PROFESSIONALS SURVEY OF RESEARCH. Wave Thirteen Results Summary

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1 Wave Thirteen Results Summary SURVEY OF RESEARCH PROFESSIONALS

2 2 Survey of Research Professionals - Wave Thirteen Introduction RSM is pleased to present a summary of results from our Wave Thirteen Survey of Research Professionals. Recently the survey has been conducted approximately every six months; it dates back to Our thanks, as always, to all those who have given their time to complete our questionnaire, and we very much hope we can look forward to your continued assistance in the future. If you have any questions or comments please contact: John Madden john@rsmresearch.com Rick Dent rick@rsmresearch.com RSM s web based survey was completed by 268 UK based researchers in Wave 13 (December 2012), 285 in Wave 12 (May 2012), 238 in Wave 11 (December 2011) and 280 in Wave 10 (April 2011). or call us on

3 3 Headlines Overall rate of growth is flat as are forecasts for the next 12 months. Researchers report growth of 1.9% in budgets/revenues over the past 12 months compared to 1.7% in May 2012 and forecast growth of 5.0% for the next 12 months compared to 5.1% in May 2012 Expectations of the financial prospects of the respondent s own place of work, the wider economy and (notably) the research sector have each dipped this wave although in all cases confidence is still stronger than 12 months ago Three quarters of researchers report using at least one of 18 prompted emerging methods or techniques MROCs, mobile devices and various forms of analytics are most widely used A majority expects the B2B research space to be transformed by 2020 with entrants from a range of non-market research traditions and a majority anticipates the widespread use of B2B respondent incentives by 2020 and a continuation of the trend towards faster but less rigorous B2B research

4 4 Survey of Research Professionals - Wave Thirteen Budgets/revenues Rate of growth and forecast growth flat. Overall rate of growth is flat and forecasts for the next 12 months are also steady. Researchers report growth of 1.9% over the past 12 months compared to 1.7% in May 2012 and 2.9% in December % growth is anticipated for the year ahead compared to 5.1% in May 2012 and 4.0% in December Forecasts tend to be higher than growth subsequently achieved but the direction of predicted growth is often accurate so with predicted growth similar to six months ago it is possible that the rate of growth over the next 12 months will be fairly static. Growth and forecast growth

5 5 Budgets/revenues Smaller players continue to struggle most. Smaller agencies continue to experience a more challenging trading environment. Once again organisations with 0 to 4 employees report lower levels of growth than larger organisations. In the previous 12 months these organisations report (negative) growth of -3.2% (compared to negative growth of -3.7% in May 2012). All other organisation size groupings report (positive) growth. Organisations with 0 to 4 employees also forecast lower growth - of 2.1% for the next 12 months (compared to 2.2% in May 2012). All other organisation size groupings forecast growth of at least 3.4%. Growth by size of organisation

6 6 Survey of Research Professionals - Wave Thirteen Economic KPIs Small dip in confidence at all three measures. There has been a dip in expectations at all three economic KPIs tracked by RSM s survey in December 2012, but they are all still considerably higher than they were a year ago. As in previous waves the expected performance of a respondent s own company is generally held to be better than that of the research sector or the wider UK economy; expectations of the research sector have dipped more than the other KPIs this wave. A net negative score (-1%) is recorded this wave when the percentage of those expecting the general economic condition of the country to decrease are subtracted from the percentage of those expecting it to increase; this represents a small decline from six months ago when a net positive score (+4%) was recorded for the first time since we began tracking the KPIs in A net negative score of -13% is recorded for the general financial health of the research sector a drop of seventeen percentage points from a net positive of 4% in May The net score for the economic prospects of my company is once again much higher than the other measures it is +28% (the second highest it has been but down from +35% in May 2012). Financial Health Prospects

7 7 Emerging technologies/ methods What s being used; what s being planned? Three quarters of the researchers in our survey have already used at least one of eighteen emerging methods or techniques. Market Research On-line Communities (MROCs) are the most widely used to date (44%) and almost two-thirds (65%) say it is likely they will use such a community in the next three years. Mobile devices are next most frequently used 32% have used quantitative mobile phone surveys and 28% have undertaken research using a tablet. 60% and 63% respectively say it is likely that they will use such an approach in the next three years. There is significant usage of analytics. 25% have used social media analytics and 22% web analytics, with 57% and 53% respectively saying it is likely they will use these approaches within three years. Text analytics has been utilised by 16% with 40% expecting to use it in the next two or three years. Big data analytics however is still modestly used with 11% saying they have utilised it and 38% expecting to use it within three years. Emerging Methods and Techniques (Used)

