Social & Market Research

SYSTRA’s dedicated Social & Market Research Team has over 40 years of experience in the management and provision of social and market research. The team provides high-quality, customised quantitative and qualitative research and analysis, coupled with expert interpretation and advisory services – for the transport, environment, sustainability, water and energy sectors.

Insights for evidence-based decision-making

The challenges facing decision makers have never been greater. In the public sector there is an increased focus on providing an evidence base for decision-making, encouraging accountability for public funding, and on providing thorough evaluations of policies, strategies, schemes, services and products. In the private sector, competition has intensified, with regulatory and market forces meaning businesses must focus more than ever on meeting customer needs and expectations to survive.

Addressing these challenges requires specialist research skills to provide up-to-date knowledge and insight to inform decision making. Organisations need help understanding when and how to undertake research, to gain the accurate insights they need into consumer and user behaviours and preferences.

Our dedicated Social & Market Research team uses wide-ranging online and offline qualitative and quantitative research techniques to provide clients with high-quality insights, analysis and evidence to support their policy and commercial decisions.

our experience

Discover how SYSTRA provides expert insight and advice to support decision making, policy development and strategy.

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SYSTRA’s Social & Market Research team works collaboratively with clients to provide the robust evidence required to support decision-making and policy and commercial development in the transport, environment, sustainability, water and energy sectors.

We undertake full service social and market research, helping clients explore issues relating to transport and road safety, the environment, sustainability, water, energy and behaviour change.

Our specialisms

We help central and local government departments, regulators, passenger transport executives and transport operators to understand behaviour and the factors that affect choices. We help them to:

• Forecast future demand;

• Identify which services and service attributes people value most and how much they would pay for them;

• Uncover the barriers faced by people in using services and how these can be overcome;

• Track satisfaction and attitudes, and understand how these vary by people with different characteristics;

• Promote social inclusion and improve quality of life;

• Develop and evaluate policy, strategies and brands; and

• Determine the factors that could predict behavioural change, under different scenarios or following different interventions.

Our researchers also help the environment and sustainability sector, and water and energy companies and regulators, to understand the needs and priorities of the public, helping to create practical and sustainable ways to overcome challenges and meet increasing demand for water and energy.

We help clients identify the key motivators and the most effective channels of communication for encouraging behavioural change, such as conserving water, improving energy efficiency or other sustainable actions. Our insights can also support the development of business cases for key industry programmes, such as smart metering.

“Very happy to confirm it’s another brilliant piece of work. Many thanks for the hard work on this.” – Transport for Wales, Ticketing Research

Innovation in research and statistical analysis

The Social & Market Research team at SYSTRA has a reputation for innovation and a passion for technical rigour and problem solving. We work closely with clients to understand the issues involved in any project, and to find bespoke research solutions to uncover the insights and data required.

Our dedicated team has expertise in a wide range of research and statistical techniques, including helping clients to understand behavioural differences between different groups of people, to support the development of more targeted interventions.

We have a strong track record of undertaking research with groups that are traditionally hard to reach, including children, young people and the elderly, disabled people, refugees and asylum seekers, LGBTQIA+ groups, minority ethnic and faith groups, and victims of crime.

Quantitative and qualitative research techniques

e deploy a wide range of quantitative and qualitative research techniques, depending on the requirements of the project. These include:

• Face-to-face, telephone, postal and online surveys;
• Focus groups and in-depth interviews;
• Deliberative workshops;
• Ethnographic research and accompanied journeys;
• Online communities;
• Mystery shopping;
• Public and stakeholder consultations;
• Evidence reviews;
• Secondary data analysis and meta-analysis; and
• Stated preference and Willingness to Pay.
  

We manage all stages of research, from design and fieldwork, through to analysis, reporting and presentation of results.

Research collaborations with university partners

The research we carry out is enhanced by our ongoing collaboration with universities. Our academic partnerships bring external oversight and serve as a source of peer review to our research programmes, adding value for our clients.

Targeted and relevant reports

Our adaptable approach to analysis and reporting means we can report on the findings of our research in a way that is most relevant for our clients. Ultimately, our insights and reports help clients to ensure that their proposals, policies, strategies, schemes, services, products and interventions are developed to address the issues of those researched, maximising benefits and minimising barriers.

How can our experts help?

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