthwaite, delves into the factors behind the rising costs of online qualitative studies and also answers whether automation delivers ROI or merely adds complexity.

The global data show that online quantitative projects tend to be less expensive than F2F or CATI, and prices for online projects have not increased as dramatically as for F2F or CATI.

Agencies buying samples from panel companies have seen modest increases per sample, so this is not a major contributing factor. However, panel companies are facing difficulties in upkeeping their panel size and quality, contributing to cost pressures.

Panel companies are forced to keep costs low as they are competing with non-market research companies, such as e-commerce, which offer surveys using their own loyalty members.

Costs are modified by improved platforms and AI from “completed questionnaire to tables”.

The reasons for increased costs are much the same as for F2F and CATI: increased staff salaries, high staff turnover, and the need to train new staff.

 Respondent incentives have increased in cost, but the delivery of incentives by e-commerce partly offsets these increases.

B2B online prices have risen more than for CATI and are roughly the same price as other methodologies. AI and other advanced technologies don’t help contain B2B costs, as the key cost is locating the B2B sample, and much of that is still conducted personally, regardless of the interviewing method.

When Esomar began tracking the prices of online focus groups, they were higher than F2F because of the high cost of the online platforms. Gradually, this changed, and costs are now similar.

Clients would probably expect that online would be lower priced than F2F, but again, the platforms are expensive. Though AI is widely used in analysis, the typical insights professional still requires time to work on the AI analysis. Nevertheless, automation is delivering ROI rather than adding complexity.

Esomar’s Global Prices Study is a biannual study that delves into the prices of market research projects across the globe. Download the report to benchmark your prices against the global, regional and country-level median prices.