GRIT Winter 2013

GreenBookResearch Industry Trends Report

Winter 2013

GRITreport.org

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Table of ContentsGRIT Report –

Winter 2013

Introduction 3

Executive Summary (infographic) 4

Detailed Findings 6Methodology and sample 6Suppliers Optimistic but Clients Less So 7Feelings about the Industry 9The Changing Data Collection Model 12The Drivers of Supplier Selection 15The Quant vs. Qual Dynamic 19Qualitative Research 20Quantitative Research 21

Emerging Technique Adoption 22Continued Mainstreaming of Communities, Social, Mobile 22Gaps Remain in Delivering on the Future 24

The Evolving Research Organization 26Market Research Firm of the Future 28

The Influence of Information Sources 30Importance of Sources 31Reach and Influence 32What Makes a Source Stand Out? 38Network of Influence 39

Social Media 40Services Offered 41Adoption Rate 43Information Users 44Business Contribution of Social Media 46Which Suppliers Are Gaining Traction? 47Will Market Research Own Social Media Analytics? 49

Editor’s Commentary 50

Acknowledgments 54

About GreenBook 54

GRIT Partners 55

Diane Liebenson

Publisher, GreenBook

(310) 545-0918

[email protected]

Lukas Pospichal

Managing Director

(212) 849-2753

[email protected]

Leonard F. Murphy

Chief Editor & Principal Consultant

(770) 985-4904

[email protected]

GreenBook® | New York AMA Communication Services Inc.

116 East 27th Street, Floor 6

New York, NY 10016

Contacts

Please register at www.GreenBookBlog.org/GRIT to receive

an invitation to participate in the next round of the GRIT

survey and to be notified when the next Report is available.

www.greenbook.org

Winter 2013

1

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Introduction

We know that the research professional is under immense pressure to deliver value and measurable business impact. We see new technologies and research models less bound by traditional precepts of best practices gaining traction. We see new models of human capital emerging that have a broad impact on the future of both suppliers and client organizations.

GRIT is the vehicle that we use to quantify these trends and share the information with the research industry so that we can all adapt and thrive.

GRIT continues to track trends that it has traditionally focused on, including the adoption of emerging technologies and methods. GRIT studies the extent of the beliefs about change in that the market research industry is changing, the sentiment around that belief, and its impact on your business. For the second time, the survey will also try to uncover which industry bodies and media outlets are considered to be “influential”, as well as map the global network of influence and thought leadership. For the first time we will be delving specifically into how social media analytics is impacting the industry, with a particular focus on which technologies and providers are driving change.

Welcome to the 12th edition of the GreenBook Research Industry Trends Report based on data collected in the fourth quarter of 2012.

Please register at www.GreenBookBlog.org/GRIT to receive

an invitation to participate in the next round of the GRIT

survey and to be notified when the next Report is available.

We are expanding the scope of GRIT by working with a variety of international organizations to offer the most comprehensive global view of the industry from the practitioner perspective ever achieved.

As a sign of just how important this study has become, the ARF, QRCA, ARIA, BAQMaR, MRIA, IMRS, NewMR, The Research Club, and NGMR have joined GreenBook as industry partners.

We are also thrilled to have a stellar list of research partners including GMI, Google Consumer Surveys, Gen2 Advisors, Q Research Software, Dollywagon, OdinText, Decooda, Localspeak, AYTM, Second Prism, iQual, and Bottom Line Analytics.

All of our partners have contributed significant time, energy, and resources to the GRIT effort and deserve a big THANK YOU for their support.

As always, I think you’ll find the report informative, provocative, and useful. Enjoy!

Leonard F. MurphyChief Editor & Principal Consultant | GreenBookwww.greenbookblog.org

www.greenbook.org

Winter 2013

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© AYTM | 2013Drawings & design by Lev Mazin,

www.greenbook.org

Winter 2013

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Methodology and sample

GRIT respondents are recruited by email from lists of research providers and clients contributed by GRIT co-sponsors and by invitations delivered via social media channels. The percentage of completes by channel are:

Less than $1,000,000

$1,000,000 – $14,999,999

$15,000,000 or more

For this report, the analysis is based on 1,375 completed interviews. The mix of respondents has varied over the ten years of the trends study, but within fairly narrow bands. For this edition of GRIT, we hold steady at 84% of respondents identifying themselves as Suppliers and 16% as Clients, broadly consistent with the last several waves of the study.

Despite the robust sample size, GRIT is not meant to be a census or representative sample (if such a feat is even possible in our fragmented industry!), but rather a snapshot of the widest swath of insights professionals we can achieve. With that in mind we consider it “strongly directional” and recommend that you view it the same way. The respondent revenue profile skews notably toward mid-range and small firms at the expense of larger organizations with annual revenue above $15M, although 17% of Supplier-side respondents do identify themselves as working for larger organizations.

This edition of GRIT continues the trend of increased global participation. With international participation continuing to climb, the percentage of respondents from the United States is now at 43%, with the next largest segments being the UK at 13%, Western Europe at 10% and Canada, India/Southeast Asia and Australia/New Zealand at 8%, 6% and 5% respectively. Other countries and regions comprise less than 5% of the sample.

Due to the relatively small base sizes regionally, at the analysis of this stage we have opted not to show them here, although as always we encourage all readers to make use of the online dashboard of findings to conduct any additional analyses.

GreenBook 697 51%

NGMR 157 11%

International Market Research Society 155 11%

Insight Innovation Forum 102 7%

The Research Club 92 7%

NewMR 59 4%

QRCA 48 3%

All others 65 5%

What is the range of your company’s annual billings/budget for primary market research (in USD)?

This edition of GRIT continues the trend of increased global participation

44%

39%

17%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40%


Increase over 2011

No change from 2011

Decrease from 2011

Suppliers Optimistic on Business levels but Clients Less So

Respondents report comparable levels of revenue across the four more recent GRITs for both experienced and projected estimates. Looking at clients and research providers separately shows two very different pictures, however. Fall 2012 results for suppliers show a refreshing upward trend in optimism, with 59%

expecting an increase in the demand for their services. Client positives (based on spending intent), however, remain at 38%, exactly where they were in the Spring and down 20% from 2011. Additionally, 20% of clients expect a decrease in spending for the year.

Your spending on research in 2012

Demand for your organization’s

services in 2012

There is a slight increase in this GRIT of respondents who expect declining revenue—from 13% in the Spring to 15% for winter—and correspondingly fewer respondents who expect business levels to stay at current levels for the year – 26%. Whether this increase in an undercurrent of pessimism is due to continued uncertainty with global economic conditions, increased competitive concerns and shift in client spend, or some combination of factors remains to be seen. What seems certain is that although the industry as a whole seems to be recovering at the same rate as the overall economy, GRIT respondents are still not ready to declare that they are out of the woods just yet.

The apparent disconnect between supplier and client expectations raises the question of what is driving supplier revenue. Is it a shift in strategy and products, an expanding client base for existing products and services, or an increase in spend from existing clients not represented by this study? These questions were not addressed in the research so we can only speculate, although such explorations may be included in future iterations of the study.

Looking at clients and research providers separately shows two very different pictures

Similarly, we cannot explain the client-side decline in spending with data gathered in this current study. However, given recent industry trends it may be due to a combination of the following factors:

Continued budget restrictions (perhaps driven by •economy-wary management teams)Spending on tools and methods that fall outside the •purview of traditional market research departmentsA shift away from big-budget tracking studies to less •costly research efforts

Again, those questions were not explored within this phase so we will consider ways to incorporate such issues into the next phase of the study.

38%

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www.greenbook.org

Winter 2013

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0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

If they have to choose, clients prefer quality over speed

Clients now demand such short timelines that we cannotdeliver the quality we want to

Quality of work is becoming less important than speed ofdeliverables

I am concerned about the nonrepresentative nature of onlinesample

Clients today are less able to tell the difference between highquality and mediocre research

I believe that the quality of online panel sample is worse thancommonly acknowledged

Agree

Disagree

Not Sure

Feelings About the Industry Quality Issues

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%







Agree

Disagree

Not Sure


0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%







Suppliers

Clients

Feelings About the Industry Quality Issues -- Suppliers vs. Clients

Percent Who Agree

*

*

= Significantly higher agreement *

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%







Suppliers

Clients

Feelings About the Industry Quality Issues -- Suppliers vs. Clients

Percent Who Agree

*

*


Feelings about the Industry

The survey included a number of agree/disagree statements that reflected respondent perceptions of “feelings about the industry.” These can be organized into two general issues: a) quality in market research, and b) new methods and skills.

On the quality front, there are clear concerns with the current state of quality in market research. Respondents generally agreed that the quality of online panels is “worse than commonly acknowledged,” that clients are less able to distinguish “high quality and mediocre research,” and that they are concerned about “online sample representativeness,” as indicated below. This negative view was tempered somewhat by tendencies to disagree slightly with statements that quality is becoming less important than speed, that demand for short timelines means that quality suffers, and that clients choose quality over speed.

Some of this sentiment may reflect a perception that clients are simply not as involved with the market research process as in the past, since much of the work is outsourced directly to suppliers. This could limit the ability of corporate researchers to monitor and manage the activities that affect quality.

Negative views about quality in market research were even more pronounced among suppliers in our sample than clients, as reflected here.

In particular, suppliers were significantly more likely to agree that the quality of online panels is “worse than commonly acknowledged” (54% vs. 41%, respectively). And conversely, suppliers were less likely to agree that “clients prefer quality over speed” (34% vs. 56%, respectively).

The concern about online panel quality is troublesome, since suppliers are perhaps in a better position to observe the challenges to quality, given that they are more intimately involved with panel management. More work is needed to identify the specific areas where suppliers fear that quality is deteriorating.


