For those interested in the trandsformation of market research, I strongly recommend Joel Rubinson’s post regarding Research Transformation. Here Rubinson details the “ARF’s first Research Transformation super-council meeting.” MR has a long road ahead of it in order to transform. As I’ve noted before, the BCG research on this paints a stark picture. Like Kim [...]

What is the optimal size for a market research online community (MROC)? I have recently been asked this question with some frequency. This, in itself, represents the level of interest in MROCs and also a certain level of bias from survey-based quantitative researchers. One avenue of approach on this topic is Dunbar’s number. Dunbar’s number [...]

It’s not every day that Forbes publishes an article on market research. This is why I was delighted to read Quentin Hardy’s piece on Norman Nie titled “Power in the Numbers.” Nie co-invented SPSS (sold to IBM for $1.2 Billion last summer) and is now running the startup Revolution Analytics. He says his new product [...]

Although it has been a truism that many of the larger MR players survive by simply using their size to buy up promising, innovative companies, the current recession has not been kind to them. And it raises the question of whether this trend is sustainable. Research World (May issue) notes that: 1. Synovate and Kantar [...]

Communications measurement guru Katie Paine asks in a recent post if it’s the end of the world as we know it for market research. Katie writes: “Since I started working in measurement and market research, we’ve essentially seen phone surveys come and go as viable sources of information, and my prediction is that we will [...]

Recently Alastair Gordon has asked “who’ll own MR in 2020?” By this Gordon means to ask which players will dominate the market research industry. His thesis is that the answer changes based on the year, but that one probable future is the rise, and ultimate dominance of the sub-contracting firms upon which full-service shops often [...]

Is what we currently think of as the market research industry building the future of its business, or is innovation more likely to come from outside the traditional players? I’m inclined to believe that major innovation will not come from the large players and will come mostly from outside what we think of today as [...]

Although this site is dedicated to the future of market research, now and then it’s worth pointing out what is unlikely to be part of the future. One current element of market research that is not probable or preferred is the LONG survey. Bad Research; No Biscuit covers this issue thoroughly here. Yes, long surveys [...]

Nigel Hollis’ recent piece on management dashboards is well worth a read. In a nutshell, Hollis finds that these dashboards, as good as they are, are heavily focused on past performance and generally lack functionality that helps the user understand how well they are doing in working to achieve a given set of goals. As [...]

Joel Rubinson’s blog recently noted the concept of “mental marketplaces.” As opposed to physical markets for a specific product, “mental marketplaces” are all the companies and brands a consumer associates freely with a particular space. This is exceptionally interesting. So, for example, Rubinson writes that: “The ‘mental marketplace’ changes the rules of competition; your brand [...]