Nielsen

The world’s largest market research agency

Nielsen is a leading global market research firm that provides information on consumer behaviour across all channels and platforms. Its services include audience insights, data and analytics. Nielsen consists of several distinct business divisions such as Consumer Market Research, Business Media, and Consumer Tracking and Analysis. More than half of Nielsen’s revenue comes from the market research business. While Nilsen’s main market is the US where it is considered the top market research firm, the company has offices in more than 100 countries and has a strong market position in most of the key markets around the world.

A journey of measurements

In the early 1950s, the Nielsen Company began measuring television audiences. The company developed meter readers to measure television audience size, using telephone lines to collect data. While set-top boxes are still used for television audience measurement, Nielsen now depends on a range of digital tools to capture the full consumer journey.

Market Research in a complex digital world

Today, consumers access media across a complex network of mobile apps, tablets, smart-tv, pc and laptops, so Nielsen needs to recruit a large and diverse community of online respondents to their consumer panels. By asking their respondents to opt-in to installing online meters, they track the behaviour of consumers on the internet in similar ways as measuring TV consumption via set-top tv boxes. As part of the online tracking process, respondents need to give up private information by installing an online meter, such as browsing and viewing habits. Still, in return, they get rewarded with regular incentives without doing much work. Also, Nielsen is one of the most reputable market research companies globally, so you can rest assured that your private data will be kept confidential.