Feelings About the Industry Quality IssuesSuppliers vs. Clients

There are clear concerns with the current state of quality in market research

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Winter 2013

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0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Clients would rather have us observe consumer behavior thanask questions about it

Clients see traditional primary research as an old fashionedluxury

I believe that traditional qualitative market research is tooslow and expensive to meet the needs of clients

I believe that traditional quantitative market research is tooslow and expensive to meet the needs of clients

'Classic' market research trainingis becomingless relevant tothe practice of market research

Clients prefer shortterm insights to deep understanding ofconsumer markets

Market research is adapting quickly and well to changes in theconsumer environment, such as social media and mobile…

Market research is becoming a commodity

Agree

Disagree

Not Sure

Feelings About the Industry New Methods and Skills Issues

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%









Agree

Disagree

Not Sure

Feelings About the Industry New Methods and Skills Issues

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%









Suppliers

Clients

Feelings About the Industry New Methods and Skills Issues -- Suppliers vs. Clients

Percent Who Agree

*


0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%









Suppliers

Clients

Feelings About the Industry New Methods and Skills Issues -- Suppliers vs. Clients

Percent Who Agree

*


With regard to new methods and skills, the survey responses were more varied. There was certainly some acknowledgement and appreciation for emerging techniques, but there was also a steadfast perception that the foundational, or traditional, approaches in market research will not be disappearing any time soon. Our analysis shows agreement and disagreement with statements that reflect perceptions about new methods and new skills in market research.

Perhaps the first thing to note about this area of exploration is that around 20% to 30% of the sample responded “Not Sure” to these statements. This reflects uncertainty about the future direction of the industry. A prime example is reflected in the responses to the statement that “Market research is adapting quickly and well to changes in the consumer environment, such as social media and mobile data collection.” Almost equal numbers of respondents agreed and disagreed with the statement (38% vs. 31%, respectively). And nearly as many were “Not sure” (31%).

Still, for the most part, survey respondents were unlikely to be supportive of statements proposing at that the traditional market research was being marginalized. Over twice as many respondents disagreed with the statements the traditional methods were “old fashioned,” or “too slow to meet the needs of clients” than agreed. There were some noteworthy differences in the responses of suppliers and clients to the statements about new methods and skills in market research.

Suppliers were somewhat more likely than clients to feel that market research is “becoming a commodity” (48% vs. 37%, respectively). One reasonable interpretation is that price pressures over recent years have led to perceptions that the market has tended toward a commodity, and suppliers who have struggled to maintain margins with their traditional offerings in the face of these pressures expressed those beliefs.

Interestingly, clients were more likely to agree that clients would rather have researchers observe than ask questions. Big data, social media listening, and similar opportunities to glean insights from direct observation are likely under strong consideration among users of market research. It could be that suppliers do not see this trend as readily because clients have turned to alternative suppliers, who are more skilled in these approaches.

But the perception regarding preferences for quality over speed may simply reflect an internal versus external attribution. Clients may select their supplier for a project, or even for long-term work, based substantially on their belief that the selected vendor can and will produce high-quality research. That is a given, and the client then assumes that quality will always be upheld. As pressures to produce results quickly mount, however, these same clients may push their suppliers to deliver more quickly. The supplier only sees those requests for greater speed, and simply concludes that this is the higher priority.

Feelings About the IndustryNew Methods and Skills Issues

Feelings About the IndustryNew Methods and Skills Issues – Suppliers vs. Clients


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The Changing Data Collection Model

But opportunities afforded by technological advancements also prompted changes. These included “client demands for innovation,” “tablet computers and smartphones” and “increased use of mobile communications.”

The only client/supplier difference in issues prompting changes in data collection came from a “desire for a more collaborative process with respondents,” cited more often by suppliers in the GRIT survey. This may reflect an increasing importance in respondent satisfaction is survey research. Suppliers may be striving to improve relationships with their respondent base (particularly in panel-based research) as a means of reducing churn.

Budgetary concerns were also considered the single issue with the greatest impact on data collection methods in the past year, as reflected in the table below. Sample issues were not selected often as the single most impactful issue.

Issue Prompting Change in Data CollectionMajor Changes by Client/Supplier

Budgetary constraints led the list of issues prompting major changes in data collection

What are clients and suppliers doing to address these data collection issues? The table here shows the options selected, broken down by clients/suppliers. Interestingly, many of the same solutions are under way or under consideration for both suppliers and clients. Both groups are exploring new technologies and methods. And both groups are demanding more from research staffs, insisting on longer hours from a reduced workforce, and otherwise responding to increased pressures to produce.

Survey respondents were asked to indicate what issues had prompted them to change how they collected data in the past year.

The chart below shows the percent who indicated that each issue “prompted major change” in how they collected data, broken out for suppliers and clients.

Budgetary constraints led the list of issues prompting major changes in data collection, as clients and suppliers alike sought to find the least expensive means of getting the needed information. And one could argue that “changes in staffing or layoffs,” as well as “the economy – business growth/slowdown” really reflect the same pressures.


Client Supplier Net

Client budgetary constraints 9% 19% 17%

Budgetary constraints 22% 8% 10%

The economy, business growth/slowdown 5% 11% 10%

Quality of sample 9% 8% 9%

Increased use of tablet computers and smart phones 5% 10% 9%

Client demands for innovation 8% 8% 8%

Increased use of mobile communications 6% 8% 8%

Desire for a more collaborative process with respondents 8% 5% 6%

Other issues 7% 6% 6%

Changes in response rates 4% 6% 6%

Desire to avoid limitations of self-reported attitudes/behaviors 5% 3% 4%

Changes in sample costs 3% 2% 2%

Changes in staffing or layoffs 4% 2% 2%

Availability of non-US sample 1% 2% 2%

Changes in salaries/wages/costs 2% 1% 1%

Availability of US sample 1% 1% 1%

NET 100% 100% 100%

Client Supplier Net

Exploring new methodologies 51% 50% 50%

Exploring new technologies 38% 50% 48%

Doing more with same resources 31% 30% 30%

Exploring new sample resources 13% 25% 23%

Close partnering with quality access panels 15% 22% 21%

Investing in more in-house technology 18% 20% 19%

Working longer hours with less staff 13% 14% 14%

Spending/charging less for the same services 4% 16% 14%

Opening direct channels of communications with customers 16% 11% 12%

Negotiating discounts or shorter timelines with vendors 13% 12% 12%

More diligent validation 6% 11% 11%

Changing ratio of insourcing vs. outsourcing of research functions 17% 10% 11%

Recommending higher respondent incentives 7% 11% 10%

Asking for sacrifices from vendors 13% 8% 9%

Asking for sacrifices from employees 8% 8% 8%

Other 7% 6% 6%

NET 99% 97% 98%

For future success, there is wide recognition that innovation is key – 50% of respondents are exploring new methodologies, and 48% are exploring new technologies. Another 19% are investing in more in-house technology. Expanding sample partnerships

is also important – 23% are exploring new sample resources, and 21% are looking for closer partnering with access panels. Innovation offers the best possibility for overcoming data collection issues.

One Issue with Greatest Impact On Data Collection in the Last Year

Steps Taking to Address Data Collection Issues

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Winter 2013

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0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Has an access panelUses the latest statistical/analytical packages

Also does qualitative researchUses the latest data collection technology

Company is financially stableUses sophisticated research technology/strategies

Lowest priceOffers unique methodology or approach

Understands new consumer communications channels & technologiesLength of experience/time in business

Provides data analysis servicesFlexibility on changing project parameters

Provides highest data qualityConsultation on best practices and methodology effectiveness

Breadth of experience in the target segmentGood reputation in the industry

Familiarity with the industry or categoryHigh quality analysis

Previous experience with client/supplierRapid response to requests

Familiarity with client needsGood relationship with client/supplier

Completes research in an agreed-upon timeHas knowledgeable staff

Listens well and understands client needs

GRIT 2012

GRIT 2013

Supplier Selection Importance to Clients (Supplier Viewpoint)

Percent Top Two Box

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%


Uses the latest data collection technologyCompany is financially stable

Uses sophisticated research technology/strategiesOffers unique methodology or approach

Lowest priceUnderstands new consumer communications channels & technologies

Length of experience/time in businessProvides data analysis services

Flexibility on changing project parametersProvides highest data quality

Consultation on best practices and methodology effectivenessBreadth of experience in the target segment

Good reputation in the industryFamiliarity with the industry or category

High quality analysisPrevious experience with client/supplier

Rapid response to requestsCompletes research in an agreed-upon time


Has knowledgeable staffListens well and understands client needs

GRIT 2012

GRIT 2013


Percent Top Two Box

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%


Uses the latest data collection technologyCompany is financially stable

Uses sophisticated research technology/strategiesOffers unique methodology or approach

Lowest priceUnderstands new consumer communications channels & technologies

Length of experience/time in businessProvides data analysis services

Flexibility on changing project parametersProvides highest data quality

Consultation on best practices and methodology effectivenessBreadth of experience in the target segment

Good reputation in the industryFamiliarity with the industry or category

High quality analysisPrevious experience with client/supplier

Rapid response to requestsCompletes research in an agreed-upon time


Has knowledgeable staffListens well and understands client needs

GRIT 2012

GRIT 2013


Percent Top Two Box

The Drivers of Supplier selection

We asked survey respondents to indicate what was important to clients when they were selecting suppliers for their market research needs. The chart below shows the results from the research supplier perspective, for both 2012 and 2013 GRIT reports. The bars reflect top two box percentages (out of five), and they are ordered from highest to lowest by 2013 numbers.

Perhaps the most remarkable aspect here is the strong similarity of responses across the two yearly time periods. None of the 24 attribute ratings differed significantly from year to year, which suggest two implications. First, from a supplier perspective, little has changed in their sense of how clients select them for research engagements since last year. And second, suppliers have a strong and well-established sense of what is important to their clients.

So what is important? Well the top seven attributes in the figure all reflect client/supplier relationships and timing. This is much more of a service mentality than a capabilities perspective. Listening, responding rapidly, and being familiar with the clients’ needs are perceived as more important than things like sophisticated research technologies, unique methodologies or high-quality data.


