Across the world, the news is currently dominated by stories on rising inflation and the impact of the cost of living crisis. These stark warnings make for bleak reading and compound the pressure consumers are already feeling. Businesses are being hit equally hard; overhead costs are increasing amid employee expectations for wages to increase in line with inflation.

In this climate, both B2B and B2C businesses must ensure they are now actively doubling down on understanding their customers. Without truly knowing what the impact will be on their customers and their buying behaviours, businesses are at risk of taking actions that are not in line with what their customers want and need.

However, during times such as these, many businesses are under pressure to cut budgets and limit unnecessary expenditure. Despite being hugely valuable, market research is often not recognised for offering the necessary return on ROI in such a market. Is this the right thing to be doing? What are the risks of cutting back on market research?