NEWS23 November 2009
US— It’s a familiar refrain at conferences, but a new survey from Boston Consulting Group (BCG) adds stats to back up the claim that even the biggest companies in the world fail to make the most of their market research.
The study of 800 executives from 40 companies, each with sales of more than $1.5bn, found shortcomings in the use of research to drive business growth.
For instance, while 72% of respondents said consumer insight is used to help with the development on new products and marketing messages, only 30% use it to help decide channel and distribution strategy.
BCG found that just one-third of respondents use research as an input to financial forecasts while only 38% use it to drive pricing.
But perhaps most worrying was that only 35% of the executives surveyed said they had good data on how consumer needs and behaviour change over time, while less than half ( 47%) claimed to know what drives market share, who is buying and why.
Co-author and BCG partner Mary Egan contrasted this state of affairs with the “critically important” role research has to play in a recessionary environment. “Only companies with the sharpest focus on understanding consumer value will retain customer in this environment,” she said.
A full copy of the report can be found here.