The research, which was commissioned by Stravito and conducted by independent polling company Censuswide, surveyed 200 business decision makers in large and medium sized UK companies in the last week of December 2020.

Stravito revealed that the research showed one of the main reasons 2020 market research was not being used by businesses is due to the data being rendered outdated by the significant societal changes caused by the pandemic.

Another reason for unused market data includes the communication difficulties caused by remote working - 64% of businesses blamed remote working for delays and disruptions to product and service launches, forcing some teams to sit on market data for an indetermined amount of time.

Additionally, many decision makers in companies are unaware that certain research even exists, rendering it useless or even leading to the same research accidentally being commissioned more than once in the same organisation.

Interestingly, due to the turmoil caused by COVID-19, 68% of business decision makers declared they will be more cautious and conduct much more research before launching new products and services this year, with a full 82% of respondents stating that data-driven insights are a priority in 2021.

To achieve this feat, three-quarters of decision makers disclosed that they are increasing marketing and consumer research budgets this year, and 73% revealed that a knowledge management or market research platform would help resolve the team coordination issues caused by remote working.

Thor Olof Philogène, CEO and Co-founder of Stravito, commented: “Market research can be invaluable to a company’s success, as it reveals bespoke insight into consumer behaviour and trends which inform important decisions, saving substantial costs and time in the long run.

“Unfortunately, it can also be expensive, especially for smaller or mid-market enterprises which are already struggling with budget due to the pandemic. Thus, investing in a knowledge management platform that enables live access to market research from anywhere in an organisation is essential in preventing wasted research via miscommunication or a lack of coordination between teams or branches in the same company.

“The right platform will also allow market research to be utilised by all employees and teams, not just sales executives and marketers, allowing it to be stretched further and become more beneficial to company-wide decision making on both the micro and macro level.”