Listening, responding rapidly, and being familiar with clients’ needs are perceived as more important

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Winter 2013

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0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Has an access panelLowest price

Uses the latest statistical/analytical packagesOffers unique methodology or approach

Company is financially stableUses the latest data collection technology

Uses sophisticated research technology/strategiesLength of experience/time in business

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High quality analysisPrevious experience with client/supplierFamiliarity with the industry or category

Familiarity with client needsConsultation on best practices and methodology effectiveness

Good reputation in the industryGood relationship with client/supplier

Rapid response to requestsProvides highest data quality

Completes research in an agreed-upon timeListens well and understands client needs

Has knowledgeable staff

GRIT 2012

GRIT 2013

Supplier Selection Importance to Clients (Client Viewpoint)

Percent Top Two Box

*

*

= Significantly higher importance rating * 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Has an access panelLowest price

Uses the latest statistical/analytical packagesOffers unique methodology or approach

Company is financially stableUses the latest data collection technology

Uses sophisticated research technology/strategiesLength of experience/time in business

Breadth of experience in the target segmentProvides data analysis services

Understands new consumer communications channels & technologiesFlexibility on changing project parameters

High quality analysisPrevious experience with client/supplierFamiliarity with the industry or category

Familiarity with client needsConsultation on best practices and methodology effectiveness

Good reputation in the industryGood relationship with client/supplier

Rapid response to requestsProvides highest data quality

Completes research in an agreed-upon timeListens well and understands client needs


GRIT 2012

GRIT 2013


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Looked at a bit differently we see the same attribute importance ratings from the perspective of clients, and it is clear that the consistency across the two years with suppliers is not as strong as it was with clients. In fact, 2 of the 24 ratings differ significantly from year to year. “Listens well and understands client needs” fell from 97% to 89% top box, moving it to the #2 spot in terms of rank order. The attribute that rose significantly in 2013 was “Understands new consumer communications channels and technologies,” rising from 52% to 70% top box. This new focus on channels and technologies suggests that clients are eager to move into some of the emerging areas in research.

It is also interesting to compare ratings from the perspectives of suppliers and clients, that is, looking across the previous charts. And here we see that relationships and timing are important to both groups. The same “top seven” attributes from the supplier viewpoint appeared in the top 10 for clients.

Sizable differences stand out for the following attributes in their 2013 GRIT ratings, however, as shown in Figure 3.3, these are the attribute ratings that differed by 5% or more between supplier and client respondents.


Clients are eager to move into some of the emerging areas in research


0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Has an access panel

Uses the latest statistical/analytical packages

Uses the latest data collection technology

Company is financially stable

Uses sophisticated research technology/strategies

Understands new consumer communications channels & technologies

Provides highest data quality

Lowest price

Breadth of experience in the target segment

High quality analysis

Previous experience with client/supplier

Familiarity with client needs

Good relationship with client/supplier


Clients

Suppliers

Supplier Selection Importance in 2013 (Clients vs. Suppliers)

Percent Top Two Box

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Has an access panel

Uses the latest statistical/analytical packages

Uses the latest data collection technology


Uses sophisticated research technology/strategies

Understands new consumer communications channels & technologies

Provides highest data quality

Lowest price

Breadth of experience in the target segment


Previous experience with client/supplier


Good relationship with client/supplier


Clients

Suppliers


Percent Top Two Box


The 25 statements measured in terms of importance in choosing a research supplier (from a client’s perspective) fall into 5 underlying themes:

Delivery and financial stability1. Knowledge and responsiveness2. Quality data collection techniques3. Price and access to market4. Experience and consultative skills5.

Suppliers believe that traditional attributes are more important, including experience, analytics, and price. Clients, on the other hand, rate things like newest and latest packages, technologies and strategies more important than do their supplier counterparts. It might be valuable to consider “table stakes” and “differentiators” here. Clients may feel that price, experience and analytical capabilities are more table stakes, and this is what gets suppliers into the consideration set. So it is important overall, but less of a differentiator between those ultimately in contention. Suppliers who are dropped from consideration sets will necessarily feel that these table stakes are important determinants of engagements.

www.greenbook.org

Winter 2013

17

Lowest Price Less than $100K

$100K - $249K

$250K - $449K

$450K - $749K

$750K - $999K

$1M +

Familiarity with industry

Previous experience with supplier

Provide data analysis services Use the latest analytical packages

Good reputation

Also does quantitative research

Has an access panel

Breadth of experience in target segment


Length of experience/time in business

Listens well to client needs

Consultation on best practices and methodology effectiveness

Provides high data quality

Good relationship with supplier

Use the latest data collection

technology

Offers a unique methodology/ approach

Uses sophisticated collection technology/strategies


Rapid response to requests


Completes research on agreed timings

Flexibility on changing project parameters


Understands new consumer communication channels & technologies

DELIVERY AND FINANCIAL STABILITY

KNOWLEDGE & RESPONSIVENESS

QUALITY DATA COLLECTION TECHNIQUES

PRICE & ACCESS TO MARKET

EXPERIENCE & CONSULTATIVE SKILLS

Looking at these data in a different way using a multivariate analysis approach yields some very interesting results. Using a radial landscape map analysis developed by Bottom Line Analytics, we looked at the relationship between various supplier attributes and client budget allocations. The results are very useful from a messaging targeting perspective.

Client budget size vs. what is considered very important from suppliers

As budgets climb into higher brackets, clients become concerned with quality of data collection techniques

Smaller budgets (less than $100K), appear to be a highly associated with ‘lowest price’ and if the supplier ‘has an access panel’.

As budgets climb into higher brackets, clients become concerned with quality of data collection techniques.

Budgets of around $450K - $749K appear to have a higher association with the actual experience and soft skills suppliers bring with them.

As budgets exceed the $1M mark, relationships with and financial stability of suppliers appear to be the most important considerations. Of course, other factors such as an understanding of latest communications channels and remaining flexible are important too.


The Quant vs. Qual Dynamic

Areas with the largest reported growth were social media research, with 64% seeing slight or strong growth; MROCS, with 59% growth; and ethnography, with 55% growth. With considerable attention being paid to Big Data, while it was the category of the six with the fewest people reporting growth, it still saw a substantial rise: 35% saw an increase in data mining in 2012.

Change in quant vs. qual in 2012

Use change 2012

The seesaw between quantitative research and qualitative research shifted just a bit to quant in 2012: 5% of respondents said they did “a lot more quant” in 2012, compared to 1% who did “a lot more qual” in 2012. The other breakdowns were a wash: 25% did more quant, but another 25% did more qual, and 44% said the balance between the two stayed the same.

Consistent with this, respondents were somewhat more likely to report a decline in qualitative research in the past year than quantitative research: 17% reported a slight or serious decline for qualitative research, compared to 12% who reported a decline of quantitative research. On the plus side, 47% reported growth in qualitative research and 46% reported growth in quantitative research.

Areas with the largest reported growth were social media research, MROCs, and ethnography

Total sample; Unweighted; base n =

286; total n = 2193; 1907 missing

Tota

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bas

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Qu

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ia

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MR

OC

8%

39%

36%

15%

8%

39%

36%

15%

Strong

growth

Slight

growth

Stable

Slight

decline

Serious

decline

A lot more quant

More quant

Stay the same

More qual

A lot more qual

10%

36%

41%

12%

14%

50%

29%

7%

9%

26%

53%

10%

3%

10%

45%

32%

8%

5%

23%

36%

28%

13%

So far in 2012 how has your use of any of these types of research changed?

www.greenbook.org

Winter 2013

19

Qualitative Research

Now these days when we say “qualitative research” and most people visualize the old stand-by, the in-person focus group. And that remains the primary qualitative research methodology, with 60% using a focus group in the past year compared to the second most-popular qualitative technique: traditional IDIs (In Depth Interviews), performed by 45%.

The in-person focus group remains the primary qualitative research methodology

The original alternative to focus groups, telephone focus groups, was the least used technique, used by 10% of respondents, compared to 25% who used chat-based online focus groups and 15% who used online focus groups with webcams. Alternatives to focus groups that required a longer commitment from participants rounded out the Top 7 qualitative methodologies: 22% usage of bulletin board studies and 21% usage of online communities.

In contrast to different types of focus groups, when it comes to different types of IDIs, the preference is telephone. Rounding out the top three methodologies were telephone IDIs, performed by 35% of respondents. Only 12% used online IDIs with webcams and only 11% used text-based/chat online IDIs.

Despite increasing attention to mobile qualitative and

Which types of qual methods have you used this year?

Which of these qualitative data collection methods have you used most often this year?

social media research, just 18% of respondents had used mobile qualitative in the past year and only 12% had done blog monitoring. If the balance in scales between quant and qual is ever going to shift back towards qualitative research, it will most likely be due to increased uptake of these methods.

When it comes to which qualitative technique was used most often, the relative order was the same as for the usage rates: 46% did traditional focus groups most often, 15% traditional IDIs most often and 13% telephone IDIs. However, organizations using online qualitative techniques that span multiple days were disproportionally likely to use those techniques most often: 7% of respondents use online communities most often and 5% use bulletin board studies most often.

Total sample; Unweighted; base n = 1372; total n = 2193; 821 missing



Online surveys continue their domination of quantitative research

Quantitative Research

Online surveys continue their domination of quantitative research, with 78% of participants in the GRIT study having engaged in online surveys in the past year. Given continued concerns about the representativeness of online research, it’s no surprise that telephone surveys, despite their high cost, are used next most often: 44% were involved in a CATI (Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing) project and 7% were involved in an IVR (Interactive Voice Response) project.

Face-to-face techniques come in third and fourth: 38% use face-to-face surveys, and 25% use CAPI (Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing). Breaking into the top five are mobile surveys, used by 24% of respondents.

Which types of quant methods have you used this year?

Which of these quantitative data collection methods have you used most often this year?

