Why market research gives wrong results - blogging. Customer insight, client surveys and satisfaction ratings. Customer retention and business management issues. Conference keynote lecture.

[pjvdixon]

Market research? Yes vital to listen to all the data, customer feedback, evaluations - and take every word really seriously. Am just making the point that it is often unreliable in bigger picture. Example: asking investors if they would like to put money on deposit into Icelandic banks before or the day after those banks crashed, gives totally different answers, and the earlier ones were not a good predictor of the future!

[kylecook128]

thank you for the informative post and keep up the good work!

[divabikinis]

FHTM named as a company under investigation as part of the Nationwide Joint Investigation between FTC and Attorneys General known as "Operation Empty Promises"

[gsaharan1990]

you need to think again on this topic and understand the real reason behind market research....take an example where you are the ceo of an estbd. co. and want to launch a product that is totally different from your existing product line.... in that case, wont it be beneficial for you to do some prior reserch of the target customers....

[FreeJosefFritzl]

I have the subject Marketing Environment at school and I have to agree with Patrick Dixon that it is such nonsense and useless. All this analysing has no base, no foundation. A marketeer would be better of stuyding psychology than marketing in my opinion. It's also always good to be a market follower so you can focus on recreating what others do instead of taking risks in the front line.

[suza1103]

One reason why market research gives wrong results is because the companies they use make half of them up

(I still work for a market research company we make up for then 1/2 of our surveys we are given)

[galwayrover]

He has obviosuly been working with the wrong market research companies. Good researchers know how to map the emotional mindset when studying the consumer landscape - research can be a very effective tool in analysing trends and need gaps - his is an emotional but inaccurate assertion

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[clintonskakun]

that's true, but who could have predicted the internet?

[digthatholenow]

Is it true that Henry Ford said "if I had listened to my customers, I would have given them faster horses" or is that a myth? I once worked for a good company where the customers always complained that we were too expensive, but they kept buying from us rather than the competitors and we made a load of money. Then the Board commissioned some consultants who did some market research. They said we must cut prices and costs (headcount), but we also cut quality and service, and made heavy losses.

[Geotubest]

Well...did your firm actually expect that its customers would be happy with inferior quality and service simply because of a lower price ? It seems that what your customers really wanted was the same (or better) quality at cheaper prices.

[digthatholenow]

I don't know what they really expected. I think they just wanted a cost/headcount reduction and, by coincidence, the consultants came up with that as the strategy. I would suggest that what your customers do, is more important that what they say. Yes, we could have sold them a better and cheaper product, and we wouldn't have made as much money. (volume was restricted for all sorts of reasons peculiar the that business)

[PeelTower]

The truth is that market researchers are becoming redundant. Their skill set isn't the optimal set required for their intended purpose, ie adding value to companies. Science is the future and the time for management speak is fast running out. Most people have always had an aversion to those gobbledigook gurus who profess that which they rarely deliver: the ability to add value.

[PeelTower]

There are develpments in neuroscience which can tell what people are interested in no matter what they 'say' they are interested in. Eg: a young man was wired up and taken to a sexy ligerie shop and a sports shop selling trainers (sneakers) his verbal resposes were totally different to his the actual interest he showed as revealed by his brain scans. He professed a natural libido driven interest in the sexy stuff and very little in the training shoes,but truly he was more excited by the shoes.

[isaacpv2]

this is still better than groping blindly in the dark, or depending solely on your own biased views.

[pjvdixon]

Of course. I am not saying Market Research has no value, but questioning how accurate it is in predicting longer term trends.

[toddjbied]

I own a market research company and we take many precautions to weed out the professional respondent who would say anything to get into a focus group. While it is not 100% we have managed to achieve at least 95% authenticity from our checks and balances.

[pjvdixon]

I think that professional respondents to market research is not the main issue - since as you say most companies weed them out. The real issue is that market research can only see as far ahead as the people who are interviewed and that is often not far enough, especially since people often change their minds when their world changes.

[isaacpv2]

The issue for me is not that market research can only see only so much ahead. The real issue for me is how to best use that incremental knowledge to my best advantage. A 5-foot visibility range is better than no visibility at all.

[flightsuit]

Good point! Also, over the years, numerous market-research firms have paid me an awful lot of money for my opinions; Half the time I'd lied to qualify for the study and my opinions were spurious. I believe this is the case with far more survey participants than the market researchers would like to admit.

[pjvdixon]

Thanks for your honesty and openness about market research accuracy - it is amazing what people will say in focus groups and market research interviews and how easily responses can be influenced by the researcher themselves and situation. When people are being paid this too can distort results. You will find a whole load more about better ways to do market research on my main website globalchange com - link is on top left of this page. Patrick Dixon

[isaacpv2]

Wow. The guy admitted he lied half the time, and you thank him for his "honesty about market research accuracy." I find this ironic. As a market researcher I condemn the dishonesty committed for personal gain.