The ICC/ESOMAR International Code on Market, Opinion and Social Research and Data Analytics, which was developed jointly with the ICC (International Chamber of Commerce), sets out global standards for self-regulation for researchers and data analysts and is undersigned by all ESOMAR members.
The purpose of this document is to provide researchers with general guidance on their responsibilities within a global data protection framework to ensure that research participants retain control over their personal information. The specific framework used was developed by the Organisation forEconomic Co-operation and Development (OECD). That framework includes a set of eight principles for use in designing programs to ensure privacy and protect personal data.
This Guideline responds to those concerns by providing guidance on the operational requirements for the provision of online samples for market, opinion, and social research. It sets out methods to be used by online sample providers, buyers, and end clients to ensure that a sample meets widely accepted quality criteria. It is recommended reading for all stakeholders in the research process, from survey designers to data users.
Pharmaceutical marketing research must always be conducted in full conformity with the principles laid down in the ICC/ESOMAR International Code of Marketing and Social Research Practice (1995). Because of the special characteristics and requirements of pharmaceutical research, however, it is necessary to specify how certain of these principles should be applied in this field of research and also to add a few further principles of conduct. These are set out in the Articles which follow. The requirements of this and the main ICC/ESOMAR Code apply equally to research carried out directly by a department of the pharmaceutical company concerned (using either its own staff or outside interviewers sub-contracted for this purpose) and to research carried out by another organization acting on the company's behalf.
The present paper will discuss the relevance of several rational and other apparently irrational indicators in making forecasts for individual markets, in other words, the relevance of the plans, desires, moods and expectations expressed by consumers in the interview. Trends based on these factors will be compared with the actual trends in ownership data, also ascertained by our surveys. This comparison has enabled us to develop several methods for making forecasts solely on the basis of easily manipulable aggregate data. In addition, questions concerning the psychological climate in specific markets will be analyzed, focusing on the issue of whether they provide an early indication of new modes of behavior, and thus of new areas that may be approached in advertising, and on the extent to which this applies. Finally, we shall examine economic forecast indicators derived from representative surveys. The studies presented demonstrate that while subjective assessments made by consumers may seem unprofessional, they are in fact highly significant.
The brand triad has become a crucial instrument of communication planning in Germany today. It enables the gradual route taken by consumer potentials along the path to the goal of brand usage to be traced step by step, as well as analysing the status of the brand personality in the eyes of consumers. The primary aim of the EuroCA survey, whose findings are presented on the pages that follow, was to scrutinize 30 brands in terms of the brand triad in relation to women in five West European countries. The survey was less concerned to come up with detailed findings for individual brands than to pinpoint the ways in which the brand triad functions, both in general and when applied to specific countries The most significant findings 1. The brand triad functions In Europe, too, the brand triad functions along the lines to be anticipated on the basis of the findings relating to the 5,(XX) brands surveyed in the Communications Analysis. 2. The brand triad differentiates Apart from characteristics peculiar to the brand in question, socio- cultural and historico-geographical criteria relating to a specific brand have an influence on the brand triad. The brand triad facilitates the definition of national, multinational and Eurobrands.
Marketing research often turns out to be a "killer of ideas and innovations" if the examination of products, concepts, etc. is restricted to the measurement of attitudes and consumer judgements. Within Europe, there is an increasing demand for research that reveals the consumer's latent expectations, and that is suitable as a valid check on innovative ideas and concepts. In addition, this kind of research should be usable internationally, i.e. in multi-country research or pan- European studies. So-called qualitative research is a priori predestined to accomplish these tasks. However there are a number of problems, e.g. unlike in the field of quantitative methods, there is little overview of the methodological repertoire available in this field. these methods are frequently strongly marked by individual cultures and are therefore scarcely usable directly for international studies. This paper presents the results of a method experiment carried out over several years and involving researchers from ten European countries. The result is a catalogue of qualitative techniques which are specifically suited to the measurement of consumers' latent expectations and the verification of innovative concepts, and which have proved their value internationally. This "tool box" therefore includes a repertoire of "diagnostic research" that goes beyond the measurements of judgements This is the first systematic synopsis of these techniques, which to date have only rarely been the subject of the international exchange of ideas between researchers. It does not offer a "final" or complete catalogue, but should be understood as a starting point and as a stimulus to make this hitherto somewhat neglected field increasingly the subject of discussion between researchers from different disciplines and cultures.
Modern saturated markets differ from the old markets in many respects. The rules of success and failure have changed. Conservative marketing confined to the perfecting and variation of old product categories often degenerates into fruitless games which dont dynamize the market and bore the consumers. Changes in the existing market conditions can only be achieved by substantial innovations. The basis for successful innovations lies in activating the "invisible" latent consumer expectations: Expectations that are subconscious, vague and not yet expressed. There is no lack of such latent expectations even in saturated markets. On the contrary, analysis reveals that there are progress gaps in many sectors because manufacturers fail to keep pace with the development of these expectations. Lack of visions or anti-progressive structures in many companies are one of the causes of this progress gap. But also many instruments of marketing research have an anti-progressive effect or are unsuitable to detect latent consumer expectations and give the producers reliable guidance for long-term planning. Marketing research for innovations has to make use of theoretical assumptions and methods other than marketing research for the administration or control of established markets. This paper describes the background, the theoretical pre- requisites and the methodological design of two prototypical examples of market- ing research for innovations.
The New Europe represents a unique challenge to companies and the research industry alike. Its structures and market dynamics are not yet firmly established. There are no valid "maps" or orientation systems which would be needed for reliable decision-making in this pan-European market. A critical review of the traditional practices in international ad-hoc research demonstrates that it fails to meet the new requirements. It leaves the manager alone with the task of discovering and designing the New Europe as a market. Decisions are taken without the active contribution of marketing research. The intercultural approach opens up new perspectives for the solution of these problems. It defines modes of thinking, procedures and research designs in which old and new marketing research techniques are used in rearranged form. In addition, it is an approach which includes the transformation of styles of cooperation between researchers from different countries and of the relationship between the users and suppliers of marketing research. We are still far from having resolved all tasks and problems involved. But we are probably closer to a solution than might be assumed, provided that we agree on the targets and improve our skills in recognising and utilising the opportunities inherent in this confrontation of different cultures, traditions and research styles. The present paper deals primarily with the type of research which is generally classified as "qualitative". Its findings and conclusions, however, can equally be applied to large sections of what is habitually referred to as "quantitative" research, at least to the extent to which the latter is concerned with the analysis of markets.