What Emerald Research Group does

Emerald Research Group is a Bellevue, Washington-based market research consultancy founded in 2019 that delivers custom qualitative and quantitative research services to enterprise clients in the technology, financial services, and retail sectors. The firm operates a methods-agnostic platform — branded internally as Emerald Qual and Emerald Quant — combining qualitative exploration (online boards, co-creation workshops, in-person research, in-house moderators) with quantitative analytics including survey design, discrete choice modeling (DCM), gamified choice exercises, conjoint analysis, and Bayesian predictive modeling. Supplemental capabilities include a behavioral analytics and social intelligence practice, telemetry-based behavioral analysis, and Emerald On Demand, a rapid-turnaround consumer polling product. Documented proprietary research outputs include the Business Banking Digital Maturity Model (in partnership with Alkami Technology and Jim Marous) and enterprise AI-adoption white papers commissioned by clients such as Hewlett Packard Enterprise.

The firm functions as a partner-led professional services business in which senior marketing strategists lead every engagement. Co-located within the Stagwell Group ecosystem as an affiliate of Harris Insights & Analytics LLC (which also operates as Harris Poll), Emerald benefits from parent-group back-office infrastructure and enterprise distribution while maintaining an independent boutique brand. Its team is sourced from senior research and product-marketing roles at Microsoft, PSB Research, MarketCast, Maru/Matchbox, PSB Insights, PK Global, and Xbox, lending domain depth in technology-sector product strategy, segmentation, positioning, and SKU optimization. Revenue is generated through custom, project-based consulting engagements; pricing is not publicly disclosed and contracts are negotiated directly with enterprise clients.

Customer concentration is high and tilted to Fortune 500 and similar-scale buyers. Named clients include Hewlett Packard Enterprise, a Fortune 100 Innovation Lab, a top technology brand, a premium device manufacturer, a major retailer, and a U.S. financial-institution base served through the Alkami partnership. Emerald has executed multi-country studies involving nearly 20,000 device buyers and nearly 2,500 enterprise leaders across eight countries, indicating capacity for large-scale engagements but also dependence on a limited set of anchor accounts. The 11–50 employee headcount, partner-led model, and absence of disclosed financials characterize the firm as a small, specialized unit within a much larger marketing services holding company.

Name

Emerald Research Group

Legal name

Emerald Research Group

Website

https://emeraldresearchgroup.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Emerald Research Group is a Bellevue-based market research consultancy that delivers custom qualitative and quantitative research, choice modeling, and behavioral analytics to enterprise clients in technology, financial services, and retail, operating as an affiliate of Harris Insights & Analytics within Stagwell Group.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Market Research Consulting

NAICS

Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (54191), Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (541910)

SIC

Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700)

akta.pro primary industry

Market Research & Consumer Insights (BPAHALAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Competitive Intelligence & Benchmarking (BPAHALAB)

Keywords

• Market research services
• Consumer insights consulting
• Qualitative market research
• Quantitative market research
• Behavioral analytics research

Headquarters

HQ city

Bellevue

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Custom Market Research Consulting: Emerald provides custom research consulting services to technology companies, including qualitative and quantitative research projects, behavioral analytics, and strategic insights. Services are tailored to specific client business challenges with outcomes focused on positioning, product innovation, and customer segmentation.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Emerald Research Group is a partner-led, custom market research consultancy that delivers qualitative and quantitative research engagements to enterprise clients, primarily in the technology sector. Core deliverables include customer insights, behavioral analytics, choice modeling, positioning and messaging strategy, customer segmentation, concept testing, product innovation, user experience research, and SKU planning. The firm operates as a methods-agnostic consultancy that designs bespoke research solutions rather than delivering canned products, with senior partners leading each engagement from start to finish.

