The December 2008 edition of MarketResearchCareers’ newsletter focuses upon the upcoming
2009 Annual Survey of Market Research Professionals.

The fourth edition of this landmark industry survey will be conducted during the second week of January, 2009 -- with results available in February. We encourage everyone to watch for the invitation and to participate.

If you would like any specific topic or data point beyond those explored in 2008, please feel free to share your thoughts here.

Below are four example indicators (in addition to MR supplier satisfaction, MR budgets, staffing expectations, attitudes toward offshoring, industry progress regarding data quality, etc.) we will update in the 2009 survey.

Methods Used to Conduct Survey Research (Last Year's Survey Results)
Online methodologies were expected to be the most commonly used technique for conducting survey research -- with other methods experiencing decreases over the past 3 years.

 

Job Difficulty Expectations (Last Year's Survey Results)
Without change for the past 3 years, nearly two-thirds (64%) of all market research professionals expect their job will become more difficult or significantly more difficult.

In 2008, this expectation was primarily driven by contracting client budgets, smaller MR teams, and data quality concerns.

Compensation: Base Salary and Bonus (Last Year's Survey Results)
At the beginning of 2008 and across all job titles, MR professionals expected an increase of 4% and an annual bonus of nearly $15,000.

Interestingly, compensation expectations tended to increase with experience -- peaking with near 15 years in the industry. Additionally, buyers of market research (those working in corporate research departments) expected to earn more than their colleagues working for MR suppliers.

 

Research of New Media (Last Year's Survey Results)
Nearly two-thirds of all MR professionals (67%) expected to be asked to research or measure some form of online activity -- led by online consumer behavior, online advertising, and social networks.

The 2008 Annual Survey of Market Research Professionals was conducted between January 9 and January 23, 2008 with 703 market research professionals (both suppliers and buyers across all industries) completing an online survey. The survey completion rate was 74.0% and the aggregate data have a tolerance of +/- 3.7%.

We encourage everyone to participate in the 2009 survey in early January!

Happy Holidays,

 

Mike Carroll
800-872-5401
mcarroll@marketresearchcareers.com
www.marketresearchcareers.com