Market research executive
Collect and analyse information to help businesses and organisations find out people's views about products or issues.
About the job
What it's like
You would collect and analyse information find out people’s views about products or issues. You’d do the research for businesses and organisations to help them plan new products or services.
You’d either collect data by doing quantitative research, where you’d analyse the numbers from surveys of large samples of people.
Or you’d do qualitative research, where you analyse the language used by people in focus groups and in-depth questionnaires.
You’d probably specialise in consumer and industrial research, or focus on research into social and political issues.
You would:
Meet clients to discuss research projects
Come up with a plan or proposal and present it to the client
Manage a budget
Design questionnaires and organise surveys
Explain the process to interviewers and researchers
Monitor progress of surveys
Analyse data and present results to the client
Explain to your client how they can best use the research
Hours
If you work as a quantitative researcher in-house for a company, you'll usually work in an office with standard hours, Monday to Friday, with occasional overtime to meet project deadlines. If you work as a qualitative researcher, you'll often work evenings and weekends to travel to visit clients and focus groups.
Environment
You would be office-based.
Travel
If you work as a qualitative researcher, you'll often work evenings and weekends to travel to visit clients and focus groups.
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Top skills
Skills are things you're good at. Whether you know what yours are or not, everyone has them!
It's useful to learn which ones are important in a job so you know the areas you need to brush up on. It can also help you work out if you're suited to a career.
Top specialised skills
These are the top specialised skills that have been found in job vacancies across Scotland. From March 2024 to March 2025.
- social media
- marketing strategies
- search engine optimization
- digital marketing
- email marketing
- copywriting
- canva (software)
- blog posts
- marketing channel
- marketing analytics
Meta skills
Here are some of the meta skills you'll need to do this job.
- developing a plan
- attention to detail
- researching
- questioning
- observation
- working with numbers
- problem solving
- written communication
- verbal communication
- cooperating
Your skills are important
Our unique skillsets are what make us stand out from the crowd. Learn about each skill in depth and discover what employers look for in your applications and interviews.
Getting in
Explore each section to find more information about getting into this career.
Colleges and universities will list subjects you'll need for entry to a course. Some useful subjects include:
Business
English
English and Communication
Maths (Mathematics)
Statistics
Applications of Mathematics
Most market research executives have a degree (SCQF level 9/10) in areas such as:
Business studies
Consumer Studies
Maths
Statistics
Economics
Psychology
Marketing
To enter a degree (SCQF level 9/10) usually requires National 5 qualifications and a minimum of three Highers or a relevant HNC/HND.
Competition for positions is strong.
Previous experience in marketing, sales or advertising or as a market research interviewer.
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