If research is to be considered a viable instrument for keeping top management informed in all areas where their decisions are needed, it must be prepared to do more than it is doing at present. Companies need more people, better people, to expand and grow. Top management must use the eyes and ears of research in order to develop more effective personnel programs to hire and keep people. Research must be willing and ready to assist management in this area as readily as it is in other sectors of business. The best advertising campaign, the most thorough marketing plan, the most imaginative new products concepts, cannot happen without people to create and implement them.
For many market researchers the relationship between top management and market research is a continuous traumatic experience. In the close on 1 5 years during which - at various levels and in various fields of top management - I have been concerned with market research, I have noticed again and again the feelings of dissatisfaction and frustration of market researchers caused by their being placed under the marketing manager.
For many market researchers the relationship between top management and market research is a continuous traumatic experience. In the close on 1 5 years during which - at various levels and in various fields of top management - I have been concerned with market research, I have noticed again and again the feelings of dissatisfaction and frustration of market researchers caused by their being placed under the marketing manager.
During 1962, my company - The Paul PLANUS organisation - carried out a survey on a sample of one in a hundred French business firms. Interviews were conducted with 160 firms. The purpose of the survey was to obtain information on the problems facing heads of companies and to see how they thought these problems could be solved. It is, therefore, worth looking again at the results of this survey, and examining them with special reference to commercial factors.
During 1962, my company - The Paul PLANUS organisation - carried out a survey on a sample of one in a hundred French business firms. Interviews were conducted with 160 firms. The purpose of the survey was to obtain information on the problems facing heads of companies and to see how they thought these problems could be solved. It is, therefore, worth looking again at the results of this survey, and examining them with special reference to commercial factors.
The aim of the survey we are about to describe, was to assess the present situation with regard to the buying habits adopted by families resident in the Greater Paris area and to outline likely future developments in this field. We shall deal with the following aspects, successively: - the research methods used, - the results of this research, - and, finally, a few general conclusions.
The aim of the survey we are about to describe, was to assess the present situation with regard to the buying habits adopted by families resident in the Greater Paris area and to outline likely future developments in this field. We shall deal with the following aspects, successively: - the research methods used, - the results of this research, - and, finally, a few general conclusions.
This paper outlines the conventional techniques of testing preferences; it suggests that, quite apart from technical discussions about the advantages of one or other preference testing method, when more than one preference dimension is brought into regard, the results of well-proved methods take on a radically different aspect. The problem dealt with is how the preferences for different informants, who may be different types of informant, for different products or services, under possibly different conditions or assumptions on the part of informants, can be represented. At first a conventional representation of a possible preference test is shown, and then a principal component analysis of the same data is mapped in an original way that is described in detail. The results are dramatically different from the more conventional representations of preference test findings the product with the most consistent and relatively high score is when one takes all the preferences for all the products into account simultaneously - the worst possible bet for the market.
In order to arrive at statistical forecasts of the future growth of markets it is necessary to use statistical and econometric methods which are regarded in many quarters as being worlds apart from the conventional (and often qualitative) methods used in market research. It is difficult to combine and illustrate by quantifiable results, those market trends which are dictated by changes in the general economic climate and those which result from measures; taken by companies themselves. Now, if market research is not to be of limited value, it is necessary to evaluate the combined effects of both trends so as to be able to make an accurate assessment of the risks involved in any decision to take a specific course of action. In this respect a very great deal remains to be done, particularly as far as industrial products are concerned. The conclusions contained in this article are the fruit of several years first-hand experience and are intended: - to show what results can be achieved by the use of the well-known forecasting methods; - to stress the lines along which research should be conducted in order to evaluate companies' development policies.
In order to arrive at statistical forecasts of the future growth of markets it is necessary to use statistical and econometric methods which are regarded in many quarters as being worlds apart from the conventional (and often qualitative) methods used in market research. It is difficult to combine and illustrate by quantifiable results, those market trends which are dictated by changes in the general economic climate and those which result from measures; taken by companies themselves. Now, if market research is not to be of limited value, it is necessary to evaluate the combined effects of both trends so as to be able to make an accurate assessment of the risks involved in any decision to take a specific course of action. In this respect a very great deal remains to be done, particularly as far as industrial products are concerned. The conclusions contained in this article are the fruit of several years first-hand experience and are intended: - to show what results can be achieved by the use of the well-known forecasting methods; - to stress the lines along which research should be conducted in order to evaluate companies' development policies.
This paper will consist of two parts: In the first, I shall describe the SCAL model briefly, confining myself to the chief aspects which are necessary in order to show the value of a detailed knowledge of readership behaviour. The second and in fact the main part of the paper will be devoted to a study of the technique of collecting data.
This paper will consist of two parts: In the first, I shall describe the SCAL model briefly, confining myself to the chief aspects which are necessary in order to show the value of a detailed knowledge of readership behaviour. The second and in fact the main part of the paper will be devoted to a study of the technique of collecting data.