Latest comment pieces
Let's let respondents decide what matters
Roger Sant, vice president at Maritz Research, says we need to start thinking of respondents as customers – and give them a little more respect.
Thirsty planet
Part two of our series on consumer trends shaping the world sees Panoramix Global’s Vickie Abrahamson getting to grips with an impending global water shortage. With water poverty on the rise, companies can’t afford to be seen as wasteful and must take steps to minimise their usage and make a virtue of it, she says.
Pay-for-performance: coming soon to a market research agency near you?
The pay-for-performance model is gaining traction in the ad agency world. Increasingly, agencies are being asked to share in the success – or failure – of the campaigns they create. Research Rockstar’s Kathryn Korostoff wonders: will clients soon expect the same of their research agencies?
Online surveys don't have to turn respondents off
Deborah Sleep of Engage Research says online surveys are still turning respondents off, and reports on a study into how they can be made more appealing and more effective.
Will the iPad kill the paper survey?
Vivek Bhaskaran of Survey Analytics considers how the iPad could change the fieldwork business.
Drive, he said
I would be prepared to place a sizeable wager on the possibility that research agencies will be somewhat put outover this month’s interview with Steve Gatt, Volkswagen’s insight chief. It’s probably best for you to be seatedbefore you begin reading.
The untapped potential of shopper research
Nunwood’s James Walker on why shopper-focused research remains underused, and what practitioners can do to raise its profile.
A billion strong: the invisible consumers, workers and residents shaping our world
In the first of an exclusive series of articles looking at the consumer trends shaping the world in the next several years, Mary Meehan of Panoramix Global examines the importance of migrants as consumers, entrepreneurs and innovators.
General Election 2010: Did the opinion polls flatter to deceive?
In the run-up to the UK general election few people would have predicted a Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition goverment – and fewer still that the Lib Dems would actually lose seats despite their popularity in the polls. Martin Boon and John Curtice examine the ‘systematic bias’ that led pollsters to overestimate the party’s support.
The cold light of morning
As I write this column we are hours away from the delivery of the coalition’s emergency budget. I may be goingout on a limb here, but I suspect that it isn’t going to be a giveaway. We aren’t anticipating any fine detail onpublic spending cuts at this point, but the future does not look too rosy for those who are employed by, or sellservices to, government. Welcome to the age of the hairshirt.
Don't mention the ISO
An online discussion of the relevance of ISO standards to the US research industry has generated plenty of heat, but not much light.
Slave to technology, or master of it?
Tech expert Tim Macer reports back on a packed Casro Technology Conference, highlighting papers on quality, ethics, design and delivery issues. “The sheer array of what was on offer demonstrates how difficult it has become for research firms to be master of their technology, and not slave to it and its unintended consequences,” he says.
Families are changing. Why isn't research?
Families are changing, and the 2.4 children stereotype is long gone. Qual researcher Debbie Newbould looks at how the research industry is responding to these changes
Insight – buried alive?
A couple of weeks ago Nick Johnson declared insight dead and heralded the era of ‘diffusion’. Anthony Tasgal recognises many of the symptoms that Johnson points out, but says the diagnosis is premature.
Your cuts, your way
George Osborne’s announcement yesterday of a consultation on the coming public spending cuts has met with a predictable reaction.
The frontline of customer satisfaction
Customer sat surveys are all well and good, writes Jamie Thorpe, but companies need to do something about the perception that feedback is not acted upon.
Poll dancing
Who had a good general election? Well, Cameron and Clegg aren’t complaining, for starters. But thecoalition was forced as a result of there being no clear winner in this contest. If you are looking for aclear winner, you could do worse than look to the polling industry, which played a stormer on two fronts.
Online qual – always read the label
Anna Thomas proposes an overhaul of product labelling for online qualitative research.
Landlines – don't get too attached
BT’s latest ad tells us that if a conversation’s worth having, you should have it on a landline. If only survey respondents felt that way, writes Robert Bain.
From the blogs
What a to-do about DIY
With everyone talking about clients doing DIY research, Steve is wondering what research agencies will be doing in five years.
Consultation or nonsultation?
In the Daily Telegraph, Andrew Gilligan has been having a go at ‘nonsultations’ – cynical attempts by government to lend legitimacy to pre-determined decisions, masquerading as consultation exercises.
Wedding Fever
A look at how the 'big day' continues to buck the recessionary trends
The difficulty of proving your point
The debate over the bestselling book The Spirit Level is a reminder of how much people’s view of (or interest in) the evidence can be influenced by what they already think.
Why changes to Canada's census make no sense
Government ministers have railed against “personal and intrusive questions” in the long-form census, hence their call for it to be made voluntary. But, bizarrely, the questions they cited in the press were added on their watch.
Butterflies don’t innovate: the real innovation challenge for market research
Far from being super conservative, most researchers are fascinated by “trends” and new ideas. But too often we mistake “trend-following” for “innovation”, flitting like butterflies from one new idea to another – never quite developing their potential or integrating the new techniques with old ones. It’s not “innovation” we lack, it’s “implementation”.
The new stay at home generation – and implications for marketers
There’s been a well documented shift in the number of young adults staying at home with their parents rather than moving out. What direct impact is this going to have on patterns of consumption or implications for underlying attitudes and behaviours?
Is anybody listening?
The UK’s new government has been keen to position itself as one that listens, using crowdsourcing in high-profile attempts to garner comments and suggestions. But questions are already being asked about whether it really wants to hear ideas.
Online samples - where lighting a few fires might help
Will a new and much-needed initiative to provide industry-wide tools to monitor online sample quality put fire into the hands of mortals?
The poll truth and nothing but the truth
Obama’s press secretary Robert Gibbs (pictured) said recently: “We’re too busy to sit around looking at polls.” Yet they’ve spend $4.4m on them in 18 months. Why can’t politicians be honest about their love for opinion research?