Product overview

Emerald Research Group is a modern research consultancy that operates as a services firm rather than a software product company. The company offers an integrated research platform combining qualitative (Emerald Qual) and quantitative (Emerald Quant) methodologies, with specialized service offerings including positioning and messaging, customer segmentation, concept value testing, product innovation, user experience research, SKU planning, purchase journey analysis, naming and iconography, value proposition development, and habits and practices research. They also produce proprietary research publications including the Business Banking Digital Maturity Model (in partnership with Alkami) and AI-focused white papers commissioned by enterprise clients like Hewlett Packard Enterprise.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Emerald Quant Emerald Quant is Emerald's quantitative research service line covering survey design, data analytics, and behavioral analysis using advanced methods such as gamified choice models and mobile-first survey experiences, delivered to enterprise clients seeking robust quant insights.
• Emerald Qual Emerald Qual is Emerald's qualitative research service line including online boards, co-creation workshops, in-person research, and in-house trained moderators, used to understand customer motivations and empathy for enterprise clients.
• Emerald On Demand Polling Emerald On Demand Polling is a rapid-turnaround consumer polling capability that enables quick insights on emerging topics and current events for clients needing timely market intelligence.
• Business Banking Digital Maturity Model The Business Banking Digital Maturity Model is an annual industry study that surveys U.S. financial institutions on their digital transformation strategies, identifying AI integration and data readiness as key differentiators. The 2026 edition was produced in partnership with Alkami Technology and Jim Marous.
• The AI Journey Research The AI Journey Research is a global white paper analyzing AI adoption patterns across nearly 2,500 business leaders in manufacturing, retail, life sciences, and financial services across eight countries (U.S., Asia-Pacific, and Western Europe), commissioned by Hewlett Packard Enterprise.

Quantifiable outcome

• Increased customer delight and color uptake by nearly 50% compared to previous year's palette through custom choice modeling
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability5 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Alkami TechnologycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 29 April 2026Emerald Research Group partnered with Alkami Technology and industry expert Jim Marous to release the 2026 update to the Business Banking Digital Maturity Model, a study surveying U.S. financial institutions on their digital transformation strategies.
• Hewlett Packard EnterprisecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2021Hewlett Packard Enterprise commissioned Emerald Research Group to conduct research for their business white paper on artificial intelligence. Emerald interviewed nearly 2,500 business leaders across eight countries in manufacturing, retail, life sciences, and financial services industries.
• Jim MarousminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIndustry expert Jim Marous collaborated with Alkami Technology and Emerald Research Group on the Business Banking Digital Maturity Model research.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Ipsos: Global market research and public opinion firm with deep technology, media, and telecom practice. While Emerald competes on boutique customization for tech clients, Ipsos represents the scaled alternative that Fortune 500 buyers frequently procure — same customer base, broader capability portfolio, and global delivery.
• Forrester Research: Global research and advisory firm serving technology and consumer marketing leaders — overlapping buyer personas (CMOs, product leaders) and similar advisory-research positioning. Competes with Emerald for strategic custom research engagements tied to enterprise tech and financial-services clients.
• Gartner Research: Large-scale technology research and advisory firm whose enterprise technology client base overlaps materially with Emerald's. While Gartner leads with syndicated IT advisory, its expanding custom research and customer insights offerings compete for the same enterprise wallet share.
• Harris Insights & Analytics: Parent affiliate within Stagwell Group and the collective "Harris Poll" identity under which Emerald operates. A larger, more established research and public opinion polling firm that Emerald's engagements sometimes run alongside, sharing infrastructure, clients, and distribution within the Stagwell ecosystem.
• Kantar: One of the world's largest research and insights firms with a major technology and consumer electronics practice. Competes with Emerald for enterprise tech client engagements at the high end, offering broader panels, syndicated data, and analytics capabilities beyond what a 11-50 person consultancy can match.

Emerging players

• Qualtrics: Experience management platform increasingly offering professional services and customer-insights capabilities that overlap with traditional research consultancies. Represents the SaaS-enabled alternative that some of Emerald's enterprise clients may substitute or supplement custom engagements with — a partial-overlap competitor rather than a like-for-like services peer.
• Radius Insights: Boutique tech-sector consumer insights firm with similar size profile and a focus on technology, media, and entertainment clients. Directly comparable as a small-scale competitor for custom qualitative and quantitative research engagements with device makers and software brands.

Direct peers

• MarketCast: Research and data analytics firm specializing in entertainment, gaming, and technology verticals — Emerald SVP Travis Crosby led client strategy at MarketCast before joining Emerald. Same Fortune 500 enterprise buyers (HP, Microsoft, Amazon, Intel) and similar engagement model around advertising effectiveness, brand tracking, and segmentation.
• PSB Research: Custom technology-focused market research firm where Emerald partner Jeff Goodman established behavioral analytics and social intelligence practices, and where director Alex Blough worked previously. Nearly identical client base (Microsoft, big tech brands) and method mix (qual + quant + behavioral), making PSB the closest like-for-like peer.
• Maru/Matchbox: Technology, telecom, and consumer research consultancy with deep roots in technology vertical research, where Emerald's Travis Crosby previously led client development. Overlapping client roster and similar custom qual/quant service offering makes it a directly comparable competitor for tech-sector projects.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/emerald-research-group

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Emerald Research Group