Abstract:
The success of the market research industry over the past 40 years has led it into techniques and applications which were not anticipated by its original founders. As a result an increasing number of researchers are becoming involved in other related disciplines, which are subject to customs and codes of practice quite different from those used in market research itself. At the same time, growth has increased the impact of market research upon society in general, with the inevitable result that it is not always differentiated from other information- gathering activities; and crude legal restraints remain a continuing threat throughout the countries of Europe. This has been thrown into sharpest relief by issues such as 'sugging' (selling under the guise of research), telemarketing (telephone selling), data privacy, opinion polling, and mystery shopping. But behind these most topical and visible issues, there are an increasing number of other day-to-day dilemmas faced by practising researchers which remain outside the normal scope of market research training and codes of conduct: on these, many researchers are making up their own rules of acceptable conduct because little guidance is available, and there is a lack of consensus over what the conscientious professional should encourage, condone, or reject. In discussing this, and in providing illustrative examples, we do not wish to put a dead hand of moral restraint upon legitimate commercial enterprise; nor to place unwarranted obstacles in the way of the interdisciplinary development of market research. Nevertheless we would assert that there is now a pressing need to define the boundaries of our own discipline of market research, because it is only by appropriate differentiation from other disciplines that its freedom, its reputation, and ultimately its value, can be safeguarded for the future.
Research Papers
The corporate banking customer
Catalogue: Seminar 1975: The Use Of Market Research In The Financial Fields
Authors: N. Spencer, Mervyn Flack, Peter Bartram
Company: Harris Interactive (Europe)
February 1, 1975
Research Papers
Satisfied or satiated?
Catalogue: Seminar 1993: The Ideal Product, The Ideal Costumer, The Ideal Company?
Authors: Peter Bartram, Mary Bartram
 
June 15, 1993
Research Papers
Improving the profitable use of continuous research
Catalogue: ESOMAR Congress 1981: Research For Profitability
Author: Mary Bartram
 
August 1, 1981
