Abstract:

The central thesis of the paper is that the profitability of research companies is hindered because market research is not perceived as a profession, either by those who sell research or by those who buy it. The most significant expression of this lack of professional status is that market researchers are not compensated, and do not demand compensation for their primary assets: their time and their thinking. The paper concludes with a presentation of the research company's undervalued assets and offers prescriptions for the professionalisation of market research. These prescriptions are intended to encourage a more rapid evolution of professionalism as the means to greater profitability.