Marketers who wish to continually improve advertising productivity will begin to apply a Total Quality approach to the advertising development and management processes, using statistically sound (sales-related) measurement feedback at appropriate stages in the process. The empirical evidence observed to date suggests that the persuasion measurement (as collected by RSC) is an appropriate criterion measure for this statistical feedback and truly contributes to continuous business improvement, particularly when applied at the following stages of the advertising process: before creative execution, to find a persuasive selling proposition; before production, to determine the number of executions needed for the media plan (given wear out projections); before airing, to determine which ads are the most persuasive executions of the selling proposition; and while airing, to implement execution refreshment and rotation, maximizing persuasive power (PRPs) delivered to market. On the other hand, the empirical evidence also suggests that marketers who continue to rely on hit and miss processes and measurement feedback (such as liking, recall, weight alone, brand name recall, etc.) will be out-marketed and perhaps out of business in the highly competitive global arena of the 21st Century.
RISC is monitoring social change in most developed countries in the world to service multi-national marketing operators and institutions. A yearly survey on 2.500 people by country provides a regular evaluation of the social and consumer trends that our sociologists have identified or forecasted.
In order to ensure BT - the largest telecommunications supplier in the UK - obtains maximum value from its investment in market research, its Personal Communications (PC) Division has put in place an initiative - the creation of a market research database - aimed at delivering three key benefits. First, the database - containing all the ad hoc research reports conducted since the PC Division was set up in 1991 - opens up access to existing ad hoc market research in a way that allows people to easily check information, thereby enhancing the quality of day-to-day tactical, decision making. Second and, for BT, a more important objective than the act of setting up a database - there is the drawing together of evidence from a range of different sources to facilitate meta analysis: the identification of overarching themes and trends that inform the development of appropriate marketing strategies. Third, there is the pay off from having in existence a user friendly database - the structure and details of which we will be discussing later - that allows BT to obtain a clear picture of where it has a sound understanding of particular topics and market segments, and where there are gaps in the company's market research evidence that may need plugging with subsequent research. We open the paper by providing a brief review of BT's operation and pinpointing particular aspects of the company's approach to marketing and market research that needed to be taken into account in the development of the PC market research database. We then look at the way in which the database has been constructed, specifically looking at the role it plays in: aiding day-to-day tactical decision making; identifying longer term overarching marketing trends; and pinpointing gaps in BT's information base. At the end of the paper we list a number of general principles that should be helpful to other organisations seeking to ensure that: there is easy access to market research reports; research resources are being focused on knowledge gaps (rather than duplicating earlier effort), and that each project works above and beyond its contribution to solving a particular problem, through a more strategic appraisal of the research findings.
In practically all countries that are oriented towards the market economy, media coverage and the composition of media users are ascertained on a regular basis within the framework of ambitious research projects. Along with detailed demographic criteria, consumer and psychographic characteristics have become increasingly important in defining target groups for advertising purposes, with the aim of attaining more highly differentiated target groups and stemming wasted coverage to the greatest possible extent. As an international comparison shows, there are practically no leading media studies today that do not ascertain at least a few important consumer segments. This paper will demonstrate how comprehensive, high quality and reasonably priced market research can be conducted in various consumption areas based on secondary analyses of media market studies, plus by means of follow-up surveys among consumer segments previously defined in the media market study. The analyses focus first of all on long-term changes in consumer segments, for example, in the private market for personal computers, the market for cars, tobacco products and pilsener beer and in the photography marketor in the readership for certain magazine categories. The skiing market will then be examined with regard to both long-term changes in consumer composition and the market behavior in 1989 and 1993 of respondents who had been identified as skiers in the media market analysis. The present paper will outline the possibilities and limitations of this research approach, showing how the data and conclusions from various types of studies can be combined, as illustrated by a comparison of consumer behavior in the skiing market before and during the recent recession in Germany.
