Grit W13

GreenBook
Research Industry Trends Report

Winter 2013
GRITreport.org
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Table of Contents
GRIT Report
Winter 2013
Introduction 3
Executive Summary (infographic) 4
Detailed Findings 6
Methodology and sample 6
Suppliers Optimistic but Clients Less So 7
Feelings about the Industry 9
The Changing Data Collection Model 12
The Drivers of Supplier Selection 15
The Quant vs. Qual Dynamic 19
Qualitative Research 20
Quantitative Research 21
Emerging Technique Adoption 22
Continued Mainstreaming of
Communities, Social, Mobile 22
Gaps Remain in Delivering on the Future 24
The Evolving Research Organization 26
Market Research Firm of the Future 28
The Infuence of Information Sources 30
Importance of Sources 31
Reach and Infuence 32
What Makes a Source Stand Out? 38
Network of Infuence 39
Social Media 40
Services Offered 41
Adoption Rate 43
Information Users 44
Business Contribution of Social Media 46
Which Suppliers Are Gaining Traction? 47
Will Market Research Own Social Media Analytics? 49
Editors Commentary 50
Acknowledgments 54
About GreenBook 54
GRIT Partners 55
Diane Liebenson
Publisher, GreenBook
(310) 545-0918
dliebenson@greenbook.org
Lukas Pospichal
Managing Director
(212) 849-2753
lpospichal@greenbook.org
Leonard F. Murphy
Chief Editor & Principal Consultant
(770) 985-4904
lmurphy@greenbook.org
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 notifed 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 notifed 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 youll find the report informative,
provocative, and useful. Enjoy!
Leonard F. Murphy
Chief Editor & Principal Consultant | GreenBook
www.greenbookblog.org
www.greenbook.org
Winter 2013
3
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www.greenbook.org
Winter 2013
5
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 companys 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
organizations
services in 2012
There is a slight increase in this GRIT of respondents
who expect declining revenuefrom 13% in the
Spring to 15% for winterand 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 departments
A 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%
42%
20%
59%
26%
15%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
www.greenbook.org
Winter 2013
7
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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 cannot
deliver the quality we want to
Quality of work is becoming less important than speed of
deliverables
I am concerned about the nonrepresentative nature of online
sample
Clients today are less able to tell the difference between high
quality and mediocre research
I believe that the quality of online panel sample is worse than
commonly acknowledged
Agree
Disagree
Not Sure
Feelings About the Industry
Quality Issues
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
deliverables
sample
Agree
Disagree
Not Sure
Quality Issues
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
deliverables
sample
Suppliers
Clients
Quality Issues -- Suppliers vs. Clients
Percent Who Agree
*
*
= Significantly higher agreement
*
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
deliverables
sample
Suppliers
Clients
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 Issues
Feelings About the Industry Quality Issues
Suppliers vs. Clients
There are clear concerns with the current state
of quality in market research
www.greenbook.org
Winter 2013
9
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Clients would rather have us observe consumer behavior than
ask questions about it
Clients see traditional primary research as an old fashioned
luxury
I believe that traditional qualitative market research is too
slow and expensive to meet the needs of clients
I believe that traditional quantitative market research is too
'Classic' market research trainingis becomingless relevant to
the practice of market research
Clients prefer shortterm insights to deep understanding of
consumer markets
Market research is adapting quickly and well to changes in the
consumer environment, such as social media and mobile
Market research is becoming a commodity
Agree
Disagree
Not Sure
New Methods and Skills Issues
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
luxury
consumer markets
Agree
Disagree
Not Sure
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
luxury
consumer markets
Suppliers
Clients
New Methods and Skills Issues -- Suppliers vs. Clients
Percent Who Agree
*
*
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
luxury
consumer markets
Suppliers
Clients
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.
New 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 Collection
Major 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
www.greenbook.org
Winter 2013
13
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GRIT Spring 2013O2 Launch Ad Peter Sondergaard.indd 1 2/25/2013 4:36:57 PM
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Has an access panel
Uses the latest statistical/analytical packages
Also does qualitative research
Uses the latest data collection technology
Company is financially stable
Uses sophisticated research technology/strategies
Lowest price
Offers unique methodology or approach
Understands new consumer communications channels & technologies
Length of experience/time in business
Provides data analysis services
Flexibility on changing project parameters
Provides highest data quality
