International Code

Download here the ICC/ESOMAR International Code on Market and Social Research. 

ENGLISH (Print ready PDF 142 KB)

FRENCH (Print ready PDF 148 KB)

GERMAN (Print ready PDF 148 KB)

SPANISH (Print ready PDF 143 KB)

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Professional Standards

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ESOMAR is open to everyone, all over the world, who believes that high quality research improves the way businesses make decisions. Our members are active in a wide range of industries and come from a variety of professional backgrounds, including research, marketing, advertising and media.

We unite approximately 5,000 members in over 100 countries and our organisation is resolutely non-political. More about membership

Professional Standards

Leading industry innovation and self-regulation since 1948, ESOMAR promotes the use of a code of practice that governs the way market research is conducted. Today, 5,000 ESOMAR members worldwide are committed to the highest professional and ethical standards embodied in the ICC/ESOMAR Code of Market and Social Research Practice.

The Code gives ESOMAR members added credibility and prestige in today’s competitive global marketplace.

The revised ICC/ESOMAR International Code on Market and Social Research was approved in the referendum of ESOMAR members that took place in 2007.

The objectives in revising the code were:

1. Promote the principles of ethical and professional conduct
2. Maintain global consistency but provide for stricter national rules
3. Clearly distinguish and separate market research from direct marketing and sales
4. Strengthen our assurances to respondents about data privacy guarantees
5. Summarise requirements in a concise and readable way that is understandable to non-researchers and can be used to promote market research
6. Ensure the text is sufficiently comprehensive to be accepted by legislators as effective self-regulation
7. Strengthen the link to business practice

  CODES AND GUIDELINES  DATA PROTECTION

Ethical and professional principles

The revised text is based on relevant ICC principles and on the following eight ethical and professional principles, which were agreed by industry specialists at a meeting in 2003.

1. Market researchers shall conform to all relevant national and international laws.
2. Market researchers shall behave ethically and shall not do anything which might damage the reputation of market research.
3. Market researchers shall take special care when carrying out research among children and young people.
4. Respondents’ cooperation is voluntary and must be based on adequate, and not misleading, information about the general purpose and nature of the project when their agreement to participate is being obtained and all such statements shall be honoured.
5. The rights of respondents as private individuals shall be respected by market researchers and they shall not be harmed or adversely affected as the direct result of cooperating in a market research project.
6. Market researchers shall never allow personal data they collect in a market research project to be used for any purpose other than market research.
7. Market researchers shall ensure that projects and activities are designed, carried out, reported and documented accurately, transparently and objectively.
8. Market researchers shall conform to the accepted principles of fair competition.

  CODES AND GUIDELINES  DATA PROTECTION