Market Research Companies in Johannesburg

Key figures for researchers

Population

4.80 million in the City of Johannesburg metro (2022 census)¹

Gauteng province

15.1 million people, including Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni (2022 census)²

Administrative regions

7, named Region A to Region G (City of Johannesburg)³

Language spoken at home

isiZulu 28.9%, English 13.7%, Sesotho 11.9%, Sepedi 7.9%, Setswana 7.7%, Xitsonga 7.4%, isiXhosa 7.0%, Afrikaans 3.8% (2022 census)⁴

Population group

Black African 84.5%, White 7.0%, Coloured 4.8%, Indian/Asian 3.5% (2022 census)¹

Born outside South Africa

10.8% of residents, the highest share in Gauteng (2022 census)¹

Age

21.9% aged 0–14, 73.1% aged 15–64, 5.0% aged 65+ (2022 census)¹

Households

2.6 people on average; 89.8% in formal dwellings, 9.9% in informal dwellings (2022 census)²

Internet

13.6% of Gauteng households had no internet access (2022 census)²

Research guide

Research landscape

Johannesburg is South Africa’s main business centre, and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) is based in Sandown, in the Sandton business district. Many full-service agencies, qualitative specialists, B2B and panel providers work from the northern business nodes, and national or multi-country African studies are often coordinated from here.

Sandton and the surrounding business districts are the natural base for B2B, financial services and executive interviews, while consumer fieldwork covers a very large and unequal metro, from townships such as Soweto and Alexandra to suburbs and security estates.

Who you will interview

Johannesburg is young and multilingual. In the 2022 census, 73.1% of residents were of working age (15–64) and only 5.0% were 65 or older. isiZulu is the most common home language (28.9%), followed by English (13.7%), Sesotho (11.9%), Sepedi (7.9%) and Setswana (7.7%). The city also has the highest share of residents born outside South Africa in Gauteng (10.8%).

Questionnaires are usually written in English, but face-to-face and telephone interviewers should be able to switch to isiZulu, Sesotho and other local languages. Socio-economic targeting has moved away from the old LSM (Living Standards Measure) towards the SEM (Socio-Economic Measure), a shorter index based on 14 variables: check which one your agency uses for quotas.

Fieldwork in practice

The City of Johannesburg is managed in 7 administrative regions (A to G) and up to 135 wards. Sampling by region or ward helps spread interviews across townships, inner-city areas and suburbs, which differ strongly in income, language and housing.

Door-to-door access varies a lot. Many suburban homes are in security estates or behind gates and guards, so interviewers need permission or appointments, while in townships and informal settlements (9.9% of households live in informal dwellings) local recruiters and community introductions help. Ask the agency how it manages fieldworker safety: team work, daylight hours, tracking and transport. Online surveys work well for connected audiences, but 13.6% of Gauteng households had no internet access in 2022, so mobile, telephone or face-to-face interviews are needed for lower-income targets.

Power cuts were long a fieldwork risk; Eskom reported 441 consecutive days without load shedding in August 2026, but agencies still plan backup power for CATI centres and facilities.

Focus groups and qualitative research

In-person focus groups are usually held in viewing facilities in the northern suburbs or at venues closer to respondents, for example in Soweto. Plan transport for respondents and avoid late evening groups in areas where travel after dark is a concern.

Groups are often run in a mix of English and a local language, so ask for moderators who speak the respondents’ home language and for translated transcripts. B2B and senior respondents in Sandton or Rosebank often prefer online or in-office interviews.

Timing and data protection

Avoid the December–January holiday period: in 2026 the school year ends on 9 December, and the 2027 school year is proposed to start on 13 January. School holidays fall around late March–early April, late June–mid July and late September–early October. Public holidays include 21 March, 27 April, 1 May, 16 June, 9 August, 24 September, 16 and 25–26 December, plus Easter. 4 November 2026 is an extra public holiday for the local government elections; expect campaign activity around it.

Personal data is governed by the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA), enforced by the Information Regulator since 1 July 2021. Organisations must register an Information Officer, and unsolicited electronic direct marketing needs consent or an opt-out in every message, so research must stay clearly separate from marketing. The industry body is SAMRA (South African Marketing Research Association), whose code of conduct includes rules on respondent consent.

Working with a Johannesburg agency

• Share a clear brief: objectives, target, sample size, regions or areas, method, languages and deadline.
• Ask which languages the interviewers and moderators cover, and whether quotas use SEM or another measure.
• For face-to-face work, ask how the agency reaches security estates and townships and how it keeps fieldworkers safe.
• Ask how personal data is handled under POPIA, and whether the agency is a SAMRA member.
• Compare several proposals: you can send one request to up to 5 Johannesburg companies from this page.

National rules (data protection, holidays, sampling across regions) are covered in our guide to market research in South Africa.