Company Description

About ECI

Evaluative Criteria, Inc. (ECI) is part of the CRG Global portfolio of companies, a leader in the execution of custom research for innovation, research and brand teams.

Over the past 50 years, ECI has demonstrated its dedication to the market research Industry. We have evolved and continue to differentiate ourselves by:

• Staffing experienced industry professionals committed to research method development and best practice execution.
• Developing full-service market research capabilities using systematic quality controls and communication.
• Our custom and agile solutions are designed to answer your business questions and provide actionable results.
• Continually reinvesting in technologies and infrastructure to ensure that we provide our clients with state-of-the-art facilities and research capabilities.
• Our entire staff, including project management and operations, are based in the U.S.

ECI philosophy

ECI strives to understand your category and competitive landscape concurrent with your immediate and long-term business issues and where your brand is now and where you want it to be in the future. Utilizing collaborative thought leadership and a highly communicative partnership, an inventive and thorough research design is developed to provide the insights needed to drive business strategy.

Key guiding principles

• Solutions not products
• Adaptable to meet needs
• Results focused
• Stakeholder driven

Industry expertise

ECI is staffed by experts in industry sectors, who understand the unique business challenges within each category.

Specific category expertise

Beauty | beverage/adult beverage | business-to-business | consumer package goods | customer experience | health and personal care | oral care | OTC health care | pet care | restaurant/food service | retail

Research specializations

Each area of expertise is led by a discipline leader, who ensures that best practices are integrated and that the strategic output is customized to meet corporate and stakeholder needs.

• Innovation: Idea and concept screening | product testing | sensory/guidance testing | early trier research | legal claims validations | claims effectiveness
• Market landscape: Market structure | segmentation | brand health | customer experience
• Brand positioning: Customer disposition | brand affinity | brand discrimination
• Marketing/communications: Brand/ad tracking | communications evaluations | digital copy and ad testing
• Shopper/trade: Path-to-purchase | packaging and shelf designs/merchandising | pricing strategies | mystery shopping

Target audiences 

ECI has broad experience interviewing specialized audiences, including the ability to target low incidence samples. 

Examples of target audiences

Affluents | Hispanics | multicultural consumers | mature/seniors | Gen Z and Millennials | luxury shoppers | salon experts | dentists/MDs