In practically all countries that are oriented towards the market economy, media coverage and the composition of media users are ascertained on a regular basis within the framework of ambitious research projects. Along with detailed demographic criteria, consumer and psychographic characteristics have become increasingly important in defining target groups for advertising purposes, with the aim of attaining more highly differentiated target groups and stemming wasted coverage to the greatest possible extent. As an international comparison shows, there are practically no leading media studies today that do not ascertain at least a few important consumer segments. This paper will demonstrate how comprehensive, high quality and reasonably priced market research can be conducted in various consumption areas based on secondary analyses of media market studies, plus by means of follow-up surveys among consumer segments previously defined in the media market study. The analyses focus first of all on long-term changes in consumer segments, for example, in the private market for personal computers, the market for cars, tobacco products and pilsener beer and in the photography marketor in the readership for certain magazine categories. The skiing market will then be examined with regard to both long-term changes in consumer composition and the market behavior in 1989 and 1993 of respondents who had been identified as skiers in the media market analysis. The present paper will outline the possibilities and limitations of this research approach, showing how the data and conclusions from various types of studies can be combined, as illustrated by a comparison of consumer behavior in the skiing market before and during the recent recession in Germany.
The measurement and monitoring of brand image is a major requirement of marketing management and a major preoccupation among market researchers. It has been for almost fifty years. The ways in which brand image is measured have not changed much in that time. However, markets and consumers have changed. And while the technology available to market researchers has been limited, recent developments now enable brand image measurement to be approached in a more meaningful way. Nowadays, markets are more complex. Everyday life is more complex. Brand choice is greater, competition is fiercer and brands are more similar in terms of their benefit bundles. It is argued that brand image measurement needs to be approached in a way that more directly relates to how consumers choose brands - on the basis of both rational and emotional considerations and by taking account of mode and situation. This will result in brand image data that can be used in tactical and strategic marketing decisions. A system of measuring brand personality and brand identity, the two quite separate components of brand image, is proposed. It uses an implicit personality model. Two different case histories are shown. One looks at the beer market; the other treats Conventional medicine and complementary medicine therapies like Acupuncture, Homoeopathy and Osteopathy as "brands".
In the 1980/90s, with the development of evermore sophisticated computers and software packages, Market Research has moved itself into an industry that is more concerned with the accuracy of predicting the value of Events than with, what Market Research was created for, viz. the prediction of Outcomes. This is particularly the case in Brand and Advertising Tracking, where modelling has become the order of the day, without due regard to, at times, the validity of the variables used as input. Not only this,but Modelling also requires the identification and use of Independent and Dependent Variables, whereas experience has shown that, in reality, there are no Dependent Variables, that are of sufficient reliability in predicting Outcomes. The paper will aim to show that, in order for Market Research to be able to revert back to its original role we have to question: 1. The validity of traditional questioning. 2. Whether Market Research is about Modelling or whether it should be a Philosophy, i.e. a Study of Truth. 3. Whether the objective of Market Research is to predict Events occurring, or, whether it is about predicting Outcomes. 4. Whether traditional Independent/Dependent relationships can predict Outcomes, or whether we have to apply Stochastic principles, which are only concerned with Independent Variables, and the gaining of a deeper understanding as to how they relate to each other. 5. Whether the future of Market Research should involve a change in emphasis from the measurement of Values to the understanding of their Significance and, therefore, Consequence. 6. Whether Market Researchers are Statisticians or Marketers.
This paper explores, describes and evaluates a number of models used in stimulating innovation, with special application to NPD and brand stretching. It is not intended to be a market research paper as such but instead builds on the author's experience as a planner and strategic modeler, together with a review of past and new practice in the process of NPD - the fusion of strategic thinking, market survey information of various kinds, and creativity. A number of different models and techniques are described and briefly shown, covering various backgrounds: from those used by idea-generating consultancies such as Faith Popcorn, via those using synectics skills, or academic disciplines, or morphological analyses. Some of their disciplines may be new - and some are actually quite venerable, but in a new guise. The paper also contains discussion about how and why such techniques have become more widespread in recent months: is it post-recession thinking, or the realisation that innovation is indeed the source of future corporate health and growth, or a lesson learned from the Japanese, or just a current management fashion? - or indeed a combination of all of these. From the researchers perspective, there may be little new in pure research technique terms, but in management philosophy there is much food for thought. Some tentative pointers for the future are discussed: particularly the need to speed up, or short-circuit, the traditional NPD process, and the need to allow NPD to access the really new, the really distinctive and the unknown.