Rounding out the list of most used quant methods were mail surveys at 16%, IVR surveys at 7%, automated measures/people meters at 5%, and biometrics at 4%.

When asking respondents which quantitative data collection method they use most often, the relative order corresponds to overall frequency of response for the top four methods: online surveys were used most often by 66% of respondents, CATI by 13%, face-to-face surveys by 12% and CAPI and mobile surveys each by 2%.



www.greenbook.org

Winter 2013

21

Emerging Technique Adoption

Continued Mainstreaming of Communities, Social, Mobile

For the past few years GRIT has asked respondents about their planned use of new and emerging techniques. Last year, we focused on which techniques they would likely be using in the next 12 months. This year, we instead wanted respondents to take a more general view on potential future changes in the research industry. Rather than focusing on the coming

Of the new research methods we’ve examined in the past two years, these three have had the most industry vetting, and subsectors of well-known suppliers already exist for each. Last year, these were the new techniques that GRIT respondents were likely to use in 2012, and recent data show that these are still the most

promising techniques moving forward. Specifically, 45% of respondents plan to use online communities in the future, followed by 42% for mobile surveys and 36% for social media analytics. The optimism toward these techniques is officially a trend.

year, we asked simply: “Which of these techniques and approaches do you see ahead in your future.” Although not directly comparable, we believe that an assessment of the overall trends between the two years is telling of what techniques are here to stay, which are poised for growth, and which have the furthest to climb.

45% of respondents plan to use online communities, followed by 42% for mobile surveys and 36% for social media analytics

What use of these techniques and approaches do you see ahead in your future?

Online Communities

Mobile Surveys

Social Media Analytics

Text Analytics

Webcam-Based Interviews

Visualization Analytics

Mobile Qualitative

Eye Tracking

Apps based research

Mobile Ethnography

Virtual Environments

Predictive Markets

Research gamification

Crowdsourcing

Facial analysis

Neuro Marketing

Biometric Response

45% 38% 9% 3% 4%

42% 45% 9% 2% 3%

36% 42% 12% 4% 5%

32% 37% 15% 5% 11%

26% 38% 23% 6% 6%

23% 31% 14% 4% 28%

24% 41% 20% 6% 9%

22% 21% 30% 19% 9%

22% 45% 19% 4% 10%

20% 40% 21% 7% 12%

17% 30% 23% 10% 20%

17% 30% 20% 6% 27%

15% 34% 20% 9% 23%

13% 30% 27% 7% 23%

9% 20% 39% 19% 13%

9% 21% 27% 20% 22%

7% 21% 33% 17% 22%

In use Under consideration No interest to date Don’t ever expect to use Not sure


Text analytics showed up as fourth among techniques that will be in used in the future – the same ranking as in last year’s survey (although with different question wording). Nearly one-third of respondents see themselves already using it, and 37% will at least have it under consideration as a possible technique.

Respondents are least likely to see themselves using neuro marketing and biometric response in the future. Indeed, these techniques are still new to many researchers with 22% saying they aren’t sure if they’ll use neuro, and the same percentage saying they are unsure about biometrics. These two were in the bottom of last year’s ranking as well. It’s possible that traction on these will grow as more successful case studies are shared in the marketplace. However, for many researchers the applicability of these techniques remains fuzzy.

Lastly, it’s worth noting that visualization analytics jumped up to number six, from tenth place last year. A full 54% of respondents believe they will be either using or considering the technique. With Big Data looming large in the industry, visualization is one technique that will prove valuable in finding meaningful patterns in a sea of varied data points. The higher ranking this year, in a question with a longer time-horizon, suggests respondents see potential – given enough time for visualization tools and methods to be honed to fit researchers’ needs.

Respondents are least likely to see themselves using neuro marketing and biometric response

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Winter 2013

23

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Gaps Remain in Delivering on the Future

For all of the interest in these and other techniques in the future, there are of course challenges to bridging the realities of today into a vision for what market research might look like years from now. We at GRIT wanted a baseline read on the extent that researchers feel limited in being able to use certain research methodologies or techniques. Our results show that nearly two-thirds of clients feel constrained on this, as do over half (57%) of suppliers.

Although social media and mobile surveys are two of the top three techniques researchers plan to use in the future, respondents also feel they face challenges when using these techniques today. Thirty-nine percent of respondents feel constrained in using social media monitoring currently.

The main issues holding them back are a lack of knowledge about the technique (44%) and lack of proof that it works (41%).

Do you ever feel inhibited from using certain types of research methodologies or techniques? It could be for budgetary reasons time constraints not having enough confidence in a technique fears of how it may affect your data or for any other reason....

Clients Suppliers

No34% No

43%Yes66%

Yes57%

Segmenting this data by clients vs. suppliers reveals that 44% of suppliers are skeptical that social media monitoring works. And, clients drive the latter: a big 62% don’t know enough about it to be able to use it. Although data from these segments should be viewed as directional, given sample sizes, this gap rings true to those of us at GRIT who have spent time talking to both clients and suppliers about social media.

We find that suppliers are generally more cautious about investing in social media analytics because – quite frankly – full-blown case studies and proof points are hard to come by. Clients are more eager to explore this technique yet hold off not because they are skeptical, but because they don’t even know where to begin with selecting a supplier and integrating the data. While a nuanced distinction, it’s reflective of the fact that the industry needs more talent specializing in social media to help shape best practices around the technique.

44% of suppliers are skeptical that social media monitoring works

Clients don’t know where to begin with selecting a supplier and integrating the data

As for mobile surveys, the issues are much more practical. Among the 35% of respondents who feel limited in being able to use this technique, 44% feel that it’s the technological limitations that are holding them back. While 28% still feel that they don’t know enough about the technique, an equal number cite logistical reasons as a challenge as well. These practical issues could be the rate limiting factors that hold back adoption – be it because of limitations to survey length, logistics around the cost that consumers incur when using data plans, or the need to cater to multiple mobile operating systems. It’s no secret that we at GRIT are bullish on mobile, but it’s clear that suppliers still have work to do when making this technique more accessible to the industry at-large.


0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

Which if any of these types of research do you feel constrained from using right now

What is holding you back from using….

It’s worth noting that, among the techniques we asked about, research gamification has the biggest hurdles to overcome, with 41% of respondents feeling constrained in using this class of techniques. Much like social media monitoring, respondents feel that gamification is an unproven technique (37%) that they don’t know enough about (50%). This is especially true for companies with market research billings/budget under $1 million, in which 61% of respondents said lack of knowledge was a limitation for them.

Focus Groups

Online Focus Groups

Telephone

Face to face

Mail

Online

Mobile surveys

Social media monitoring

Text analytics

Crowd sourcing

Research gamification

Online communities

Other techniques

None of these

11%

35%

15%

33%

24%

39%

14%

41%

8%

11%

30%

10%

29%

8%

www.greenbook.org

Winter 2013

25

The Evolving Research Organization

Our data bear this out. 63% percent of clients and 67% of suppliers we surveyed expect that, five years from now, the products and services they deliver will have changed quite a bit, a lot, or tremendously.

It follows, then, that our respondents see a lot of change coming in terms of the mix of people working in their organizations. What kind of expertise will grow their teams? Both clients and suppliers expect to see more marketing and business strategists, data integration experts, and social media experts. Employees who speak more than one language will be in demand as well.

However, a full 55% of suppliers and 52% of clients expect fewer field interviewers.

This is especially striking on the supplier side, which provides the majority of field interviewers for the industry, signaling two things. First, given that 43% of these respondents are based in the US and 51% of their broader organizations are headquartered in North America, the numbers imply that field work will continue to move to low-cost countries. Second – and this is the longer-term view – researchers of the future will simply be doing less interviewer-supported survey-based research as other data sources are integrated into the mix and online surveys continue to increase their share. In fact, in contrast to the prognosis for field interviews, 54% of suppliers and 51% of clients, see a need for more data collection experts. In the future, data will still be important; but where it’s coming from will change.

Overall, these findings support a main industry theme from conferences, analysts and journals: the aspiration to move to a more technology-based set of tactical skills with a mix of consultative talent to deliver business-relevant insights.

DIY tools are easily available for both qualitative and quantitative work. Social media and big data are potential threats or opportunities for the industry (depending on one’s point of view). Clients want real insights, and suppliers want to be more than a data provider. Overall the industry wants to be seen as more strategic.

Regardless of whether you agree with all of these statements, it’s clear that the market research industry is in flux. The skills and responsibilities of the market research organization – on both the client and supplier sides – must evolve to maintain relevance in an increasingly fast moving, digital marketplace.

Expect to see more marketing and business strategists, data integration experts, and social media experts

Thinking ahead five years, how much of a change do you expect in the kinds of services and products you deliver?

4%

25%

34%

30%

6%

7%

30%

30%

30%

Tremendous

A lot

Quite a bit

Some

Very little

Research buyer or client

Research provider or supplier


Predict the future - What changes do you expect to see in the mix of people working in your organization in the future?

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14%

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18%

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55%

8%

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5%

4%

33%

32%

51%

50%

29%

31%

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59%

28%

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31%

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67%

66%

14%

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66%

65%

65%

67%

www.greenbook.org

Winter 2013

27

Market Research Firm of the Future

The 2013 GRIT survey asked respondents to think about how they might “Create their own new research company.” What are the research techniques they would choose as specialty areas? And what are the “Key selling points” they would select in order to promote the firm?

The graphic on the left shows the techniques selected as focal points for these hypothetical new research companies. Respondents could select up to four different areas of specialty. Responses are sorted by total combined selections (1st + 2nd + 3rd + 4th choices).

The top three areas of interest for these new research companies were fairly consistent. First, many respondents selected one or more techniques that incorporated mobile capabilities. These included mobile surveys, app-based research, mobile ethnographies, and mobile qualitative. Given their rapid adoption, it is not surprising to see that researchers expect substantial demand for MR services on mobile devices (smartphones and tablets, in particular).

