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Actionable intelligence, not just data

Gradient is your partner in transforming complex questions into clear strategies. Whether you're a brand manager, agency leader, policymaker, or investor, we decode the “why” behind your audience's choices—so you can act with confidence.

BRANDS
Make your customers choose your brand
AGENCIES
Deliver the winning insight to your client
PHILANTHROPIES & NON-PROFITS
Mobilize people toward your mission
ADVOCACY GROUPS & CAMPAIGNS
Reach voters with messages that resonate
PRIVATE EQUITY & INVESTMENT BANKS
Drive growth in the brands you invest in.
OUR BRAND RESEARCH SOLUTIONS
Audience insights
Brand positioning
Creative & message testing
Market sizing & growth strategy
Pricing optimization
Product & feature optimization
OUR AGENCY RESEARCH SOLUTIONS
Audience Insights
Brand positioning
Creative & message testing
Market sizing & growth strategy
Pricing optimization
Product & feature optimization
OUR PHILANTHROPY & NON-PROFIT RESEARCH SOLUTIONS
Audience mindset analysis
Donor engagement optimization
Impact tracking
Narrative strategy development
Private opinion researchNEW
OUR ADVOCACY GROUP RESEARCH SOLUTIONS
Audience segmentation & targeting
Message testing
Private opinion researchNEW
Public engagement risk analysis
OUR PE & INVESTMENT BANK RESEARCH SOLUTIONS
Audience insights
Brand positioning
Customer analytics
Customer-based corporate valuationNEW
Market insights
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Your partner in decision science

We uncover objective truths through custom quantitative research programs built for impact. Our team blends curiosity, rigor, and advanced methods to help you make smarter, more confident decisions.

About Us
Meet the team behind the insights—curious, rigorous, and driven by purpose.
Our Principles
Our values shape how we work—with each other and with every client.
Careers
Join our remote-first team and help shape the future of decision science.
Contact us
Let’s talk through your big questions and figure out the evidence that matters.
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How we do research differently

For us, research isn’t about numbers in a spreadsheet—it’s about answering your most important questions with clarity, purpose, and real-world impact.

We Start with the end in mind
We begin with the decision you need to make—then design lean, focused research to get you there.
We Look for the Why, Not Just the What
Spotting trends is simple. Uncovering why takes rigor. Our statistical models reveal hidden drivers that turn data into confident action.
We Keep it Human
AI is powerful, but it can’t replicate lived experience. We use it to streamline our process—not to replace the human responses that are central to our research.
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See what insight can do

We believe sharing knowledge is as important as creating it. That’s why we’ve built a library of resources designed to inform, inspire, and empower decision-makers like you.

Case Studies
See how we’ve answered complex questions with research backed insights and creative problem-solving.
Blog
Our point of view on what’s happening in research, strategy, and human behavior.
Newsletter
Stay ahead with our regular roundup of fresh ideas, actionable advice, and the stories shaping the future of market research.
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Build messages that persuade, one component at a time

We help advocacy organizations break down, test, and refine their messages to ensure they resonate with target audiences, strengthen support, and minimize the risk of backfire.
Explore Our Work
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Test every messaging element before you launch

The difference between a message that moves people and one that mobilizes opposition often comes down to the details. We help you unpack each component, messengers, values, facts, emotions, and test how they work together across audiences. With this evidence in hand, you can design messages that persuade and endure under scrutiny.

Break messages into building blocks
Disaggregate your message into values, frames, messengers, and emotional appeals to understand which elements drive persuasion.
Tap into emotions that drive engagement
Test whether your messages evoke emotions like hope, anger, or urgency; feelings that social science research shows are most likely to motivate action and participation.
Align framing with audience realities
Adapt tones, messengers, and content to meet your audiences where they are, while staying true to your mission and values.

The Gradient difference

  • Clarify messaging objectives
    We start by defining the specific messaging risks and opportunities your organization faces, including persuading new audiences, mobilizing supporters, or blunting oppositional narratives.
  • Design targeted research
    We break messages into their core components and design experiments that test how values, emotions, and frames perform both individually and in combination.
  • Analyze & interpret
    Our team of data scientists and PhD researchers go beyond which message "wins" to unpack why it works, how different segments respond, and where hidden vulnerabilities may exist.
  • Activate insights
    You leave with practical, audience-tested message frameworks that you can deploy across ads, field scripts, media, and campaigns, with the confidence that you're using language that both persuades and activates.

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Survey methodologies that drive results

Messaging Component Analysis

We use conjoint experiments to test how people privately weigh different message elements (such as values, frames, messengers, or emotional appeals) when forced to make tradeoffs. 

By presenting respondents with varied combinations and observing their choices, we isolate which components truly drive persuasion, even when people might hesitate to state their preferences directly. This component-based method of testing message preference:

  • Isolates which message components contribute most to overall impact; which ones are the most important to really nail?
  • Identifies, within each component, which elements are most likely to be helpful (or harmful) for persuasion and activation.
  • Surfaces effective combinations that work across audience segments without diluting core values.
 Read More A/B Testing for Refinement

We use split-sample A/B tests to evaluate more complete competing narratives or small but important tweaks to message framing, language, or delivery style. This helps define direction or refine core messages for different sub-audiences or contexts without losing consistency. The use cases for A/B testing include:

  • Testing versions of fully-formed messages or approaches to determine which works best.
  • Comparing small variations in tone, wording, or messenger choice.
  • Identifying quick-turn adjustments that improve resonance with key targets.
Testing Against Opposition

We simulate how your messages perform in direct challenge to oppositional frames, using either Messaging Component Analysis or structured A/B testing. Oppositional testing:

  • Surfaces which arguments are most vulnerable to opposition attack.
  • Builds the most persuasive response to known entrenched oppositional narratives that may themselves be convincing to the public. 
  • Improves confidence that your message can withstand real-world debate conditions.
  
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Let’s break your message down and build it back stronger.

Let's Chat