Putting respondents first

This study shows in a number of ways that obtaining good quality sample and motivating potential respondents are major concerns of the market research  industry.  We asked our respondents to pick what they considered to be the biggest challenges the MR industry faces. Falling response rates followed by professional  respondents and availability of sample were the top three – all of which sit firmly on  the respondent side of the classic client-agency-respondent triangle. Such concerns seem to be acting as a spur towards more companies embracing  mixed-mode research: two-fifths of MR companies surveyed now offer this. The reasons for doing mixed-mode are very diverse, but the more widely-cited reasons include the scope to improve response rates, sample coverage and representation, and to be more respondent friendly.

Putting cost second

It is often thought that market researchers conduct mixed-mode research to reduce fieldwork costs, by shifting a large proportion to the internet. This project has shown both in 2007 and 2006, this is an important consideration not the main reason. Of course, there can be more work involved with mixed-mode research, which can act to negate any cost savings.

Creative sampling

There seems to be a hope in the industry to make less use of client sample as respondents to our 2004 and 2005 studies said that they expected to use less of it. However, in 2007 client sample is still the most common sample source and has not shown any obvious decline. Although, by 2008 the use of access panels may overtake client sample, as their use has grown steadily over the last few years. It seems that market research companies are being creative in sourcing sample for their online research since the use of ‘other’ sample has gradually increased over the years.

Software unease

A notable minority of companies use custom-developed, rather than off-the-shelf software. We observed that a fifth of both CAPI and CATI users use their owndeveloped software as their principal tool. This seems surprising given the very large number of specialist software vendors and the high cost of development. It is perhaps indicative of an industry that is wary of the off-the-shelf solutions offered.  This is further backed up by the observation that around a third of companies (it was a quarter in 2006) are planning to change their software over the next two years and just over two-fifths are unsure if they will be staying with the technology  they have at present. The big companies are leading the shift, with almost half  (47%) planning to change. These figures have shown a marked upswing since the 2006 study.

The most often cited reason for changing software is to seek ‘more flexibility, more capabilities or better functionality’ – which suggests frustration with a lack of this with the incumbent software. It could be a function of their being so much choice being available, causing unease that the grass is greener in someone else’s fields. The range of choice and difference in features offered is in striking contrast to, say, the office automation or database reporting marketplace, where there is practically no choice today. In contradiction with this assumption, ‘dissatisfaction or concerns with existing software’ was one of the least popular reasons for changing software.

Happy trackers

For the first time this year, we asked questions about continuous research. This is an area that is not at all well supported by most software, resulting in many ad hoc and poorly automated processes for many firms. We are astonished to note that the majority of respondents report they are largely satisfied with the software they use to manage trackers.

Going modal

As we have already noted, two-fifths of companies offer mixed-mode research as part of their offering, which is a substantial minority. In revenue terms, this remains a very thin slice of revenues. But the survey detects an upward swing in demand for multimodal data collection capabilities by research software buyers: 49% now demand ‘parallel’ mixed-mode  capabilities. However, demand has remained flat for the more complex real-time switching kinds of multimodal data  collection, which is clearly still a highly specialised activity. Though volumes remain small, the industry is building capacity in this area, and many practitioners look on it as one practical means to combat some of the respondent-centric problems like response and coverage. We look on this still as a growth area on a slow burn.

Web rules

Our survey also records that over two-fifths of revenues from quantitative research are now attributable to online research. This appears to be the biggest source of revenue for MR companies today in the countries we surveyed – which are from the developed economies. Our sampling method does not make this a robust global estimate, but it is nevertheless an interesting indication.  

Nearly all market research agencies surveyed that offer quantitative research include online research as part of their offering.

Minority channels

Looking at Web, CATI and paper together, they are the source of 87% of quantitative revenues recorded. CAPI revenues (as a convenient proxy for level of activity) are surprisingly small – only 6% – even though a third of market research companies include CAPI research as one of their services.  SMS as a research channel remains rare among those offered by MR companies and has negligible impact in revenue terms – there is no growth detected in 2007 over previous years.

Business as usual in the tab mills

As in our 2005 and 2006 studies, PowerPoint is easily the most favoured distribution tool, but our analysis shows that bulk cross-tab reporting, though now only used in a minority of projects, is waning little in popularity.