Succeet 2026 brought together a wide range of perspectives across the market research industry, from methodology and technology to evolving consumer expectations. Among the sessions, one presentation by Make Opinion stood out for its focus on Gen Z consumer behaviour and the growing role of AI in shopping.
While many of the themes discussed are not entirely new, what stood out was how quickly they are becoming embedded in everyday behaviour — and what that means for how research needs to adapt.
Gen Z expects content that is fast, visual, and frictionless. Platforms like TikTok shape not only what they consume, but how they process information — short-form, mobile-first, and highly contextual.
For market research, this creates a growing disconnect with traditional recruitment approaches. Long-form outreach, email-heavy communication, and static formats are increasingly out of step with how younger respondents engage.
In practice, this means recruitment strategies need to shift toward:
What’s changing fastest here isn’t just channel preference — it’s attention dynamics. Capturing and maintaining engagement is becoming one of the biggest challenges in respondent recruitment.
Price remains a key purchase driver, but the path to purchase is no longer linear. Gen Z moves fluidly across platforms — discovering products on social media, validating through peer reviews, and comparing options across multiple touchpoints.
For researchers, this has a direct impact on how we define and recruit “relevant” respondents.
It’s no longer enough to recruit based on stated behaviour alone. The focus needs to shift toward:
One common gap in research is over-reliance on recall. As journeys become more fragmented, behavioural accuracy becomes harder to capture — making recruitment quality even more critical.
AI is no longer a future consideration — it’s already part of how Gen Z shops. From finding deals to comparing products and filtering options, AI is being used as a practical, everyday tool.
For market research, this raises an important question: Are we accurately identifying and recruiting respondents who reflect this shift?
In many cases, the answer is still evolving. To stay relevant, research approaches need to:
A key risk for researchers is lagging behind behaviour. If AI adoption is underrepresented in samples, insights will quickly become outdated.
While Gen Z is generally open to AI-driven recommendations, trust is not unconditional. Control, transparency, and fairness remain critical.
The main concerns shaping trust include:
For fieldwork, this reinforces the importance of:
Trust is no longer a “nice to have” — it’s a prerequisite for reliable insights.
AI in shopping is quickly moving from a differentiator to a baseline expectation. As this happens, the pace of behavioural change accelerates — and research methodologies need to keep up.
For market research, this creates a structural shift:
Those who fail to adapt risk generating insights that reflect the past rather than the present.
Taken together, these trends point to a clear direction: research quality will increasingly depend on how well recruitment reflects real-world behaviour.
At Massive Wave Research, this is shaping how we approach fieldwork and respondent recruitment:
More broadly, the industry is moving toward a model where recruitment is not just an operational step — but a strategic driver of insight quality.
Succeet 2026 highlighted many important developments, but this session in particular reinforced a key reality: consumer behaviour is evolving faster than many research approaches.
Gen Z’s expectations — digital-first engagement, non-linear decision-making, and AI-assisted behaviour — are not edge cases. They are quickly becoming the norm.
For market research, this creates both a challenge and an opportunity. The challenge is keeping pace. The opportunity is building more accurate, behaviourally grounded insights.
Ultimately, the value of research depends on how well it reflects reality. As that reality shifts, so must the way we recruit, engage, and understand respondents.