Market Research Surveys will be history in 20 to 30 years. Philip Graves, a leading expert on consumer behavior is the author of the recently released book Consumer.ology, says that Market Research as it is practiced now is a false science. If you want to read about more such revelations, head out to Philip Graves blog and order the book.
Per his blog, Consumer.ology exposes some of the most expensive examples of research-driven thinking clouding judgment, experience and evidence – from New Coke to General Motors, from Mattel to the Millennium Dome – and instances of success through ignoring research, such as Baileys and Dr Who. It also shows organizations the tools they should be using if they want to understand their customers.
He reiterates the common belief that people don’t do what they tell you in the surveys. This is where the importance of questionnaire design comes into place; unless the questions are designed correctly, you will be getting wrong or misleading answers.
You can read a full article on Philip Graves thoughts and his Consumer.ology book at a lively Research-Live discussion by Bryan Tarran. Some of the comments provided by the market research community are thought provoking:
- Surveys work very well (are reliable and accurately predict behavior) in some markets/customer groups more than in others. (Kathryn Korostoff)
- Unfortunately so many bad surveys have been created particularly in the era of cheap online survey tools when everybody thinks they can write one, that they have overshadowed the outcome of really good and professional research. (Michaela, www.RelevantInsights.com)
- This might be oversimplifying, but it sounds to me like this will take one existing methodology, which is admittedly flawed and replace it with another methodology, which will also be flawed. (Scott Tylor)
- Indeed (and excuse the cheek) even my book http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470710403.html has a section on why questionnaires do not work in the way we used to think they did. (Ray Poynter)
- Surveys have their place. Listening has its place. Observation has its place. Technology is the great enabler and the great game-changer. How we, as an industry, use technology to meld these different techniques together will be key. (Will Ranner)
- Thought some of you might be interested in the interview with the psychology and behavioral economics professor Dan Ariely on the Esomar site: http://www.esomar.org/uploads/rw/2010.09/Research-World-September-2010-Connecting-the-dots.pdf (Anonymous)
As a survey practitioner and market researcher, these points should be kept in mind. When you design the next market research survey with your favorite Online Surveys Builder software, plan and design your survey questionnaire accordingly.