8 8 Survey of Research Professionals - Wave Thirteen Storytelling has a good number of practitioners almost one in four have used it for reporting to date and it is set to increase over the next three years (43% say it is likely they will use it). Use of gamification and eyetracking is not predicted to grow as much as some techniques. 19% and 20% respectively report having used these techniques with 32% and 25% respectively saying they are likely to use them in the next three years. Behavioural economics has been used by a similar proportion (20%) but 39% say they are likely to use it in the next few years. There is modest reported usage of neuromarketing, crowd sourcing, prediction markets (all 6%), facial recognition software (4%) and biometric measurement/response (3%) but all are expected to be more widely used in three years times. 25% of researchers have yet to use any of the 18 methods and techniques put to them. Emerging Methods and Techniques (Used)

9 9 The shape of B2B research in 2020 This wave we asked those involved in B2B research to comment on how they thought it might evolve by And we also asked them how we believed it has changed over the last ten years. The advent of on-line surveying is seen as the biggest change over the last ten years (27% mention this) and another 5% mention new technologies and methods. There are also concerns expressed about falling response rates (13%) and reduced budgets/sample sizes (8%). There is an expectation of further increases in on-line B2B research by 2020 (13%) but even greater numbers mention an increase in new technologies (17%). B2B Research Recent Change (Top 5) B2B Research Expected Change (Top 5)

10 10 Survey of Research Professionals - Wave Thirteen B2B research in 2020 Operational Matters There is expectation of two important changes to the operational side of B2B research by Almost two-thirds of B2B researchers (64%) expect B2B respondents to be incentivised rather as many pharmaceutical respondents are now (only 10% disagree that this will happen). And a majority (55%) agrees that B2B clients will want findings even more quickly than today and they will be happy to sacrifice statistical rigour in order to achieve this (only 14% disagree with this). Opinion is more divided about the adoption of alternative reporting techniques, like Storytelling. 39% agree this will be more widespread in B2B research by 2020 and 20% disagree. B2B Change Statements #1

11 11 B2B research in 2020 Data and sample sources There is widespread expectation that the nature of the B2B researcher s reporting role will have changed by But less certainty about the impact that Big Data will have on the prevalence of sample surveys. A majority (55%) agrees that B2B researchers will be more involved in helping to interpret the mass of available data to clients rather than working on projects that generate new customised data (only 11% disagree with this). 30% of researchers agree that Big Data will lead to a reduction in sample surveys by 2020 but 19% disagree (with more than quarter 26% - unable to say). There is a reasonable expectation that access to B2B respondents will be transformed by 2020 by an organisation like Linked-In. Half of researchers (50%) agree that Linked In or something like it will have transformed access to B2B respondents by 2020 (20% disagree). B2B Change Statements #2

12 12 Survey of Research Professionals - Wave Thirteen B2B research in 2020 The Research Space There is a widespread belief that the B2B research space will look significantly different in New entrants to the market are expected by many and non-research players, including Google are expected to be involved. A majority (56%) agree that the B2B research space will be transformed by 2020 with new entrants from non-research spheres, possibly, for instance, Internet giants, social media companies, business consultancies and IT/ analytics companies; only 20% disagree. 36% believe that Google will be a major player in B2B research by 2020 (15% disagree). However more researchers disagree than agree that this transformation will be so momentous that the largest supplier of B2B research by 2020 will be from a tradition other than market research 35% disagree with this and 24% agree. There is reasonably high expectation of the continued development of DIY research in the B2B research sphere. 46% agree that more research will be completed directly by clients by 2020 leading to a reduction in the demand for agencies. B2B Change Statements #3

13 13 Non-UK Respondents More positive about economic issues. 49 respondents from outside the UK completed the survey in December 2012 (about a quarter are based in US, a quarter in India, and the rest are from a range of countries). Whilst the base is small it is interesting to note that non- UK respondents are once again consistently more positive about economic matters than UK respondents: More non-uk respondents report increased budgets in the last 12 months than their UK counterparts and more expect increased budgets in the next 12 months. 39% report increased budgets, compared to 33% in UK. 69% expect increased budgets, compared to 50% in UK. Considerably more non- UK respondents are bullish about the financial prospects of the economy, the research sector, and the business they work in, than UK based researchers. 43% expect general economic conditions to improve and 27% expect them to get worse a net score of +16% which compares with -1% from UK respondents. 37% expect the research sector s finances to improve and 27% expect them to get worse a net score of +10% which compares with -13% from UK respondents. 49% expect the financial performance of the company they work in to improve and 12% expect it to get worse a net score of +37% which compares with +28% from UK respondents.

14 If you have any questions or comments please contact John Madden or Rick Dent. or +44 (0) RSM would like to thank all respondents who gave their time and opinions. RSM provides a comprehensive range of research services across business, consumer and government audiences in more than 50 countries. We deliver premium quality insight, data collection and data analysis with particular expertise in researching hard-to-reach audiences, including C-suite senior business leaders, opinion formers, and niche consumers. RSM is an MRS Company Partner and is ISO 9001:2008 accredited. RSM 2013, All rights reserved