The thesis of the paper is that within the next decade we are likely to see two revolutions in data collection for market research surveys that are currently conducted by face-to-face interviews. The first part of the paper concerns the CAPI revolution (Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing). It describes the story so far, the impetus for the revolution in the UK, and the implications for research which it will bring with it. The second part of the paper concerns the HAPPI revolution (Home-based Active Passive Personal Interviewing) the path of which is less certain. HAPPI is defined as the replacement of interviewers entirely by technology for research that is currently conducted either face-to-face or by telephone. The impetus for the revolution lies in a combination of circumstances involving technological developments, social factors and research methodology considerations. These are discussed together with the implications for research when the HAPPI revolution occurs.
The release of ANC leader Nelson Mandela and unbanning of the ANC in 1990 the eradication of all apartheid legislation from the statute books in 1993 and the first democratic multiracial general election in April this year have introduced dramatic changes to South African society and business. The South African marketing industry generally, and the marketing research industry specifically, have been slow in recognising these changes and adapting to them. In the past four years only two major industries studies, the All Media and Product Study and Socio Monitor, have attempted to integrate their sample bases to present results not based on race group separation but rather on lifestyle and value group similarities. Results of a postal study conducted amongst members of the Southern African Marketing Research Association and the Association of Marketers supports the hypothesis of this paper, namely that South African marketing research practices have not remained relevant to the brand new South Africa. The paper is concluded with recommendations as to how the South African marketing research industry needs to adapt to the political changes that have taken place to remain relevant to the marketing industry.
Most Opinion Polls in the West, which attempt to forecast election results, rely on a representative sample of voters and a frank reply to the question: "If the Elections were held tomorrow, who would you vote for? It is the author's contention that when this methodology is followed in India, it often leads to very erroneous results. The problems peculiar to India are as follows : 1) India is a vast country with 75% of the people residing in rural areas - across 600 villages. It is virtually impossible to obtain a representative sample of voters in the conventional sense. 2) Indias democracy is peculiar in that from its independence in 1947 the country has been ruled without interruption for 30 years by one party, the Congress. When asked the party the respondent would vote for, the Congress is almost like a default option among those who have not given much thought about the election and/or tire unlikely to exercise their franchise. Only 50-60% actually vote though almost everyone gives an opinion to the interviewer. Another reason biasing the response to the simple Voting Intention question is what has been termed as the lying factor. In several parts of India, the political parties are known to have a nexus with criminal elements, and the respondent sometimes mentions what he feels is the most diplomatic answer, although he may vote quite differently under the secrecy of the ballot box. This paper sets out a methodology that takes these factors into account to develop a forecasting model that has been validated to be more accurate under these circumstances.
This paper describes progress to date on a government supported programme to evaluate the potential applications of Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) to market and survey research. The paper reviews the growth of telephone research in Europe in recent years and goes on to discuss how technology might be used to reduce costs without reducing quality. ASR is briefly described and its potential for self-completion discussed. The paper progresses to describing the manner in which an original large scale and representative English speech database has been built up for use in sub-word modelling. The body of the paper discusses the new and challenging issues of conducting interviewerless telephone interviews. The ways in which software is required to replace the implicit skills of interviewers are outlined and examples given of how these have been tested in the field by replicating an existing continuous customer quality service. Results from the field test are given and an outline of the second field test which will be reported at the Conference. The paper ends by concluding that ASR could be used in market research by interviewers or respondent panels. The extent to which ASR is used will depend very much on whether software tools can be developed which will enable dialogues to be written quickly by researchers rather than speech engineers. This will take time and considerable investment. The result could be a multi-lingual technique capable of interviewing the world from a single site.