Consultation on best practices and methodology effectiveness
Breadth of experience in the target segment
Good reputation in the industry
Familiarity with the industry or category
High quality analysis
Previous experience with client/supplier
Rapid response to requests
Familiarity with client needs
Good relationship with client/supplier
Completes research in an agreed-upon time
Has 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%
Has an access panel
Lowest price
GRIT 2012
GRIT 2013
Supplier Selection
Percent Top Two Box
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Has an access panel
Lowest price
GRIT 2012
GRIT 2013
Supplier Selection
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.
Supplier Selection Importance to Clients (Supplier Viewpoint)
Listening, responding rapidly, and being familiar with clients
needs are perceived as more important
www.greenbook.org
Winter 2013
15
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Has an access panel
Lowest price
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 panel
Lowest price
GRIT 2012
GRIT 2013
Supplier Selection
Importance to Clients (Client Viewpoint)
Percent Top Two Box
*
*
= Significantly higher importance rating
*
0
%
1
0
%
2
0
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3
0
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4
0
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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.
Supplier Selection Importance to Clients (Client Viewpoint)
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
Lowest price
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
Lowest price
Clients
Suppliers
Supplier Selection
Importance in 2013 (Clients vs. Suppliers)
Percent Top Two Box
Supplier Selection Importance in 2013 (Clients vs. Suppliers)
The 25 statements measured in terms of importance
in choosing a research supplier (from a clients
perspective) fall into 5 underlying themes:
Delivery and financial stability 1.
Knowledge and responsiveness 2.
Quality data collection techniques 3.
Price and access to market 4.
Experience and consultative skills 5.
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
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
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
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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, its 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 weve 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 gamifcation
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 Dont 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 years 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 arent sure if theyll use
neuro, and the same percentage saying they are unsure
about biometrics. These two were in the bottom of last
years ranking as well. Its 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, its 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
www.greenbook.org
Winter 2013
23
Philadelphia
The world of consumer insights
is changing fast.
Imagine it. See it.
Do it.
Philadelphia, PA * June 17
th
- 18
th
, 2013
Learn more at www.iiex-na.org
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 confdence in a technique fears of how it may affect your
data or for any other reason....
Clients Suppliers
No
34% No
43%
Yes
66%
Yes
57%
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% dont 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 dont even know where
to begin with selecting a supplier and integrating the
data. While a nuanced distinction, its 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 dont 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 its the technological limitations that are holding
them back. While 28% still feel that they dont 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. Its no secret that we at GRIT
are bullish on mobile, but its 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.
Its 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 dont 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 gamifcation
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 its 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 ones 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, its 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 fve years, how much of a change do you expect in
the kinds of services and products you deliver?
4%
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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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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 clients 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 Infuence 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 its important to
identify the analysts and authors here. This section of
the report was written by Ray Poynter, director of Vision
Criticals 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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itracks is a GRIT Top 10 Innovative Firm 2011 & 2012
Contact us for a demo today.
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 dont 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 Infuence
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 Source
Total
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 worlds 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.
Infuence and reach data, ranked by *net index of infuence
Rank
Information
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
I
n
f
l
u
e
n
c
e