Second, we see a strong contingent of general online techniques suggested as appropriate for the research firm of the future. Included in this group are online [overall], online communities, social media monitoring, and online focus groups. These choices reflect the ongoing trend to online methods, which often offer relatively fast and inexpensive means for collecting information.

And the third set of techniques emerging as top contenders for newly-created research firms can be classified as completely new or novel data collection and analytical approaches in the industry. These include predictive markets, research gamification, virtual environments, text analytics and crowd sourcing. Presumably, these would give our newly-created firms unique value propositions to differentiate themselves in the competitive landscape.

Researchers expect substantial demand for MR services on mobile devices

If you were to create your own new research company, what research techniques would you focus on?


Traditional research techniques (e.g., focus groups, telephone, and in-store intercepts) sorted near the bottom of the list. This was also the case for neuro-based methods, including facial expression tracking, eye tracking, and biometric response.

Research techniques selected for inclusion in the MR firm of the future did not differ dramatically by type of respondent (supplier vs. client). In fact, there were only two techniques selected by 5% or more of one group as a “1st technique” to focus on. More suppliers (14%) selected “online” as a first technique than clients (8%). And conversely, more clients (9%) selected “text analytics” than suppliers (2%).

After identifying the techniques that they might include in their future research firms, GRIT survey respondents selected up to 3 selling points for this new company from among a list of 25 possible candidates. The list of selling points and associated selections are shown here.

What is particularly interesting about this list is the set of four selling points that bubbled to the top of the list.

“Listens well and understands client’s needs,” the top-ranked selling point, is definitely a service-related selling perspective. The next, “high quality analysis,” reflects the general capabilities and qualifications of the firm. The third-ranked item, “offers unique methodology or approach,” is a differentiating selling point. And the fourth, “consultation on best practices and methodology,” positions the new firm as an advisor/consultant, offering much more than simple data collection and analysis. Taken together, these selling points suggest a solid, well-rounded company, but one that is also focused on new and emerging techniques that will help their clients thrive.

What selling points would you choose for your new research company?

www.greenbook.org

Winter 2013

29

The Influence of Information Sources

The GRIT study looked at where market researchers tend to look for information and which sources they find to be influential. As with all aspects of the GRIT report, the reader should take into account the composition of the participants when interpreting and generalizing the findings. The data is what it is; the interpretation is what you make of it.

GRIT authorship is a collaborative effort with many participants, but due to the perhaps controversial nature of these findings, specifically the inclusion of GreenBook and GRIT in the rankings, we feel it’s important to identify the analysts and authors here. This section of the report was written by Ray Poynter, director of Vision Critical’s University and founder of NewMR. The initial coding and aggregation of organizational mentions was conducted by Jon Puleston of GMI. The multivariate analysis was performed by Masood Akhtar of Bottom Line Analytics. The findings here were validated and corroborated by each.


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Research buyer or client

Research provider or supplier

Importance of Sources

The study asked participants to rate various potential sources in terms of how important they were in ‘staying abreast of developments in research methodologies’. The graphic below shows the percentage describing each source as important (defined as the top two boxes from a five point scale). The data is ranked in descending order of importance to research buyers.

This chart emphasizes the wide range of sources that are considered important to research buyers and research providers. The data suggest that the sorts of research buyers who took part in the GRIT survey are focused more on information and less on networking than the research suppliers.

The top four items for research buyers are: webinars (52%), seminars or conference (49%), industry websites (46%), and white papers (46%).

The top item for research suppliers is Business networking communities like LinkedIn (51%), which only ranks seventh for research buyers (with 37% giving it a top two box rating). White papers, which were in the top four for research buyers, were rated seventh by the research suppliers.

The main lesson from this finding is that research suppliers need to be aware that their preferred sources of information are not necessarily their clients preferred sources, and whilst clients might appreciate good quality information, they don’t necessarily want to network.

Total sample; unweighted; base

n = from 1119 to 1158; total n =

2193; 1074 missing

Research buyers are focused more on information and less on networking

Staying abreast of developments: Top 2 boxes (out of 5) by Client/Supplier

Industry print journals

Industry websites

Blogs

E-mail delivery of blog subscriptions

Seminars or conferences

White papers

Webinars or virtual events

Technology websites or publications

Trade organization events

Business networking communities like LinkedIn

Social networking sites like Facebook & Google+

Twitter

29%

46%

24%

37%

49%

46%

52%

39%

32%

37%

16%

13%

31%

47%

31%

32%

42%

33%

42%

41%

33%

51%

18%

16%

www.greenbook.org

Winter 2013

31

Reach and Influence

Participants, in the GRIT Survey were asked to list all the organizations/groups/sources they were a member of and any additional ones they ‘attend, pay attention to or contribute to’. This was an unaided awareness, top of mind exercise. We consider the frequency of mentions

for each organization as a measure of reach – in terms of the people who participated in the study. The chart below lists the top ten organizations in terms of reach (a longer list, combining reach and influence is reported later this section).

Open-ended description of sources, de-duped and grouped

Rank SourceTotal

Mentions

1 ESOMAR 2,737

2 LinkedIn 1,930

3 AMA 1,711

4 MRA 1,272

5 QRCA 951

6 MRS 948

7 GreenBook / GB Blog 935

8 CASRO 691

9 MRIA 551

10 Quirks 472


AMSRS

ASIA

LinkedIn ESOMAR

Face book

MRS UK

GRIT

EphMRA

MrWeb

Research Live Research Club

AQR UK EUROPE

BVM

MOA

Next Generation MR

US

CASRO

MRA

QRCA

Twitter

AMA

MRGA QUIRKS

TMRE

MRIA

ARPOR

PBIRG IIR

ARF

Key information sources for global research community

GREENBOOK/GB BLOG

ICG

AMSRO

MREB

MSPA

NEW MR

PMRG

AQR

MOA

ANA

AEDEMO

MRSI

SCIP

Bubble size represents relative % mentions

The top two sources cited are the most clearly global in their approach, ESOAMR as the most global of the research bodies and LinkedIn, which is ranked by Alexa.com as the 14th most visited site globally. Seven of the next eight have a strong association with the USA, which is where about four-tenths of the respondents are based (and where, according to ESOMAR’ 2012 report, about three-tenths of all the world’s research dollars are spent).

The one non-global/non-USA entry on the top ten is the Canadian research society MRIA.

The graphic below shows the key sources cited in the study in terms of whether they are more associated with Europe, Asia, or US, in terms of the numbers of mentions.

Map produced by Bottom-Line Analytics, showing the association, in terms of numbers of mentions, between location and sources.

We see here that there are essentially two groups of sources; one more associated with US and one more associated with Europe (note: MOA is the Dutch market research society, EphMRA is the European Pharmaceutical Research Association, and BVM is the German society).

The two sources with the highest number of mentions, ESOMAR and LinkedIn are both outside these two groups, lying between US and Europe – which may in part explain their strength.

The map also shows the weakness of Asia, in terms of sources of information. AMSRS is the Australian research society and presumably only reflects one aspect of the whole Asia-Pacific region.

Key information sources for global research community

www.greenbook.org

Winter 2013

33

Here we see that just four of the sources with the largest reach also have the highest levels of influence amongst the people they reach, these being: QRCA, GreenBook/GB Blog, Quirks, and CASRO.

The high rating for GRIT is not surprising, given that one of the motivations for participants to take part in the study is to contribute to the report and to receive a copy of the report.

One of the themes in this list of the top ten is the role news giving plays, Research-Live, GreenBook, and Quirks all have a news/information focus, and all are rated highly.

Rating of influence from sources mentioned, 0=not influential, 10=extremely influential.

Perhaps the second theme is specificity. QRCA focuses on qualitative research, ICG is the independent consultants group, AAPOR focuses on public opinion research, AMSRO is the Australian society of research organizations, CASRO the American society of research organizations, and the ARF is focused on advertising.

So, the lesson here is that in order to be rated by the people using your services as being influential the best routes are to be a) news/information focused and/or b) be focused in your area of interest.

In terms of impact on the market, the key is to combine reach and influence and the following table shows the top sources, ranked by a *net index that combines the reach and influence.

Information source Influence Score Total Mentions

GRIT 8.5 110

Research Live 8.1 89

QRCA 7.9 951

GreenBook / GB Blog 7.7 935

ICG 7.6 68

Quirks 7.5 472

AAPOR 7.3 146

AMSRO 7.2 65

CASRO 7.1 691

ARF 7.1 421

Participants in the study rated the organizations/sources that they were a member of or interacted with in terms of ‘their level of influence on strategic decisions related to your job function?’ – where ‘0=not influential 10= extremely influential’.

The chart below shows the ten organizations with the highest average influence score. A full list, combining reach and influence is shown later in this section.


Influence and reach data, ranked by *net index of influence

RankInformation source

Influence Score

Total Mentions

Net Index

1 ESOMAR 7 2737 63

2 LinkedIn 6.6 1930 37

3 QRCA 7.9 951 29

4 GreenBook / GB Blog 7.7 935 27

5 MRA 6.7 1272 25

6 AMA 6.1 1711 25

7 CASRO 7.1 691 16

8 MRS 6.1 948 13

9 Quirks 7.5 472 12

10 ARF 7.1 421 9

11 MRIA 6.3 551 9

12 AMSRS 6.9 368 7

13 IIR 7 182 3

14 NewMR 6.8 178 3

15 NGMR 6.7 182 3

16 AAPOR 7.3 146 3

17 GRIT 8.5 110 3

18 Twitter 6.6 171 3

19 AQR 6.3 184 2

20 PMRG 6.4 173 2

21 Research Live 8.1 89 2

22 Facebook 6.5 124 2

23 TMRE 6.4 108 1

24 MOA 6.3 101 1

25 ICG 7.6 68 1

26 mrWeb 6.4 77 1

27 AMSRO 7.2 65 1

28 BVM 5.8 93 1

29 EphMRA 5.4 102 1

30 MREB 7 56 0

Rating of influence from sources mentioned, 0=not influential, 10=extremely influential.


