This month Research World is focusing on talent development, which pleases me enormously as it is a particular hobby horse of mine. Yet, I am also acutely aware that it is one of those subjects to which it is incredibly difficult to do proper justice. After all, the principles of good talent management are not shrouded in mystery - we all know (or think we know) them.
Some contend that the market research industry has missed out on opportunities in the last few decades but is this true? They point for example, at the possibilities of data mining or those offered by the internet. Whatever the case, it is apparent that the growth of the industry will remain relatively modest and that profit margins will not exceed a few percent for years to come. Renewal in marker research is often provided by newcomers and outsiders, as in other industry sectors. Of course, change is also driven by businessmen who have a major influence on working methods through effecting mergers and acquisitions and by streamlining operations to increase efficiency and effectiveness. In the period to come, we will explore the boundaries of current market research and in doing so, aim to shed light on the dynamics of change and the emergence of new and promising approaches. We begin with this edition of Research World by asking several key questions including what will be the impact of more entrepreneurial behaviour and to what extent will industry insiders or new entrants determine how the game is played. What is certain is that technological developments and convergence are creating numerous opportunities. Advances in software will also play an influential role. Perhaps âMarketing Productivity Analysis" is also acquiring new powerful impulses: a change in the image of market research is highly dependent on more attention being paid to accountability and the application of analytical concepts, measurements and metrics in order to show the actual contributions that marker research makes, crystal clear.
Projections about future developments, delivering expectations, indicating trends and making predictions, are activities that do attract attention. And of course, carefully formed opinions about what will happen in the future are indispensable to the planning process. But just how reliable are these forecasts? It seems that predicting the future has become a business in itself - with huge financial interests - in which mostly self-appointed gurus and trend watchers have developed a lucrative trade in prognoses and prophecies. Are they really any different from the seers and clairvoyants that through the ages provided decision makers with their visions? Not to forget the multitude of âvoodoo pollsâ, on-line political polls and analyses by the media that often go just skin deep. Predicting is fine - but ultimately it is not just about making predictions about the future. Timing is also crucial: to what particular point in time do the estimates relate and just how accurate are they? Best guesses might be welcome, but are not always sufficient. Much more preferable are systematic, independent and rigorous approaches on a continual basis - at least then the contribution of research can be more solid. Not that the aspiration is for research to bring universal happiness, but standards of professionalism should be respected. We have been looking ahead in Research World since the beginning of this year. In this issue we will explore the predictive quality of research from different angles. To avoid the myopia of the chronic emphasis on the short term, we will focus on long term developments and changes in areas that affect us all, such as the biomedical world and technology. We will focus on scenario planning and look at trends and hypes. We will try in particular to get a picture of the role of research. Can research help companies to pleasantly surprise consumers? Or make existing products obsolete, as people have said so insistently in the past? What can modern research do? Can it deliver photos, snapshots or reliable forecasts?
This report is directed toward the business community, since these phony or misleading polls often occur under the auspices of persons without training in the standards that frame survey research. It is intended to reaffirm the ARFs commitment to quality through adherence to professional principles. As a business-to-business document, it is meant to alert the research community to the need for a proper response and non research business professionals to the serious problems posed by these inappropriate practices. There are two sections. The first defines each problem, provides examples, and discusses the implications of the practices. The second section points to solutions.
This document, prepared by the Business Audience Measurements (BAM) Committee under the supervision of the Advertising Research Foundation Business Advertising Research Council (BARC), provides the business media industry with basic guidelines that can be used for either planning or evaluating business publication audience studies. It was prepared in response to requests for increased quality and professionalism in business media audience research.
The paper attempts to provide an overview of how the recent recession has affected professionalism in Market Research in the UK. It is in five main sections.
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.
The value for money issue is not a new topic, it is as old as Market Research (MR) itself. It has taken different shapes over time however, conditioned as it is by two sets of factors which have clearly followed a certain time path. The first set of factors which is involved, can be regarded as internal to MR, it relates to competitive conditions among practitioners, the state of their technical skills and competence, their capacity to establish a clearly profiled image of market research as a tool of management and the establishment of generally accepted professional standards. The second set of factors, to be regarded as external to MR, relates to the environment in which MR is operating.
During the Luxembourg Seminar on "Managing Market Research as a Business" I carried out a brief survey on some aspects of the management of research institutes. The questionnaire was set up in haste and the sample is the only representative of agency people present in Luxembourg. Nevertheless, it may be worthwhile to have a look at the results, which must be of interest to everybody engaged in market research. From the 34 bureaus that were represented 25 are managed by a professional researcher and 9 by a non-professional. Mainly social psychological research is carried out by 15 bureaus, quantitative research by 25, continuous research (panel/audit/omnibus) by 16. In 13 cases the manager is a shareholder and not so in 21 cases. A profit sharing scheme for senior staff exists with 14 out of the 34.
In meeting the primary objective of this research, to provide further clarification of the nature of public concern about privacy, survey researchers are also reminded that they are to some extent a part of the problem itself, and must constantly operate according to professional procedures which will maintain the level of public cooperation which is imperative to the effective conduct of reliable and useful surveys.
The following paper describes a piece of qualitative Pharmaceutical Marketing Research, the need for which was created by the apparent lack of success on the part of the Client Company in promoting to younger and more junior doctors. Background information was inconclusive in either proving or disproving this suspision and, to a certain extent therefore, the motivation for the research was intuitive. A face-to-face extended interview technique was selected within the research design suggested by the Agency in order to overcome various problems, not least of which was the cost of conducting such a survey using one of the routine quantitative approaches. The findings of this study suggests that film meetings are the most effective way of communicating with student and newly-qualified doctors. Teaching hospitals should not be regarded as places where normal representative activity will be effective amongst very young doctors. Teaching aids are a medium of promotion to student and newly-qualified doctors which offer a high level of acceptability and memorability. First year General Practitioners are more receptive, at this critical stage of their career, to all information and experiences with drugs and this activity could form habits that could last a lifetime.