S
c
o
r
e

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.
Infuence 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 Infuence
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
bewhether 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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+44 1892 556 597 [EMEA]
+65 6818 9015 [ASIA]
info@focusvision.com | www.focusvision.com
InterVu Webcam
Focus Groups are Ideal for
Hard to Reach Respondents
Ideal for
Testing Visual Aids
Evaluating Messages
Testing Creative Concepts
Understanding Segments
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
Lets 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?
Defnitely
Probably
Maybe
Unlikely
www.greenbook.org
Winter 2013
41
Get to the heart of it.
At C+R Research, we understand the goal of every project determines its course
of action. Rather than just rely on standard industry approaches, were experts at
customization and project-relevant methodologies. Our fresh approach will help
you explore and analyze your consumers experiencehow theyre living, what
choices theyre making...and why.
Qualitative. Quantitative. Mixed method.
crresearch.com
C+R Research was rated Best Full-Service
and #2 Qualitative Market Research Provider in
the marketresearchcareers.com 2012 Supplier
Satisfaction Survey.
North America 50%
Europe 27%
Asia/Australasia 15%
Other 8%
Dont 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 imminentparticularly 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?
www.greenbook.org
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?
Lets talk > www.hotspex.com/redpill
The story ends. Disruptive innovation. Transformational value.
Renewed purpose.
YOUR CHOICE...
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 visible
These companies are not targeting insights 2.
organizations, instead engaging with Business
Intelligence, IT, or Marketing decision makers. They
dont 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 well 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
www.greenbook.org
Winter 2013
47
INSIGHT INTO THE ENTIRE
BUSINESS LANDSCAPE
customers, competition, supply chain
and companies since 1984
GLOBAL & USA
CUSTOM RESEARCH
Qualitative
Focus Groups &
In-depth Interviews
Telephone Depth Interviews
Intercepts
Store Audits & Mystery
Shopping
Ethnography In-home,
Online & Oce
Central Location Testing
Low Incidence
Recruitment, Moderation &
Analysis
Quantitative
Full-service Online Research
CATI, CAPI & CAWI
Face To Face &
Central Location Testing
Loyalty
Segmentation
Pricing Research
Customer Mapping
Product, Concept &
Usability Testing
Strategic Intelligence
Market Entry, Sizing
& Opportunity
Competitive Analysis
& Intelligence
Channel Intelligence
Market Tracking
Benchmarking &
Best Practices Research
Export Potential
Strategic Analysis
Forecasting
SIS REGIONAL CENTERS
US Head Oce
11 E 22nd Street, Floor 2
New York, NY 10010
United States
T: +1 (212) 505 - 6805
SIS Market Research Asia
333 Huai Hai Zhong Road
Shui On Plaza, 12F-06 B03
Shanghai 200021, China
T: +86 (21) 5116 - 0734
SIS EMEA
32 Threadneedle Street
London, EC2R 8AY
United Kingdom
T: +44 (0)20 7129 -1388
SIS Latin America
Av. Paulista, 37 - 4 Andar
So Paulo, 01311-902
Brasil
T: +55 (11) 2246-2940
SIS Canada
105 Victoria Street, Suite 408
Toronto, Ontario
Canada M5C 3B4
T: +1 (212) 505-6805
research@sisinternational.com
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 fndings, we also
believe that its helpful to offer an editorial position on the implications of
these fndings.
With that in mind we are including a new section written by Leonard
Murphy, GreenBooks Chief Editor, who shares his take on what it all
means. Lennys piece isnt meant to be refective of the opinions of
everyone involved with GRIT; its based on a combination of his own
experience, GRIT data, additional information sources, and yes, intuition.
We think that youll fnd the following commentary valuable, interesting,
and thought-provoking. We hope youll agree.
Lukas Pospichal
Managing Director, GreenBook
Editors
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 companys 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 benefts 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 frst 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.
Editors
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
todays 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?
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 streams
Develop 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. Its 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 isnt 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 well
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 dont 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
todays 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 Advisors
David Bernstein Gen2 Advisors
Jason Brownlee Dollywagon
Jon Puleston GMI Interactive
Todd Powers ARF
Design consultation:
David Johnson Decooda
Gregg Archibald Gen2 Advisors
Lukas Pospichal GreenBook
GreenBooks 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 agship
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
dliebenson@nyama.org | 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 Interactive
Google Consumer Surveys
Data Processing:
Decooda
GMI Interactive
Q Research Software
Translations:
Localspeak
Online dashboard:
Q Research Software
Report Authors:
Bill Weylock Gen2 Advisors
Jeffrey Henning Researchscape
Leonard Murphy GreenBook
Masood Akhtar Bottom Line Analytics
Ruben Alcaraz Nestle-Purina
Tamara Barber Consultant
Todd Powers ARF
Publication:
GreenBook
GreenBook continues to be the destination for
detailed and accurate information on research
providers of all types.
Buyers of research services come to GreenBook
Directory to review structured profles of research
frms including their specialties, recent blog posts,
case studies, articles, videos, etc.
GreenBook is helping market research companies
better demonstrate their strengths and capabilities to
generate more qualifed leads.
Please register at www.GreenBookBlog.org/GRIT to receive an
invitation to participate in the next round of the GRIT survey
and to be notifed when the next Report is available.
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 youll have a great time!
www.TheResearchClub.com
Media Partners
www.greenbook.org
Winter 2013
55
QUALI TATI VE RESEARCH
CONSULTANTS 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
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. Weve 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 whats 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
thats actionable.
www.secondprism.com
Research & Production Partners
GMI
A LIGHTSPEED
RESEARCH
COMPANY
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or for a custom quote, contact us
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ADimension
The most powerful tool for determining Campaign Reach and
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EvoListen
The EvoListen platform by Conversition applies research
techniques to Social Media
Audience Validation
Website Visitation
Online Behavior
Shopper Insights
Mobile Diary
In-The-Moment Surveys
Brand Tracker
Ad/campaign Tracking
Customer Satisfaction
Campaign Evaluation
Single Source Panel
Geo Location-Based Surveys
Ethnography
Youth & Hispanic Studies
Event Management
Purchase Funnel
Competition Intelligence

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