NGMR

AQR

ESOMAR

LinkedIn

QRCA

GreenBook blog

MRA

AMA

CASRO

MRS

Quirks ARF

MRIA

AMSRS

IIR NewMR

AAPOR

Twitter

PMRG

4.00

4.50

5.00

5.50

6.00

6.50

7.00

7.50

8.00

8.50

9.00

0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 1,400 1,600 1,800 2,000 2,200 2,400 2,600 2,800

GRIT

Influ

ence

Sco

re

Total Mentions (Reach) Median = 446

Median = 6.85

Bubble size represents the relative Net Index

Influence Vs Reach

Low Influence / High Reach

Low Influence / Low Reach

High Influence / Low Reach

High Influence / High Reach

In terms of net influence, combining the influence score with the reach, the picture becomes clearer. ESOMAR are well ahead of the pack, reflecting their more aggressive recent agenda, combining global events (e.g. holding their first Congress in the USA), active social media, webinars, and a revamped blogging and news network.

Second place goes to LinkedIn, which reflects a multiplicity of approaches, for example ESOMAR has an active LinkedIn group, as do most of the top sources listed in this table. So, the LinkedIn score will be a net of many groups, discussions, and the inherent networking offered by LinkedIn.

Just four sources are listed as having an index in the 20s, QRCA, GreenBook / GB Blog, MRA, and AMA. All four have a strong American association, which reflects both the large number of people from America in the sample AND the fact that the USA is by far the largest market research market (according to the 2012 ESMAR report, the USA is 31% of all research spend, with the next country, Germany, being just 10%).

Following along with our analysis approach used in the 2011 report on this topic, we have below a quadrant map that illustrates the interrelationship between reach and influence graphically.

*The Net index is calculated by re-scaling the Influence scores so that they range from 0 to 10 and the reach scores so they range from 0 to 10 and multiplying these together. The highest possible score would be 100, if the source with the highest reach had also had the highest influence score.

Influence vs. Reach

www.greenbook.org

Winter 2013

37

What Makes a Source Stand Out?

Participants in the study were also asked to type in the ‘What factors make a research organization, blog or community stand out for you as influential and authoritative?’ Above is a word cloud based on the responses to this question.

The word cloud has a clear hierarchy in it, which might help guide sources seeking to be more influential:

Thinking and expertise are mentioned the most – 1. researchers want serious information.Provocative and innovation come next – people 2. want to be challenged and they want to hear about new things.Next come quality, articles, methods, scholarly, and 3. papers – all signs that people do not want to waste their scarce time of sources that are not focused on proper research and which are presented in an almost educational fashion.Only behind these three do networking and 4. discussions make an appearance in the hierarchy.

Thinking and expertise are mentioned the most – researchers want serious information


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Network of Influence

With that in mind our partners at Dollywagon performed a network analysis of the organizations GRIT respondents listed as influential. The resulting visualization is compelling; it clearly illustrates the importance of connective relationships in a social ecosystem. Each node of the network thrives on its interconnectedness to others; the nodes with the most connections tend to have the most reach, and although not a direct correlation, those organizations with extensive reach also have higher level of influence within the network.

One of the reasons we are so interested in exploring this idea of influence is due to its potential impact on many aspects of both marketing and research. Social Media allows us to analyze both influence metrics, but perhaps more importantly the networks of influence.

This beautiful visualization of the network of influence within the MR industry has many implications for how researchers engage with each other, and perhaps can help point the way to how we can start including these types of analyses into our standard toolkit.

It reveals the organizations at the heart of the market research industry, which in many respects represent the ‘establishment’. It also shows how organizations link-up and ‘cluster’ into different groups. Likewise, we can see organizations at opposite sides of the network graph that have no connection with each other, Does this represent an opportunity for organizations to consider strategies for deepening links and consolidating their position within the industry?

The weighted general influence metric takes into consideration 3 key elements of information:

The number of people within the GRIT sample that have a relationship with 1. an organization. The pattern of interconnections that between people and organizations 2. exist within this data, and the significance of the position any single organization occupies within the emergent network structure. The importance or significance of any named MR-related organization as 3. reflected by the size of the rating awarded to it by a respondent.

www.greenbook.org

Winter 2013

39

Social Media

For this iteration of GRIT we decided to dive deeper into the topic of social media analytics. Before we get into these interim results it is instructive to ask: What is social media? Well, according to Wikipedia, Social Media refers to “interactive platforms via which individuals and communities create and share user generated content.” Let us add to that description by saying that this “user generated content” is not always structured, does not have an assigned topic and can come from a multitude of platforms (Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Yelp, Blogs and so on).

The reason we mention this is because social media has popped in the business scene to become the fastest growing marketing tool in the last decade. Undoubtedly, it has had an impact on many industries including Market Research (MR); and MR clients and suppliers alike have been working on harnessing the information that is being generated by these social platforms. If you are not paying attention to social media, you should be—whether you agree with it or not.

For the above and many other reasons, our team has decided to include a new Social Media section in the GRIT report. The survey covered many topics such as social media usage, coverage, adoption rate and future expectations of our industry among other things. This report will obviously not cover all topics in-depth but is meant to provide you some of the more salient highlights on what your peers and clients are saying about the types of social media services offered, adoption rate, business value, who is using it, etc.


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Facebook

Twitter

Online communities

Google+

Branded customer communities

Individual blogs

Ratings sites like Yelp!

Communities formed to support market research (MROCS)

Retail customer exchange platforms like Amazon or Best Buy

Geo-location platforms like Foursquare

YES – 73%

NO – 27%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

That said, in terms of revenue contribution, social media research is a paltry 12%

Since we know that social media analytics is a multi-billion dollar industry, we believe there are several possible explanations for this disparity:

The GRIT sample has a disproportionately higher 1. number of early adopters offering social media analytics (certainly possible)More companies may be offering social media 2. analytics but research buyers are not looking to traditional research suppliers for these services (reinforced by our findings earlier in this report)Suppliers have not successfully scaled this offering. 3.

What is also interesting is that to more than half of interviewees (clients and suppliers combined), social media usually means #1 Facebook followed by #2 Twitter with all other platforms tailing into the sunset.

This may not be a surprise, but it does suggest that not all platforms are a focus and this finding can have big implications to social marketers.

We will keep an eye on this one as trends continue to develop and will hopefully paint a clearer picture on how much effort you should consider putting against each platform over time.

Services Offered

Let’s begin by understanding how many Market Research (MR) suppliers are providing social media monitoring. The chart on the right shows that two-thirds of MR suppliers are providing some social media monitoring or analysis to their clients. This means that within the world of MR, offering Social Media services is already standard practice.

Two-thirds of MR suppliers are providing some social media monitoring or analysis to their clients

12%

88%

Revenue from social media

Revenue from other

9%22%65%

57%

32%

30%

26%

20%

15%

14%

14%

10%

30%

38%

30%

35%

34%

31%

28%

34%

29%

11%

24%

30%

28%

33%

41%

34%

36%

44%

6%

10%

11%

13%

13%

23%

16%

17%

Do you provide social media monitoring or analysis?

Definitely

Probably

Maybe

Unlikely

www.greenbook.org

Winter 2013

41

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North America – 50%

Europe – 27%

Asia/Australasia – 15%

Other – 8%

Don’t know – 0%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

2 years

3 years

4 years or more

1 year

Less than 1 year

Setting up a program now

We do not monitor or

analyze social media to

my knowledge

Adoption Rate

Our belief based on secondary research and experience is that change is imminent—particularly when we consider that just over half (51%) of all social data collected is from North America and this percentage is 2X larger than the next market which happens to be Europe.

Considering the way global brands and economies are expanding and developing in the BRIC countries and elsewhere, it is likely that emphasis could be placed on companies that can provide solutions across borders and ponds in the coming years. This could mean analytical capabilities in different languages (clustering, segmentations on-the-fly, or text analysis among many others).

While social media has been integrated into the corporate lexicon and is seemingly mentioned at least once in every meeting, conducting or commissioning social media monitoring or analysis is relatively new. About a third (or 30%) of organizations have been actively engaged with it but only within the last 2 years – even the early adopters started only 3-4 years ago (2009-10) as shown below.

Obviously social media has been around longer than that so these results could mean that expertise and tools had to catch up before engaging into social media or that respondents may have been waiting on the sidelines for the social dust to settle prior to investing time or money. Either way, these results suggest that social media – as it relates to MR – may still be in its infancy and could still experience significant change in the years ahead.

Conducting or commissioning social media monitoring or analysis is relatively new

How long has your company been conducting or commissioning social media monitoring and analysis?

What percentage of your research data was collected in each of the following?

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Winter 2013

43

Each department or unit

decides for itself

Marketing Research

Procurement

Outside consultants

or agencies

Other

Information Users

The responsibility on the client side for awarding social media projects to analytics providers is not clearly outlined yet. We see that this decision is equally likely to come from each individual department deciding for itself (36%) or by the marketing research department (36%). Interestingly, ‘Other’ also ranked high with 20% of buyers.

Market Research

Departments, 36%

Mktg / Brd. Mgmt.

Departments, 33%

Corp. Communications

Departments, 10%

Advertising Agencies, 5%

Sales Departments, 4%

CEO/COO/Directors/Partners, 4%

PR, 4%

Other, 4%

Responsibility for awarding social media projects is not clearly outlined yet

Who determines which social media monitoring and analysis providers your company uses?


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Business Contribution of Social Media

We asked participants to tell us in which areas they felt social media monitoring and analysis has made the most important contributions. The results were unexpected, not necessarily because “customer experience monitoring” was most often cited as the first choice, but mostly because that is a tactical use of this information.

