A combination of growing prosperity and technological advances has brought a vast increase in complexity to many markets. Inevitably this has had a major impact on market research. Many simple techniques which used to work adequately now no longer do so. But the same factors which created the research problems also help to provide at least partial solutions. The paper contrasts two British markets the grocery sector and television. Both in recent years have experienced an exponential growth in the amount of data that have to be collected. These requirements have been met by research contractors. However there is a considerable difference in the extent to which research users in the two areas effectively employ the additional data to which they have access. The paper considers the steps that need to be taken to maximise the value of the databases and to overcome the reluctance to use the information effectively.
Within Britain the dominance of leading supermarket chains continues to grow, as does the market share of own label brands. A new study shows generally favourable consumer attitudes towards these products. As a result, premium brands are widely perceived as being an endangered species. Evidence is presented, however, to demonstrate that even under direct attack from own label, either in the form of competitive sub-brands or massive price cutting, leading premium brands continue to display strength and resilience. The basis of this strength is discussed, and the outcome appears to be that excessive price competition from own label harms retailers at least as much as premium brand manufacturers. This explains why the relationship between the leading supermarkets and brand manufacturers has recently appeared less combative and more co-operative. This may be linked to shifts in shopping as supermarkets widen operations and new technology opens prospects of interactive home shopping.
This paper takes as its starting point the UK and uses consumer panel data to examine the trends in retailer concentration and own lable on a long and short term basis. It considers the extent to which recent trends in the major multiples are part of an established pattern, or whether they reflect the threat of discount retailing from other European countries. It examines similar data for a number of European countries and asks to what degree an homogeneous retail trade is likely to develop in Europe. Does pan-European marketing and branding offer a counter to retailer power for the major manufacturers? Is it realistic for manufacturers to pursue a partnership strategy with retailers, and if so what information is needed? The paper concludes by examining the role of the information provider and the implications of retailer power in relation to the ownership of key data. It argues the case for independently based information on the market place.
For Europe the major demographic change expected over the next thirty years is the growth in the proportion of the population over 50. This trend must be of importance to marketers, and this is particularly the case as there is growing evidence that many over 50' have a higher than average level of disposable income. In the UK, older people dominate the savings market and are the prime target for companies in that sector. They appear to be somewhat less important as purchasers of consumer goods, but this tendency must be examined carefully because purchase figures are usually presented on a household basis, and old people tend to live in smaller households than the average. When examined on a per capita basis the purchases of the old in areas such as food is close to the average, and research carried out by AGB demonstrates that they are significant buyers of a number of product groups and brands. The major problem from a marketing point of view is that the older age groups are highly polarised in terms of both income and wealth. Thus, age itself is an unsatisfactory discriminator for most marketing purposes. It is necessary to break down the category to separate those in need of help from those with large spending power. The most effective means of achieving the necessary segmentation of the old age group for marketing purposes is by means of single source data linking purchasing with media exposure. Various more or less effective techniques have been used in the UK, but it remains the case that as yet no continuous source of such research exists. This paper contrasts the age distributions in Europe compared to the rest of the world, sets out evidence of the growing importance of the older population in marketing terms and provides a summary of a segmentation study based on a qualitative approach.
In this paper we look at two such developments, one affecting the way in which people use television and the other their purchasing patterns, related particularly to grocery products. We then consider the ways in which market research has to adapt its techniques to take account of these changes, and in particular to consider how the interaction of these developments affect countries with commercial television.
The objects of this paper are firstly to consider the key elements associated with the choice of research techniques (Section 2) and then to examine the recent changes taking place and their effects on consumer choice of broadcast material and commercial airtime available (Section 3). Finally, the paper looks ahead to estimate the implications for television audience research during the I980's (Section 4).
Panels offer certain advantages over sample surveys in providing TV audience measurement information more precisely and economically. As planning requirements for TV advertising become more sophisticated therefore, demand for TV panels is likely to increase in many countries. This paper considers some of the major theoretical problems in operating TV panels and offers evidence on practical solutions from the U.K. In particular, the selection and control of panels are examined including a discussion on the possible sources of panel bias with methods for its reduction or elimination. The combined knowledge available on TV panel operations is then applied to problems likely to arise in setting upland running TV panels in varying national and broadcasting contexts.
Recent advances in data collection and interpretation, especially electronic metering devices, have interacted with the work of the interviewer. Long-running panel operations have made it possible to assess the value of differential changes to the fieldwork. Fieldworkers need to be specialised to cope with these new activities, especially panel recruitment. Examples are drawn from consumer durable research, packaged goods, toiletry and cosmetics, television audience measurement, household electricity usage, industrial electricity usage, and research into electricity pricing. These are all standing panels. While less specific conclusions can be drawn for ad-hoc surveys owing to their diversity of approach, interviewer streaming still takes place. A brief account is given of event recorders for television viewing or electricity usage, which employ heat sensitive paper or magnetic-oxide coated tape as the recording media.
Against the background of price inflation in the UK in recent times, it is not easy to objectively compute the effects of promotions on sales. This paper presents some case histories on a number of product fields which throw light on the relationships between promotions and sales and the results are contrasted with the general findings obtained by AGB from significant studies carried out previously.
The correlation that may exist between advertising pressure and effectiveness can be expressed as a response function for marketing purposes, perhaps the most interesting relationship is that which may exist between media exposure and sales, and it is in this context that the term "response function" is used here. The allocation of expenditure between different media and the problem of intermedia comparisons can, by relating the different response functions, move the solution from an area of subjective estimation to one of scientific method. An equally attractive prospect for planning with individual media makes it worthwhile investigating the utility of product/media exposure patterns. Such relationships may enable the media planner to construct 'optimum' schedules against 'target' audiences, defined in terms of probability of purchase. Both areas of investigation are exciting, both raise the possibility of introducing scientific measurement to replace more subjective methods of analysis. The problem of measurement in both cases depends on data collected through product/media surveys from the same individuals about their exposure to various media, and their purchasing behaviour over a range of product fields. Before these exercises could be attempted however, there were two problems to be solved. These may be described in terms of the validity and stability of the information to be used.
The conventional methods of analysing market research data are useful, but have their limitations. They consist, usually, of the construction and examination of one-way tables by characteristics like social class, age of housewife etc., together with the associated two-way and three-way tables. This approach leads, particularly with the aid of an electronic computer, to an overwhelming amount of tabulated results and it is doubtful whether these are inspected in any systematic way. The task which faces the research agency is to remove from the client the burden of having to examine a mass of tabulated results, whilst at the same time providing him with a guarantee that useful data has not been overlooked. Methods of isolating the most important aspects are discussed in this paper and applied to material collected on the ownership of consumer durables; the techniques are however applicable to a wide range of data. An application of the Belson method of matching population samples is considered, but this is also found to be limited to some extent for the present purpose. This is followed by a discussion and application of Discriminatory Analysis, in order to isolate the important characteristics underlying observed gradients in ownership. Simple but effective models are then fitted to ownership levels calculated for the various segments of the population indicated by the important characteristics.