PSYMA GROUP AG is a holding company

Holding company

A holding company is a company or firm that owns other companies' outstanding stock. It usually refers to a company which does not produce goods or services itself; rather, its purpose is to own shares of other companies. Holding companies allow the reduction of risk for the owners and can allow...

 for a network of market research

Market research

Market research is any organized effort to gather information about markets or customers. It is a very important component of business strategy...

 companies. Currently, the PSYMA GROUP is the fifth largest market research company and the largest owner-run company in Germany. Headquarters is located in Nuremberg

Nuremberg

Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...

, Germany.

Legal Status

The PSYMA GROUP AG holding company is an unlisted stock company, where the stocks are held by the founders and the managing directors. Its affiliates cover various business areas, in the sectors: Medical technology & pharmaceuticals research, consumer goods research, media research, automotive research, financial services research, IT & telecommunication research, industrial & capital goods research.

History

The company was founded in 1957 as the „arbeitsgruppe für psychologische marktanalysen“ by Dr. Reinhold Bergler, Dr. Manfred Hambitzer and Dr. Klaus Haupt, originally as an academic company and not a commercial company. The methodologies deployed included in-depth psychological, qualitative interviews. In 1967, the company opened one of the first professional pharmaceutical market research departments. This was followed by a continued international expansion. As of August 2010, the company has offices in 13 countries and conducts market research in over 40 countries.

Methodology

Traditional focus is on qualitative research

Qualitative research

Qualitative research is a method of inquiry employed in many different academic disciplines, traditionally in the social sciences, but also in market research and further contexts. Qualitative researchers aim to gather an in-depth understanding of human behavior and the reasons that govern such...

 ad-hoc projects, focusing on the analysis of the subjective side of markets, i.e. understanding motives, feelings, social trends and hidden drivers. Analysis is conducted using - amongst others - morphological psychology

Morphological psychology

-Definition:Morphological psychology is one of the most recent full psychology theories. It was developed in the 1960s by Professor Wilhelm Salber at the University of Cologne. Morphology is the science of the structure of living things. "Morphing" describes the seamless transition from one state...

, one of the most cutting-edge full psychology theory. Nowadays, the range of methodologies also includes quantitative research

Quantitative

A quantitative property is one that exists in a range of magnitudes, and can therefore be measured with a number. Measurements of any particular quantitative property are expressed as a specific quantity, referred to as a unit, multiplied by a number. Examples of physical quantities are distance,...

approaches and techniques.