Although we can appreciate the value of “keeping your finger on the pulse of customers’ experience” it certainly seems that social media can provide much more than a limited tactical solution: a direct line into consumers. Terabytes and terabytes of rich consumer feedback and interactions are generated daily; within our results we see very little use of social media data for strategic objectives (product development, segmentation, etc.) rising to the top. They were present but fell at bottom of the contribution list. We see very little use of social media

data for strategic objectives

In which areas do you feel social media monitoring and analysis has made the most important contributions?


Which Suppliers Are Gaining Traction?

We asked GRIT respondents a series of brand awareness questions about leading companies. In the table below we look at the ten best known by both client and supplier respondents.

What is interesting here is that none of the companies achieve more than 50% brand recognition across either group. On the Buyer side those two are Crimson Hexagon and Visible Technologies, neither of which appear on the Supplier list and are replaced by Alterian and Conversition.

Interestingly, “None of These” was selected by 15% of clients and 20% of suppliers.

Certainly an obvious conclusion here is that some firms have done a better job than others in marketing themselves to insights professionals on different sides of the table, but we think there are two more forces at work:

Insights professionals are not paying attention to 1. information sources (events, websites, etc..) in which these companies are highly visibleThese companies are not targeting insights 2. organizations, instead engaging with Business Intelligence, IT, or Marketing decision makers. They don’t consider MR as part of their target. This is suggested by the organizational decision making fragmentation observed earlier.

Perhaps this finding is driven by where within the organization social media analytics “lives”. As seen in this chart, Marketing and Branding seem to be driving the usage of this technique.

Perhaps as market research organizations transition into more experimental modes we’ll see greater strategic adoption and deployment.

We suspect both issues are at play, and as long as that dynamic exists it will be very challenging for insights organizations to truly “own” social media analytics.

Research buyer or client Research provider or supplier

Buzzmetrics 50% Buzzmetrics 49%

Radian6 48% Radian6 42%

Cymfony 25% SAS 26%

SAS 24% Cymfony 23%

Netbase 20% Netbase 22%

Sysomos 20% Brandwatch 17%

Brandwatch 16% Alterian 17%

Clarabridge 16% Conversition 16%

Crimson Hexagon 14% Clarabridge 14%

Visible Technologies 14% Sysomos 12%

Proportion of social media monitoring commissioned by department

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Winter 2013

47

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Will Market Research Own Social Media Analytics?

Clients and suppliers alike see marketing research departments being ‘somewhat/much more’ involved in conducting social media studies in the next couple of years. Suppliers (36%) appear to be a bit more optimistic than Clients (29%) on this.

While there are encouraging social media trends developing in our survey results (a growing percentage of companies focusing on social media), other results suggest that a deliberate change may be needed as we move forward. When we look at the limited focus on platforms (Facebook & Twitter), the heavy North American coverage (greater than 50% of all social data collected), the confusion of who owns the social media area (MR or Marketing), and the lack of strategic business contribution (customer experience monitoring is #1) all combined seem to suggest that social media as we know it today will need to change to remain relevant.

Also, limiting its uses and our analytical potential to monitoring & reporting trends (MR as the “data waiter”) seems to be at odds with the desire within the industry to obtain a more strategic, consultative role.

The good news is that these are early trends and we can still affect the outcome by focusing on how to leverage social media to drive corporate strategies.

Will marketing research become more or less involved in conducting social media studies?

www.greenbook.org

Winter 2013

49

While the purpose of the GRIT Report is to present survey findings, we also

believe that it’s helpful to offer an editorial position on the implications of

these findings.

With that in mind we are including a new section written by Leonard

Murphy, GreenBook’s Chief Editor, who shares his take on what it all

means. Lenny’s piece isn’t meant to be reflective of the opinions of

everyone involved with GRIT; it’s based on a combination of his own

experience, GRIT data, additional information sources, and yes, intuition.

We think that you’ll find the following commentary valuable, interesting,

and thought-provoking. We hope you’ll agree.

Lukas Pospichal

Managing Director, GreenBook

Editor’s Commentary


When looking at future developments in the research/insights industries, we can start by considering the example of social media. The recent rise of, and fascination with, all things social in the digital ecosystem reflects many of the changes that are sweeping the marketplace. This naturally touches many other areas of the insight industry, including topics such as big data, mobile, geo-location, online

communities and yes, even the humble survey. The transformational impact of the social media age cannot be overestimated; it is indeed pervasive. To put it in perspective, consider this quote in Digiday from Marc Pritchard, Global Marketing and Brand Building Officer of P&G regarding the company’s view on how technology (social and mobile especially) is changing the game for them:

“To address these [technology] forces, our vision is to build our brands through lifelong, one-to-one

relationships in real time with every person in the world,” Pritchard said. “The power of everyday people

is driving monumental change and people power favors brands like ours. We have trusted brands that are

part of everyday life. We genuinely care about serving people with superior benefits and doing good.”

“Technology will mean that people will increasingly expect brands to understand their unique needs and

deliver,” Pritchard said. “We want P&G to be the first to create this trusted, indispensable relationship

because it will create greater loyalty, more purchases across categories, and more sales at lower costs.

Achieving this vision requires some fundamental shifts in how we operate.”

The essence here is that social and mobile technologies will be leveraged to drive engagement and understanding of consumers at a previously unimaginable level, increasing basic business value. That has profound implications for the insight organization on both the client and supplier side of the value chain.

The quote above illustrates the role that big data (with social media data being a huge component) will play in helping to inform a significant aspect of the “one-to-one” model by default. And this will force other changes that are already beginning to play out via new entrants, such as Google and Twitter, in the existing survey space. Consolidation between community providers and consulting organizations, and partnerships between social platforms and research companies will certainly follow.

Editor’s Commentary

Taking a Stand: The Emerging Future of Market Research

“Our vision is to build brands through lifelong, one-to-one relationships in real time with every person in the world”

www.greenbook.org

Winter 2013

51

With tightened budgets and compressed timelines, your research needs to work harder. You need to address the what as well as the why... ideally in one step.

For more than 12 years, we have been helping today’s top consumer companies solve problems not typically addressed with traditional methods. Our techniques and researchers have received numerous awards and industry recognition.

Learn how you can Think Forward.

www.buzzback.com © 2013 BuzzBack LLC

Traditional Methods?

http://www.digiday.com/brands/pgs-new-approach-to-digital/

So where is the opportunity? What path can insights firms walk to be viable in the future? The winners will be firms skilled in applying the techniques mentioned above, but also experimenting with emerging methods made possible by technological advancements.

Successful contenders will likely:Own proprietary data sources•Have deeply integrated norms or benchmarks•Offer technology that collects and delivers multiple •data streamsDevelop pure-play insight consultancies•Focus exclusively on innovative qualitative research•Specialize in high-end analytics and data modeling•Address high-value niche markets•

The future of the market research industry simply is NOT based on data collection as a driver of business, and that is a big problem for many of the current suppliers. It’s also going to be a big adjustment for clients who are accustomed to the status quo. Everything from employee profiles to business models, research designs to budgets, and analysis to business impact will evolve as a result of this transformation.

The Emerging Research Paradigm

Here at GRIT we have set ourselves the goal of stepping back, taking a look at the current state of play in the wider world of the digital era, and assessing where the real value of insights organizations is delivered.

The notion of the market research (insights) organization as the collector and keeper of data is no longer a sustainable value proposition. That function has been largely disintermediated: asking, observing, listening, monitoring, tracking, metering, and analyzing simply are not the sole purview of the traditional research players. Furthermore, while research organizations will continue to play a role in those things, building or maintaining a business model based only on these methods will be insufficient.

We now have Google, Twitter and Facebook with research offerings, and we suspect LinkedIn and/or Salesforce will make another foray into the space soon. And we are seeing companies like Citi and Verizon launching analytical products based on their internal data, a new employee sentiment product by social platform Wayin, as well as a new consumer-facing and research-centric “data bank” offering by Tesco.If the entrance of new technology-centric data providers isn’t a loud enough clarion call, we also have the increasing movement of business & strategy consulting firms “in-sourcing” their insights functions or establishing close partnerships with new research providers to offer their clients a robust and business-issue focused research capability. Two key pieces of the insights value chain – data collection and analysis – have

New Entrants, New Opportunities

been disrupted by multiple new players who are staking their claim to various pieces of the previous domain of market research. And with the growth of social media analytics being a significant new trend, traditional research is being redefined before our very eyes.

There is a realization in the business community that insights do not arise solely as a product of traditional research models. Instead, these new platforms are providing tools for discovery and ideation that are faster, more unexpected, more customer-focused and quite often, more productive than existing approaches.

The game has changed, and the pace of change is only accelerating.

Data collection and analysis have been disrupted by multiple new players who are staking their claim to various pieces of market research

The notion of the market research organization as the collector and keeper of data is no longer sustainable. That function has been largely disintermediated


The bottom line is if you are a market researcher, and especially if you are in a senior role within a supplier organization, you must adapt and get ahead of the curve or face marginalization and eventual irrelevance.To bring that idea full circle we believe that what we’ll see evolve over the next few years is a set of four broad insight approaches that collectively will fuel brand relationship development:

Advanced analytics fueled by “big data” models 1. that will tell the bulk of “who, what, where & how” consumers think, feel and act. We include in this group many different data channels, such as CRM, POS, search, social media, mobile, geolocation, video, facial scanning, media metering, and macro-polling/ratings. Panel companies that embrace social may fit here as well, as will social listening and text analytics. Not much of this will come from the insights space, although some traditional researcher skills will be appropriate for the data synthesis and analysis aspects in the model.Traditional research (quant/qual) to fill in gaps of 2. information among specific groups or on topics that a deeper dive is necessary to help get closer to the “why.” This may largely be delivered by companies like Google, Facebook, Twitter, and a variety of DIY applications. Companies that have proprietary data, specialized techniques, niche experience, or data currencies will also fit into this category.Firms that develop methods for estimating the 3. “representative” nature of insights emerging from various big-data sources. Decades of scientific scrutiny have ensured that traditional methods – most notably the sample survey – produce findings that can be projected to larger populations. How will the same oversight be applied in these new spaces so that decisions can be made with confidence? The rise of the Insight Consultancies. These firms 4. will be a mix of strategy consultancies for high-level enterprise planning and more specialized organizations that focus on creating business impact via insight-fueled consumer relationships. Ultimately these companies will answer the “why” informed by the big data and research channels. They will be the true conduit for generating competitive advantage for brands, and will hold a position of influence and prestige within client organizations.

We don’t own the process or the access anymore; it has been democratized via new technology platforms that can do much of what we do cheaper, faster, and yes, even better in many circumstances.

While that may all sound grim, the reality, in our view, is anything but. We foresee the role of research likely to increase in importance in this new data-driven future. That said, the business model and value proposition is likely very different.

On the business model front, we will likely see a meaningful decline in traditional quantitative research revenue over the next 3-5 years. The sample survey as the key driver of revenue will certainly be replaced in settings where observational methods can provide many of the insights that “ask-based” survey methods have long supplied. Why ask hundreds, or even thousands, of consumers to expound on their behaviors and motivations when well-conceived analytical tools can derive the same insights from existing, readily-available pools of data?

Firms that own deep, client-side proprietary data sources like (insert Honomichl 10 Company Name Here), or who operate in environments where asking for opinions and other feedback is the only option, will continue to persevere. But even those companies may not be exempt from market trends that favor faster, cheaper approaches for much longer, as the same forces impacting ad hoc research make their presence felt there, and new ways to access data that can deliver more holistic insights emerge.

That means that the future business models of suppliers will be largely driven by emerging approaches and qualitative research combined with the “insight consultancy” position. That is good news for many small to mid-size suppliers but not so good news to today’s larger players. It will be a sea change for us all and the shake-up is starting already.

We will continue to use the GRIT study as a central means of testing our hypotheses and tracking these potential shifts.

If you are a market researcher, you must adapt and get ahead of the curve or face marginalization and eventual irrelevance

www.greenbook.org

Winter 2013

53

Concept originator, GRIT Executive

Editor:

Leonard Murphy – GreenBook

Questionnaire Authors:

Bill Weylock – Gen2 AdvisorsDavid Bernstein – Gen2 AdvisorsJason Brownlee – DollywagonJon Puleston – GMI InteractiveTodd Powers – ARF

Design consultation:

David Johnson – DecoodaGregg Archibald – Gen2 AdvisorsLukas Pospichal – GreenBook

GreenBook’s mission is to bring innovative resources

to market researchers on both sides of the table and to

offer effective marketing opportunities in a variety of

targeted media.

The GreenBook media platform includes the flagship

GreenBook Directory, GreenBook Blog, Insight Innovation

Forum, New Qualitative Research Guide & Directory, a

Webinar Program, and a bi-weekly email newsletter.

Our publishing program provides stimulating, practical,

and timely content on topics and issues relevant to the

industry.

www.GreenBook.org | www.GreenBookBLOG.org

www.NewQualitative.org | www.InsightInnovation.org

Diane Liebenson, Publisher

[email protected] | tel: 310.545.0918

Acknowledgments

About GreenBook

Sample Providers:

ARIA, BAQMaR, Google Consumer Surveys, GreenBook, Insight Innovation Forum (LinkedIn Group), International Market Research Society, iQual, MRIA-ARIM, NewMR, NGMR (LinkedIn Group), QRCA, The Research Club

Data collection:

Dollywagon GMI InteractiveGoogle Consumer Surveys

Data Processing:

DecoodaGMI InteractiveQ Research Software

Translations:

Localspeak

Online dashboard:

Q Research Software

Report Authors:

Bill Weylock – Gen2 AdvisorsJeffrey Henning – ResearchscapeLeonard Murphy – GreenBookMasood Akhtar – Bottom Line AnalyticsRuben Alcaraz – Nestle-PurinaTamara Barber – ConsultantTodd Powers – ARF

Publication:

GreenBook®

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Buyers of research services come to GreenBook

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case studies, articles, videos, etc.

GreenBook is helping market research companies

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Ray Poynter – Vision Critical

Advertising Research Foundation

The ARF is dedicated to aggregating, creating, and distributing research-based knowledge that helps members make better advertising decisions. The ARF brings all industry members to the same table for strategic collaboration.www.thearf.org

ARIA

The mission of the Americas Research Industry Alliance is to support and improve the business and integrity of market, opinion, and social research through collaborative effort and mutual support among national market research associations.www.ariaalliance.org

BAQMaR

BAQMaR is the Belgian Association for Quantitative & Qualitative Marketing Research. Our events take place in Belgium, but when it comes to online we act on a global scale.www.baqmar.eu

IMRS

The main focus of the International Market Research Society is on delivering value to the clients, improving productivity throughout the research process, data quality management, and rigorous cost control. www.uniresearch.info

Insight Innovation Forum

The Insight Innovation Forum is a LinkedIn group actively managed by GreenBook. Its mission is to enable learning and open discussion of all aspects of market research & insight innovation. www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=41051

MRIA-ARIM

The Marketing Research and Intelligence Association represents all sectors of the market intelligence and survey research industry in Canada and is its single authoritative voice. www.mria-arim.ca

NewMR

NewMR is a collaborative endeavor whose mission is to co-create the future of Market Research. The primary expressions of this mission are the Festival of NewMR, Radio NewMR, virtual events and one of the most highly regarded MR LinkedIn groups. www.newmr.org

Next Gen Market Research (NGMR)

The market has changed, the customers have changed, why should consumer insight be the same?NGMR is an invitation-only group for analytics professionals who want more than traditional market research.www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=31804 www.nextgenmr.com

QRCA

The Qualitative Research Consultants Association is a vibrant global organization of qualitative researchers immersed in the most exciting work being done in the field. QRCA offers exciting opportunities to connect and stay current on the latest in qualitative research.www.qrca.org

The Research Club

The Research Club organizes free social events for everyone involved in the market research industry. Come along and make new contacts, catch up with former colleagues, and develop new opportunities. We know you’ll have a great time!www.TheResearchClub.com

Media Partners

www.greenbook.org

Winter 2013

55

QUALITATIVE RESEARCHCONSULTANTS ASSOCIATION

Anderson Analytics - OdinText

No other software firm within the marketing research domain has more experience with unstructured (text) data. Our patent-pending SaaS text analytics platform OdinText is used to quickly analyze unstructured data ranging from large scale VoC surveys to customer call center logs/emails or social media data. www.andersonanalytics.com / www.odintext.com

AYTM (Ask Your Target Market)

AYTM.com is the leading innovator in DIY online market research. Define your exact target audience by drilling-down into a panel of over 4.5 million consumers in 5 countries (US, CA, UK, AU & IN) and find your ideal respondents based upon their psychographic and demographic characteristics. Then, write a survey using our intuitive survey editor, launch it and see results streaming back in minutes. AYTM has the best user experience for researchers and survey takers alike. AYTM.com. Market research has never been this easy. www.aytm.com

Bottom-Line Analytics LLC

Full-service analytics consultancy offering media mix optimization, brand equity modeling, KPI dashboard development, cutting edge social media analytics and customer segmentation. Our consultants have a total of over 100 years of direct analytics experience with major global blue-chips. www.bottomlineanalytics.com

Decooda

Decooda enables brands to monitor conversations in real-time to detect emotions and predict behaviors across all social media and enterprise content. We help you learn how emotions impact how customers think, feel, and act towards products, and how those thoughts and feelings translate into behavior. www.decooda.com

Dollywagon

Dollywagon is based in the UK and blends classic media research expertise with cutting-edge science. We’ve developed the Influence Engine system, which pin-points key thought-leaders and influencers within any given market sector. The Influence Engine powers the Market Research Industry #MRX Twitter Influence Index published monthly by Research Live.www.dollywagon.com

Gen2 Advisors

Gen2 Advisors tackle the issues generating the most change, the most exciting opportunities and the greatest traumas for insights organizations. Through reports, advisory services, and consulting, we lay out the new ways of solving marketing problems. At Gen2 Advisors, we concentrate our business on what’s happening in insights. Nothing more, nothing less. www.gen2advisors.com

GMI Interactive

From intelligent sampling to survey engagement software to sample management and custom reporting, GMI adds value at every stage of the research process. With millions of deeply profiled double opt-in panelists across 40 proprietary panels, GMI offers a wide range of respondent access in a single, trusted partner. www.gmi-mr.com

Google Consumer Surveys

Google Consumer Surveys allows you to easily create online surveys. Users complete survey questions in order to access high quality content around the web. Google automatically aggregates and analyzes responses, providing the data back to you through a simple online interface.www.google.com/insights/consumersurveys

iQual

iQual is an innovative Arab market research and consultancy applying the newest technologies, tools and methodologies. We partner with global organizations with an objective to bring WHAT MATTERS MOST to your business through creative interpretation of insights. www.iqual.com

Localspeak

Global cultural and language strategist partner to research, marketing, social media and branding firms. Native language data coding, analytics, translation, social media tracking and data mapping. Supply native language social data in 45 languages.www.localspeak.com

Q Research Software

Q is a replacement for SPSS, WinCross and other traditional research analysis programs. Q massively reduces the time taken to conduct reporting by automating basic data re-coding and being fully integrated with Office. www.q-researchsoftware.com

Second Prism

SecondPrism is an advanced mobile analytics and visualization platform for analysts, decision makers and researchers. With an emphasis on simplicity and engagement, SecondPrism integrates easily with SaaS data providers and delivers business information that’s actionable. www.secondprism.com

Research & Production Partners

GreenBook Research Industry Trends

GMIA LIGHTSPEED

RESEARCH

COMPANY

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Pub: GRIT Pub GRIT/0213Ad purchased: full page, 4-colorFile Format: PDF/X-1aBleed: 8.75 x 11.375Trim: 8.25 x 10.875Live: NA

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Documents

GRIT Winter 2013